Yesterday, I got the fifth -- bivalent -- COVID-19 vaccine, which is optimized for the most recent dominant strains. I've had all the vaccine shots, most of them about as soon as I could. This one took a little more time to set up; I was looking for somewhere close, at a time of day that was easy for me, and, yes, I don't feel the same urgency that I did with the first shots.
The thing is, we're headed into winter and a lot of indoor time, and nobody's feeling much urgency. The virus has tended to spike when our behavior enables transmission. The latest variants appear to be milder for most people and that's good news, but there's no guarantee it will continue to be that way. The virus has killed more than a million Americans, as if the entire population of Indianapolis had been exterminated.
I'm not wearing a mask in public indoors spaces these days and neither is nearly everyone else. If it's as high as one-in-ten right now, I'll be surprised. About thirty percent of the U. S. population -- and thirty-six percent of Hoosiers -- are entirely unvaccinated. I don't much care if you are or aren't; I am not the boss of you and with case rates having fallen way off, there are plenty of hospital beds and you can jump in a lake for all I mind. The medical types estimate about sixty percent of Americans have had COVID-19 at some point. No matter how you stack up the vaccinated and acquired-though-infection immunity, however much crossover there is, the newer virus variants are pretty good at sneaking around immunity. All of this means we have a substantial pool of people ready to get infected, either again or for the first time, just as we are once again spending more time together indoors.
So I got the latest vaccine. I'll be your guinea pig: see how it goes for me, if you like, before making up your own mind about getting the shot. Just don't wait too long; the holidays are coming and nobody enjoys the gift of being sick.
BUILDING A 1:1 BALUN
4 years ago
5 comments:
I had #5 last month. Vaccine compliance is higher, here, and the case count is low.
I'll take new shots as soon as they're offered. Because getting seriously sick and maybe dying of a preventable illness strikes me as being foolish.
Good for you! You've been timely in your quest for COVID-19 avoidance.
I continue to wear a mask about 90% of the time that I'm among the public - not just for COVID-19 avoidance but for avoidance of influenzas and other upper respiratory illnesses. I have been impressed by my lack of symptoms for any malaise since the COVID-19 pandemic hit and impressed by the low flu numbers during the pandemic. I think the mask probably helps.
Got mine, too. Guess we'll see how it goes.
I think the vaccines have been out long enough to begin studies on their effectiveness and note any long term side affects. A lot of data is ripe for the picking. Plenty of subjects records of who received what and how is it working.
If there are any issues on taking the vaccines, I want to be informed of any (or no) risks I am setting myself up for. Next B-Day will be 60 so I already know I have issues already.
I failed to note that Hunky Husband (HH) and I received our 5th doses on 9/8/2022 - and flu shot in the other arm. A couple of weeks later, I was even able to talk HH into getting his 1st Shingrix shot - a goal that I've had for a few years, now. So far, other than aches/red patches local to the shot site, neither of us has had an issue with any of the shots (he is 86 and I am 85.)
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