Mormad said:
Daviewolf83 said:
Mormad said:
Daviewolf83 said:
Wayland said:
Wayland said:
Daviewolf83 said:
RunsWithWolves26 said:
Starting September 20th, booster shots are available for anyone fully vaccinated and at least 8 months removed from being fully vaccinated.
Hopefully, they release the data that shows a need. I have not seen any evidence for it yet, especially why T-Cells are not working beyond 8 months. Did they address J&J? All I had seen to date was with regards to the two mRNA vaccines. I got J&J, so I am not a candidate for the other two vaccines.
They are in a full on panic to try and appear to do something that 'may' work. Because if/when this next winter wave rolls over on the country hard.... going to some explaining.
Apparently this is a 4 pt slide from a Fauci briefing today. (not for sure so don't sue me)
It is all guesswork.... and "MAY" ... desperation not trials and science.
Not one mention of T-Cells and studies. This is some really good "science."
To be fair, it's not like fauci, for all his hate, doesn't know the science of viral disease better then us, or that there's anything on that slide that is indeed not a simple support for boosters. I discussed this very topic with multiple docs at lunch today. I was the one guy who is hesitant to get a booster, and i explained my reasoning.
The slide does state the ideas that support getting a booster. That doesn't mean that it should state or be felt to state that boosters should be mandatory or even needed for the majority. It even leaves out at least 2 very good reasons to consider a booster that we discussed today.
All that said, i remain hesitant to get a booster despite my peers' strong feelings to the contrary. If we depended on or waited on pure science for many accepted best practices in medicine we would be in trouble. Most of the time we use an understanding of "science" and a knowledge of its inherent weaknesses and we depend on experience, training, and knowledge to guide us to treat patients the best we can.
But, yes, memory B cells and T cells are the reason I'm willing to bet on my vaccination, despite my likely falling IgG levels. But there's no denying that a booster 8 months later would greatly increase younger antibodies, and that a delayed booster, as we've found with multiple other vaccinations, boosts immunity. The question remains, is it needed in the majority? If any know the answer to that for this particular pandemic that is known for making us look stupid, you're a lot smarter than me. But right now I'm hedging until we know more. And that knowledge is building at an exponential rate it seems.
Thanks for the feedback. I am planning to wait on more studies and evidence of benefit before I get a booster. I can't wait until they make the booster mandatory. I am trusting the T-cells and memory B-cells right now, until I see more evidence that a booster is needed. I have no issues with a yearly booster, but I think they are really doing this to appear to be doing something. As to The Elf, I have rarely seen him discuss T and B cells in updates in the media and to congress. Maybe he thinks it is too complicated for most people to grasp. I did tell my father yesterday that he might want to consider a booster, since he is 87 and has some significant health issues.
I have seen a few tweets in the past few days (I mentioned them last week) that might support a booster. These tweets put forth a theory to explain why the US and Israel may have experienced more adverse effects from the Delta variant, than the UK and Canada. The theory is those countries benefit by spacing out the vaccine doses by 12 weeks, instead of 3-4 weeks and this actually provided for more robust antibody protection.
I'm with you. I do believe the main reason i personally would consider a booster is the knowledge that waiting months between exposures (jabs) revs up the immune system to offer even better immunity. This is well known, well before cv-19. However, that's also the reason i hesitate. For those same reasons im more nervous about autoimmune issues, side effects, complications and the like.
We discussed 2 things today i thought you'd find interesting:
1. Viral dominance. With the return of rsv, flu, colds, hand-foot-mouth, etc, what are your thoughts about cv-19 (as it replicates into dumber, less virulent forms) being dominated by the normal players and burning out into a much weaker endemic player? I couldn't believe the other guys hadn't really considered the possibility.
2. One critical care doc and one of my partners suggested that one advantage of a booster may be speed of the immune response in the case of exposure, thereby reducing initial viral load/shedding and reducing risk of transmission. It takes some valuable time in that regard for our memory B cells and T cells to mount a response. We won't get as sick either way, but a booster could reduce the risk of transmission even more? What do you think? I thought you would have really enjoyed that discussion today. Right up your alley.
Sounds like you had a really good discussion. I would have loved to have been there to ask some "stupid" questions as I attempt to learn more. As to your two points, here are my thoughts.
1. I actually read an article a few weeks ago on this very subject. I wish I could find it again, but it talked about how Covid-19 could continue to weaken in severity, but remains highly infectious. Additionally, I posted a link to an article in The Atlantic earlier today about the need to consider how we live with Covid-19 being endemic and it becomes just another disease like the common cold. It brings up many of the same topics you mention. The article mentioned that one of the coronaviruses that cause the common cold may have started much like Covid-19, as a very severe, pandemic illness, and over time and through repeated exposure and viral evolution, it became what we experience today. I think there is a good chance Covid-19 could follow a similar path. In fact, I think it is more likely the virus will evolve to become less severe naturally than it will based on human actions to control the virus. If you missed it, here's the link to the article I posted:
The Coronavirus Is Here Forever. This Is How We Live With It.2. I agree with the view that having the antibodies present would help to jump start your body in fighing the virus sooner than it would if the body has to wait for the body's memory cells to kick in with the recipe to make the appropriate antibodies. I do not disagree with this view - my only question is how long does it take for the body's natural reaction to kick in and make the antibodies to fight the virus. I saw something posted last week suggesting a vaccinated person could clear the virus in about four days, but I do not know if this was a generalization or not.
One of my big concerns, as you mentioned earlier, is the effect of multiple vaccinations with the same exact vaccine and its longer term effects on the immune system. I would want to see more studies and discussion on the long-term effects of multiple vaccines on the immune system. I know people get vaccinated for the flu virus yearly, but the vaccine changes yearly, with the change in the target. I do not know enough about how the immune system works to understand how valid my concerns might be. The article I mentioned above does talk about how a body that has some immunity reacts to reinfection. At some point, I do believe we will have to live with the idea that people who are vaccinated or have protection from prior infection can safely get infected and natural reinfection may be the best approach. As the article said, we will have to get over the mental hurdle of infection from Covid being a bad thing and just something we can live with as a consequence of life.
I do have a broad concern about vaccines in general and their effect and potential cause of autoimmune diseases, such as Crohn's Disease. As I have mentioned before, my daughter has Crohn's and it did not manifest itself until her sophomore year of college. I am pro vaccine, but I do wonder if a vaccine she received in the past may have "triggered" her body to react the way it does now. With mRNA vaccines, I do believe they can provide a powerful weapon to use against multiple illnesses, but I also believe they need to be heavily studied before embarking on aggressive use. Our bodies are amazing machines, having evolved over thousands of years to protect us from multiple environmental threats.
For these reasons, I want to see more studies, so I can apply my own risk/benefit analysis. Since I received the J&J vaccine and it is still being studied, I will likely not have to consider the booster seriously until the end of this year or early 2022. The same goes for my son, who also received the J&J vaccine in March.