NOT Coronavirus COVID-19

it sucks. i'm currently on the east coast. cross country flight had only handfuls of people in masks and a couple of the flight crew. airport in atlanta very much unmasked mostly. airport in ft lauderdale the same. portland still had many people in masks but not quite half i'd guess. 

i fly back home tomorrow. anxious to get there and return to basement living. 

the complete aversion to masks that many people have is still something that escapes me...

also...

the dreaded day arrived and my unvaccinated mom catched the virus...

I used to get a cold or flu annually.  Since I started wearing a mask to go shopping in 2019 I have yet to come down with either.  I'll be wearing a mask when shopping for the rest of my life and hope that this good luck persists.  This really made me realize that some people that I share personal space with in public really don't take care for themselves(and don't care that if effects others).  

  On 7/6/2022 at 1:55 PM, cwmbrancity said:

Our current vaccine models will be redundant if the acceleration of variants continues. Even if we design a vaccine based on omicron b5, by the time of its rollout new variants will have emerged.

Unless a serious immunotherapy or prophylactic breakthrough emerges, we remain mired in unsustainable models.

 

Yeah, that's exactly what I was saying. When I said "work against variants" I was referring to future variants, ie. a vaccine that will work against all forms of COVID regardless of possible mutations.

  On 7/6/2022 at 4:21 PM, logboy said:

we've also seen rapid development in the background of possible new technologies or techniques for vaccines that will cope with evolving variants that appear down the line post-injection.

Have we seen the rapid development? I never hear anything about it. That's what I'm looking for. Any current sources of news on this front?

Well, Uncle Rona finally came to town. 1 day of feeling like absolute dogshit, 4 days of the runs and low energy, and finally almost back to normal. No brain fog or anything like that - I suppose my last booster had been about 4 months ago, so it was probably waning a bit in effectiveness, and I had got a bit lax wearing masks (given it was summer and all). I figure in another 4 days I should be ok to go out (wearing masks of course!) again.

  On 7/7/2022 at 9:26 PM, chenGOD said:

so it was probably waning a bit in effectiveness

vaccines help against serious disease in the first place. so it seems to have done its job...? no hospital or long term effects  = victory!

been holding off on 4th booster for something nasty like BA.5  

  On 7/7/2022 at 9:30 PM, Satans Little Helper said:

vaccines help against serious disease in the first place. so it seems to have done its job...? no hospital or long term effects  = victory!

Oh yeah definitely happy about that, but I meant in terms of reducing the risk of catching it.

  On 7/7/2022 at 9:36 PM, chenGOD said:

Oh yeah definitely happy about that, but I meant in terms of reducing the risk of catching it.

O man, you're making it way too complex. Reducing the risk of catching while the new variants spread faster (more easily transmissible) than older variants? That's too tough of an expectation to meet.

Nevertheless, congrats with your superbooster. The vaccine, virus combo works best, I've heard. (read: congrats with your new and updated superpowers!)

  On 7/7/2022 at 9:44 PM, Satans Little Helper said:

Reducing the risk of catching while the new variants spread faster (more easily transmissible) than older variants? That's too tough of an expectation to meet.

Yeah that's a good point. High expectations of science!

  On 7/7/2022 at 9:44 PM, Satans Little Helper said:

Nevertheless, congrats with your superbooster. The vaccine, virus combo works best, I've heard. (read: congrats with your new and updated superpowers!)

I've always wanted a superpower!

  On 7/6/2022 at 10:40 PM, toaoaoad said:

Have we seen the rapid development? I never hear anything about it. That's what I'm looking for. Any current sources of news on this front?

bits and pieces. nothing visible as it once was. it’s there though. expecting more visible as cases rise and winter approaches, more work done.

So it seems the new BA.5 variant is as contagious as measles...fucking hell...

Which makes the new variant the most contagious disease in the world...Yet we are told there is no need for any restrictions, no masks, no precautions, 5 days of isolation only and that all is well. Man do we learn slow...7 waves in and we still dont get it.

Always underestimating the virus.

Brace yourself for the next 6 months...

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jul/05/new-covid-variants-ba4-ba5-most-contagious-australia-third-omicron-wave-coronavirus-subvariants-ba-4-5

(self) Tested positive for the first time.

Definitely got some olphactory involvement, notice a distinct increase in sensitivity to certain smells and flavours.

same energy

4th vaccine acquired

Got approached by a customer at work yesterday (I don't usually work in the store itself, I'm in another large area operating solo so don't always have my mask on me, but was walking thru the shop and am happy to assist if they need it)... anyway after maybe 15 minutes helping this lady and her kids, she's telling me a totally unrelated story and nonchalantly drops the line "and I have COVID" in the middle. wtf

backed up to a safer distance, wished the family well, and returned to my isolation.

Picking up a food order at the mall yesterday, there were maybe 100 people in my field of vision, and no masks other than myself and one old lady.  Later, at a crowded McDonalds, no masks on faces, though there were several dangling around necks(???). People are so fucking stupid... like almost all of them.  I used to scold myself for being such a loner in my younger years, but I totally support it now.

today is an outdoor get together on my street. one of the neighbors got a permit to close the street and do a "safe" outside thing. everyone on this little section of the block has been vax'd and boosted etc. still i'm not going in anyone's house for some kind of after party vibe. BA5 is kicking off in america. i'll probably wear a mask at times when there's more than one or two people in my orbit. 

one of the neighbors is a nurse and another is part of the portland agency that handles/plans etc for emergencies and disasters. so, having a tighter community is good for lot's of reasons but some of these people are a bit nosey. there's no karens though. 

anyway.. fuck. 2 friends got over covid a week ago. said it sucked for 2 or 3 days. the more times ya get infected the more chance you have for long covid and other complications so i'm trying to avoid this shit. 

  On 7/11/2022 at 8:44 AM, user said:

(self) Tested positive for the first time.

Definitely got some olphactory involvement, notice a distinct increase in sensitivity to certain smells and flavours.

Sorry to see this! how are you feeling now that it's been a week? 

  On 7/11/2022 at 8:44 AM, user said:

(self) Tested positive for the first time.

Definitely got some olphactory involvement, notice a distinct increase in sensitivity to certain smells and flavours.

one of my cousin's kids had it a while back. he's 19 or 20. he said his sense of taste went away briefly but when it came back it was different. sour things didn't have the bite they used to. said he could straight up drink lime juice if he wanted to. 

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abp8715
 

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abp8337

https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/exclusives/96789

A few months old, but no reason to think PCR tests have magically gotten more accurate.

I don;t know anyone who has had it that got a positive on a home test, and I know quite a few people who've had it.  I'm in my 4th day of being fully symptomatic, and I've had three negatives so far.

Unless I just got a really bad cold.  In August.  Through a mask.  That also causes stiff neck and dry, itcy skin and takes at least twice as long to become symptomatic as a cold does.

  On 8/8/2022 at 2:10 PM, TubularCorporation said:

I don;t know anyone who has had it that got a positive on a home test

Here

Last person I know personally who had it, a few weeks ago, had four false negatives while he was symptomatic. 

The one before that had one false negative home test, one false negative antigen test done by a clinic, and a positive PCR test.

A couple months ago my aunt was fully symptomatic but never tested positive, while my uncle was positive for two weeks but completely asymptomatic.

I'm sure the coworkers who I know have had it must have tested positive or I wouldn't have heard about it at all, but I don't know what kind of tests.

I lost count of how many people I know were infected this year when it broke a dozen or so.

It's hard to know whether it's better to overstate the accuracy of tests like we do now so that people don't stop bothering, or to be more up front about it so that people don't asusme a negative means it's OK to be around other people even if they have some symptoms. Neither seems very good.