The fall booster roll-out is well on its way. As of last Thursday, 4.35 million Americans have received their Pfizer/Moderna bivalent booster in the first three weeks of availability. (CDC numbers are updated every Thursday.) The new booster recommendation created an obvious uptick on the
Messaging on the bivalent vaccines as reported from sources across the political spectrum was a fail. These new vaccines should not have been associated with phrases such as "not tested on humans" or "only tested on lab mice." Instead, they should have been associated with other truths such as "... having passed the same, thorough safeguards the annual flu vaccines have undergone for decades."
There's one option missing from the poll: "Waiting on availability". Where I am (NYC), they only do the bivalent booster by appointment, and the appointments are booked anywhere from a week to 3 weeks in advance depending on the location. The places I've gotten my last 3 shots (2 primary + 1 booster) either were closed or don't have the bivalent booster in stock (and say they won't until October). My appointment is just a few days away at this point, but if it were up to me I'd have gotten it a week or two ago.
It is public messaging fail to drop all NPIs as unnecessary and to publicly state “the pandemic is over” while urging everyone to get a fall booster. What sense are people supposed to make of completely contradictory messages.
Dr. Jetelina, I am curious about your opinion on this:
My doctor said that now that I'm two weeks post-bivalent booster, it's no longer necessary (or helpful) to wear a mask. Up to now, I've been continuing to mask in public places (supermarket, etc. -- anywhere indoors, really) but if doing so wouldn't really add much protection in addition to the booster, I guess I could skip it (never infected, to my knowledge).
Part of me feels really exposed without a mask, but practically no one in my community is wearing them anymore (I live in a highly vaccinated area) and I wonder if it's just my psychological roadblocks that prevent me from unmasking. Just like I followed the science and wore a mask when they were first recommended, I'd like to follow the science now and would be willing to unmask if it's no longer necessary.
I would love your take on this (I trust my doctor, but I am interested in another credible opinion). Thank you!
All weekend appointments are booked up in the DC area. Marginalized communities can’t pull their kids from school for a 1p Tuesday appointment. They also can’t necessarily plan 2 weeks out.
I wish the poll had another category for "scheduled soon." For some stupid reason, doctors and pharmacies in my community weren't authorized to proceed with the bivalent vaccinations until this week. I'm scheduled for tomorrow.
I selected "Waiting for closer to Winter/event" because of ragweed season. I know it's medically safe to receive these vaccinations while feeling slightly ill (from, say, a cold or allergies), but this ragweed season, I'm barely hanging onto shreds of sanity by my fingernails, and I'm responsible for three kids six and under.
I've read that "experts say people can expect to have generally the same reaction to the new bivalent vaccines as they did the first generation COVID-19 vaccines."
My reactions to previous COVID shots ranged from a few days of malaise to "flu from hell". Still happy to have gotten the shots, of course! But irritants are said to have a synergistic effect on asthma and allergies, and vaccines must irritate the immune system to do their job. When I'm already sneezing and wheezing due to pointless immune activity (thanks, ragweed), goosing that activity even more seems pretty bleak.
I will get it done -- I have so far, after all. But, since this ragweed season is effectively already "cold from hell" for me, it seems irresponsible to schedule the booster without downtime to handle the possibility of that flaring to "flu from hell" after the booster.
Request: When you put up a graph or chart, please explain enough of it so that us non medical researchers can understand it. If I say I read your article and you presented data, I feel it is a false sense of "knowing" if I don't understand the data you present.
Thank you for the report! I will scan the two preprints you cited to see if I can glean more insight into what that chart means.
I haven't been able to get it yet due to availability in my area (Seattle). Appointment scheduled in two weeks, but pharmacies do not seem to know when or if they are getting it, even when appointments are available to schedule. At least for us, supply and distribution still seem to be big issues.
Do you know the name @DrEricDing? He's on Twitter claiming that there are much more dire variants, perhaps the ones you cited today, that could be extremely dangerous and that many more precautions should be being practiced. Is he an extremist or just someone who's aware of future dangers?
In the survey, I had to choose Waiting for closer to winter/event, but that isn't really why I am waiting. I live in the UK where not everyone is allowed to get the bivalent booster. (Ours is original and BA.1, not as effective as what much of the USA is using.) My invitation to book the jab just arrived yesterday. I now have an appointment so that's what I'm waiting for.
We are holding our breath about whether I will have to reschedule. Last week my wife got heavy exposure to COVID at work. The hospital where she works had everyone stop masking months ago except in direct clinical situations. About 2/3 of her medical secretary group is now down with COVID. She is self-isolating in the bedroom and we are waiting to see whether we're going to magically escape this exposure.
I wanted to wait closer to four months out from my fourth shot. I have to say, Paul Offit is probably why people maybe pausing. I have to remember though he was against boosters in 2021, and I got a booster anyway. I am getting the shot on Friday. I am really not looking forward to the 36 hours of headache, body aches and fever.
Messaging on the bivalent vaccines as reported from sources across the political spectrum was a fail. These new vaccines should not have been associated with phrases such as "not tested on humans" or "only tested on lab mice." Instead, they should have been associated with other truths such as "... having passed the same, thorough safeguards the annual flu vaccines have undergone for decades."
There's one option missing from the poll: "Waiting on availability". Where I am (NYC), they only do the bivalent booster by appointment, and the appointments are booked anywhere from a week to 3 weeks in advance depending on the location. The places I've gotten my last 3 shots (2 primary + 1 booster) either were closed or don't have the bivalent booster in stock (and say they won't until October). My appointment is just a few days away at this point, but if it were up to me I'd have gotten it a week or two ago.
It is public messaging fail to drop all NPIs as unnecessary and to publicly state “the pandemic is over” while urging everyone to get a fall booster. What sense are people supposed to make of completely contradictory messages.
Dr. Jetelina, I am curious about your opinion on this:
My doctor said that now that I'm two weeks post-bivalent booster, it's no longer necessary (or helpful) to wear a mask. Up to now, I've been continuing to mask in public places (supermarket, etc. -- anywhere indoors, really) but if doing so wouldn't really add much protection in addition to the booster, I guess I could skip it (never infected, to my knowledge).
Part of me feels really exposed without a mask, but practically no one in my community is wearing them anymore (I live in a highly vaccinated area) and I wonder if it's just my psychological roadblocks that prevent me from unmasking. Just like I followed the science and wore a mask when they were first recommended, I'd like to follow the science now and would be willing to unmask if it's no longer necessary.
I would love your take on this (I trust my doctor, but I am interested in another credible opinion). Thank you!
All weekend appointments are booked up in the DC area. Marginalized communities can’t pull their kids from school for a 1p Tuesday appointment. They also can’t necessarily plan 2 weeks out.
I wish the poll had another category for "scheduled soon." For some stupid reason, doctors and pharmacies in my community weren't authorized to proceed with the bivalent vaccinations until this week. I'm scheduled for tomorrow.
I selected "Waiting for closer to Winter/event" because of ragweed season. I know it's medically safe to receive these vaccinations while feeling slightly ill (from, say, a cold or allergies), but this ragweed season, I'm barely hanging onto shreds of sanity by my fingernails, and I'm responsible for three kids six and under.
I've read that "experts say people can expect to have generally the same reaction to the new bivalent vaccines as they did the first generation COVID-19 vaccines."
https://www.health.com/news/new-omicron-booster-side-effects
My reactions to previous COVID shots ranged from a few days of malaise to "flu from hell". Still happy to have gotten the shots, of course! But irritants are said to have a synergistic effect on asthma and allergies, and vaccines must irritate the immune system to do their job. When I'm already sneezing and wheezing due to pointless immune activity (thanks, ragweed), goosing that activity even more seems pretty bleak.
I will get it done -- I have so far, after all. But, since this ragweed season is effectively already "cold from hell" for me, it seems irresponsible to schedule the booster without downtime to handle the possibility of that flaring to "flu from hell" after the booster.
Request: When you put up a graph or chart, please explain enough of it so that us non medical researchers can understand it. If I say I read your article and you presented data, I feel it is a false sense of "knowing" if I don't understand the data you present.
Thank you for the report! I will scan the two preprints you cited to see if I can glean more insight into what that chart means.
The poll needs a "Waiting, busy and haven't had an evening and day when I can be mildly sick"
Hello!
You forgot to include "It's not yet available to me where I live" in your survey... And by the way, not all of your readers live in the US ;)
Keep up the good work!
Your poll should probably have a "scheduled but don't have it yet" option. That's me!
I haven't been able to get it yet due to availability in my area (Seattle). Appointment scheduled in two weeks, but pharmacies do not seem to know when or if they are getting it, even when appointments are available to schedule. At least for us, supply and distribution still seem to be big issues.
Wendy
Do you know the name @DrEricDing? He's on Twitter claiming that there are much more dire variants, perhaps the ones you cited today, that could be extremely dangerous and that many more precautions should be being practiced. Is he an extremist or just someone who's aware of future dangers?
In the survey, I had to choose Waiting for closer to winter/event, but that isn't really why I am waiting. I live in the UK where not everyone is allowed to get the bivalent booster. (Ours is original and BA.1, not as effective as what much of the USA is using.) My invitation to book the jab just arrived yesterday. I now have an appointment so that's what I'm waiting for.
We are holding our breath about whether I will have to reschedule. Last week my wife got heavy exposure to COVID at work. The hospital where she works had everyone stop masking months ago except in direct clinical situations. About 2/3 of her medical secretary group is now down with COVID. She is self-isolating in the bedroom and we are waiting to see whether we're going to magically escape this exposure.
She's leaving the NHS at the end of this week.
I suspect that your readership is skewed toward folks who would be eager to get the new vaccine as soon as they can.
I wanted to wait closer to four months out from my fourth shot. I have to say, Paul Offit is probably why people maybe pausing. I have to remember though he was against boosters in 2021, and I got a booster anyway. I am getting the shot on Friday. I am really not looking forward to the 36 hours of headache, body aches and fever.