I talked a little bit with another fan while watching people get vaccinated. I mentioned that I wish I’d gotten the J&J shot because I’d be fully vaxxed by now. He said “well, you’re 12 days post-pfizer. That’s just as good as J&J”
Yes and no. Mostly no.
People misunderstand the J&J numbers so much. Yes, you are more likely to get a mild case with J&J, but you are still incredibly unlikely to get a serious case, the same as P or M. I think for the in-between period for P/M, you have an elevated risk of mild cases, but reasonably good protection against severe cases, right?
J&J was my first choice but my appointment was canceled because of the pause. I am very, very, very pro-J&J because it can reach rural areas and poorer regions worldwide.
A schedule conflict arose for 17yo, so we pushed 2nd dose out 10 days to get past AP exams. I wouldn’t have expected to do such a thing a year ago, but balance of risks seems to be ok.
Pfizer to get an EUA for 12-15 year olds early next week.
I know some young actuaries who pushed their vaccine out beyond their actuarial exams.
People on my team are taking FSA exams this week and did their best to schedule vaccinations around their test. Some delayed getting vaxxed at all until after their exam and some pushed a 2nd dose scheduled from last week to this week (didn’t want to be knocked out a day or 2 a week before the test).
I thought about scheduling my first shot with my wife’s second shot on Friday but as I have said before, having had COVID I’m less inclined to rush to get vaccinated.
Then I read this article. https://sebastianrushworth.com/2021/04/24/covid-prior-infection-vs-vaccination/
I had thought of delaying until probably July at the earliest and will probably stick with that schedule. Here is what I thought was interesting from the article:
Ok, let’s get to the results.
Over the course of 2,047,113 days of follow-up in the covid positive group, there were 78 cases of symptomatic covid-19 (by which we mean a positive test + at least one symptom).
Over the course of 2,971,436 days of follow-up in the covid negative group, there were 1,369 cases of symptomatic covid-19.
This works out to a relative risk reduction 0f 92%. For comparison, the Pfizer vaccine trial reported a reduction of 95%, the Moderna trial reported an reduction of 94%, the Astra-Zeneca trial reported a reduction of 70%, and the Johnson&Johnson trial reported a reduction of 67%.
So, on the face of it, prior infection is equivalent to the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in terms of the level of protection offered, and much better than the Astra-Zeneca vaccine and J&J vaccine. In light of this, it seems completely unnecessary for people who have had covid to get the vaccine. In fact, if the goal of governments is to get their populations to herd immunity as quickly as possible, it would make more sense to tell people who have had confirmed covid-19 that they don’t need to get vaccinated. Vaccinating people who have already had covid-19 means delaying vaccination of people who haven’t had it, which means delaying the onset of herd immunity.
My mama tells me she got Pfizer shot #1 yesterday, with headache, ringing ears, tiredness, and a sore arm today. She’s in Sask., Canada. 1963 would make her… 58 (nope, still 57). She had a weird illness in Feb 2020 that drained all her energy, and they were doing ECG tests and such to try to figure out what was wrong. It was a little early for COVID in Canada… but been wondering if that was it.
Consequently, I myself am fully vaxxed as of today.
Have you been tested to determine if you have antibodies to covid? My criticism of that study is that it didn’t look at “people who were diagnosed with covid”, it looked at “people who have measurable antibodies to covid”. And my understanding is that the latter is a subset of the former.
You can get an antibody test pretty easily, (although you may have to pay for it) and it won’t make your feel sick.
Mr Contact, you may be able to get tested for antibodies for “free” by donating blood.
I’ve been considering doing that to see if the illness that went through my house in Feb 2020 was covid. Symptoms for us were more ILI than CLI, but there’s a lot of overlap, so I’m doubtful but curious.
by me not anymore, they have all the convalescent plasma they need. the free anti-body testing was for a limited period only
Hmm, maybe I missed my chance. Good to know.
The blood bank near me has done antibody testing off and on. You should consider donating blood regardless as donations have dropped in many places. A lot of donated blood goes to people undergoing cancer treatment. Donating blood seems like a more practical way to say f*** cancer than wearing a ribbon.
My husband gives platelets and regularly learns that he doesn’t have antibodies for covid. So they are still testing near us.
I wondered whether what I had April 2020. I developed covid-like symptoms a couple of days after a middle-schooler from a town with some confirmed covid cases coughed all over me. I was never sick enough to need treatment beyond what we could do at home, and of course, testing was restricted back then. I got tested for antibodies several months later, and tested negative. But I suspect I DID have covid.
(My husband didn’t catch it from me, whatever it was. We isolated from each other until I was better.)
Bless your husband. Donating platelets takes so much time.
He watches videos. Although, he’s just about done with whatever series he’s been watching, and is looking for something new.
Admittedly I only skimmed this for a few minutes but -
Even if the risk reduction from contracting COVID was 92%, why take an extra 8% risk and just not be vaccinated? I’m sure that medically it doesn’t really stack multiplicatively, but naively you could have a 0.4% chance of vulnerability.
I used to do it regularly, but pre-cell phone, but then it was two arms, so would be difficult anyway.
Unfortunately had some infiltration issues on the feedback the last few times, so I stopped, I think I over did it, as much as six times a year, plus the whole blood.
I now do the double Plasma donation. But so little the last few years. My Temple drive got too small so Blood center cancelled us (I ran it). Local Blood Center is easy and close enough, just harder to be proactive. Once Vax fully, wife & I will go