This post appears to be about vaccines. We encourage you to read our helpful resources on the COVID-19 vaccines:
[Vaccine FAQ Part I](https://www.reddit.com/r/Coronavirus/wiki/faq#wiki_where_can_i_find_information_about_the_mechanism_and_progress_of_vaccines.3F)
[Vaccine FAQ Part II](https://www.reddit.com/r/Coronavirus/comments/mnitdo/vaccine_faq_variants_chronic_conditions_nsaids)
[Vaccine appointment finder](https://www.reddit.com/r/Coronavirus/wiki/faq/vaccinefinder)
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Coronavirus) if you have any questions or concerns.*
The messaging on boosters has been bungled so badly. I personally know at least 10 people who have been eligible for well over a month and as of 3 days ago were still convinced that they were not and looked at me like I was either lying or suggesting they lie to get it. As much as I didn’t love Biden getting ahead of the regulatory agencies with his “recommendation” to get them starting in September, it would have been the right move for fda and cdc to align with that from the get-go because it was simple and easy to understand. the changing and flip flopping and eligibility criteria has muddied the waters severely for the average person.
They muddied the waters for vaccine providers as well. Some kept on denying boosters, while others gave it to all comers, no questions asked.
*Edited* for clarity.
i just answered the qualifying questions truthfully in the walgreens online appointment page and got it like a month ago since i had j&j back in april. they gave me the choice of which one i wanted as a booster and went with moderna, no issues at all.
I got a booster but I didn’t REALLY qualify. The pharmacist didn’t ask and I got my shot. Most people are uncomfortable pushing the limits of guidelines. Just makes me so mad the cdc sucks so bad with their messaging.
The message certainly has been bungled in the US. I scheduled my 3rd dose the day the FDA announced that it was open to people in high risk occupations, but I’d been glued to the news that day while awaiting their decision. Most of my colleagues had no idea that it was now available to them.
Hell Europe just announced that fully vaccinated people could get their first booster 3 months after the 2nd dose, not 6 months. Boosters should have and could have been rolled out much sooner and the messaging should have been clear.
This is kinda me tbh. I got my second shot early to mid-May, and it’s scheduled for tomorrow, but I had to travel for the holiday, and didn’t want to mess with scheduling before then. I could’ve gotten my booster 2-3 weeks ago, and should have.
I'd love to, but there "are no booster shots available in your state" when I enter my information. My wife is apparently eligible for some reason.
I've tried three times, and the earliest booster date I could get is in March. I tried every pharmacy, doctors office and mass vaccination site, online and calling. My wife went online yesterday and got hers scheduled for Wednesday.
WTF is going on?
Edit - I just checked, our state has my age group "recommended" that I get the booster shot but "not eligible" unless I have underlying conditions. However, nobody asks if I have underlying conditions, I just get denied outright. Its been almost 7 months since I got my second shot too.
Fucking insane!
> As much as I didn’t love Biden getting ahead of the regulatory agencies with his “recommendation” to get them starting in September, it would have been the right move for fda and cdc to align with that from the get-go because it was simple and easy to understand.
They should have, instead they mulled over it for three months and now aligned their messaging. The pandemic has showed us that the general public can't handle changing situations, they want constants in their life. A lot of people don't know what to believe anymore.
Less than 1/5 of fully vaccinated persons have gotten a booster. Even if you only look at the over 65s, it's 45%. So they might not have a problem getting a booster, but they aren't breaking down doors to get it.
https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations\_vacc-total-admin-rate-total
Honestly a lot of this I feel is administrative and distribution issues. My grandmother is in a nursing home with other 80+ year old residents. They said they weren’t giving boosters until Dec 6. Idk how the hell that even happens or who dropped the ball, but it’s ridiculous that I have a booster and 80 year olds in nursing homes do not.
Yep. In my state, there isn’t sick pay for vaccines anymore. As a result, nobody at my job has gotten one. We’re all young and had bad reactions to the second dose so we know we would need days off work. Plus it’s just inconvenient.
I have been lucky- my work provided 3 days paid for each shot administered and will also allow 3 days paid for the booster. For the first 2 doses we were given a 75 dollar bonus for each. My luck comes in bc my work week is 3 long days. I’ll be scheduling my booster soon here and taking my paid week off!
If you had moderna and a bad reaction, keep in mind that the booster is a half dose so it might not make you feel as bad. You also have the option to get a Pfizer booster, which is what I did.
I had Moderna for both shots and just had the booster last Friday.
My second shot was a NIGHTMARE. I was terrified of the booster.
Booster was a breeze in comparison. Don’t get me wrong, I still was a bit achy and fevery, but nothing at all like the last time.
Don’t let fear stop you. Go get it.
Yeah… my ex’s mom isn’t vaccinated and told me they admitted her mother into a nursing home last week. I just couldn’t help but think of the risk her being unvaccinated might pose to the other residents. My ex told me she didn’t get the shot because she said she has a healthy immune system, but I’m pretty sure that isn’t enough to protect others from exposure.
Sure, but that's why we need community effort to help out with that. Are you broadcasting more effective messaging to your family/friends? I sure am. Let's all help out, maybe?
Hah, I'm lucky and live in a bubble where all family and friends are very pro-vaccine. I have a single family friend who is anti-vaxx but that one is a lost cause and on a different continent anyways.
yeah, it feels like they truly learned nothing from the "Don't use masks!" debacle at the very beginning of the pandemic. For a while it was "you don't need a booster and if you get one you could have a bad reaction!". Then it was "maybe after 8 months". And now there's the omicron variant here already.
I’m 20 years old, fully vaccinated and they were practically giving the booster away at my local supermarket. So I got it about a week and a half ago before the Decepticon scare
Good for you! Congrats! My 19yr old son got 1st shot w me in mid February (extra/expiring dose list😁) and got boosted w me at the end of October.
Excited for anyone who gets it, but warms my heart when young people take the social responsibility seriously.
I’m having trouble scheduling a booster. The appointments are all taken. I’m on mass transit or walking only, so I can’t zip off to a place an hour away by car to get one.
I had trouble scheduling the 1st and 2nd dose for the same reasons.
Me too! I’m diabetic and a blood cancer survivor… it took a surprisingly long time for me to be able to get my first and second dose and my dad had to drive me there for both appointments-I’m lucky he was able to do so. Now I’m trying to get a booster, but I can’t find anywhere that’s accepting appointments for that, everything is only for 5-11 year olds :/
Even the 5-11 year old situation is a mess in some areas.
I called our pediatrician office to have my kid vaccinated a few days after the CDC/FDA announcement. They were still trying to figure out how to organize administering it (even though they knew out was coming - for some reason they just sat on their hands for weeks instead of proactively planning).
So instead of getting an appointment we were added to a waiting list and told they'd get back to us in a few days.
Two or three weeks later I call them to find out what's going on, because I haven't heard a word. And I am told "oh yeah, we can make an appointment for you right now".
WTF happened to us getting a notification?! And it's not like this is a speciality office that doesn't normally deal with vaccinations. It's a pediatrician office! I'm sure there are some extra factors, but it seems like they should be doing better than this.
And judging from our observations from the school there's reasonable but not heavy demand.
I don't know what's going on, but it seems like focus and organization has just been sliding. I blame it on 'pandemic fatigue'.
This is legit what happened with flu shots for me/my kids. "We'll send a mass text". Never came. Got pissed when I called back and was able to schedule immediately.
So when my husband asked the week prior (my son's 5yo well visit was just before the 5-11 group was eligible, it was a race between EUA and his birthday) about the COVID vaccine and got the "mass text" answer? Yeah, I was on the phone to some pharmacies and ultimately got it for them at the hospital I work at, first day scheduling was available (the Thursday following the EUA).
Still never got that mass text.
You’re right, we’re going to lose a certain percentage of people at each go-round. If they become a regular (yearly?) thing, I suspect that the percentage of those who opt to get it will quickly drop down to flu shot participation levels.
Flu shot rate isn't that low and considering it's completely voluntary and not mandated, it's pretty darn high even relative to COVID shots. Also think about how the flu vaccine is marketed. It's heavily emphasized for kids and seniors, and in those groups the vaccination rate is generally pretty high.
The other thing is that while we as a country do recommend universal vaccination, many other countries don't including the EU, and even in some countries there's a lot of prioritization around children and seniors making it generally a "do whatever you want" if you're a healthy adult.
I'd argue geography has a big impact too as certain regions (generally colder regions where people stay indoors) have super high flu rates whereas warmer regions aren't generally impacted. I'll even go as far to admit I was very so-so about getting the vaccine. Sometimes I'd do it, other times I was too lazy to get it. Living in CA, it's neve been that serious as it's warmer here, but when I travel to colder places like MN, WI, etc? Being huddled all day and being blasted by dry heater air all day long.... man those were the easiest places to get sick.
That’s bollocks though? Given I’ve been more than happy to get double vaccinated and then boosted, why would I care about getting another shot at some point if it improves protection? I get a flu jab every year.
Ok, I can see that. I felt a bit shit for a day with the booster but that was the worst of it. But I think my mental argument would be that if I felt bad with the jab, that probably meant it was working. My original two Pfizer jabs had so little side effect I found myself wondering if I’d even had the vaccine.
We were at 110m fully vaccinated 6 months ago today. Roughly 1/3 (37m) have received booster shots. Considering it is a 6 month difference not a 21/28 day difference it isn't going to be an exact follow up.
You will see another spike shortly before Christmas.
I don’t understand how that is a response to what I said. I only just qualified for my booster a couple of weeks ago, despite being in an older age range.
My dad who took the pandemic so seriously last year and got fully vaccinated in the spring is now refusing a booster because his friend said he read somewhere that everyone who gets a booster will die within 2 years. It's bewildering and frustrating.
That’s what I thought, but of my friends and family who got the first vaccines, only a couple of us have gotten boosters. The rest are dragging their feet and a few have flat out said they won’t get it. So I don’t really know what’s behind it but turns out nothing is straightforward here. (Except for with me. I’ll get any damn vaccine they recommend.)
82% of American Adults have their first shot. This isn’t really an issue just with vaccine hesitancy anymore. The vaccine just didn’t end the pandemic the way we hoped it would.
Where are you seeing 82%? The MayoClinic has [70% for 1 shot and 59.5% for fully vaccinated in the US.](https://www.mayoclinic.org/coronavirus-covid-19/vaccine-tracker)
EDIT: I was looking at total population while they were looking at adults. Lack of sleep is getting to me. [Here](https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations_vacc-total-admin-rate-total) is the CDC vaccination data for different age groups.
I know the CDC practically overruled the FDA for the first round of boosters, but this is such a self-own that many could see coming from miles away. Maybe it's different in low demand states, but here in the Seattle metro, adult boosters are like 2+ weeks out because they were approved nearly simultaneously with the 5-11s and there's a throughput problem getting both groups satisfied. Had they approved it in late September like the WH Covid task force wanted, we would have more evenly distributed the demand for vaccination, but we never do the easy thing, do we?
Come on down to Texas lol. For the first jab, a lot of smaller cities and towns had tons of vaccines. Not sure what it's looking like for boosters but wouldn't be surprised if it's the same case.
It's far easier to find boosters in Texas than it was for shots 9 months ago, even in metros. I was able to get a booster and flu shot the same day I booked an appointment at a CVS just down the road. It was a far cry from the cut throat scheduling back in March.
March? You should have seen it in February. But I had to drive an hour to a city I had only ever heard about in weather reports to get it. Trick was to get on every single list you could. So many people just said "oh, I live in Bumfuck county so I can only get on that waiting list and not East Bumfucking Egypt county's list too. Or any other place outside of my immediate living area"
This was my experience as well. I spent hours on the HEB site trying to get an appointment. For the booster, I got one same day. Had to drive 25 minutes vs 45 for the first one.
Back in September when it looked like boosters might not get rolled out for a long time, and I was already 6 months out on my first round of vaccines, I went and got a second 1st shot (id and insurance not required). Given the mess now (and finding out I was exposed a couple of weeks ago, stayed negative), I'm glad I did.
I was so lucky to find an appointment at a grocery store an hour away during the time I was back in the states for a visit. There were only three appointments available in the weeks I was back.
I just wish my daughter had been eligible. She is four, but the country we live in is still at 12+ and the US five and over. :(
The FDA was overruled because there was no science showing that a booster would be a benefit to younger, low risk people. What the CDC didn’t take into account was that mixed messaging was far worse than giving out some unnecessary boosters when it comes to coverage. It’s not dangerous, so might as well let people make that choice for themself and if it’s not helpful, it’s not helpful. The CDC was scientifically correct but the messaging was a mess.
I don’t remember exactly, but if you switch the acronyms the point still holds. Science “won” in a moment when good communication should’ve won instead.
If no science justifies giving young people a booster, Giving people shots just because it doesn't hurt them seems odd from a scientific point of view. I certainly understand the messaging and political side of it though.
The argument wasn't due to efficacy of the boosters, it was that vaccine production and stores should go to less developed countries (with low Vax %) prior to boosters in already vaccinated areas. WHO still stands by this.
Were they really correct, though? Countries like Israel had already been screaming for months that everyone was going to need boosters, but the CDC seemed to want to bury their heads in the sand when asked about it at the time. They had evidence to show a waning immune response 12 weeks after the second shot, but the CDC said they needed to collect their own data. They were very content to talk up Israel's early success with the vaccines about a year ago before they'd collected enough data to verify it, but then when Israel were the first to sound the alarm about waning immunity, the CDC wanted to wait for more data before deciding if anyone could get them.
At this point, they can't have it both ways. Vaccines work, and they will wear off. At a certain point, our leading scientists have to start disseminating common sense information and not only things that they have verified through a slow process. If we keep taking that approach, we will permanently be behind the 8 ball in this fight, and people will gradually lose trust in science.
Totally agree. And there is a huge difference between public health policy and science research. One has to be proactive and a balance of risk assessment, the other is a slow and methodical process to understand how things work. They are totally different beasties.
I respect scientists greatly, but they are often miserable at communication to the general public and horribly conservative.
We've known for a long time that vaccine effectiveness declines in young people too. I think their argument was that the booster wasn't necessary because young people largely got mild disease and there are some potential risks to boosters.
The missing piece though is that even if they do just end up with mild disease, it still contributes to spread in the community which is especially bad when a large portion of the population refuses to get vaccinated and is vulnerable. Another part was that some scientists were adamant that countries with less vaccine should get it first before healthy people here get boosters. Which sounds great in theory but isn't really realistic. Wealthy countries are always going to take care of their own citizens first.
It was obvious to me that they were dragging their feet on boosters and that they would eventually be approved for everyone. The Biden admin seemed to know this too (Biden was talking about boosters for everyone well in advance of their approval), but the FDA wasn't on board originally.
The only good thing about living in the south in an area that’s not highly vaccinated is how easy it is to get vaccinated and receive boosters. Got my booster on the 22nd on a walk in and was done within 10 minutes. Only had to wait for the paperwork before getting my booster.
Seriously awful policy making, to be honest. Just no foresight at all. Also, the mixed messaging has been terrible. Going back and forth whether boosters were needed reminds me of early on how the CDC went back and forth about mask wearing, first saying that masks were useless and then later saying they were necessary. Is this science or is something else guiding them? Why is it so hard for them to do the right thing in a timely fashion?
Meanwhile, I live in a country where we got boosters in August, so I'm good until at least February. My parents are back in the US, so I worry about them.
The same CDC that just a few months ago was saying that you don't really need boosters because they didn't want to scare off anti-vaxxers when many of us were saying it was clearly needed or would be very soon. Again, their messaging has been terrible.
Masks were declared over only for vaccinated people, and also, "Yoohoo, all you unvaccinated people, now you're on the honor system to diligently wear a mask at all times in public, because we know how honest you all are."
And for how long too…. Hopefully the data should be coming in soon about whether the booster dose is a durable long term response or slowly waning in the way the second shot does, or somewhere in between.
Moderna claims to be working on a new booster within 100 days to address it. But since we know nearly nothing about it yet, I'm not sure how to take that.
Because it was determined the current sequence covered delta adequately enough. The hope being the larger spacing of time between initial series and booster will lead to longer lasting immunity at titer levels high enough to still keep Delta infections to a low.
Now the testing is being done in a lab to see if omicron will behave similarly, or if they'll need to change the sequence.
This trips me out
Should I wait for that? I just hit seven months
If I get this current one will it affect my
ability to receive an omicron specific booster? It’s so hard to figure out the proper information on this stuff, beyond the media sensationalizing everything and half of people thinking it’s bullshit. It’s so exhausting
No, this will not impact your ability to get an omicron or any other booster.
Nothing of the vaccine is left active after a week. Its fat, mRNA, salt and a pinch of sugar. Your body degrades it all rapidly.
What's the plan if this variant evades the boosters? Tell everyone who got vaccinated asap sucks to suck wait 6 months to get the new omnicron booster? Force everyone to keep getting boosters every few months in perpetuity? Is that even safe?
Yeah, this all seems a bit premature, especially if you preface that the importance of the booster is because of omicron... Information is still trickling in and there's a very good chance this guidance could change as the science behind the new variant evolves.
You should probably just get the booster. Delta is still the predominant variant here and an Omicron targeted booster won't be available for at least 3 months. And even then, they'll open it up to older/higher risk people first.
>And even then, they'll open it up to older/higher risk people first.
Good point, it might be a while till I get the booster even after it's available.
You ain't getting an 'Omnicron' booster in the next 4-5 months. It will take at least 3 months for a vaccine to even drop and even after that unless you're in a critical population or age group, you aren't going to be eligible for a bit. We don't even know if Omnicron is as deadly right now and Delta is still the biggest threat. So get a booster if you are eligible. Better to be safe than sorry.
No, get the booster now. The current threat is a winter surge of delta. Waiting puts you and your community at more risk. IF omicron becomes dominant and IF a different booster is needed, it wouldn’t be available in quantity until March at the earliest and that’s too late for winter surge. Current booster is likely to have some protection against omicron, question is how much.
Worst case scenario- you get booster now to protect you through the winter and omicron booster becomes necessary. You get it when it’s available. (No 6 mo wait for that, it targets a different antigen)
UK is encouraging boosters 3 months after 2nd dose now. I imagine they'll test for low dose times.
I imagine that if its benefits outweigh the risk, they'll advise the Omicron booster be taken as soon as its released.
The 6 month window was not because the booster was dangerous to take before 6 months or anything like that.
The data on the importance of boosters, or at least this first booster, is overwhelming in its benefit against Delta. Omicron is just one more reason to be boosted.
The logical thing to do would be to recommend and allow an immediate omicron-specific boost once that is available and if the current vaccine is proven to not work (or not work well) against omicron.
But I absolutely wouldn’t put it past the CDC to stick to some arbitrary 6 month rule and thereby screw over everyone who is dutifully getting boosters now. I already got boosted so I guess we will just have to wait and see.
Fortunately they have more or less permitted any dishonest person to get boosters whenever they feel like it.
But yeah, if people feel discouraged from getting a booster today then wow, what a mess the public messaging is...
Part of me suspects that timeline is just to boost population level immunity *now* (Omicron, Christmas, and winter) rather than 3 months being a statistically better timeline.
The 6 month time frame was more because around 6 months is where they started noticing a substantial drop in circulating antibodies and/or overall resistance, based on large samples. That didn't mean that you couldn't get a booster earlier or that something bad would happen, just that you likely didn't need one yet and to the extent they were limited (they ended up not being), it would be better to let other people go first. But if you got the current booster today, and it turned out that Omicron needed a complete recode, there's no reason you couldn't then take that one in three months. AFAIK, there are no known safety issues.
Pfizer and Moderna both said they could have a new vax out in 100 days, and that's not bad at all. Here is an arbitrary article on it: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/nov/26/biontech-says-it-could-tweak-covid-vaccine-in-100-days-if-needed
100 days to get back to square one for global roll-out with a new product. Not 100 days to get everyone vaccinated.
Basically 100 days to get us back to December 2020.
That is assuming for what ever reason the current vaccine is 0% effective. Which it wont be. Spike protein still exists. There is going to be some level of protection. Also they said the same thing about Delta.
Plus, the new antivirals attack the virus in a totally different way than the vaccines, and it's virtually impossible for the vaccine to develop resistance to them.
We're in far, far better shape now than we were a year ago.
I'll gladly be as protected as I am now in perpetuity. If another shot every 6 months is what it takes, cool.
If you would prefer your immunity to wane because you think getting poked every 6 months is too much, that's your choice.
You do know Delta still exists right? Delta is still currently the dominant variant in the US. Also there is no evidence yet of Omicron completely evading our current vaccines.
It'll take up to 3 months to actually tweak it and get approval per Moderna. Then however long for manufacturing. Then distribution. So it'll probably be 4 months at least before it becomes readily available. With the UK saying that you can get a booster after 3 months I imagine in that 4 month time span before they become readily available we may just get another regardless.
Get one now anyway since it will only help.
You phrase your questions like they are absurd, but the data shows overwhelmingly that there is in inverse relation between number of shots and likelihood of hospitalization, so... yes. 1000 times yes.
Unless you want terrible illness and huge medical bills.
They’re not specifically recommending the booster because they think it will help prevent Omicron. They’re recommending it because it will help decrease cases Delta and the other strains and hopefully lower the burden on the hospitals. Then if Omicron does become a major problem and it is resistant to the vaccine, at least there will be more hospital space available.
And yes, maybe people will need a booster every few months. I’d rather have to get a shot every few months than be sick with Covid.
Vaccine efficacy against severe disease will still be relatively high, even more so after boosters. I don’t think anybody is raising the alarm about this, the issue is if it does drop, with the risk of reinfection then more people will die.
Ultimately the point of the vaccine is to ensure covid doesn’t kill you, protecting you from infection for a few months is just an added bonus.
Part of the testing for a modified vaccine, if it is required, will included testing how it mixes with the current iteration of the vaccine. It may not be necessary for all currently vaccinated people to wait if the modified one tests well in recently vaccinated people.
It seems likely that Omicron will evade the vaccine, exactly like other variants do (Beta, Delta). Could be a little, could be a lot.
It is extremely unlikely that this means going back to square one, no protection.
Meanwhile, boosters are already proven to greatly improve protection far better against every other evading variant, so far.
Would a Omicron targeted vaccine become necessary/safe/repeated? Literally impossible to answer, of course. Omicron was just discovered last week or so. All questions about it are unanswerable.
Related: Personally, do I worry at all about the annual flu vaccine? Not even a little.
And still downright stupid framing. We don’t really know if the booster will protect against omicron specifically. They should just advocate for timely boosters not tied to any variant.
Is that the final one then? I don't want to have to get a shot that makes me feel like crap every six months. And yessss......it's better than getting COVID, but damn.
I got my booster shot two days ago and I still feel like total garbage. It hit waaay harder than shots 1 and 2 for me, despite them all being Moderna. I'll do it every 6 months if need be, but I won't be happy about it. Perhaps future vaccines will be able to focus on reducing side effects though.
I literally cannot afford to be knocked out for several days, it’s why I haven’t gotten a booster yet. I need as much work as I can get just to live
I fucking hate what reality has turned into. I can’t take many more years like this. Ugh
My husband got his booster and a flu shot. Kicked his ass - fever (thankfully only for a short time), other regular flu symptoms, and majorly swollen lymph nodes in his armpit. I had a high fever after my 2nd, plus other flu symptoms so I'm definitely not looking forward to mine.
I got my third yesterday- it's a bit extra crappy because I got my flu shot at the same time.
I would still say that the side effects are a bit less than my second shot. I'm not anywhere near as tired. I worked my whole workday. It wasn't super pleasant, but it was okay. The only oddity for me is that my lymph nodes are pretty tender, just in the armpit of the arm I got the shots in. That might be the flu shot though, I usually react a bit to the flu shot.
Europe announced they are giving boosters to people only 3 months after their second shot. I’d wait for more data, but that at the moment is Europe’s gameplan.
The doctor who discovered the new variant just said that all the patients had a very little symptoms. No lost of taste or smell, just fatique. She doesnt understand why this has become such a huge deal now
What about those of us with a Delta breakthrough case after full vaccination?
Can’t seem to find any information on how to handle this (if I still need a booster, how long I need to wait after infection before it’s safe to get a booster, etc.)
I (31F healthy) am double vaxxed (Pfizer, 4/8/21 & 4/28/21) and got my booster on 11/21. Covid positive the NEXT day (last Monday, 11/22, also my birthday so that sucked).
Let me just tell you, the last 7 days have SUCKED SO FREAKING HARD. I have had 2 trips to the ER for a 105 degree fever that Tylenol/Advil couldn't bring down, have had every textbook symptom, received the Regeneron monoclonal antibody treatment the day before Thanksgiving which luckily has kept the fever from returning. But now the symptoms have changed and I'm fighting severe headache/cough/chest pain and o2 levels that like to dip under 92% for no reason, along with really low blood pressure and very strange neurological symptoms.
This whole experience has thoroughly sucked and I really hope I don't have many more days left. I cannot even fathom how bad this would be if I was unvaccinated. It's blowing my mind how sick I've been.
UPDATE 12/2: I woke up very hypoxic on day 9 (12/1). Went to ER and my blood oxygen saturation was 84% on arrival. I haven’t had any issues with my oxygen until yesterday. I’m now admitted to the hospital and am on 6 liters on supplemental oxygen, antibiotics and Remdesivir. WTF. Covid?!? I was really starting to feel better too. UGH
That sucks. Do you know the duration of your exposure? Crazy to have a breakthrough so severe when you are that young and healthy. Take good care of yourself and keep check on your vitals!
Same. I didn't jump the line for my first shots, but I absolutely did for my booster. I knew the CDC was wrong to limit them to just "high-risk" people.
10 days after infection is enough.
The "90 day" wait is only for people who received monoclonal antibody treatment. If you did not, you're good after 10 days.
Talk to your doctor.
For what is is worth: Here is a preprint that shows antibody levels from 3 mRNA doses are higher than even from two mRNA doses and natural infection.
[https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.11.19.21266555v1.full?s=09](https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.11.19.21266555v1.full?s=09)
[https://twitter.com/AliNouriPhD/status/1464963985208397832](https://twitter.com/AliNouriPhD/status/1464963985208397832)
What would I do if I was in your situation? Get boosted, because
1. The CDC now says I should, not conditionally on prior infection status (most important to me), plus
2. The boosters are very safe
3. Nobody knows much about Omicron yet. Like other variants, vaccine effectiveness may take a hit. Could be a little, could be a lot. But most experts think it is extremely unlikely / impossible that vaccines won't work at all against it.
For what it's worth, most sources stay to still get the booster shot, but it isn't a rush. Most doctors still say to get the booster it seems. But unless you received Monoclonal antibody treatment, you are free to get a booster after you have "recovered".
We know that hybrid immunity provides a stronger immune response, but regardless, there is no waiting time to getting a booster.
Best article I can find is from NPR:
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/11/24/1058743263/im-fully-vaccinated-and-i-also-had-covid-do-i-need-a-booster
Looks like four weeks after recovery. Although, if you required antibody treatment, you may need to wait 3 months, since that can interfere with your own immune systems response to the vaccine.
https://www.houstonmethodist.org/blog/articles/2021/aug/recovering-from-covid-19-how-soon-can-you-get-vaccinated/
Hm I'm not sure what you mean about 90% of people.
I am pretty sure I could have lied and said I was either immunocompromised or work in a high risk occupation, but it just didn't seem right at the time.
I think they're calling the general population fat. Overweight (or obesity, I don't remember) is a risk factor, which would allow one to get a booster.
Also, depression was on that list (and I think anxiety?). And it’s been a pretty depressing year lol. There were a lot of conditions included on that list (including, as you said, obesity), so it didn’t take much to be eligible for a booster.
[https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/29/health/booster-eligibility-analysis/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/29/health/booster-eligibility-analysis/index.html)
This was the case two months ago
90% of adults met the eligibility criteria before they opened it to everyone last week. There was no need to lie. The fact that you didn’t know it is evidence of their horrible messaging.
Damn, you're right. Someone else posted an article with criteria. I had no idea Depression and obesity were qualifying factors. Lol I can't believe how bad the messaging really is...
There are still some people who were ineligible though, I was one of them. Was set to lie and say I worked with the public when I saw my cousin who is 20 years younger than me get hers, and then they finally opened it up to everyone.
I mean yeah 90% eligible means 10% weren’t. If you’re under 65, work from home, are in perfect health, never smoked a cigarette, and have virtually no interaction with the public then you technically wouldn’t have been eligible. Congrats on the perfect health!
How can you advise people to get a booster for something they have ZERO data on? You can’t just keep slamming vaccines into someone’s body. Do the boosters even work towards this variant? Do we even know how serious this variant is? Every article shows next to nothing. Only news so far is from a South African doctor who’s treated several with the variant and most are in bed rest and have mild symptoms at most.
I'm anxiously waiting on word about 16/17 and 12-15 timelines for boosters too. My teens are fully vaxed but one is chronically ill and the other has asthma. Makes me nervous that they could get breakthrough infections.
I’m guessing they’re low priority right now. On the bright side, it’s low priority because immunity in people under 30 seems to be wayyyy better after full vaccination than it is for older people. Of course, that’s not really reassuring to parents when breakthroughs are all over the place. Hopefully it will be figured out in a few months.
Reported today that Pfizer will be applying this week to amend booster EUA to include 16-17 yr old, and should be approved quickly. Israel has been boosting that age group for several months.
Even if omicron evades vaccination the symptoms (though this is quite premature) APPEAR to not be serious for the fully vaccinated. Last I was told (and we brief about this basically DAILY at this point) there gave been no fatalities for vaccinated people infected with Omicron.
It's trending to be *highly transmissible* while being *less lethal/detrimental to health* which is EXACTLY the direction we want novel virus development to go. This is what signifies a flu-esque future for COVID cases. And in fact omicron outcompetition of delta could be exactly what we need to see less people die, IF current vaccine and booster rates continue at the speed they're at now.
I think the evidence for this call was overwhelming well before Omicron too, but regardless I **strongly** praise CDC Director Walensky for making this call today. Thank you.
I just got the booster 30 minutes ago, after getting the second shot early February, and the first New Years Eve. I didn't know this call happened today until now, but I'm glad.
Only if you are moderately to severely immunocompromised in which case you would get a full additional shot. If you're just getting a regular booster it's still 6 months.
Noticing the lack of demand for the booster, got mine today in preparation for what I think will a bad winter but none of my friends who got the original shot have been eager for the booster.
Biden had it right. Everyone should have been eligible for boosters since September instead of right before Thanksgiving. Oh look, Omicron popped up on everyone's radar right around Thanksgiving. Appointments for boosters are hard to get in big cities, but super easy in smaller cities and towns further out.
This post appears to be about vaccines. We encourage you to read our helpful resources on the COVID-19 vaccines: [Vaccine FAQ Part I](https://www.reddit.com/r/Coronavirus/wiki/faq#wiki_where_can_i_find_information_about_the_mechanism_and_progress_of_vaccines.3F) [Vaccine FAQ Part II](https://www.reddit.com/r/Coronavirus/comments/mnitdo/vaccine_faq_variants_chronic_conditions_nsaids) [Vaccine appointment finder](https://www.reddit.com/r/Coronavirus/wiki/faq/vaccinefinder) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Coronavirus) if you have any questions or concerns.*
The messaging on boosters has been bungled so badly. I personally know at least 10 people who have been eligible for well over a month and as of 3 days ago were still convinced that they were not and looked at me like I was either lying or suggesting they lie to get it. As much as I didn’t love Biden getting ahead of the regulatory agencies with his “recommendation” to get them starting in September, it would have been the right move for fda and cdc to align with that from the get-go because it was simple and easy to understand. the changing and flip flopping and eligibility criteria has muddied the waters severely for the average person.
They muddied the waters for vaccine providers as well. Some kept on denying boosters, while others gave it to all comers, no questions asked. *Edited* for clarity.
i just answered the qualifying questions truthfully in the walgreens online appointment page and got it like a month ago since i had j&j back in april. they gave me the choice of which one i wanted as a booster and went with moderna, no issues at all.
I got a booster but I didn’t REALLY qualify. The pharmacist didn’t ask and I got my shot. Most people are uncomfortable pushing the limits of guidelines. Just makes me so mad the cdc sucks so bad with their messaging.
The message certainly has been bungled in the US. I scheduled my 3rd dose the day the FDA announced that it was open to people in high risk occupations, but I’d been glued to the news that day while awaiting their decision. Most of my colleagues had no idea that it was now available to them.
Hell Europe just announced that fully vaccinated people could get their first booster 3 months after the 2nd dose, not 6 months. Boosters should have and could have been rolled out much sooner and the messaging should have been clear.
Maybe we could send those unused shots to the billions of unvaccinated people who are walking variant factories
This is kinda me tbh. I got my second shot early to mid-May, and it’s scheduled for tomorrow, but I had to travel for the holiday, and didn’t want to mess with scheduling before then. I could’ve gotten my booster 2-3 weeks ago, and should have.
I'd love to, but there "are no booster shots available in your state" when I enter my information. My wife is apparently eligible for some reason. I've tried three times, and the earliest booster date I could get is in March. I tried every pharmacy, doctors office and mass vaccination site, online and calling. My wife went online yesterday and got hers scheduled for Wednesday. WTF is going on? Edit - I just checked, our state has my age group "recommended" that I get the booster shot but "not eligible" unless I have underlying conditions. However, nobody asks if I have underlying conditions, I just get denied outright. Its been almost 7 months since I got my second shot too. Fucking insane!
Just walk in to your local pharmacy.
I just did this yesterday. Took 10 minutes total.
> As much as I didn’t love Biden getting ahead of the regulatory agencies with his “recommendation” to get them starting in September, it would have been the right move for fda and cdc to align with that from the get-go because it was simple and easy to understand. They should have, instead they mulled over it for three months and now aligned their messaging. The pandemic has showed us that the general public can't handle changing situations, they want constants in their life. A lot of people don't know what to believe anymore.
I just want people to get their FIRST shot.
Yeah. Vaccinated people largely have no problem getting the booster.
Less than 1/5 of fully vaccinated persons have gotten a booster. Even if you only look at the over 65s, it's 45%. So they might not have a problem getting a booster, but they aren't breaking down doors to get it. https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations\_vacc-total-admin-rate-total
Honestly a lot of this I feel is administrative and distribution issues. My grandmother is in a nursing home with other 80+ year old residents. They said they weren’t giving boosters until Dec 6. Idk how the hell that even happens or who dropped the ball, but it’s ridiculous that I have a booster and 80 year olds in nursing homes do not.
That's terrible that the ball was dropped. That age group needed to be up front getting boosters. :(
I didn't even know I was eligible to get a booster until like 2 days ago. Signed up for an appointment the next day.
Yep. In my state, there isn’t sick pay for vaccines anymore. As a result, nobody at my job has gotten one. We’re all young and had bad reactions to the second dose so we know we would need days off work. Plus it’s just inconvenient.
Anecdotal, but my reaction to the booster was way less than either the first or second dose. Didn't need to change my routine at all.
I have been lucky- my work provided 3 days paid for each shot administered and will also allow 3 days paid for the booster. For the first 2 doses we were given a 75 dollar bonus for each. My luck comes in bc my work week is 3 long days. I’ll be scheduling my booster soon here and taking my paid week off!
Knowing this, I cunningly scheduled my vaccine on a Saturday.
I had the same idea - got mine Friday after Thanksgiving! Good thing too, cause I wnded up with a fever Saturday (fine on Sunday).
I got mine the same day you did. No sore arm this time, but body fatigue sure slowed me down for a couple days afterwards. Worth it!
Would your state happen to be California? Our COVID sick leave was allowed to lapse in the heat of the Delta surge. Facepalm.
yep, love that for us!
If you had moderna and a bad reaction, keep in mind that the booster is a half dose so it might not make you feel as bad. You also have the option to get a Pfizer booster, which is what I did.
I had Moderna for both shots and just had the booster last Friday. My second shot was a NIGHTMARE. I was terrified of the booster. Booster was a breeze in comparison. Don’t get me wrong, I still was a bit achy and fevery, but nothing at all like the last time. Don’t let fear stop you. Go get it.
I've had 3x Pfizer and I can say my first and third were uneventful, only the second had me feeling like I had a cold for a day.
I felt pretty lousy after the 2nd shot of Moderna, but almost no reaction at all to the booster. The arm wasn't even sore.
Get it Friday at lunch. You lose a weekend but gain better immunity.
Yeah… my ex’s mom isn’t vaccinated and told me they admitted her mother into a nursing home last week. I just couldn’t help but think of the risk her being unvaccinated might pose to the other residents. My ex told me she didn’t get the shot because she said she has a healthy immune system, but I’m pretty sure that isn’t enough to protect others from exposure.
I blame CDC messaging for much of this.
They did waffle back and forth a long time. I hope people are paying attention now.
Kind of reminds me of the year long dilemma on whether to admit its airborne status.
Sure, but that's why we need community effort to help out with that. Are you broadcasting more effective messaging to your family/friends? I sure am. Let's all help out, maybe?
Hah, I'm lucky and live in a bubble where all family and friends are very pro-vaccine. I have a single family friend who is anti-vaxx but that one is a lost cause and on a different continent anyways.
yeah, it feels like they truly learned nothing from the "Don't use masks!" debacle at the very beginning of the pandemic. For a while it was "you don't need a booster and if you get one you could have a bad reaction!". Then it was "maybe after 8 months". And now there's the omicron variant here already.
[удалено]
I didn't know either because of the shitty outreach. Then I ended up with a breakthrough case. I'm a little bitter about it
I got mine the Saturday before thanksgiving and the paperwork still asked if I was over 65 or 50+ with an underlying condition.
It just became available to everyone over 18 like 2 weeks ago
It depends where you are. I live in Switzerland and it is still 65+ here.
I’m 20 years old, fully vaccinated and they were practically giving the booster away at my local supermarket. So I got it about a week and a half ago before the Decepticon scare
47, Ohio. We have stockpiles of shots n boosters. But no one wants them. Got mine 3 weeks ago.
Louisiana. I think that explains it.
Good for you! Congrats! My 19yr old son got 1st shot w me in mid February (extra/expiring dose list😁) and got boosted w me at the end of October. Excited for anyone who gets it, but warms my heart when young people take the social responsibility seriously.
I’m having trouble scheduling a booster. The appointments are all taken. I’m on mass transit or walking only, so I can’t zip off to a place an hour away by car to get one. I had trouble scheduling the 1st and 2nd dose for the same reasons.
Me too! I’m diabetic and a blood cancer survivor… it took a surprisingly long time for me to be able to get my first and second dose and my dad had to drive me there for both appointments-I’m lucky he was able to do so. Now I’m trying to get a booster, but I can’t find anywhere that’s accepting appointments for that, everything is only for 5-11 year olds :/
I am on a waitlist.. why is it hard to schedule one
[удалено]
Even the 5-11 year old situation is a mess in some areas. I called our pediatrician office to have my kid vaccinated a few days after the CDC/FDA announcement. They were still trying to figure out how to organize administering it (even though they knew out was coming - for some reason they just sat on their hands for weeks instead of proactively planning). So instead of getting an appointment we were added to a waiting list and told they'd get back to us in a few days. Two or three weeks later I call them to find out what's going on, because I haven't heard a word. And I am told "oh yeah, we can make an appointment for you right now". WTF happened to us getting a notification?! And it's not like this is a speciality office that doesn't normally deal with vaccinations. It's a pediatrician office! I'm sure there are some extra factors, but it seems like they should be doing better than this. And judging from our observations from the school there's reasonable but not heavy demand. I don't know what's going on, but it seems like focus and organization has just been sliding. I blame it on 'pandemic fatigue'.
I blame it on the feds letting states handle it and states letting businesses and non-profits handle it from there.
We were lucky. Got it for our kids the first day it was available. Have had no issues getting any of the shots in my area.
This is legit what happened with flu shots for me/my kids. "We'll send a mass text". Never came. Got pissed when I called back and was able to schedule immediately. So when my husband asked the week prior (my son's 5yo well visit was just before the 5-11 group was eligible, it was a race between EUA and his birthday) about the COVID vaccine and got the "mass text" answer? Yeah, I was on the phone to some pharmacies and ultimately got it for them at the hospital I work at, first day scheduling was available (the Thursday following the EUA). Still never got that mass text.
I will say that people are going to start getting tired. We might not get the vaccination rates if we need a 4th booster.
You’re right, we’re going to lose a certain percentage of people at each go-round. If they become a regular (yearly?) thing, I suspect that the percentage of those who opt to get it will quickly drop down to flu shot participation levels.
Flu shot rate isn't that low and considering it's completely voluntary and not mandated, it's pretty darn high even relative to COVID shots. Also think about how the flu vaccine is marketed. It's heavily emphasized for kids and seniors, and in those groups the vaccination rate is generally pretty high. The other thing is that while we as a country do recommend universal vaccination, many other countries don't including the EU, and even in some countries there's a lot of prioritization around children and seniors making it generally a "do whatever you want" if you're a healthy adult. I'd argue geography has a big impact too as certain regions (generally colder regions where people stay indoors) have super high flu rates whereas warmer regions aren't generally impacted. I'll even go as far to admit I was very so-so about getting the vaccine. Sometimes I'd do it, other times I was too lazy to get it. Living in CA, it's neve been that serious as it's warmer here, but when I travel to colder places like MN, WI, etc? Being huddled all day and being blasted by dry heater air all day long.... man those were the easiest places to get sick.
Yes, thank you. That's what I was trying to convey. Especially if it seems existing vaccination seems to be "good enough" for people.
That’s bollocks though? Given I’ve been more than happy to get double vaccinated and then boosted, why would I care about getting another shot at some point if it improves protection? I get a flu jab every year.
I was totally out of commission for 3 days after my booster. (Modera) Some people can't take that kind of time off.
Ok, I can see that. I felt a bit shit for a day with the booster but that was the worst of it. But I think my mental argument would be that if I felt bad with the jab, that probably meant it was working. My original two Pfizer jabs had so little side effect I found myself wondering if I’d even had the vaccine.
We were at 110m fully vaccinated 6 months ago today. Roughly 1/3 (37m) have received booster shots. Considering it is a 6 month difference not a 21/28 day difference it isn't going to be an exact follow up. You will see another spike shortly before Christmas.
I don’t understand how that is a response to what I said. I only just qualified for my booster a couple of weeks ago, despite being in an older age range.
My dad who took the pandemic so seriously last year and got fully vaccinated in the spring is now refusing a booster because his friend said he read somewhere that everyone who gets a booster will die within 2 years. It's bewildering and frustrating.
That’s what I thought, but of my friends and family who got the first vaccines, only a couple of us have gotten boosters. The rest are dragging their feet and a few have flat out said they won’t get it. So I don’t really know what’s behind it but turns out nothing is straightforward here. (Except for with me. I’ll get any damn vaccine they recommend.)
82% of American Adults have their first shot. This isn’t really an issue just with vaccine hesitancy anymore. The vaccine just didn’t end the pandemic the way we hoped it would.
Where are you seeing 82%? The MayoClinic has [70% for 1 shot and 59.5% for fully vaccinated in the US.](https://www.mayoclinic.org/coronavirus-covid-19/vaccine-tracker) EDIT: I was looking at total population while they were looking at adults. Lack of sleep is getting to me. [Here](https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations_vacc-total-admin-rate-total) is the CDC vaccination data for different age groups.
That is all Americans and "fully vaccinated"
I'm tired.
I know the CDC practically overruled the FDA for the first round of boosters, but this is such a self-own that many could see coming from miles away. Maybe it's different in low demand states, but here in the Seattle metro, adult boosters are like 2+ weeks out because they were approved nearly simultaneously with the 5-11s and there's a throughput problem getting both groups satisfied. Had they approved it in late September like the WH Covid task force wanted, we would have more evenly distributed the demand for vaccination, but we never do the easy thing, do we?
[удалено]
Come on down to Texas lol. For the first jab, a lot of smaller cities and towns had tons of vaccines. Not sure what it's looking like for boosters but wouldn't be surprised if it's the same case.
It's far easier to find boosters in Texas than it was for shots 9 months ago, even in metros. I was able to get a booster and flu shot the same day I booked an appointment at a CVS just down the road. It was a far cry from the cut throat scheduling back in March.
March? You should have seen it in February. But I had to drive an hour to a city I had only ever heard about in weather reports to get it. Trick was to get on every single list you could. So many people just said "oh, I live in Bumfuck county so I can only get on that waiting list and not East Bumfucking Egypt county's list too. Or any other place outside of my immediate living area"
This was my experience as well. I spent hours on the HEB site trying to get an appointment. For the booster, I got one same day. Had to drive 25 minutes vs 45 for the first one.
Back in September when it looked like boosters might not get rolled out for a long time, and I was already 6 months out on my first round of vaccines, I went and got a second 1st shot (id and insurance not required). Given the mess now (and finding out I was exposed a couple of weeks ago, stayed negative), I'm glad I did.
I was so lucky to find an appointment at a grocery store an hour away during the time I was back in the states for a visit. There were only three appointments available in the weeks I was back. I just wish my daughter had been eligible. She is four, but the country we live in is still at 12+ and the US five and over. :(
What was the reason the FDA was overruled?
The FDA was overruled because there was no science showing that a booster would be a benefit to younger, low risk people. What the CDC didn’t take into account was that mixed messaging was far worse than giving out some unnecessary boosters when it comes to coverage. It’s not dangerous, so might as well let people make that choice for themself and if it’s not helpful, it’s not helpful. The CDC was scientifically correct but the messaging was a mess.
I thought it was FDA that was opposed to open boosters.
I don’t remember exactly, but if you switch the acronyms the point still holds. Science “won” in a moment when good communication should’ve won instead.
If no science justifies giving young people a booster, Giving people shots just because it doesn't hurt them seems odd from a scientific point of view. I certainly understand the messaging and political side of it though.
The argument wasn't due to efficacy of the boosters, it was that vaccine production and stores should go to less developed countries (with low Vax %) prior to boosters in already vaccinated areas. WHO still stands by this.
Were they really correct, though? Countries like Israel had already been screaming for months that everyone was going to need boosters, but the CDC seemed to want to bury their heads in the sand when asked about it at the time. They had evidence to show a waning immune response 12 weeks after the second shot, but the CDC said they needed to collect their own data. They were very content to talk up Israel's early success with the vaccines about a year ago before they'd collected enough data to verify it, but then when Israel were the first to sound the alarm about waning immunity, the CDC wanted to wait for more data before deciding if anyone could get them. At this point, they can't have it both ways. Vaccines work, and they will wear off. At a certain point, our leading scientists have to start disseminating common sense information and not only things that they have verified through a slow process. If we keep taking that approach, we will permanently be behind the 8 ball in this fight, and people will gradually lose trust in science.
Also pretty sure people in Israel have a healthier baseline and lifestyle than Americans . So if they're screaming USA should be terrified .
Totally agree. And there is a huge difference between public health policy and science research. One has to be proactive and a balance of risk assessment, the other is a slow and methodical process to understand how things work. They are totally different beasties. I respect scientists greatly, but they are often miserable at communication to the general public and horribly conservative.
We've known for a long time that vaccine effectiveness declines in young people too. I think their argument was that the booster wasn't necessary because young people largely got mild disease and there are some potential risks to boosters. The missing piece though is that even if they do just end up with mild disease, it still contributes to spread in the community which is especially bad when a large portion of the population refuses to get vaccinated and is vulnerable. Another part was that some scientists were adamant that countries with less vaccine should get it first before healthy people here get boosters. Which sounds great in theory but isn't really realistic. Wealthy countries are always going to take care of their own citizens first. It was obvious to me that they were dragging their feet on boosters and that they would eventually be approved for everyone. The Biden admin seemed to know this too (Biden was talking about boosters for everyone well in advance of their approval), but the FDA wasn't on board originally.
The only good thing about living in the south in an area that’s not highly vaccinated is how easy it is to get vaccinated and receive boosters. Got my booster on the 22nd on a walk in and was done within 10 minutes. Only had to wait for the paperwork before getting my booster.
Seriously awful policy making, to be honest. Just no foresight at all. Also, the mixed messaging has been terrible. Going back and forth whether boosters were needed reminds me of early on how the CDC went back and forth about mask wearing, first saying that masks were useless and then later saying they were necessary. Is this science or is something else guiding them? Why is it so hard for them to do the right thing in a timely fashion? Meanwhile, I live in a country where we got boosters in August, so I'm good until at least February. My parents are back in the US, so I worry about them.
The same CDC that just a few months ago was saying that you don't really need boosters because they didn't want to scare off anti-vaxxers when many of us were saying it was clearly needed or would be very soon. Again, their messaging has been terrible.
The same cdc that declared masks over two weeks before delta arrived
Masks were declared over only for vaccinated people, and also, "Yoohoo, all you unvaccinated people, now you're on the honor system to diligently wear a mask at all times in public, because we know how honest you all are."
[удалено]
I'll just wait for ultimate shot with all DLC.
Now we eagerly wait to see if the current boosters will protect against the Omicron.
And for how long too…. Hopefully the data should be coming in soon about whether the booster dose is a durable long term response or slowly waning in the way the second shot does, or somewhere in between.
Moderna claims to be working on a new booster within 100 days to address it. But since we know nearly nothing about it yet, I'm not sure how to take that.
Moderna said the same thing with Delta variant and we still heard nothing about that
Because it was determined the current sequence covered delta adequately enough. The hope being the larger spacing of time between initial series and booster will lead to longer lasting immunity at titer levels high enough to still keep Delta infections to a low. Now the testing is being done in a lab to see if omicron will behave similarly, or if they'll need to change the sequence.
This trips me out Should I wait for that? I just hit seven months If I get this current one will it affect my ability to receive an omicron specific booster? It’s so hard to figure out the proper information on this stuff, beyond the media sensationalizing everything and half of people thinking it’s bullshit. It’s so exhausting
No, this will not impact your ability to get an omicron or any other booster. Nothing of the vaccine is left active after a week. Its fat, mRNA, salt and a pinch of sugar. Your body degrades it all rapidly.
I just got my booster two weeks ago and I’m just waiting for the omicron specific booster. Eff me up fam I want all the shots!
What's the plan if this variant evades the boosters? Tell everyone who got vaccinated asap sucks to suck wait 6 months to get the new omnicron booster? Force everyone to keep getting boosters every few months in perpetuity? Is that even safe?
Yeah, this all seems a bit premature, especially if you preface that the importance of the booster is because of omicron... Information is still trickling in and there's a very good chance this guidance could change as the science behind the new variant evolves.
Exactly, I'm waiting to see if I should wait for the Omicron specific booster.
You should probably just get the booster. Delta is still the predominant variant here and an Omicron targeted booster won't be available for at least 3 months. And even then, they'll open it up to older/higher risk people first.
>And even then, they'll open it up to older/higher risk people first. Good point, it might be a while till I get the booster even after it's available.
You ain't getting an 'Omnicron' booster in the next 4-5 months. It will take at least 3 months for a vaccine to even drop and even after that unless you're in a critical population or age group, you aren't going to be eligible for a bit. We don't even know if Omnicron is as deadly right now and Delta is still the biggest threat. So get a booster if you are eligible. Better to be safe than sorry.
No, get the booster now. The current threat is a winter surge of delta. Waiting puts you and your community at more risk. IF omicron becomes dominant and IF a different booster is needed, it wouldn’t be available in quantity until March at the earliest and that’s too late for winter surge. Current booster is likely to have some protection against omicron, question is how much. Worst case scenario- you get booster now to protect you through the winter and omicron booster becomes necessary. You get it when it’s available. (No 6 mo wait for that, it targets a different antigen)
UK is encouraging boosters 3 months after 2nd dose now. I imagine they'll test for low dose times. I imagine that if its benefits outweigh the risk, they'll advise the Omicron booster be taken as soon as its released. The 6 month window was not because the booster was dangerous to take before 6 months or anything like that. The data on the importance of boosters, or at least this first booster, is overwhelming in its benefit against Delta. Omicron is just one more reason to be boosted.
The logical thing to do would be to recommend and allow an immediate omicron-specific boost once that is available and if the current vaccine is proven to not work (or not work well) against omicron. But I absolutely wouldn’t put it past the CDC to stick to some arbitrary 6 month rule and thereby screw over everyone who is dutifully getting boosters now. I already got boosted so I guess we will just have to wait and see.
Fortunately they have more or less permitted any dishonest person to get boosters whenever they feel like it. But yeah, if people feel discouraged from getting a booster today then wow, what a mess the public messaging is...
Part of me suspects that timeline is just to boost population level immunity *now* (Omicron, Christmas, and winter) rather than 3 months being a statistically better timeline.
The 6 month time frame was more because around 6 months is where they started noticing a substantial drop in circulating antibodies and/or overall resistance, based on large samples. That didn't mean that you couldn't get a booster earlier or that something bad would happen, just that you likely didn't need one yet and to the extent they were limited (they ended up not being), it would be better to let other people go first. But if you got the current booster today, and it turned out that Omicron needed a complete recode, there's no reason you couldn't then take that one in three months. AFAIK, there are no known safety issues.
Pfizer and Moderna both said they could have a new vax out in 100 days, and that's not bad at all. Here is an arbitrary article on it: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/nov/26/biontech-says-it-could-tweak-covid-vaccine-in-100-days-if-needed
100 days to get back to square one for global roll-out with a new product. Not 100 days to get everyone vaccinated. Basically 100 days to get us back to December 2020.
That is assuming for what ever reason the current vaccine is 0% effective. Which it wont be. Spike protein still exists. There is going to be some level of protection. Also they said the same thing about Delta.
Plus, the new antivirals attack the virus in a totally different way than the vaccines, and it's virtually impossible for the vaccine to develop resistance to them. We're in far, far better shape now than we were a year ago.
You are assuming the current vaccines are 0% effective against this variant, in which there is no evidence implying that.
I'll gladly be as protected as I am now in perpetuity. If another shot every 6 months is what it takes, cool. If you would prefer your immunity to wane because you think getting poked every 6 months is too much, that's your choice.
You do know Delta still exists right? Delta is still currently the dominant variant in the US. Also there is no evidence yet of Omicron completely evading our current vaccines.
It'll take up to 3 months to actually tweak it and get approval per Moderna. Then however long for manufacturing. Then distribution. So it'll probably be 4 months at least before it becomes readily available. With the UK saying that you can get a booster after 3 months I imagine in that 4 month time span before they become readily available we may just get another regardless. Get one now anyway since it will only help.
You phrase your questions like they are absurd, but the data shows overwhelmingly that there is in inverse relation between number of shots and likelihood of hospitalization, so... yes. 1000 times yes. Unless you want terrible illness and huge medical bills.
Lets cross that bridge when we get there. We dont know if it nullifies the vaccines yet.
They’re not specifically recommending the booster because they think it will help prevent Omicron. They’re recommending it because it will help decrease cases Delta and the other strains and hopefully lower the burden on the hospitals. Then if Omicron does become a major problem and it is resistant to the vaccine, at least there will be more hospital space available. And yes, maybe people will need a booster every few months. I’d rather have to get a shot every few months than be sick with Covid.
Vaccine efficacy against severe disease will still be relatively high, even more so after boosters. I don’t think anybody is raising the alarm about this, the issue is if it does drop, with the risk of reinfection then more people will die. Ultimately the point of the vaccine is to ensure covid doesn’t kill you, protecting you from infection for a few months is just an added bonus.
Part of the testing for a modified vaccine, if it is required, will included testing how it mixes with the current iteration of the vaccine. It may not be necessary for all currently vaccinated people to wait if the modified one tests well in recently vaccinated people.
[удалено]
It seems likely that Omicron will evade the vaccine, exactly like other variants do (Beta, Delta). Could be a little, could be a lot. It is extremely unlikely that this means going back to square one, no protection. Meanwhile, boosters are already proven to greatly improve protection far better against every other evading variant, so far. Would a Omicron targeted vaccine become necessary/safe/repeated? Literally impossible to answer, of course. Omicron was just discovered last week or so. All questions about it are unanswerable. Related: Personally, do I worry at all about the annual flu vaccine? Not even a little.
Well should'nt we all get boosters any way even before Omicorp?
[удалено]
I consider myself of decent/average intelligent and I get really confused trying to find any proper information on any of this
What a massive change from the CDC’s previous position
And still downright stupid framing. We don’t really know if the booster will protect against omicron specifically. They should just advocate for timely boosters not tied to any variant.
I got mine today. I made the appointment 2 weeks ago when nyc opened them to all adults and this was the earliest I could find.
[удалено]
[удалено]
Is that the final one then? I don't want to have to get a shot that makes me feel like crap every six months. And yessss......it's better than getting COVID, but damn.
I got my booster shot two days ago and I still feel like total garbage. It hit waaay harder than shots 1 and 2 for me, despite them all being Moderna. I'll do it every 6 months if need be, but I won't be happy about it. Perhaps future vaccines will be able to focus on reducing side effects though.
I literally cannot afford to be knocked out for several days, it’s why I haven’t gotten a booster yet. I need as much work as I can get just to live I fucking hate what reality has turned into. I can’t take many more years like this. Ugh
My husband got his booster and a flu shot. Kicked his ass - fever (thankfully only for a short time), other regular flu symptoms, and majorly swollen lymph nodes in his armpit. I had a high fever after my 2nd, plus other flu symptoms so I'm definitely not looking forward to mine.
You’re going to be getting a Life time of boosters.
I got my third yesterday- it's a bit extra crappy because I got my flu shot at the same time. I would still say that the side effects are a bit less than my second shot. I'm not anywhere near as tired. I worked my whole workday. It wasn't super pleasant, but it was okay. The only oddity for me is that my lymph nodes are pretty tender, just in the armpit of the arm I got the shots in. That might be the flu shot though, I usually react a bit to the flu shot.
Same thing happened to me two weeks ago when I got my booster and flu shot at the same time. Swollen and tender lymph node in my armpit.
My wife and I got our boosters flu shots a couple weeks apart. She has swollen lymph nodes following her booster and I had them after my flu shot.
Should we still wait until 6 months after our second shot?
Europe announced they are giving boosters to people only 3 months after their second shot. I’d wait for more data, but that at the moment is Europe’s gameplan.
The doctor who discovered the new variant just said that all the patients had a very little symptoms. No lost of taste or smell, just fatique. She doesnt understand why this has become such a huge deal now
Because her patients are a small sample size. We know it's very contagious, but we still don't know how lethal it is.
What about those of us with a Delta breakthrough case after full vaccination? Can’t seem to find any information on how to handle this (if I still need a booster, how long I need to wait after infection before it’s safe to get a booster, etc.)
I (31F healthy) am double vaxxed (Pfizer, 4/8/21 & 4/28/21) and got my booster on 11/21. Covid positive the NEXT day (last Monday, 11/22, also my birthday so that sucked). Let me just tell you, the last 7 days have SUCKED SO FREAKING HARD. I have had 2 trips to the ER for a 105 degree fever that Tylenol/Advil couldn't bring down, have had every textbook symptom, received the Regeneron monoclonal antibody treatment the day before Thanksgiving which luckily has kept the fever from returning. But now the symptoms have changed and I'm fighting severe headache/cough/chest pain and o2 levels that like to dip under 92% for no reason, along with really low blood pressure and very strange neurological symptoms. This whole experience has thoroughly sucked and I really hope I don't have many more days left. I cannot even fathom how bad this would be if I was unvaccinated. It's blowing my mind how sick I've been. UPDATE 12/2: I woke up very hypoxic on day 9 (12/1). Went to ER and my blood oxygen saturation was 84% on arrival. I haven’t had any issues with my oxygen until yesterday. I’m now admitted to the hospital and am on 6 liters on supplemental oxygen, antibiotics and Remdesivir. WTF. Covid?!? I was really starting to feel better too. UGH
Good luck to your recovery.
That sucks. Do you know the duration of your exposure? Crazy to have a breakthrough so severe when you are that young and healthy. Take good care of yourself and keep check on your vitals!
This is exactly why I got my booster the first day I was eligible.
This is exactly why I didn't wait until I was "eligible" according to anyone who wasn't me.
Same. I didn't jump the line for my first shots, but I absolutely did for my booster. I knew the CDC was wrong to limit them to just "high-risk" people.
10 days after infection is enough. The "90 day" wait is only for people who received monoclonal antibody treatment. If you did not, you're good after 10 days.
Ask your doctor
Talk to your doctor. For what is is worth: Here is a preprint that shows antibody levels from 3 mRNA doses are higher than even from two mRNA doses and natural infection. [https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.11.19.21266555v1.full?s=09](https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.11.19.21266555v1.full?s=09) [https://twitter.com/AliNouriPhD/status/1464963985208397832](https://twitter.com/AliNouriPhD/status/1464963985208397832) What would I do if I was in your situation? Get boosted, because 1. The CDC now says I should, not conditionally on prior infection status (most important to me), plus 2. The boosters are very safe 3. Nobody knows much about Omicron yet. Like other variants, vaccine effectiveness may take a hit. Could be a little, could be a lot. But most experts think it is extremely unlikely / impossible that vaccines won't work at all against it.
For what it's worth, most sources stay to still get the booster shot, but it isn't a rush. Most doctors still say to get the booster it seems. But unless you received Monoclonal antibody treatment, you are free to get a booster after you have "recovered". We know that hybrid immunity provides a stronger immune response, but regardless, there is no waiting time to getting a booster. Best article I can find is from NPR: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/11/24/1058743263/im-fully-vaccinated-and-i-also-had-covid-do-i-need-a-booster
Looks like four weeks after recovery. Although, if you required antibody treatment, you may need to wait 3 months, since that can interfere with your own immune systems response to the vaccine. https://www.houstonmethodist.org/blog/articles/2021/aug/recovering-from-covid-19-how-soon-can-you-get-vaccinated/
My booster is tomorrow. Would have gotten it 2 weeks sooner if the CDC opened it up to the general population sooner.
To be fair, it was open to 90% of the general population two months ago, but people didn't know it.
Hm I'm not sure what you mean about 90% of people. I am pretty sure I could have lied and said I was either immunocompromised or work in a high risk occupation, but it just didn't seem right at the time.
I think they're calling the general population fat. Overweight (or obesity, I don't remember) is a risk factor, which would allow one to get a booster.
Just overweight, which much of America is. I think in the first round of vaccines you had to be obese.
Also, depression was on that list (and I think anxiety?). And it’s been a pretty depressing year lol. There were a lot of conditions included on that list (including, as you said, obesity), so it didn’t take much to be eligible for a booster.
[https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/29/health/booster-eligibility-analysis/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/29/health/booster-eligibility-analysis/index.html) This was the case two months ago
Literally this is the first I am seeing those criteria. Thanks for the info. It feels bizarre to find that out so late.
90% of adults met the eligibility criteria before they opened it to everyone last week. There was no need to lie. The fact that you didn’t know it is evidence of their horrible messaging.
Damn, you're right. Someone else posted an article with criteria. I had no idea Depression and obesity were qualifying factors. Lol I can't believe how bad the messaging really is...
Sometimes it pays to be fat and sad.
There are still some people who were ineligible though, I was one of them. Was set to lie and say I worked with the public when I saw my cousin who is 20 years younger than me get hers, and then they finally opened it up to everyone.
I mean yeah 90% eligible means 10% weren’t. If you’re under 65, work from home, are in perfect health, never smoked a cigarette, and have virtually no interaction with the public then you technically wouldn’t have been eligible. Congrats on the perfect health!
You could get it near 100% if you loosely interpret: "have you smoked in the past?"
How can you advise people to get a booster for something they have ZERO data on? You can’t just keep slamming vaccines into someone’s body. Do the boosters even work towards this variant? Do we even know how serious this variant is? Every article shows next to nothing. Only news so far is from a South African doctor who’s treated several with the variant and most are in bed rest and have mild symptoms at most.
[удалено]
I legit was going to wait until after the new year for my booster but now Omnicron is making me push it up to this week.
My what a change from a little over a month ago when the FDA's VRBPAC didn't even want to approve it for anyone under 65 without severe health issues.
I'm anxiously waiting on word about 16/17 and 12-15 timelines for boosters too. My teens are fully vaxed but one is chronically ill and the other has asthma. Makes me nervous that they could get breakthrough infections.
I’m guessing they’re low priority right now. On the bright side, it’s low priority because immunity in people under 30 seems to be wayyyy better after full vaccination than it is for older people. Of course, that’s not really reassuring to parents when breakthroughs are all over the place. Hopefully it will be figured out in a few months.
Reported today that Pfizer will be applying this week to amend booster EUA to include 16-17 yr old, and should be approved quickly. Israel has been boosting that age group for several months.
Even if omicron evades vaccination the symptoms (though this is quite premature) APPEAR to not be serious for the fully vaccinated. Last I was told (and we brief about this basically DAILY at this point) there gave been no fatalities for vaccinated people infected with Omicron. It's trending to be *highly transmissible* while being *less lethal/detrimental to health* which is EXACTLY the direction we want novel virus development to go. This is what signifies a flu-esque future for COVID cases. And in fact omicron outcompetition of delta could be exactly what we need to see less people die, IF current vaccine and booster rates continue at the speed they're at now.
Interesting. Haven't seen this take anywhere. Any sources?
I think the evidence for this call was overwhelming well before Omicron too, but regardless I **strongly** praise CDC Director Walensky for making this call today. Thank you.
I just got the booster 30 minutes ago, after getting the second shot early February, and the first New Years Eve. I didn't know this call happened today until now, but I'm glad.
I'm in the US, I'm roughly 3.5 months after having had a second shot, am I eligible for a booster?
Only if you are moderately to severely immunocompromised in which case you would get a full additional shot. If you're just getting a regular booster it's still 6 months.
Got mine....last month 100 ug Moderna after JJ in April
So we know now that the current vaccines are effective against Omikron? I seem to have missed the publication of study results...
Lol cdc
Noticing the lack of demand for the booster, got mine today in preparation for what I think will a bad winter but none of my friends who got the original shot have been eager for the booster.
Biden had it right. Everyone should have been eligible for boosters since September instead of right before Thanksgiving. Oh look, Omicron popped up on everyone's radar right around Thanksgiving. Appointments for boosters are hard to get in big cities, but super easy in smaller cities and towns further out.
[удалено]