September 23, 2024
vaccines that protect
Fall has officially arrived. The days are getting shorter and darker, especially here in the Northwest. Time to think about the coming flu season, as well as COVID updates. Health officials are now looking at COVID spikes in 6 month/seasonal waves, which is different than the yearly flu seasons. Whooping cough (Pertussis) is also having a back to school surge across the country.
The Novavax updated COVID vaccine has been approved. This gives people a second option for a COVID booster if they can’t tolerate the side effects of the mRNA vaccines. Both the mRNA and the Novavax are updated for later variants and are showing to be effective.
Which vaccines to get? I just got my RSV one time vaccine and am planning the flu and COVID vaccines soon. My Tdap which is tetanus, diptheria, and pertussis (whooping cough) was update a couple years ago. It is recommended every 10 years. The timing is up to you and depends on travel, risks, expected exposures. Waiting a month or two for the flu vaccine is probably OK, unless flu has already arrived in your area. This New York Times article has a link to a gift article to read for free.
Other news shows that Paxlovid works in high risk patients, preventing serious illness, death, and Long COVID. Repeating a COVID test in a day or two if the first is negative is a good idea since it seems to be taking longer for folks to test positive. Early testing alone may miss as many as 92% of cases
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Many wonder if testing and keeping track of COVID infections still matter since most people been infected and do well. The truth is people at high risk are still dying! More than die from influenza yearly.
It matters because you may have friends and family that are immunocompromised. Avoiding exposing them is important. Also remember to remind those loved ones to get an updated vaccine. A booster can add to the protection vaccines give.
As Francis Collins, who was director of the NIH for decades, writes in this New York Times editorial, “Facts Matter and They Don’t Care How You Feel.” (also gifted to read for free. Click the link) More than 50 million Americans declined COVID vaccines due to disinformation leading to 230,000 dying between June 2021 and March 2022 despite the availability of free vaccines.
Who we have as our leaders matter. If you have not registered to vote, please do. If you are registered, check your registration. And please vote. Find out your options. Our lives depend on it.
And finally, my caveat is that this is my experience and my opinions, which are subject to change as more information is available. Thanks for reading.
Share this post if you know of others who may be interested. All links are listed at the bottom of this post. The New York Times articles have links that are gift links, allowing you to read the article for free.
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/covid-spikes-expected-to-continue-in-6-month-seasonal-and-regional-waves-experts-say/
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/whooping-cough-pertussis-back-to-school-surge/
https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/brief/covid19-and-other-leading-causes-of-death-in-the-us/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2024/08/22/new-coronavirus-vaccine-covid/
https://wapo.st/4djp9y9
https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/fda-authorizes-novavaxs-updated-covid-vaccine-2024-08-30/
https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/the-best-time-to-get-a-flu-shot/
https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/vaccines/111825
https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation/all-your-questions-about-new-covid-shots-answered/
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/05/well/covid-shots-side-effects.html?unlocked_article_code=1.ME4.3qjS.q5iWoUY4FNKb&smid=url-share
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2823578
https://www.idse.net/Covid-19/Article/08-24/Early-COVID-19-Testing-Might-Miss-Up-to-92-of-Cases/74652
https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#datatracker-home
https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/brief/covid19-and-other-leading-causes-of-death-in-the-us/
https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#maps_deaths-3-months
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/20/opinion/covid-vaccines-truth-life-death.html?unlocked_article_code=1.M04._xG1.74mNun8lQ4lM&smid=url-share
https://www.vote.org