Coronavirus thread

[Madiel]

Yeah, I do. I did get a flu shot last October. There are quite a few things that have a chance of killing me.

So you get vaccinated against the flu, but not against a disease that you describe as being like the flu (and which was actually deadlier than the flu in its original form, though I don't know quite where the death rate is for omicron variants).

Why?

[DizzyD]

So you get vaccinated against the flu, but not against a disease that you describe as being like the flu (and which was actually deadlier than the flu in its original form, though I don't know quite where the death rate is for omicron variants).

Why?

I was going to get it at work but just never did. I might've caught the "original form" at one time and didn't show symptoms. Who knows.

[Karl Henning]

I got Covid a couple of weeks ago. I've never been vaccinated or boosted. My experience with it is it's much like the flu. After 3 days everything was back to normal.

Very glad yours was so mild. My wife got COVID before the vaccine was available. She's suffering from Long COVID garbage.

[DizzyD]

Very glad yours was so mild. My wife got COVID before the vaccine was available. She's suffering from Long COVID garbage.

Sorry to hear that, and I wish her a full recovery.

From March '20 until the time that I came down with Covid, I didn't have so much as the sniffles...and during that time I wore a mask at work, at the store etc. It was after I stopped wearing a mask (regulations relaxed) that I got Covid, so I wonder if masking might be more effective than we sometimes might think. Of course correlation/causation etc.

[Karl Henning]

Sorry to hear that, and I wish her a full recovery.

Thanks!

From March '20 until the time that I came down with Covid, I didn't have so much as the sniffles...and during that time I wore a mask at work, at the store etc. It was after I stopped wearing a mask (regulations relaxed) that I got Covid, so I wonder if masking might be more effective than we sometimes might think. Of course correlation/causation etc.

I think it's fairly clear that masking has had its health benefits.

[ritter]

My wife got COVID before the vaccine was available. She's suffering from Long COVID garbage.

Sorry to learn about that. Hope she gets rid of these long-term aftermaths soon.

I tested positive yesterday morning (took the antigen test after feeling unwell on Thursday night). I'm fully vaccinated (Johnson & Johnson, plus Pfizer-BioNTech booster). No serious symptoms, just low-grade fever, general malaise and weakness. Will be staying in for the next days (fortunately, I can work from home), and hope things improve quickly.

As I always say, in my case (and I'm afraid in most) the question was "when" and not "if". I've travelled quite a bit around Europe  (on business and for leisure) over the past 12 months, and have led a more or less "normal" life. But now that there's no mask mandate in Spain (except on public transport —including planes— and hospitals), we're all inevitably more exposed. Many friends and relatives have been infected recently, but with no serious consequences.

[Karl Henning]

Thanks, Rafael! Mend quickly!

[Florestan]

Sorry to learn about that. Hope she gets rid of these long-term aftermaths soon.

+ 1.

FWIW, both I and my wife had Covid twice, the second time Omicron variant. First time no special symptoms except moderate fever and temporary loss of smell and taste (three days in my case, a week in my wife's); second time, all the symptoms of classical flu. Our 9yo son had Omicron too, no symptoms at all. None of us is vaccinated.

[Florestan]

I tested positive yesterday morning (took the antigen test after feeling unwell on Thursday night). I'm fully vaccinated (Johnson & Johnson, plus Pfizer-BioNTech booster). No serious symptoms, just low-grade fever, general malaise and weakness. Will be staying in for the next days (fortunately, I can work from home), and hope things improve quickly.

Wishing you a quick and full recovery.

[ritter]

Thanks for your kind wishes, Karl and Andrei.

[prémont]

I tested positive yesterday morning (took the antigen test after feeling unwell on Thursday night). I'm fully vaccinated (Johnson & Johnson, plus Pfizer-BioNTech booster). No serious symptoms, just low-grade fever, general malaise and weakness. Will be staying in for the next days (fortunately, I can work from home), and hope things improve quickly.

My wishes to you for a mild course and a speedy recovery.

[ritter]

My wishes to you for a mild course and a speedy recovery.

Many thanks!

[Papy Oli]

As I always say, in my case (and I'm afraid in most) the question was "when" and not "if". I've travelled quite a bit around Europe  (on business and for leisure) over the past 12 months, and have led a more or less "normal" life. But now that there's no mask mandate in Spain (except on public transport —including planes— and hospitals), we're all inevitably more exposed. Many friends and relatives have been infected recently, but with no serious consequences.

Hi Rafael,
To the bit in bold, is it only for internal flights or departing from Spain? We flew in to the Balearic Islands yesterday from the UK (5 1/2 hours late which in current travelling climate is not so bad I guess  ) and regrettably no compulsory masks, only maybe 10-15 passengers wore one, and that's included my partner and I. Fingers crossed.

The sunny 30 degrees will take some adjustment but will be enjoyed ! 

[ritter]

Hi Olivier,

I understood masks remain compulsory on all flights departing from or landing at a Spanish airport. I flew to London from Madrid on Monday and back home on Tuesday (both flights on Iberia) and all passengers were told in no uncertain terms to have the mask on before boarding and keep it on until after disembarking.

What airline did you fly?

Enjoy your stay on the Balearics! What island(s) are you visiting, iif I may ask?

[Papy Oli]

Hi Olivier,

I understood masks remain compulsory on all flights departing from or landing at a Spanish airport. I flew to London from Madrid on Monday and back home on Tuesday (both flights on Iberia) and all passengers were told in no uncertain terms to have the mask on before boarding and keep it on until after disembarking.

What airline did you fly?

Enjoy your stay on the Balearics! What island(s) are you visiting p, if I may ask?

We flew in with TUI, a holiday tour operator. No mention at all. Nothing apparently different for other flights to Spain when we saw other passengers going to their gates either.

We will do! We're staying in Santa Eularia, on the quiet side of Ibiza 

[greg]

I'm not implying it, I'm downright saying it. It's basic common knowledge of anyone who bothers to follow the news, or frankly anyone who understands how time works.

The problem ultimately was the time gap between my employer requiring the vaccine and the time of return to office, that's why it was ineffective.
(Return to office = you're getting Covid if you didn't already).
A shorter time gap would have proved better odds at being a little less underwhelming or non-effective as this longer time gap.

[Madiel]

The problem ultimately was the time gap between my employer requiring the vaccine and the time of return to office, that's why it was ineffective.

And again, the claim that it was "ineffective" presupposes that the purpose of the vaccine was to stop you getting infected. The primary goal was to stop you from getting seriously ill.

Seatbelts don't prevent car crashes, either.

[71 dB]

The problem ultimately was the time gap between my employer requiring the vaccine and the time of return to office, that's why it was ineffective.
(Return to office = you're getting Covid if you didn't already).
A shorter time gap would have proved better odds at being a little less underwhelming or non-effective as this longer time gap.

The vaccines were developed for the original virus, but by the time vaccines became available, the virus had mutated into something that can better circumvent the vaccines. Luckily the vaccines still protected against serious illness almost as well. So, you took the vaccine primarily to improve your changes to stay out of hospitals (that were badly struggling with covid patients) or to stay alive by a factor of about 10-20 depending on your age and health risks.

The amount of lives saved by the vaccines in the World  is estimated to be 19.8 million (1.9 million in the US) in 2021 alone, so talking about the ineffectivity of the vaccines is wild and insanely ignorant to put it mildly.

[greg]

The amount of lives saved by the vaccines in the World  is estimated to be 19.8 million (1.9 million in the US) in 2021 alone, so talking about the ineffectivity of the vaccines is wild and insanely ignorant to put it mildly.

Yeah, because I wasn't talking about the effectiveness of the vaccine for other people.

[Madiel]

Yeah, because I wasn't talking about the effectiveness of the vaccine for other people.

With respect, what's so special about you?

You've actually acknowledged that we can't go back and conduct an experiment to find out what would have happened to you if you hadn't been vaccinated. Maybe you would have ended up in hospital. Maybe you wouldn't. It's impossible for us to be certain.

And exactly the same true is for any other individual case. As far as I know I haven't had covid (unless I've had an exceptionally mild case so that I wasn't even aware of it). I have absolutely no way of knowing whether, if I hadn't been vaccinated, I might have been knowingly infected by now. We also have absolutely no way of knowing whether you would have been infected sooner than you were if you weren't vaccinated.

This is why talking about effectiveness in the way that you're trying to is nonsensical. We can't talk about it in that way, only in population terms and in risk reduction.