The vaccine must not work for very long against active infection. My stepmother (age 65) got the most recent vaccine mid October and tested positive Friday. Despite having had six Covid vaccines and an infection in February 2022 (which left the lasting gift of COPD), she is very ill. She was able to get Paxlovid on Saturday, but this experience has been far worse for her than Covid 2022. I understand the vaccines were not meant to prevent active infection, but being this sick despite doing all the right things is so disappointing for my parents. And, of course, my 73 year-old father has been exposed.
I hope you and your CDC Tiger Team are taking many, many victory laps for the work you did to upgrade the CDC site. Bravo and bravos to all involved!
A question if you know: it appears the NYC sites may still not be included for wastewater data, but I wasn’t able to find out whether this is because they use the commercial contractor, in which case data will begin to show in a few weeks. If that’s not the issue, do you know why and when/whether NYC data will be included?
Above all, thank you so much for this update and ALL your hard and smart work to keep us informed!
Thank you very much, again, for thorough information, clearly presented. I am one of the geezers waiting on the RSV vaccine. I think I have vaccine fatigue, in this new time when so many are available and recommended. I just mention this as part of the vaccine hesitancy problem--I really see the science and there's still a stubborn little person inside who says "I don't need that." Your writeup today is pushing me toward acceptance.
OK... I find it obsurd that due to the toxic polarizing politics of the last 8 years, everyone who never even majored in microbiology seems to be an "expert" in microbiology, virology, epidemiology & zoonotic diseases... Especially the politicians... (who, BTW, have the highest rate of pathological tendencies of all occupations... one step behind used car salesmen... as if we didn't already know this fact of psychiatry...) Suddenly, barrier protections like masks are reported to "not work" -- I guess then why bother washing your hands, using a condom, sneezing into a tissue instead of someone's face or wiping your behind? They don't work 100% of the time either... PS: Never follow anyone who is too afraid to wear a 1 ounce mask... that's not "leadership" -- that's a whiny, snot-nosed 4 year old who never graduated kindergarten...
As a fellow informaticist once said to me ‘yes, but compared to what?’ We have interesting retrospective data that can be projected, compared, against geographic locations, past years. What we really do not have is a good measure of ‘risk’ the public can understand. During COVID when we had relatively good ‘testing’ data, I tracked the probability of the number of ‘infectious’ persons out of 100 people. Not a perfect measure, but it would be something we all could understand and use to assess our daily ‘situational’ risk.
The CDC website can be difficult to navigate. I'd love it if you could provide a direct link to their site for each of the graphs/maps you pulled, if one is available.
Thank you for pointing to the new CDC wastewater page. I wonder if you can address what to do when data sources contradict. The CDC shows CA decreasing (with the caveat that the last two weeks may be inaccurate...), while data.wastewaterscan.org shows med/high and rising for the LA and SF Bay areas... thanks.
Readers might it helpful if some of the upcoming newsletters covered basics of the immune system and why different people respond differently. The material should capture the complexity of the immune system (IS) in terms of the active agents (some members of IS are general first line response, some call in other more specific agents, etc.) and the complex interaction. What makes a 30 year old more likely to shake off a virus quickly and a 70 year old less likely. Why are 70 year olds different. Additionally, much of the symptoms are from an immune system response not directly from the Virus. It is the diversity in immune systems as much or more than diversity in Viruses that generate questions and uncertainty in the population. Just a thought.
Once again you provide succinct, accurate, critical aggregate viral information which is very hard to find anywhere else. You have not forgotten those of us who still care about rational personal and community good health. Thanks, again.
Thanks for the wonderfully comprehensive info in this post! I appreciate knowing where we are in the RSV safety info, even if it’s “we don’t have the info yet”. Thanks again for all your hard work!
"Respiratory illnesses continue to increase due to colder temperatures, changes in human behavior (i.e., holidays), and viruses mutating, like Covid-19."
There's no evidence that human behavior impacts seasonal viral waves. Implying that if people didn't gather for holidays the viral waves would somehow look different is laughable.
"And yes, the fall 2023 vaccine works against JN.1. A pre-print showed that our first line of defense (i.e., neutralizing antibodies) increased when our cells saw the threat in a petri dish. This means the vaccine will still work against infection, but not as much as before. It is still a great tool against hospitalization and death."
No, that is not what this means. You have no evidence (double-blind randomized trial) to prove this statement. Antibodies increasing in a petri dish does not prove real-world effectiveness against anything.
Is Bio.bot going to be phased out or is it what CDC is using? It was either you or Caitlyn Rivers who mentioned that a few months ago.
Starting to feel like these variants are going to be as contagious as measles before too long. :( I got the latest vaccine but starting to feel like it's getting less and less worthwhile. Is there any hope for a vaccine that actually DOES protect against getting infected? What's the update on pan-vaccines that are variant proof?
The vaccine must not work for very long against active infection. My stepmother (age 65) got the most recent vaccine mid October and tested positive Friday. Despite having had six Covid vaccines and an infection in February 2022 (which left the lasting gift of COPD), she is very ill. She was able to get Paxlovid on Saturday, but this experience has been far worse for her than Covid 2022. I understand the vaccines were not meant to prevent active infection, but being this sick despite doing all the right things is so disappointing for my parents. And, of course, my 73 year-old father has been exposed.
I hope you and your CDC Tiger Team are taking many, many victory laps for the work you did to upgrade the CDC site. Bravo and bravos to all involved!
A question if you know: it appears the NYC sites may still not be included for wastewater data, but I wasn’t able to find out whether this is because they use the commercial contractor, in which case data will begin to show in a few weeks. If that’s not the issue, do you know why and when/whether NYC data will be included?
Above all, thank you so much for this update and ALL your hard and smart work to keep us informed!
Thank you for the overhauled wastewater website!
UGH Noro, didn't we ban that guy?!
Thank you very much, again, for thorough information, clearly presented. I am one of the geezers waiting on the RSV vaccine. I think I have vaccine fatigue, in this new time when so many are available and recommended. I just mention this as part of the vaccine hesitancy problem--I really see the science and there's still a stubborn little person inside who says "I don't need that." Your writeup today is pushing me toward acceptance.
Thank you! I follow JWeiland for modeling and there is a wave that most people don't realize. I "see" it from my perspective in healthcare.
OK... I find it obsurd that due to the toxic polarizing politics of the last 8 years, everyone who never even majored in microbiology seems to be an "expert" in microbiology, virology, epidemiology & zoonotic diseases... Especially the politicians... (who, BTW, have the highest rate of pathological tendencies of all occupations... one step behind used car salesmen... as if we didn't already know this fact of psychiatry...) Suddenly, barrier protections like masks are reported to "not work" -- I guess then why bother washing your hands, using a condom, sneezing into a tissue instead of someone's face or wiping your behind? They don't work 100% of the time either... PS: Never follow anyone who is too afraid to wear a 1 ounce mask... that's not "leadership" -- that's a whiny, snot-nosed 4 year old who never graduated kindergarten...
As a fellow informaticist once said to me ‘yes, but compared to what?’ We have interesting retrospective data that can be projected, compared, against geographic locations, past years. What we really do not have is a good measure of ‘risk’ the public can understand. During COVID when we had relatively good ‘testing’ data, I tracked the probability of the number of ‘infectious’ persons out of 100 people. Not a perfect measure, but it would be something we all could understand and use to assess our daily ‘situational’ risk.
The CDC website can be difficult to navigate. I'd love it if you could provide a direct link to their site for each of the graphs/maps you pulled, if one is available.
Thank you for pointing to the new CDC wastewater page. I wonder if you can address what to do when data sources contradict. The CDC shows CA decreasing (with the caveat that the last two weeks may be inaccurate...), while data.wastewaterscan.org shows med/high and rising for the LA and SF Bay areas... thanks.
Readers might it helpful if some of the upcoming newsletters covered basics of the immune system and why different people respond differently. The material should capture the complexity of the immune system (IS) in terms of the active agents (some members of IS are general first line response, some call in other more specific agents, etc.) and the complex interaction. What makes a 30 year old more likely to shake off a virus quickly and a 70 year old less likely. Why are 70 year olds different. Additionally, much of the symptoms are from an immune system response not directly from the Virus. It is the diversity in immune systems as much or more than diversity in Viruses that generate questions and uncertainty in the population. Just a thought.
Once again you provide succinct, accurate, critical aggregate viral information which is very hard to find anywhere else. You have not forgotten those of us who still care about rational personal and community good health. Thanks, again.
Why is the US weeks behind Europe regarding Covid?
Thanks for the wonderfully comprehensive info in this post! I appreciate knowing where we are in the RSV safety info, even if it’s “we don’t have the info yet”. Thanks again for all your hard work!
"Respiratory illnesses continue to increase due to colder temperatures, changes in human behavior (i.e., holidays), and viruses mutating, like Covid-19."
There's no evidence that human behavior impacts seasonal viral waves. Implying that if people didn't gather for holidays the viral waves would somehow look different is laughable.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7462597/
"And yes, the fall 2023 vaccine works against JN.1. A pre-print showed that our first line of defense (i.e., neutralizing antibodies) increased when our cells saw the threat in a petri dish. This means the vaccine will still work against infection, but not as much as before. It is still a great tool against hospitalization and death."
No, that is not what this means. You have no evidence (double-blind randomized trial) to prove this statement. Antibodies increasing in a petri dish does not prove real-world effectiveness against anything.
Is Bio.bot going to be phased out or is it what CDC is using? It was either you or Caitlyn Rivers who mentioned that a few months ago.
Starting to feel like these variants are going to be as contagious as measles before too long. :( I got the latest vaccine but starting to feel like it's getting less and less worthwhile. Is there any hope for a vaccine that actually DOES protect against getting infected? What's the update on pan-vaccines that are variant proof?