2nd Booster or not? Mask or not?

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1

It depends!

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/13/opinion/covid-booster-sho…

**Why Experts Can’t Seem to Agree on Boosters**
**By Markham Heid, The New York Times, April 13, 2022**

**...**
**One area of consensus is that people who have weak immune systems or multiple risk factors should get boosted.**

**Dr. Eric Topol, a professor of molecular medicine at Scripps Research in San Diego, says...the data from Israel are compelling, and older adults or those with risk factors for Covid-19 should get the second booster. ...But...**

**Dr. Phil Krause, the former deputy director of the F.D.A.’s Office of Vaccines Research and Review, says that boosters make sense for the elderly and people who are at high risk for severe Covid-19. But for everyone else, he says the data show that the initial two-shot mRNA vaccines provide strong and durable protection against severe illness, and the need for extra shots is, at this point, not warranted....**

**When it comes to the Omicron variant, boosters seem to provide transient protection from infection or spread. In my conversations with physicians and vaccine researchers, none brought up infection prevention as a strong justification for the second booster. Instead, most pointed to this or that data set and argued that reductions in severe illness (or a lack thereof) supported their views....**

**Considering that a boosters’ impact can be short-lived, some say U.S. authorities should wait a bit longer before pushing out another shot....** [end quote]

OK. Even the experts don’t agree.

Dr. Fauci is saying he thinks mask mandates probably won’t be coming back but everyone should decide for themselves.

This is how I analyze it. Of course, I got 2 vaccinations plus the first booster.

  1. The second booster is transient. Like, a month or two. Some experts are saying that another booster now might reduce their immune response to a later vaccine. Is that true? I haven’t seen data either way.

Should I get the 2nd booster now?

  1. New cases are pretty low in my area, but slowly increasing. An Omicron BA.2 case was detected.
    https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/covid-cases.html…

  2. I’m 68 years old. I have asthma. Two risk factors. But my immune system is OK.

  3. I think that 2022 will look a lot like 2020 and 2021. Spikes after national holidays (Memorial Day and the 4th of July) and a big spike after Thanksgiving since many vaccinated people will have waning immunity. Even if a brand-new variant doesn’t pop up after Omicron BA.2.

https://www.vox.com/coronavirus-covid19/2022/2/24/22947388/c…
The US has a booster problem. Less than half of all American adults — 42 percent — say they have received an additional dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, according to the most recent Kaiser Family Foundation survey. Among vaccinated people, that share is 70 percent. Better but a long way from ideal.

Conclusion: I plan to wear a mask indoors if it’s crowded. I plan to get my second booster in October, along with my flu shot.

But everyone is different.

Wendy

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I just posted, in another thread, that I got my second booster today.

Michigan also released covid data for the past week today: average new cases over 1000/day for the first time since early March.

Has the mantle of uncanny timeliness once again been thrust upon me, getting boosted just as another wave is starting in the state?

Steve

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I got my 2nd booster on April 7th, and I wear a mask indoors at public places.

Jaak

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I received my 2nd Moderna booster today and will be happy to get any future boosters if offered.

JimA

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No second booster and I don’t wear a mask anywhere no required.

PSU

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Read a snippet last night the number of cases in NYC is dropping again. Looking at the NYT US infection rate chart it is flatlining. I have my second booster about a week ago. I am not going to worry. Truth is if I get it my immunity going forward might be really good. I do not know. My odds for long covid boosted twice are low.

It is what it is.

The masks wont protect you. But you wearing one will protect someone else.

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7

A good quality well fitted properly used 95 mask clearly is very useful to the person wearing it, but that level of attention to detail cannot be taken for granted.

david fb

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8

I will seek my 2nd booster as soon as I become eligible. I will be seeking the J&J vaccine as my 2nd booster to complete the trifecta. I figure that each vaccine has at least one benefit that the others don’t. (My first two doses a year ago were Pfizer. My first booster was Moderna.) Studies now show that the J&J vaccine’s efficacy sticks around longer than the efficacy from the mRNA vaccines. It’s said that the J&J vaccine helps the T cells, which aren’t as measurable as antibody counts are.

When it comes to my personal reopening process, the first stages are dropping the physical distancing. Not masking up in public indoor environments (like stores) will be one of the last parts of my reopening process. Not masking up in crowded outdoor environments will be one of the intermediate steps. (I didn’t get there last year.)

9

Outdoors in public places, I carry a mask and use it if it gets crowded or I need to speak to someone and will continue that until I know more about the pandemic spread and risk. I wear a mask indoors if around people I don’t know or who may be unvaccinated. I will get my second booster, Pfizer, next week. I am healthy, but definitely in the elderly stage of life.

Here in San Francisco I have been attending Symphony, Opera, and other classical concerts where proof of vaccination and masking was required. Some social distancing was also provided. However, things are changing here and not sure how long that will continue.

My current challenge is using public transportation. Currently we use a few bus services that tend to be uncrowded. Masks are currently required, but that is probably ending soon depending on Federal mandates and local health officials. Public transportation here can get very crowded with zero physical distancing on all sides. Sounds like a paradise for the Covid-19 virus.

jg4