🟢 Updated vaccine (booster) 👍 More lockdown revisionism sneaks in 👎 Bare minimum infection control is not enough
Regulatory rules make life in a civilization possible.
Contents:
- Events, Actions, & Campaigns
- Pandemic field notes & “Living with the virus”
- In the News (virus & adjacent media, science, news, and op-eds)
- This is NOT Fine section (gaslighting & other outrages)
- He(a)rd Scuttlebutt (the pandemic grapevine)
USA Letter Campaign: CDC Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) needs public oversight.
By People’s CDC: There is a dangerous new government policy being proposed which could harm healthcare workers and patients across the country. Instead of strengthening infection control policies in healthcare settings to protect workers and patients from infectious diseases, the CDC is planning future guidance which could lower healthcare infection control standards.
Got my updated vaccine.
I’ve heard people are being told it’s “not a booster” but I’m not sure why since it’s on the same platform, and it’s for the same disease - just a new variant reformulation, and it’s a boost. I imagine this is part of “yearly flu shot messaging” PR where they want us to just live with it. I’m disappointed in the confusing messaging and the confusing roll-out here in the U.S. I highly encourage everyone to write your reps and press for a proper vaccine drive and better governance from the government. Privatizing a pandemic vaccine is problematic.
However, the CDC website is clear about recommending everyone 6 months and up who are eligible, so if anyone you know in the USA who is on the fence or confused about if they should be getting the updated vaccine, you can send them to the CDC website.
CDC Stay Up to Date with COVID-19 Vaccines - Updated Sept. 15, 2023
CDC recommends the 2023–2024 updated COVID-19 vaccines.
Everyone aged 5 years and older should get 1 dose of the updated Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to protect against serious illness from COVID-19.
People who are moderately or severely immunocompromised may get additional doses of updated COVID-19 vaccine.
Children aged 6 months–4 years need multiple doses of COVID-19 vaccines to be up to date, including at least 1 dose of updated COVID-19 vaccine.
COVID-19 vaccine recommendations will be updated as needed.
And this is the CDC’s recommendations for people with a recent covid infection - spoiler alert - as soon as you’ve recovered you can get vaccinated! The only reason you might wait is that it’s less likely for you to get reinfected immediately after an infection, and maybe you want to time it to holiday with family or something like that.
CDC - Getting Vaccines If You Recently Had COVID-19
If you recently had COVID-19, you still need to stay up to date with your vaccines, but you may consider delaying your vaccine by 3 months.
Reinfection is less likely in the weeks to months after infection. However, certain factors could be reasons to get a vaccine sooner rather than later, such as:
personal risk of severe disease,
risk of disease in a loved one or close contact,
and the most common COVID-19 variant currently causing illness.
🗞️ In the news
Forbes - Public Pushes Back On CDC’s Plan To Weaken Infection Control. By Judy Stone, Aug 25, 2023 Several speakers observed that requiring only the bare minimum of protections allowed employers to avoid protecting their employees in order to cut costs. Others noted it also protects employers from OSHA fines or liability suits from staff sickened at work. Nathanial Nerode is a professional investor whose partner has contracted Covid-19 twice at doctor’s offices. He suggested it is far less expensive to “buy a $40 respirator for each of your staff” than to face hundreds of millions of dollars in liability, disabled staff and reputational damage with people avoiding your hospital.
Gizmodo - Los Angeles Has a Growing Typhus Problem, Thanks to the Fleas. Cases of flea-borne typhus have steadily risen in LA over the past decade. Three people died from the bacterial infection last year, as well. By Ed Cara, August 4, 2023 A disease spread by fleas is becoming more common and deadlier in Los Angeles, California. In a new report this week, health officials say that recorded cases of flea-borne typhus have steadily risen in LA since 2010, with the highest tally seen last year. Additionally, three people are thought to have died from typhus in 2022, the first such deaths reported in the area in three decades. Flea-borne typhus is caused by the bacteria Rickettsia typhi. It’s a relative of the bacteria responsible for epidemic typhus, a disease that usually only appears and wreaks havoc during times of great human suffering, particularly wars. In contrast, flea-borne typhus is endemic in many parts of the world, though it tends to cause milder illness than its cousin. Symptoms include fever, headache, and a distinctive rash.
CBS - Scientists at Johns Hopkins research malaria transmission following positive case in Maryland - By CBS Baltimore Staff - Updated on: August 29, 2023 Maryland health leaders earlier this month reported a resident tested positive for malaria despite not traveling outside of the United States or to another state with recent malaria cases. It's the first case of malaria of that kind in decades. A science lab at Johns Hopkins is where researchers are working to better understand the disease.
Bangladesh: Nearly 1,000 people die of dengue in severe outbreak By Derek Cai BBC News, Singapore - Sept 28 2023 It used to be a seasonal disease in Bangladesh, but due to hotter and wetter monsoons brought about by climate change, it has been occurring more frequently since the first recorded outbreak in 2000. Public health officials say the current wave of infections caught the country off guard, as it is caused by a stronger strain of the virus. Doctors have noted that the condition of current dengue patients deteriorates much faster compared to the last few years.
CBS - Colorado woman has poliomyelitis after contracting West Nile virus, loses ability to walk - By Kennedy Cook - September 28, 2023 "Nancy was dying. I mean, every time I saw her, she was worse and worse," explained her husband Mark. They were frightening moments for both Nancy and Mark, as paramedics and doctors rushed to Nancy's side to figure out what had gone wrong. Nancy spent nearly three weeks in the hospital, weak and unable to speak, to finally receive her alarming diagnosis. "They did a lot of different tests and they finally got confirmation from the CDC that based on my blood that what I had was West Nile. I don't even remember the mosquito," said Nancy.
The Washington Post - Doctors who put lives at risk with covid misinformation rarely punished. By Lena H. Sun, Lauren Weber and Hayden Godfrey, July 26, 2023 State medical boards charged with protecting the American public often failed to stop doctors who went against medical consensus and prescribed unapproved treatments for covid or misled patients about vaccines and masks, the Post investigation found. At least 20 doctors nationally were penalized for complaints related to covid misinformation between January 2020 and June 2023, according to board documents, which The Post obtained by filing requests with state medical boards and reviewing public records. Five of those doctors lost their medical licenses — one had his revoked, while four surrendered theirs. Discipline is typically connected to patient care, not just what doctors say. It is impossible to know how many doctors were spreading misinformation because most states do not monitor or divulge those complaints.
This is NOT fine
WHAT YEARS OF RESTRICTIONS??
This op-ed attempts an important message, but then they end with lockdown revisionism.
After years of restrictions, many may declare the current phase of the pandemic as COVID's final act. But driven by the pursuit of science, prospect of hope, and the millions still seeking answers, we are committed to keeping the virus center stage.
"After years of restrictions."
What restrictions for years? What restrictions have been going on for years? The only restrictions that I've seen for years is the restriction that I have to personally avoid things because there are no restrictions on spreading the virus.
He(a)rd Scuttlebutt… pandemic grapevine 🍇🌱
Stay mindful to engage in critical thinking when making health related purchases.
I have heard people saying stuff like “it doesn’t hurt to try” this or that unproven remedy or product. But here’s the problem - it’s not just about efficacy claims, but also about safety issues. If someone decides to buy a device for a medical or medicinal purpose, the sensible thing to do is to look for information aside from that connected with the seller or manufacturer, and ask frank questions of the vendor about the safety profile of a device. And heads up, FTC does not assure medical safety, and also “FDA cleared” is not the same thing as “FDA approved” either.
There have been cases where shoddy products are put out to on the heels of “promising news” on tech that is speculative or just not ready for prime time so no major manufacturer is producing anything yet. Sellers might even pass off counterfeit items which could prove dangerous, or just fakes. Do you have a way at home to verify that a piece of technology works the way it claims? If not, how do you know? And how do you know all the hype isn’t just a buncha inauthentic hype?
I’m not against innovation and research into new technology. But things need to be considered in the context of safety and efficacy. Such as how the vaccines have been tested not just for efficacy, but safety profile, and in the context of that the benefits far outweigh the risks. This the case with many medications and treatments. The vaccines went through a rigorous process. This is done in the context of regulations and why we have, however imperfect, a system to discern, ideally informed by scientific methods.
Regulations make life in a civilization possible. You can’t just throw anything at the wall — unless you wanna F around and find out.
The Uncertain Hour podcast - The Peanut Butter Grandma goes to Washington is one of the best and most important podcasts I've ever listened to, and so I mention it often. I think most would agree peanut butter should be made out of peanuts, but at one point in the past, manufacturers started making peanut butter with many additives and fillers, and the industry even argued that making it mostly of actual peanuts would supposedly stifle innovation in peanut butter. Ruth Desmond’s civic engagement came out of concern about the safety of the food she and her family was eating.
I also recommend a recent podcast episode by
of Tech Won’t Save Us - The Real History of the Luddites, Brian Merchant - since it explains the truth about Luddites — an age old tech at any cost story. In my view it even reveals that employers railing against Work From Home isn’t new at all. And the story of the Luddites also demonstrates the benefits vs. harm calculation which is ever present, and should be, on the road to progress.
No person of real intelligence hesitates to say, "I don't know."
— Emily Post