COVID

Just hopefully the Indian variant doesn't take hold in the US

And well nothing will stop non-vaccinated people from not wearing masks, etc.  I hope it all works well in the US. Time will tell.

Will be a good test for us, I guess, as we 'fling off the shackles' in June 

I mis-spoke. The CDC guidance is that we don't need to wear masks except in places like public transit, airplanes, crowded rooms, etc. The actual regulations are still in place here.(The regulations are made by the states and local health boards.)  A lot of closings and restrictions are lifting as of 19 May (that always seems odd- picking a day a week in the future rather than the day of the announcement for stuff to be in effect) but I haven't seen the Governor say what's legal here yet as far as masks.

Supposedly the Indian variant is more transmissible, for sure. Something about a double-mutation. The research I've seen is mixed on the vaccines - (Moderna and Pfeizer). Some research is showing it's fairly effective (though not as effective as against other strains) and some research says it is not as effective in providing defense against mild cases (although it is for serious cases).  I guess we'll find out.

EDIT:  Then again, maybe I'll just keep wearing it. https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/14/opinions/cdc-new-mask-guidance-concerns-holtgrave-rosenberg/index.html

Ok, so the latest I've heard is that the vaccines (all the ones in the US, at least) are seeming to be effective against the Indian mutation in a laboratory setting. At least, they are thought hopefully good enough to keep someone from getting severely ill from it.

Same source says that persons who are immunocompromised and who take the jab(s) do not necessarily have the same amount of protection as a "normal" person. Some may have almost none. (Oh, freaking great.) The only way they'll know if they've developed antibodies is if they are tested for antibody levels??? Haven't heard of any doctors doing that routinely over here.... [See here for more confusion: https://creakyjoints.org/living-with-arthritis/coronavirus/covid-19-vaccines/antibody-testing-covid-19-vaccine-immunocompromised/ ]

Source also reports that "normal" people have still got a good range of antibodies at six months. Still waiting for more time to pass to know how long that holds.

All of the above being "tentative" and not peer-reviewed yet.

The governor has dropped all mask requirements for vaccinated people. Catch is, who will be able to know if someone is vaccinated or not? I'm still wearing mine in public places until this all passes.

The government here are launching a vaccine booster trial.  My wife and I are in the 2nd of the mixed vaccine trials, we had bloods taken this week a month after our 2nd jab. The first trial tested mixing Pfizer with AZ, this 2nd trial is testing mixing AZ with Moderna or Novavax,  and also Pfizer with Moderna or Novavax.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/world-first-covid-19-vaccine-booster-study-launches-in-uk

Thousands of volunteers will receive a booster COVID-19 vaccine in a new clinical trial launching today, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has announced.

The Cov-Boost study, led by University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust and backed by £19.3 million of government funding through the Vaccines Taskforce, will trial seven vaccines and will be the first in the world to provide vital data on the impact of a third dose on patients’ immune responses.

As far as antibodies testing goes then I was sent a home test kit as one of 200,000 randomly selected people. I tested positive for both the long lasting antibodies and the ones that only stay in the body for a few weeks.  I had my 2nd jab 3 weeks before the test so I guess that is why I had some of the shorter lived antibodies.

In LA County our daughter has been randomly selected to have an antibodies test and should get her home test kit this week. This test is only looking for the type of antibodies that show you have had Covid, which are different from the ones induced by a vaccine. She has had 2 jabs of Pfizer and has not, to her knowledge, had Covid so expects her test results to come back negative. LA County know how many folks have been vaccinated, but are wanting to get an estimate of how many folks have antibodies without having had a vaccine and if they have had Covid how well is their protection against future infection holding up.

I just ordered some lateral flow tests. Just for giggles, because I want to see  how they work.  The company that aggressively headhunted me in 2019, but then ultimately didn't want me  makes them. 

I just ordered some lateral flow tests. Just for giggles, because I want to see  how they work.  The company that aggressively headhunted me in 2019, but then ultimately didn't want me  makes them.

They are fun to use.  I did one yesterday on myself because of an unexpected event a few days ago. We were walking into town to call into a couple of shops when a very old guy with a walking stick - the type with 4 little legs on the bottom - asked me if I'd help him get to Specsavers (it has moved since he was there last time and is much further from the car park he uses).  He was a nice old chap and we linked arms and held hands as we inched our way along, probably took about 10 minutes.  I told him I'd wait until someone came to the door to take charge before leaving him and he thanked me and said that in non-Covid times he would shake my hand so we bumped elbows instead and I said that I'm sure that we are okay because like me he has probably been fully vaccinated. He then told me that he was not vaccinated because he and his wife believe in natural remedies.  Fair enough, but if he had told me ahead of time I'd have put on my mask. I don't wear a mask when walking outside so hadn't put mine on yet. 

He then told me that he was not vaccinated because he and his wife believe in natural remedies. 

 

Well glad you used the test and yay for being vaccinated!

Ok, so the latest I've heard is that the vaccines (all the ones in the US, at least) are seeming to be effective against the Indian mutation in a laboratory setting. At least, they are thought hopefully good enough to keep someone from getting severely ill from it.

Professor Van Tam said a similar thing at the press briefing here yesterday.  On how much more transmissible it is he said anywhere from 10 to 50% more than the Kent variant but they should know a lot more by next week as they examine the cases in Bolton, Bedford and other areas.

Professor Van Tam

Love him! 

Love him!

+1

I like how the ministers refer to him simply as "JVT". (Jonathan Van Tam).

And I like how he tries to dumb down the science with his analogies. Often it is football, yesterday it was ye oldie knights, saying that lockdowns and social distancing were like shields to protect us from the virus and the vaccines were like a spear to kill  it 

He also doesn't try to do guesswork, for example in being asked on TV about how effective the vaccines are and long they last he said,

"We can't make time go faster so we simply have to watch very vigilantly to make sure we're not starting to see lots and lots of cases of Covid-19 in people who have been fully vaccinated - that would be a telltale sign that vaccine effectiveness is starting to wean.

"It is perfectly plausible in the absence of variants that vaccine protection, particularly in the younger adults, might last for quite some time. "

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/uk-news/professor-jonathan-van-tam-provides-20639651

The home lateral flow tests are brilliant!  My husbands work is now accepting them which is a new change. (MOD)

Love him! 

Love his little step he has to stand on

They are giving out boxes of 6 of  those lateral flow tests to the students at my boy's school.   The novelty has worn off and now it's a PITA to get him to take one every week. 

They are giving out boxes of 6 of  those lateral flow tests to the students at my boy's school.   The novelty has worn off and now it's a PITA to get him to take one every week.

I can just imagine what a pain it is. I have a friend here who has 3 children at school and including her and her husband they have 5 to do every week. She said the novelty soon wore off.