Covid19 in the house. Drat. (3 Viewers)

I’d say that’s just more msm fear. The vaccine looks to be effective, and at least capable of reducing severity even with the SA variant from all I’ve read.

the concern is theoretical and the media just blows it up.

"The media" reports it -- and you should be thankful that they do, or you'd have no input from which to form your own reasonable judgement.

Any "blow[ing] up" is generally done by readers or listeners incapable of critical thought.
 
From what I understand (I studied chemistry so I’ve asked biochemist friends to explain it to me in idiot terms) the current vaccines would cover 5 or 6 mutation “steps”. They are saying that the SA variant MAY have mutated beyond that. It’s all to do with genome tracking. If it is the case that the SA variant has mutated beyond the vaccines’ capabilities then they need to amend the vaccines to catch up with the mutations. Apparently that won’t be as involved as designing vaccines from scratch but will still take some time.

The "5-6 steps" is an interesting sound bite, but not very meaningful because there is no context to it. I've heard that the UK variant has at least 17 mutations (but compared to which one? Wuhan? Middle East? NW USA?), which I am assuming that means at least 17 differences which cause at least 1 amino acid substitution in the protein coded by the active gene(s) in question. 17 sounds like a lot (even 5-6 sounds like a lot), but it may not make any difference in the overall structure or function of the resulting product, which would generally mean that the existing vaccines that target those products should continue to work. However, nature being as capricious as it is, you never know when the ongoing cumulative mutations reaches that "1" inflection point where we're now dealing with an entirely new strain.

The good news is that, since we have multiple vaccine candidates and therefore multiple potential targets, we will be able to "catch up" and "future proof" for a little while. But vaccines are just the start - we still need good therapeutics for treatment of those who do get sick, because they still will and there will still be lots of them.

Oh, someone recently shared with me a "news report" (I use the term very loosely) from OAN touting a "miracle cure for COVID" according to Australian researchers. There was so much bullshit in it that I actually laughed out loud.
 
"The media" reports it -- and you should be thankful that they do, or you'd have no input from which to form your own reasonable judgement.

Any "blow[ing] up" is generally done by readers or listeners incapable of critical thought.

I've read a lot of these articles and the headlines are pretty disingenuous. They focus on one or two guys saying that "theoretically" the vaccines couldn't work, when the general consensus is that they will.

I mean there's always a chance it mutates past what they have as @allforcharity mentions in his post, but my issue is with the media fueling fear. A lot of that blame goes to the reader, but the media isn't innocent in that.

I mean what about those "perfectly healthy 16 year old dies suddenly of Covid" headlines, when the poor kid was 450 lbs, had type 1 diabetes and 1500 mg/dL bloody sugar levels? That's just wrong.



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I've read a lot of these articles and the headlines are pretty disingenuous. They focus on one or two guys saying that "theoretically" the vaccines couldn't work, when the general consensus is that they will.

I mean there's always a chance it mutates past what they have as @allforcharity mentions in his post, but my issue is with the media fueling fear. A lot of that blame goes to the reader, but the media isn't innocent in that.

I mean what about those "perfectly healthy 16 year old dies suddenly of Covid" headlines, when the poor kid was 450 lbs, had type 1 diabetes and 1500 mg/dL bloody sugar levels? That's just wrong.



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We need to know our sources and think critically about what we read and the credibility of our sources. I have only heard of a single one of these media outlets, let alone have respect for them. That is the last one... the NYT which is certainly not a sensationalized headline. You can't lump credible news sources in with hot garbage clickbait crap and label it all as a monolith; "the media".
 
This will be my last updating post. I am released from quarantine, "cured" and no longer a public health risk.

Neither of us had serious symptoms, a "mild cold". We both lost our sense of taste. I feel recovered from that but my wife is not back to full capacity. <she is one of those people who can taste a complex soup and write down a shopping list of everything in the pot.>

Was it "no big deal" based on the outcome? We both took a big risk to our life in last three weeks - the mortality chance was something very roughly in the one percent range. Plus a ~~ten percent risk of serious health consequences. Just because our results were mild doesn't mean the potential for a disaster wasn't there. I would have paid tens of thousands of dollars for each of us not to have played this game. Let's randomly call it worth $75,000 each not to contract the virus

We never figured out how my wife encountered Covid19. Of all the people we know, my wife is the only person to test positive. Maybe from the grocery store? No doubt there were a few other random encounters. We did hand off a few boxes of Christmas baked goods.

On the flip side, none of the people in our extended contact list contracted Covid19. We at least, none that we know of.

The doctor gave us a ninety-day all clear. But he recommends taking the vaccine later this year because we are not clearly immune from covid19 due to previous infection.

Thank you to everyone for you well wishes. -=- DrStrange
 
Was it "no big deal" based on the outcome? We both took a big risk to our life in last three weeks - the mortality chance was something very roughly in the one percent range. Plus a ~~ten percent risk of serious health consequences. Just because our results were mild doesn't mean the potential for a disaster wasn't there. I would have paid tens of thousands of dollars for each of us not to have played this game.
Well stated Dr. - glad to have you feeling better. For the many "mild" cases, too many of us are familiar with the more serious kind. Be safe everyone - please no more in person meetups for a bit!
 
We need to know our sources and think critically about what we read and the credibility of our sources. I have only heard of a single one of these media outlets, let alone have respect for them. That is the last one... the NYT which is certainly not a sensationalized headline. You can't lump credible news sources in with hot garbage clickbait crap and label it all as a monolith; "the media".
That was just a quick google search, but our Canadian "reputable" news sources have similar headlines.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/covid-19-vaccine-south-africa-variant-1.5860585

However, CP24, financialpost and The south african wouldn't be considered tabloids, just because you haven't heard of them doesn't mean they're not large media bodies. In fact I find it hard to believe you've never heard of Financial Post. Also, it seems like a bit of a deflection from the issue, which is that our media (yes THE MEDIA ;) ) isn't honest.

Either way, glad to hear the Dr is good!
 
Great news! Yes, I would still recommend the vaccine to you (no real down sides), but there's no reason to rush to get it. You are probably at quite low risk of reinfection for several months at least.
 
Glad to hear you both have recovered (mostly) and are doing well, all things considered! If you wouldn't mind - if/when you do get the vaccine could you post or PM an update? I've heard mixed results so far of the during and after effects. Here's to a more promising new year!
 
This will be my last updating post. I am released from quarantine, "cured" and no longer a public health risk.

Neither of us had serious symptoms, a "mild cold". We both lost our sense of taste. I feel recovered from that but my wife is not back to full capacity. <she is one of those people who can taste a complex soup and write down a shopping list of everything in the pot.>

Was it "no big deal" based on the outcome? We both took a big risk to our life in last three weeks - the mortality chance was something very roughly in the one percent range. Plus a ~~ten percent risk of serious health consequences. Just because our results were mild doesn't mean the potential for a disaster wasn't there. I would have paid tens of thousands of dollars for each of us not to have played this game. Let's randomly call it worth $75,000 each not to contract the virus

We never figured out how my wife encountered Covid19. Of all the people we know, my wife is the only person to test positive. Maybe from the grocery store? No doubt there were a few other random encounters. We did hand off a few boxes of Christmas baked goods.

On the flip side, none of the people in our extended contact list contracted Covid19. We at least, none that we know of.

The doctor gave us a ninety-day all clear. But he recommends taking the vaccine later this year because we are not clearly immune from covid19 due to previous infection.

Thank you to everyone for you well wishes. -=- DrStrange
Glad you and your wife are doing well!
Hope you're both back to 100% soon.
 
she is one of those people who can taste a complex soup and write down a shopping list of everything in the pot.
Oddly, this is one of my worst fears of the virus. Top 5 at least.

I know as we get older, we lose some of the edge that we had when we were younger. But losing one of the few things I have improved in the last 20 years would make me miserable beyond belief.

I would rather lose 90% of my chips than lose 90% of my taste.
 
This will be my last updating post. I am released from quarantine, "cured" and no longer a public health risk.

Neither of us had serious symptoms, a "mild cold". We both lost our sense of taste. I feel recovered from that but my wife is not back to full capacity. <she is one of those people who can taste a complex soup and write down a shopping list of everything in the pot.>

Was it "no big deal" based on the outcome? We both took a big risk to our life in last three weeks - the mortality chance was something very roughly in the one percent range. Plus a ~~ten percent risk of serious health consequences. Just because our results were mild doesn't mean the potential for a disaster wasn't there. I would have paid tens of thousands of dollars for each of us not to have played this game. Let's randomly call it worth $75,000 each not to contract the virus

We never figured out how my wife encountered Covid19. Of all the people we know, my wife is the only person to test positive. Maybe from the grocery store? No doubt there were a few other random encounters. We did hand off a few boxes of Christmas baked goods.

On the flip side, none of the people in our extended contact list contracted Covid19. We at least, none that we know of.

The doctor gave us a ninety-day all clear. But he recommends taking the vaccine later this year because we are not clearly immune from covid19 due to previous infection.

Thank you to everyone for you well wishes. -=- DrStrange
That is good to hear. Glad that you are well.
 
So that wasn't my last note . . . . Yes, we are all still "fine", but there are lingering issues.

The whole can't taste / smell things isn't gone. Somedays it is almost "Ok". Other days every thing is tasteless. It is pretty upsetting to have a bowl of hot & sour soup taste the same as chicken broth. I read that it can take weeks or months to recover. Believe that. We are three weeks virus free, but still recovering.

We are both exhausted. Twelve+ hours of sleep most days. No symptoms, just quite weary. Thank goodness we aren't still working. My effective productivity is terrible. My judgement, dubious. Ditto for my wife. This too will get better. But it seems it will take a long time.

There is no way I could do a meat-up as I am today. But I have solid hopes for later in the year -=- DrStrange
 

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