COVID is coming for California, and it's already hitting the SF Bay Area the hardest
COVID is coming for California, and it's already hitting the SF Bay Area the hardest
Fewer people are also getting the latest vaccines
Hm... I wonder if that could have anything to do with last autumn's doses no longer being effective and the public health officials still not approving another dose for most people under 65.
That’s the opposite of what it says on the CDC’s website:
COVID-19 vaccines available in the United States are effective at protecting people from getting seriously ill, being hospitalized, and dying. As with other vaccine-preventable diseases, you are best protected from COVID-19 when you stay up to date with the recommended vaccinations.
As of September 12, 2023, the 2023–2024 updated Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines were recommended by CDC for use in the United States.
The 2023–2024 updated COVID-19 vaccines more closely targets the XBB lineage of the Omicron variant and could restore protection against severe COVID-19 that may have decreased over time. We anticipate the updated vaccines will be better at fighting currently circulating variants.
I was vaccinated in January, and living with an unvaccinated person who contracted Omicron in February. She was ill for ten days. I did not contract it.
That’s the opposite of what it says on the CDC’s website:
No, it is not.
Also, that page you linked is from last year. Here is a more recent one that calls out the age minimum:
https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2024/s-0228-covid.html
It doesn't explicitly forbid younger people from getting another dose now after having one last autumn. (I don't think that's how the CDC operates.) However, it does give advice, and pharmacies make policy based on that advice. The result is that at least some pharmacies are denying an update dose unless the customer is 65+ or immunocompromised, or didn't get one last autumn.
I was surprised to learn this, so I checked for myself. The pharmacists I spoke to confirmed it. That was roughly 2-3 weeks ago, so I suppose something might have changed very recently, but I have no reason to think so.
I was vaccinated in January,
Great! But that has no bearing on what I wrote.
Problem is that insurance companies follow requirements, not recommendations. So once the requirements and funding are gone the coverage is removed. Recommendations then take time to be considered for implementation based on if they are going to save the company money. But that needs to be proven to executives with data. And since many states no longer track COVID cases due to political biases and there's no longer funding to pay for the expensive vaccines or the research to provide that data, and with most large corporation executives being right leaning and the current political right being against vaccines, many are choosing not to cover it, except for people over 65 which is the at risk group. Just like it was always recommended that everyone get the HPV vaccine, but it wasn't until recently that it was covered for adults. It's all about cost vs risk since our healthcare system uses an insurance model instead of a public service model.
So, if your insurance will cover it, definitely get it. If not, it's pretty expensive and the government is no longer picking up the bill. I just had COVID from traveling and that was my first time. Likely mostly because I didn't have the booster this time.
Or, people simply don't care anymore.
COVID became just another flu for most people, it's been a big deal three or four years ago, today hardly anyone cares.
The "real" flu is also dangerous and the vaccine is available and has hardly any side effects, yet somehow barely anyone takes it.
Or, people simply don’t care anymore.
Both things can be true.
Some people can't get it because they don't have insurance and it is pretty expensive. So a family of four could wind up spending several hundreds of dollars if they can't afford the vaccine and there is no public support for it, or they don't know where to get help to pay for it in the United States.
The vaccine is free. If it’s not covered by your health insurance, it’s subsidized by the Federal Bridge Access Program.
Some people can’t get it because they don’t have insurance and it is pretty expensive.
Indeed, there are multiple reasons, some of which are baffling. I mentioned one that I don't think is as widely known.
Just had it again 2 weeks ago. Nothing much more than a very mild flu. I have all my vax and boosters for covid and flu.
It was nbd. Probably because I have all my shots. I still didn’t want it though. There’s always a chance I could still get f’d, draw the short straw, and get long covid or worse. Good friend of mine, super healthy, worked out, relatively young, stroked out after months of long covid. Almost died a couple times. Took better part of a year to come back, luckily he’s still himself but has a hard time with numbers, gets tired and frustrated more quickly.
He had all his shots and boosters, too.
It’s still out there, people. It’s not a joke. You could still draw the shitty short straw in this gamble and get wrecked even if you did everything right.
Be careful out there.
Based on having read this same SFGate article about five days ago, I made an online appointment for a booster shot at a Safeway store's pharmacy, semi local to me in San Francisco. My previous booster was circa last November so it had been more than six months, and the recent news stories about a surge of covid detected in the city's sewer outflows and also a general rising wave of cases locally seemed to give good reason to stay on the six month program rather than wait until it had been a year.
The appointment was easily made online, but the pharmacy telephoned me and told me their advice was to just wait closer to a year unless I was over 65 or immune compromised. Neither applies so I cancelled the shot.