outbreak! (ebola, sars, coronavirus, etc)

"that keeps getting extended", meaning the authorization keeps getting extended.

Whoa, thanks for that caek, we were just about to toss out a few of our free fed tests that we had thought were expired! Def timely for that info in our house.

a bunch of ours were not on that list, so we threw them away. thanks

Wellllll ... looks like we hosted a superspreader event. We had a 40th birthday party for my wife last Saturday. Our COVID numbers here have been rising a bit but still relatively low, and we figured you only turn 40 once. Probably 50ish people were there over the course of the evening. And we now know of six of them who have since tested positive. We feel bad about it but also obviously this was a known risk for everyone going in. Everybody vaxxed and probably boosted, so far people seem to be having fairly "normal" cases.

An interesting data point that may or may not mean anything, and of course could change if we hear from more people: All six of the positive cases we know of are people who had never had it before. My wife and I had it in September, and so far neither of us has had any symptoms (we've also tested to be safe). Most of our other friends who were there had had it previously too, but not these six (including my wife's dad, who's in his 70s and obviously in a risk category). Also interestingly, at least as of now, none of the six has passed it on to their significant others. But that could change too, of course.

Anyway. Still glad we had the party, it was a blast, but we may not do largescale indoor events again for a while.

Whoa, man, sorry to hear it. My best friends sent an email yesterday in advance of their own party tomorrow night which, thanks to weather, might have to convert to indoors: please test before coming over, stay home if you're sick, wear a mask if you feel comfortable. They threw an outdoor party last year at the height of omicron and no one got infected. Fingers crossed for you and us.

seems like many of the cases I've heard about recently have been people who've never had it before (my entire family included). Is there science to that or is it just anecdotal...and you're hearing more about those of us who'd never had it.

I mean, it's just inevitable? There aren't many first-timers left to infect. We're all gonna get it.

xpost That's how it worked at Thanksgiving this year. Three of the people present hadn't been hit and all three (and only those three) fell ill.

fortunately I haven't heard about any Paxlovid rebound cases since at least early summer. Friends and relatives prescribed it report feeling better within days and testing negative in a week.

Even testing beforehand obviously is of limited value, because the rapid tests mostly don't show anything if you don't have any symptoms, there's a couple-day lag. In our case, the first positive case I heard from did test before coming to the party, because he had also done something the night before with a big crowd. He was negative, so he came to the party. I don't know for sure that he was our Patient Zero, but he was the first one to have symptoms two days later and report a positive test. So yeah, there's just no real way to know, anything with a group indoors is just gonna be a dice roll.

Yeah, everyone in my case was fully vaxxed + boostered and tested negative earlier in the day. Made no difference.

My biggest takeaway is re: the efficacy of masking. I've been back in the office (with faculty, staff, and students falling ill left and right) for a solid year now but constantly masked around other people and have been fine the whole time. Thanksgiving was one of maybe three times in 2022 when I was unmasked at an indoor gathering.

oh I paxlovid rebounded. I started taking it, was pretty chill for a few days, then a day after I stopped I started getting head cold symptoms, nothing crazy. But I suddenly tested super positive. Like I'd put the drops on the tester and within 15 seconds had two bright red lines. That lasted for like 3 days then I tested negative again and have been feeling ok except for a bit of fatique/tireness.

Old Lunch, that's my takeaway, too— I am constantly the only masked person in the room, and I'm fine with that.

At commencement the other day I was the only person masked in 20. I'm the only customer in this public library now masked too (every employee bar one is).

we used to have a rapid PCR testing site that was fast and used the very accurate Accula system, that I used to use when I wanted to test before some event. and the fuckers have all been shut down now.

like, as of a week ago :/

Our on-campus Curative trailers, my lifeline for two years, I just learned will close next Wednesday. I'm livid. There will still be county sites, but nothing beat the convenience of a rapid/regular PCR test available a building away from mine.

I more or less have not masked for months, and so far so not bad (knock wood), and that includes going to dinners, shopping, movies, lots of concerts, sporting events, etc. I've stayed out of the habit of touching my face and kept up the habit of thoroughly washing my hands a lot, so maybe that helps. For sure doesn't hurt. None (or very few) of my close friends or family seem to be catching covid right now, either, though I do have one friend who just got over a bad case (bad cold bad), who, per the anecdotal above, had never had it before. My daughter up in college, all the kids up there keep getting sick, but they're not testing positive for covid. Afaict it's just colds and the usual close-quarters shit, which, ironically enough, doctors keep saying is a byproduct of limited exposure to the usual cooties for such a prolonged period of time. I do see a good hunk of people still masking, but I suspect (and in some cases know) that it's strategic. That is, stuff like "we're visiting family soon and don't want to get sick."

I have a couple of super long flights coming up to visit family in Australia, and my wife and I at least are planning to wear masks as much as possible, though it definitely gets pretty uncomfortable after several hours, let alone, like, 17 or whatever.

xpost Yeah, they just ended all but symptomatic testing at my university, as well. I expect the next quarter to be filled to the brim with student absences.

Bumped the rona thread yesterday, I finally got it after avoiding it for 33 months. Mostly just congestion and fatigue, doc prescribed Paxlovid during a virtual visit (was supposed to be at my annual physical til I tested positive) so I started that last night.

aw, jon, sorry to hear it.

Thanks, guess it was pretty much inevitable. So far my wife and son are still testing negative, hoping to keep it that way.

I’m going to straight up say that if you’re just going about your daily business without masking or giving a fuck, then you are part of the problem and can go to hell

Hard to disagree

In the meantime, rest up, jvc!

Really quite easy to wear a mask in public spaces I truly don’t get what ppl’s hang up is. Eat before you go to the movie or whatever, cmon

What blew my mind when I got COVID was when I went to pick up the Paxlovid...was staying at my in-laws empty house in suburban NJ, went to the local CVS and the pharmacist wasn't wearing a mask. The pharmacist who's job was to hand me, an obviously COVID-positive person, my Paxlovid.

I just don’t feel any sympathy for people who are like “masks are so uncomfortable!” I know, my immunocompromised ass has had to wear one nearly constantly because of whiny babies like who just don’t give a fuck about other people. Some selfish shit.

Yeah the pharmacists at the CVS we go to haven't been wearing masks for many, many months. Still takes me aback a little every time I've gone in.

my local duane reade is, but I live in a dense area blocks from the dreaded "epicenter" so people around here are maybe a bit less mask-averse.

Our on-campus Curative trailers, my lifeline for two years, I just learned will close next Wednesday. I'm livid. There will still be county sites, but nothing beat the convenience of a rapid/regular PCR test available a building away from mine.

― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, December 16, 2022 11:11 AM bookmarkflaglink

YEP! Curative were the ones I was talking about. I used to love using them, was so easy.

wastewater data seems to show plateauing nationwide, possible slight decline in the west

cases obv not plateauing, and wastewater sometimes can be noisy on individual weeks, so not putting 100% stock in that yet

Florida ticking up more though, finally

Yeah the pharmacists at the CVS we go to haven't been wearing masks for many, many months.

The CVS pharms we go to, on the other hand, have not stopped masking up. I often gauge things by how many staff are masked at our Trader Joe's, and it seems to be hovering around 30%, though not consistently. I've not been anywhere in the past several months with even close to that amount masked. I think one important shift that's happened, at least around here or where people have the luxury, is people staying home or staying in when they feel or are sick. That helps a lot, or should. It's been months since I've heard more than a passing cough, sneeze or sniffle in public.

my partner and i remain covid virgins, keep wondering when that shoe is gonna drop. She works in a school, i'm out at shows all the time. We're both diligent maskers but one assumes that's not foolproof.

Still haven't caught it either, and having that same "it's probably just around the corner" feeling.

Hope it passes easily, jvc!

good news for parents (not good that it was a huge wave, but good that it's apparently winding down)

RSV hospitalizations have peaked in the US: earlier, higher, and sharper than usual, as predicted by epidemiological models taking into account the lower immunity/higher susceptible population due to lower infections in previous years.

1/ pic.twitter.com/iOW5O4TSq1

— Prof. Michael S Fuhrer (@MichaelSFuhrer) December 15, 2022

early reports on bivalent booster protection against severe disease that are emerging this week are very positive. particularly hospitalization.

glad to hear about RSV. hospitals are jampacked atm due to the tridemic.

I had RSV (presumably) around Thanksgiving. Not a fan tbh and I still have some rebound congestion/coughing

tbh I miss the dry cough of covid (but not any of the other bits) because wet coughs are gross

I dunno, I prefer a productive cough. No cough of mine gonna be in the unemployment line.

fair

I have still so far avoided it all. I intend to my best to keep to that.

good thing the pandemic is over

Moderna is considering raising the price of its COVID-19 vaccine by over 400 percent—from $26 per dose to between $110 and $130 per dose—according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

Ars has reached out to Moderna for comment but has not yet received a response. The plan, if realized, would match the previously announced price hike for Pfizer-BioNTech's rival COVID-19 vaccine.

The Journal spoke with Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco Monday, who said of the 400 percent price hike: "I would think this type of pricing is consistent with the value.”

Until now, the mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech have been purchased by the government and offered to Americans for free. In the latest federal contract from July, Moderna's updated booster shot cost the government $26 per dose, up from $15–$16 per dose in earlier supply contracts, the Journal notes. Similarly, the government paid a little over $30 per dose for Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine this past summer, up from $19.50 per dose in contracts from 2020.

But now that the federal government is backing away from distributing the vaccines, their makers are moving to the commercial market—with price adjustments. Financial analysts had previously anticipated Pfizer would set the commercial price for its vaccine at just $50 per dose but were taken aback in October when Pfizer announced plans of a price between $110 and $130. Analysts then anticipated that Pfizer's price would push Moderna and other vaccine makers to follow suit, which appears to be happening now.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/01/moderna-may-match-pfizers-400-price-hike-on-covid-vaccines-report-says/

There are reasons why some people don't trust the pharma industry for any reason, and this sort of despicable price-gouging is among them.

i am increasingly feeling like the only mask wearer in a crowd

For the first time, not a single student masked in my two face-to-face classes.

Whereas both of the events where I am reading this weekend and next require masks, no exceptions.

good news, and why I got so angry at those who wanted to throw cold water on the bivalents prematurely:

The Covid bivalent vaccine booster works better than expected.
I've reviewed the cumulative datahttps://t.co/tR5S4BBaYb
That's in contrast to a @NEJM essay today and 2 lab studies that used a pseudovirus assay without assessing the XBB variants

— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) January 11, 2023