COVID-19 vaccines: medical concerns and recommendations

[peterb]

Email from area hospital about Evusheld.
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There has been much news the last week about a monoclonal antibody drug therapy that works to keep people who have weakened immune systems from getting infected with COVID-19. Here's some background about this therapy, who it’s for, and when people will be able to receive it.

The drug is AstraZeneca’s Evusheld™ (tixagevimab and cilgavimab). It is an investigational medicine that has emergency use authorization (EUA) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Evusheld is a monoclonal antibody designed to provide additional immunity and prevent COVID-19 in individuals 12 years of age or older who are moderately to severely immunocompromised. These individuals may not be able to generate a strong enough immune response from the COVID-19 vaccine, making them vulnerable to severe illness. Evusheld may also be used in individuals who are not able to receive the available COVID-19 vaccines due to a history of severe adverse reaction.

Please know there is an extremely limited supply of Evusheld, which prevents us from being able to offer this medication to everyone who may be eligible at this time. As a result of this limited supply, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health (D-HH) will be identifying those patients who are most vulnerable to severe illness based on their risk of complications from COVID-19. We will offer Evusheld to the most vulnerable patients first, and we will continue to provide it in the weeks and months ahead. Read more on our Preventive Measures for Immunocompromised Patients web page.
https://www.dartmouth-hitchcock.org/...ntive-measures

[Savage Hands]

I don't have much too time to get into it, but severe Sleep Apnea is no joke!!! It can ruin your life and/or kill you period. If you think it's a possibility than let your physician know and have a sleep study done. The one random time they checked me my oxygen levels dropped to the point I could have had organ failure or died. Before I was finally diagnosed I was tired all the time, took a long time to heal, gained weight and finally started dozing off on the sofa a few hours before bedtime. I now use a CPAP religiously which keeps me from suffocating but I do wake up often as I turn over or move due to being worried about ripping the machine off the night stand like I did when I first started.

[Nephrology]

I don't have much too time to get into it, but severe Sleep Apnea is no joke!!! It can ruin your life and/or kill you period. If you think it's a possibility than let your physician know and have a sleep study done. The one random time they checked me my oxygen levels dropped to the point I could have had organ failure or died. Before I was finally diagnosed I was tired all the time, took a long time to heal, gained weight and finally started dozing off on the sofa a few hours before bedtime. I now use a CPAP religiously which keeps me from suffocating but I do wake up often as I turn over or move due to being worried about ripping the machine off the night stand like I did when I first started.

Yup

[Cheap Shot]

I don't have much too time to get into it, but severe Sleep Apnea is no joke!!! It can ruin your life and/or kill you period. If you think it's a possibility than let your physician know and have a sleep study done. The one random time they checked me my oxygen levels dropped to the point I could have had organ failure or died. Before I was finally diagnosed I was tired all the time, took a long time to heal, gained weight and finally started dozing off on the sofa a few hours before bedtime. I now use a CPAP religiously which keeps me from suffocating but I do wake up often as I turn over or move due to being worried about ripping the machine off the night stand like I did when I first started.

FWIW SH is correct. Delayed getting a sleep study for a couple decades. Had major problems falling asleep and staying asleep. Pretty much always was sleep deprived. Driving home from work and struggling to not falling asleep was what (in addition to other factors) drove me to go get a sleep study.

After using a CPAP for a couple months my quality of life improved significantly, and weirdly enough all my lifts in the gym went up appx 10 - 15 %.

[Dog Guy]

Sleep studies have gotten easier, too. https://isleephst.com/ was started by a friend of mine. They came up with a whole system to get DOT approved sleep studies done for truck drivers without having to do a bunch of in person stuff. I don't have any business relationship with them and I haven't used their system but I can vouch for the integrity of one of the principals. Maybe it makes it easier to diagnose if some of you are on the fence about whether it could be a problem that impacts your health. There may be other remote diagnostics as well.

[RoyGBiv]

Texas data.....

New confirmed cases are 3x the peaks of the previous waves.
Fatalities are barely up from the troughs of those previous waves, thankfully.
Hospitalizations are back up to matching previous peaks, but given the 3x case numbers, hospitalizations "only" matching previous peaks with fatalities remaining low, seems to be quite good news.

TX Dashboard link.

[peterb]

UK findings on third shot effectiveness:
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We've known for about a month now that a third shot of the vaccine is critical for protecting against infection with the omicron variant — and for keeping people out of the hospital.

Now researchers in the U.K. have the first estimates for how long a third shot of the Pfizer vaccine will last. And the findings are mixed.

Protection against infection is likely short-term, lasting less than six months, but protection against severe disease appears more robust, researchers with the U.K. Health Security Agency reported Friday.
…

Indeed, the study from the U.K. found that the booster offers more robust protection against severe disease than against infection. Specifically, the researchers found that after a third shot of Pfizer, protection against hospitalizations starts out above 95% (two weeks after the shot) and remains around 80% even after four months.
…
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsan...icron-efficacy

[David S.]

I tested positive yesterday (Wed).

Initial symptoms started on Monday evening with mild fevers (99-100^o), fatigue and dull body aches. No coughing, sneezing, nausea, rash, sore throat or runny nose. My symptoms continued all day Tuesday. I took some Tylenol and drank a bunch of water+Liquid IV throughout the day. I also made an appointment at the local urgent care. I felt fine all day Wed, but got tested anyway and popped positive for COVID, negative for flu (because I called out sick for work). I woke up feeling fine again today.

My wife seems unaffected so far, despite having been around several other people who also tested positive this week. Kids also seem in pretty good shape too. My SIL lives with us and seems to be experiencing similar symptoms, but has not tested yet.

[HeavyDuty]

I tested positive yesterday (Wed).

Initial symptoms started on Monday evening with mild fevers (99-100^o), fatigue and dull body aches. No coughing, sneezing, nausea, rash, sore throat or runny nose. My symptoms continued all day Tuesday. I took some Tylenol and drank a bunch of water+Liquid IV throughout the day. I also made an appointment at the local urgent care. I felt fine all day Wed, but got tested anyway and popped positive for COVID, negative for flu (because I called out sick for work). I woke up feeling fine again today.

My wife seems unaffected so far, despite having been around several other people who also tested positive this week. Kids also seem in pretty good shape too. My SIL lives with us and seems to be experiencing similar symptoms, but has not tested yet.

Ugh. Out of curiosity, are you vaccinated at all?

[David S.]

Ugh. Out of curiosity, are you vaccinated at all?

I'm unvaxxed for COVID. Wife had the first dose several months ago, but I don't think she got a second.

SIL was scheduled to have her fourth dose this week. She seems better today than yesterday - just mild cold like symptoms.