20 thoughts on “C-19 Chat Post – October 28 2021”

  2. I’m reposting from last night. Since then I learned moderna is half dose but pfeizer is full. That makes me wonder even more since at risk folks who had moderna will have a booster rather than third vaccine while pfeizer is third vaccine. At the moment, I think I prefer half dose

    Third dose vs booster. I was pretty sure there is a difference since I’ve read a fair amount. WCVB must be reading here

    There is Indeed a difference. And people who had the third dose are supposed to have a fourth booster….BUT NOT YET

    Makes more sense but still she didn’t say if there is a difference in the actual vaccine.

    https://twitter.com/wcvb/status/1453494490719793158?s=21

      1. Yes. That is what the dr said. She was very specific that you must wait the six months. I’m also interested that moderna is a booster (being half dose) whereas pfeizer is a full third vaccine

          1. Yes. Pfizer fits the doctor’s description of a third vaccine in the video. I wonder why moderna was approved as what the dr describes as a booster. My daughter seemed to think Pfizer original Dose was lower than moderna. I’m not sure if that is correct.

            There is some reason it took so long to approve a third for moderna. I’ve thought that all along. And with it half dose, it makes me more curious

            Pfizer gives me pause because so much if it’s stock is owned by folks in DC.

            1. Hi Vicki,
              I remember early research that showed that the initial dosing of Moderna could have been much lower, while producing the same/similar immune response. They were significantly higher at 100mcg, compared to Pfizer’s 30mcg. Couple this with the higher side-effects found with Moderna, they could easily justify a smaller dose to mitigate these side-effects (particularly found with the second 100mcg dose). Hopefully, real-world data will show lower incidents of myocarditis, as well…time will tell.
              For me personally, I have a strange situation where I participated in the AstraZeneca trial (first shot early December, with second shot 4 weeks later). The trial participants were given a 2/3 chance of getting the active vaccine, while the rest got a placebo (saline shot). I had some side-effects, so I was fairly certain that I was given the “active” shot. I was able to request to be unblinded, once I was eligible to get one of the EAU vaccines (late March). Since AZ was not authorized in the U.S. (and still isn’t), I decided to request to be unblinded. It was confirmed that I was given the active vaccine, but decided to get an authorized vaccine anyway. It turns-out that I received the Pfizer vaccine on 3/31, with second dose on 4/21. Therefore, I have been given a mix/match booster (twice!). I would love to see the evolution of my antibody response, through the blood samples I have been giving, as part of the trial…that would be cool!

              1. Hey Joe S. Awesome to see you here and I can’t thank you enough. I had the sense my daughter was right. She does her due diligence. She said they had chosen Pfizer because it was a lower amount. And your numbers may be why moderna seems to have held its efficacy a bit better than Pfizer.

                It is really interesting that you participated in the AZ trial. We all owe you a ton of gratitude. You, along with others, were willing to test these vaccines to help millions.

                I am actually more comfortable with moderna being half dose. I think you read here so know my concern re myocarditis since I had a strong moderna reaction which included an irregular heartbeat.

                I am very appreciative of your taking time to explain.

              2. I should have added that I agree your blood samples should show data that can really help for future. I hope you are provided that information.

  3. Dave, I am not finding how many school districts are participating in the test to stay program. Perhaps all are. I will be talking to two SC members later today so can ask. Cross referencing will be delayed though 🙂

  4. I have one last slot on my vaccination card for a 4th shot. How many cards am I going to need in my lifetime anyway?? Sheesh!

    1. Thanks. Maybe this will work, but we have seen far too many of these ideas fail. I suppose one is bound to hold true, but I will wait

  8. Mixed news today.

    UK continues to see a modest decline in case growth. You may recall that in the previous 2 to 3 weeks there had been a sizable spike. Case numbers are still quite elevated, but any decrease in growth is to be welcomed. The biggest caveat here is that it’s been 5 days of modest decline. Still need to wait a bit to know if this is a real trend. And, half-term holidays in Britain mean that many people are away on break and schools are closed (no testing). Let’s see what next week brings.

    US continues to see decreases in cases and hospitalizations. Let’s hope this trend has staying power. I’m concerned it won’t. But, I hope I am wrong.

    Europe is now the epicenter, once again, of surges in cases and the pandemic overall. The situation in Russia is very grim. Harsh lockdown. Record cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. We see this play out throughout Eastern Europe. Western Europe is much better vaccinated, so its surge is contained somewhat and certainly the impact in terms of hospitalizations and deaths is blunted. Nevertheless, it’s discouraging to see most of Western Europe (now includes Italy and Denmark) in resurgent mode. Hospitalizations are rising dramatically in the Netherlands. The net gain in hospitalizations is around 100 a day. That’s a lot for a country of 17 million. Deaths have doubled since last week. A low baseline, to be sure, but the trend is not good.

    In Asia, there’s worry in India about a 3rd wave. No sign yet, which is good. But, authorities there are clearly concerned about the AY. sub-lineages of Delta (cases have now been detected in all major states). Wouldn’t surprise me if India has a resurgence soon. Singapore is having record numbers of cases and hospitalizations.

    Globally, cases and deaths are trending upwards again. The good news is that the slope of growth is somewhat flatter than previous increases.

  9. A caveat to report on US data is the following. Cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are on 3 very different trajectories. Cases have dropped by 62% since September 1st. Hospitalizations have dropped by 48%. Deaths have dropped by 15%. Deaths are a lagging indicator, also less predictable than the lag between cases and hospitalizations. But, it’s worth noting that the fact that the curves’ slopes are this different is unusual. My hypothesis is that cases aren’t being detected as much, there’s a shortage of rapid tests, and testing has gone down overall.

    Yesterday’s data: Cases ~77,000; deaths ~2,100.

    We’re clearly headed for 800,000 deaths sooner than I ever thought possible. Long before Christmas 2021. Is 1 million deaths possible? Yes. In fact, if we don’t get cases below 10-20k a day, 1 million is a likely outcome by some point in 2022.

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