Nurse here, no booster. They aren't mandated it at our facility.
I am not an anti-masker. I believe in vaccines. I don't want the booster. |
It makes me sad to see that people are not getting all of the available boosters. |
It is obviously all in your head. s/ |
Last week, the CDC issued a Health Alert Network Health Advisory to healthcare providers about low vaccination rates for respiratory viruses, including covid, urging them to administer these vaccines to their patients in accordance with CDC recommendations. https://emergency.cdc.gov/han/2023/han00503.asp One reason cited was “a recent increase in cases of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) following SARS-CoV-2 infection in the United States has been reported.”
MIS-C is a serious condition following covid infection. At its peak in January 2021, there were new 258 cases reported weekly. However, cases of MIS-C dropped precipitously once the milder Omicron strain became the dominant and have nearly disappeared since, with no more than 4 new cases reported weekly since late February 2023. This is one reason why nearly all other nations in the world are not recommending covid boosters for children. So what recent increase in MIS-C is the CDC describing in its Health Alert? Nationwide, CDC data shows that we went from 0-1 weekly new MIS-C cases in August to 2-4 weekly new cases in September before easing back to 1-3 weekly new cases in October. This is out of more than 70 million US children 18 years old and younger. Looking at a time series of new weekly MIS-C infections since 2020, it is hard for the eye to see these recent changes on the chart. https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#mis-national-surveillance |
Good thing it’s not about your feelings Gladys. |
The numbers may have gone up since the cited article was published. |
It sounds like you are talking about "immunity debt" which isn't supported by science, at least not for adults. You don't need to get sick to stay healthy, and avoiding illness won't make you sicker. Plus, few people are always masking; even if they were, masks aren't 100% effective. We are still exposed to a variety of pathogens. I also don't agree that wearing a mask demonstrates fear and an inability to enjoy life. After attending multiple crowded indoor events this month and listening to the constant symphony of coughing throughout, being able to wear a mask helps me enjoy these events with less risk of getting sick during this hectic time of year. |
The numbers OP cited are from a CDC phone survey and don't reflect actual vaccination totals. The actual vaccination numbers that states are releasing are considerably lower than what the CDC is reporting based on its survey. Based on state data, it's likely that the actual uptake for adults is around 10-11% nationally as of mid-December and 4% or less for children. |
New Mexico just reported actual data for the new covid booster; 5% of its total population had taken the shot as of mid-December. This suggests that adult uptake was around 6%. Despite this, the CDC says that 20% of NM adults have taken the new shot according to its self-reported NIS phone survey. The CDC's estimate for NM is wildly off the mark which is why phone survey data should not be used as a proxy for actual vaccine uptake. What makes New Mexico's data particularly interesting is that they compare uptake of the new booster with last year's bivalent booster. Demand for the new booster has collapsed in NM, down more than 80% relative to last year's bivalent booster. Less than 2% of New Mexicans aged 6m to 39yrs have taken the new shot. Even amongst the most vulnerable 65+ year olds, less than 15% have taken the new shot. https://nmdoh-reports.shinyapps.io/ViralRespiratoryInfectionDashboard/ https://cv.nmhealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/New-Mexico-COVID-19-Vaccination-Report_19Dec2023.pdf https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/imz-managers/coverage/covidvaxview/interactive/adult-coverage-vaccination.html New Mexico Uptake of Covid Boosters 6m-4yrs Bivalent 5% New 1% 5-11yrs Bivalent 8% New 2% 12-17yrs Bivalent 14% New 2% 18-24yrs Bivalent 11% New 1% 25-39yrs Bivalent 14% New 2% 40-64yrs Bivalent 30% New 5% 65+yrs Bivalent 67% New 14% |
But this is just public health data - states are not collecting data from Walgreens, Walmart, CVS, where most people are getting the shots. I agree that the CDC numbers are likely wrong but state numbers are likely wrong too. I am sure someone will get access to the private company data at some point, but that is probably the closest source of truth and that has not been published. |
No. Pharmacies report their vaccinations to state immunization registries and are included in state totals. |
Re the bolded part, you mean "isn't supported by my own opinion which I proclaim to be settled and indisputable science." After the last few years I'm always highly skeptical whenever someone takes this tone and speaks as if they know "science." Science isn't some kind of almighty god with clear cut right and wrong. There is no science bible telling you the exact answer. The poster you responded to made very good points that were commonly known by health officials back in the days when "science" wasn't wielded about like some kind of indisputable moral force, aka pre 2020. Getting sick isn't always to be feared and does build your immunity. |
Does anyone know if getting the new booster this week (by 12/24) would still protect for Christmas? Even partial protection?? |
Get it now. Today. |
What do you mean by protection? Protection against infection, transmission, severe illness? The CDC does not claim that the booster will protect against infection or transmission. The CDC only mentions protection against severe illness. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/stay-up-to-date.html But for non-elderly, non-vulnerable people, the risk of severe illness from Omicron is exceptionally low. A Cleveland Clinic study of 50,000 employees (vaxxed and unvaxxed) was unable to tell if last year's bivalent booster helped to protect against severe covid illness or not, because too few people in the study got severely ill from Omicron to tell. |