COVID-19 vaccines: medical concerns and recommendations

[45dotACP]

The VA MICU was eye opening, had an otherwise healthy 60 y/o die on my last day of service. Shitty disease. A lot of survivors with persistent O2 requirements too

Yeah, the MICU is one of those places that has really definitely made it impossible for me to agree with people who think the vaccine is more dangerous than getting COVID or whatever silly shit the anti-vax crowd says.

(Still waiting for literally anybody to come in with critical illness following vaccination)

And yeah, a colleague of mine has a spouse who was a patient of ours for a month or two in early pandemic...they have only just now come off oxygen. They are in their 40s

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[Borderland]

I'd rather get the vaccine than go to the dentist for a cleaning. Seriously. Out of the three shots I've had only the last one gave me a mild temp spike with some chills. My wife got her #3 about 2 weeks after me and she hasn't noticed any side effects from any of the shots. We're both in our early 70's.

I'm also aware that I can transmit the virus. I've stopped doing anything with my neighbor who is in his 70's and unvaccinated. I'm just not going to expose him to that risk. My wife and I are around enough people lately that we could contract covid. We probably wouldn't know it though unless we were tested and I don't see any point in that.

[Borderland]

Still rocking natural immunity with zero side affects.

Not that it doesn't work but there's research that suggest it isn't the best defense.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/joewals...h=5562292f2943

But you roll with what works for you. Research is funded by the fed and CDC is a government agency not unlike the FBI and ATF.

When all the corvid deaths settle out at 1 million in the US we'll know more about who was zooming who.

[VT1032]

My dad is in his early 60s and in very good shape. Both of my parents got the "natural immunity" right at the beginning in March 2020 and neither really got that sick at the time. However, since then, his respiratory system has been perma-fucked. He's basically had what seems like a never ending case of bronchitis and he's winded going up a flight of stairs or walking down the street. He wasn't like a marathon runner or anything before hand but he was the type of guy who could do hard manual labor all day without taking much of a break. I'm afraid those days are behind him. I don't think "natural immunity" has the same ring to him.

[uechibear]

I'll reference this piece and you can extrapolate the rest. Someone please correct me if I get something wrong...

88% (95% CI, 87% to 89%) for Janssen
declined to: 3% (95% CI, -7% to 12%) for Janssen

First line says the vax provided 88% effectiveness for protection against infection in March. 95% Confidence Interval shows the protection level between 87% and 89% for the data set.

Second line is the same info with different results for August. 95% confidence interval showing between -7% and 12% with a mean of 3% effectiveness at preventing infection. Somebody with better stats knowledge will need to explain that -7%... My read is that it might mean that people who got Jansen were more likely to get COVID that people who got no vax.... but... my stats are rusty. Apologies.

ETA: PERSONAL OPINION.... I am not a medical professional of any kind....
If my first vax was Janssen, I would have already gotten a full series of Moderna. Not the booster. A Janssen vax recipient, based on the data above, has, essentially, zero vaccine protection after 5 months. If I was starting from zero, I would certainly get Moderna, unless I had had COVID.

I am debating sending our son for Moderna booster. He had his second Phizer back in June. I feel like he's ok with the level of protection reported for Phizer, plus his youth and health, but, when it's open to him, I'll recommend he get a Moderna booster, unless I get some data that says otherwise before then.

Again... My OPINION only.

Thank you... very helpful.

As someone who originally got the J&J vaccine, how would one go about getting a full series of Moderna instead of just the booster? I don't think they would do that for me without some non-typical action on my part.

And the Moderna booster is only half the dose of one shot from the full vaccine (so only 50 mcg compared to 200 from the full series). It seems like they should give some leeway to people in my position. If you had had Covid, you wouldn't get Moderna? What would you do?

[RoyGBiv]

Thank you... very helpful.

As someone who originally got the J&J vaccine, how would one go about getting a full series of Moderna instead of just the booster? I don't think they would do that for me without some non-typical action on my part.

And the Moderna booster is only half the dose of one shot from the full vaccine (so only 50 mcg compared to 200 from the full series). It seems like they should give some leeway to people in my position. If you had had Covid, you wouldn't get Moderna? What would you do?

Interesting question.... I think I would just walk in to the clinic/pharmacy and ask for what I wanted. See how it goes. "I've had the JJ vax 8 months ago and want to get the full Moderna vax from scratch."...

Probably a good idea to consult with a medical professional on this instead of some dude on the internet.

This story backs up my theory.... emphasis mine.
Moderna Vaccine May Be Best Antibody Booster After J&J’s

But the best way to bolster antibodies in people who got J&J’s single-shot vaccine may be to instead give an additional full dose of a messenger RNA vaccine, if a U.S. government-sponsored trial is any indication.
-snip-
Data from the trial of mixing and matching vaccines with different boosters show that giving a full dose of Moderna Inc.’s shot roughly three months after an initial one from J&J bolsters neutralizing antibodies by an astonishing 76-fold over 15 days.

There is some data showing that a J&J booster is pretty effective....
Yale Medicine experts share eight things you need to know about the J&J booster.

The company reports that, in addition to providing 94% protection against moderate-to-severe COVID-19 in the U.S. (that figure was 75% in all of the countries studied), a booster shot given two months after the initial dose increased antibody levels by four to six times, compared to one dose alone.

SNIP

5. If you had the J&J shot, can you get a booster of Pfizer or Moderna instead?

The CDC’s approval of the mix-and-match authorization follows a report of early data from a federal clinical trial suggested it might be better for J&J recipients to get an mRNA vaccine booster (from Pfizer or Moderna). The trial’s preliminary data showed that people who had gotten the J&J vaccine followed by a Moderna booster had a 76-fold rise in antibodies in 15 days; those who got Pfizer saw a 35-fold increase; while those who got the J&J booster had only a four-fold increase. That data was published in a preprint and has not yet undergone independent peer review.

Worth noting that the J&J booster numbers are based on getting boosted 2 months after the first J&J. If you're 6 or 8 months out.... ??

If I had COVID recently, I'd likely wait 4-5 months before getting vaxxed.

[Doc_Glock]

So I go in for a Booster next week and can choose between Moderna or Pfizer. I have two Modernas already, the last on January 2021. Hmmm which to choose? Moderna has been pretty protective this year because I have seen a ton of people and been exposed on multiple occasions and never came down with Covid at any severity I noticed.

Kinda leaning towards a third Moderna unless there is some compelling evidence that mixing vaccines has some benefit? Anyone know?

[rkittine]

My first two were Pfizer so my booster two weeks ago was Pfzer.

Bob

[theJanitor]

Wife and MIL went for their Pfizer booster yesterday, and like the first two shots, it put my wife on her ass. She's got fever and the chills, and her arm was so sore, she couldn't bathe without assistance. MIL is fine.

A few weeks ago, the doc diagnosed me with a viral infection, and flu and covid tests came back negative. Last week, I went for a antigen/antibody test at CVS, and the results came back negative for both. Can someone help explain to me what the results could mean? I had the JJ shot on April 1.

[RoyGBiv]

Wife and MIL went for their Pfizer booster yesterday, and like the first two shots, it put my wife on her ass. She's got fever and the chills, and her arm was so sore, she couldn't bathe without assistance. MIL is fine.

A few weeks ago, the doc diagnosed me with a viral infection, and flu and covid tests came back negative. Last week, I went for a antigen/antibody test at CVS, and the results came back negative for both. Can someone help explain to me what the results could mean? I had the JJ shot on April 1.

A few pages back there was a link and some data to a VA study that showed the J&J vax was only 3% effective at preventing infection after 5(?) months. If you had J&J >5 months ago, I'm not surprised that you don't have detectable antibodies.

That said, someone smarter than me would need to comment on whether you should expect to have any longer term immune system "memory" that would not show up in an antibody test.

If I was you, I'd get a booster shot.
If you feel more comfortable with mRNA vax now, get one of those.
YMMV and I am not a medical professional of any kind, so, what do I know?

ETA: check the links 2 posts up from yours.
ETA2: Post with link to VA report (not peer reviewed)
https://pistol-forum.com/showthread....21#post1280421