The Coffee House

CherylL · Aug 26, 2023

The record breaking heat has ended with rain all day today. Tomorrow low humidity and only 82. We are going to the Festival of Nations. There are vendors, food, and entertainment from around the world. Deciding on the food is the hardest. I usually end up with the Peruvian empanadas.

Original katomi · Aug 26, 2023

Hi all just got in from a wasted trip out tried to have a meal out…… failed
So home and ended up with a bowl of weatabix

smoke665 · Aug 26, 2023

CherylL said:
A new booster will be available next month.

I think I've had 4 now, DW has had 5 and they're recommending another (which she has serious doubts about). Despite all the boosters, she's had COVID twice, yet I haven't had it once. Coupled with that in our close circle of friends there's been 3 that have had serious reactions to the virus. Contrast that with the flu vaccine (which I've taken every year), and I don't recall any reactions to it. The first time DW had it, they gave her Paxlovid, she only had minor symptoms for the 3 days, and was fine. The second time they didn't giver her anything, let her ride it out. She felt rough for week, but came through fine (this is a senior with a compromised immune system). Even the 2nd time was not as bad as some of the flu we've had over the years. The flip side is that we lost quite a few members of our community because of COVID, but over the years there's been a lot of death due to flu. We just have more questions than answers on the COVID vaccine.

smoke665 · Aug 26, 2023

Original katomi said:
So home and ended up with a bowl of weatabix

I had to look that up. Supposedly it's available in the US, but I've never seen it on the shelf in the stores.

CherylL · Aug 26, 2023

smoke665 said:
I think I've had 4 now, DW has had 5 and they're recommending another (which she has serious doubts about). Despite all the boosters, she's had COVID twice, yet I haven't had it once. Coupled with that in our close circle of friends there's been 3 that have had serious reactions to the virus. Contrast that with the flu vaccine (which I've taken every year), and I don't recall any reactions to it. The first time DW had it, they gave her Paxlovid, she only had minor symptoms for the 3 days, and was fine. The second time they didn't giver her anything, let her ride it out. She felt rough for week, but came through fine (this is a senior with a compromised immune system). Even the 2nd time was not as bad as some of the flu we've had over the years. The flip side is that we lost quite a few members of our community because of COVID, but over the years there's been a lot of death due to flu. We just have more questions than answers on the COVID vaccine.

Crazy how some get it and others don't. We get out flu shots every year too. That is hit or miss.

jeffashman · Aug 28, 2023

Weather-wise, temperatures plummeted, and we had to break out the parkas... it hit 73F this morning...

I get both the flu and C19 boosters. Of everyone that I know who gets the C19 booster, none have had adverse reactions. I know five people who are no longer with us, because they were opposed to the C19 vax, and contracted it and passed on. It's rough when someone you've worked with for 10 plus years, day and night shifts, and suddenly they are gone. Two others were a mother and daughter who would come over to the house for dinner fairly often. The remaining two were work acquaintances.

smoke665 · Aug 28, 2023

@jeffashman it was crazy here. One elderly couple from our church (He was mid 70's she was 65) were admitted on the same day. He came home less than a week later, she died in the hospital 30 days later. She was in fairly good health, he was in late stage Pancreatic Cancer (he died 60 days later from the cancer).

I'm surprised that you didn't see reactions. Of the three, I know of one, had a bad reaction to the autoimmune system. Spent several days in the hospital, took over 6 months to recover. The other two their reactions lasted less than 2 weeks.

jeffashman · Aug 28, 2023

smoke665 said:
@jeffashman it was crazy here. One elderly couple from our church (He was mid 70's she was 65) were admitted on the same day. He came home less than a week later, she died in the hospital 30 days later. She was in fairly good health, he was in late stage Pancreatic Cancer (he died 60 days later from the cancer).

I'm surprised that you didn't see reactions. Of the three, I know of one, had a bad reaction to the autoimmune system. Spent several days in the hospital, took over 6 months to recover. The other two their reactions lasted less than 2 weeks.

My biggest scare was during the height of the first wave, I picked up my granddaughter from school and we spent the afternoon driving around. Next day, she's sick and tests positive. I dodged that one, even though we were close quarters.

Original katomi · Aug 28, 2023

I react to the jabs. a few days of covid like symptoms and then I am ok

SquarePeg · Aug 28, 2023

jeffashman said:
Weather-wise, temperatures plummeted, and we had to break out the parkas... it hit 73F this morning...

I get both the flu and C19 boosters. Of everyone that I know who gets the C19 booster, none have had adverse reactions. I know five people who are no longer with us, because they were opposed to the C19 vax, and contracted it and passed on. It's rough when someone you've worked with for 10 plus years, day and night shifts, and suddenly they are gone. Two others were a mother and daughter who would come over to the house for dinner fairly often. The remaining two were work acquaintances.

Had all the vaccines and boosters. Still got Covid 2x. No severe symptoms though. Took paxlovid both times.

As far as reactions go - the 2nd dose gave me tinnitus for 6 months. Booster #1 brought the tinnitus back. It’s been pretty constant since then. Learning to live with it has been a lot of trial and error. Some days are worse than others.

All things considered is still get the vaccine again.

jeffashman · Aug 28, 2023

SquarePeg said:
Had all the vaccines and boosters. Still got Covid 2x. No severe symptoms though. Took paxlovid both times.

As far as reactions go - the 2nd dose gave me tinnitus for 6 months. Booster #1 brought the tinnitus back. It’s been pretty constant since then. Learning to live with it has been a lot of trial and error. Some days are worse than others.

All things considered is still get the vaccine again.

I take aspirin for joint pain, so I guess I’ll never know if the jabs contribute to my tinnitus.

smoke665 · Aug 29, 2023

SquarePeg said:
Had all the vaccines and boosters. Still got Covid 2x. No severe symptoms though. Took paxlovid both times.

As far as reactions go - the 2nd dose gave me tinnitus for 6 months. Booster #1 brought the tinnitus back. It’s been pretty constant since then. Learning to live with it has been a lot of trial and error. Some days are worse than others.

All things considered is still get the vaccine again.

I've heard it said (no idea if it's true) that the flu vaccines are only 60% effective, so breakthrough cases of COVID after being vaccinated shouldn't be much different. What concerns me is the flu mostly acts the same with all people, while COVID seems to be all over the board. My daughter and SIL caught it early on and didn't have much more than sniffles, yet others their age have died. Makes me wonder if COVID is actually no more deadly than the common cold like the Europeans brought to this country when they settled. How many Natve Americans died because they lacked any natural immunity to the diseases the settlers brought. At some point will we not develop at least some natural immunity to COVID, such that we'll start dealing with it like we do the common cold?

I can remember reactions from the early flu vaccines, there's still people my age afraid to get it because of those experiences. After years of testing and trials those reactions are very minimal now, but COVID vaccines are still in their infancy. Most of them rushed to market without sufficient testing, letting the population be the guinea pigs.

As a VFR we had a saying "little risk, little reward....big risk, big reward". I'm not saying I won't get another COVID shot, but for me, I want more information first.

terri · Aug 29, 2023

Vaccines are meant to minimize symptoms should you encounter the virus itself: they don't provide any guarantees that you won't catch the virus.

Flu shots have a very low effectiveness rate because the virus mutates every year, and the best immunologic approach is informed guesswork, because they take months to produce in advance of each season. "Early vaccines" perhaps sickened people: those with egg allergies are still advised not to take it.

I've never had one - but don't have, or live with anyone who has, a compromised immune system. Even working in healthcare for decades didn't affect me. (I'm hardly anti-vax; just this particular, seasonally shifting virus is extremely unlikely to harm me.)

Covid 19 is different. I disagree about lack of testing: it wasn't entirely unknown to the immunologic community; but until this particular strain actually existed there couldn't be a specific vaccine at the ready. Once it was identified, it simply wasn't that difficult for an effective vaccine to be produced. It's been nothing short of a lifesaver.

jeffashman · Aug 29, 2023

terri said:
Vaccines are meant to minimize symptoms should you encounter the virus itself: they don't provide any guarantees that you won't catch the virus.

Flu shots have a very low effectiveness rate because the virus mutates every year, and the best immunologic approach is informed guesswork, because they take months to produce in advance of each season. "Early vaccines" perhaps sickened people: those with egg allergies are still advised not to take it.

I've never had one - but don't have, or live with anyone who has, a compromised immune system. Even working in healthcare for decades didn't affect me. (I'm hardly anti-vax; just this particular, seasonally shifting virus is extremely unlikely to harm me.)

Covid 19 is different. I disagree about lack of testing: it wasn't entirely unknown to the immunologic community; but until this particular strain actually existed there couldn't be a specific vaccine at the ready. Once it was identified, it simply wasn't that difficult for an effective vaccine to be produced. It's been nothing short of a lifesaver.

If I'm not mistaken, Covid is a variant of SARS. The vaccine approach is little different in that mRNA is being used to interdict the protein receptors of the virus (in layman's terms). In the end, at least for me, I'll take the chances with the jab, because I've seen firsthand what Covid can do. And as the World becomes more connected, and as we dig into historical and pre-historical sites, I'm sure new viruses, or dormant ancient viruses, will be exposed again.

terri · Aug 29, 2023

That's exactly right: Covid-19 is a variant of SARS, which has been around for decades (while immunologists held their breath and waited, apparently!).

I think you're right about more coming, rather than less. Viruses enjoy mutation: it's what they do. And while they're around they enjoy their stay!