The ‘End’ of COVID Is Still Far Worse Than We Imagined

babydinosnoreless · Post by **babydinosnoreless** » Fri Sep 23, 2022 3:28 pm

I am always amazed when I travel to other states and am required to wear a mask. Very few around here wear them. They have not been required except at the very beginning. I had the one and supposedly done vaccine. It was awful I haven't been right since. I won't get a booster. People all around me including in my household have gotten it. I've never tested positive. At the very beginning of the pandemic I tried to be good and follow the advice. Now I just don't care. If someplace requires a mask I will wear it. You want to wear one fine. Its up to you I'm not judging. None of my business. I'm just over the whole thing.

kteague · Post by **kteague** » Fri Sep 23, 2022 6:41 pm

Where I am on the west coast the mask wearing in the stores is maybe 50/50. I wear mine. Interstitial Lung Disease has diminished 2 lobes of my lungs - don't have more I'm willing to risk. Over time I have let my guard down, even though I'm well aware I could regret it. Live in a busy household with people who move around out there quite a bit, both family and visitors. Family has a home studio here. They don't schedule many sessions, but still, there are a couple people in each week. Everyone tries to be mindful and keep their distance for a few days after having been out there - greetings are not so up close these days, etc. Just don't want to wear a mask in the house all the time. Guess we each have our lines. Been in this small apartment with one who had covid and they just stayed in a bedroom for a week. No one else caught it. One grandson has had it 3 times - works at a Covid testing site. I'm traveling next month (to the midwest where masks are rarely worn), and I will be wearing a good mask. I may be deluding myself but I will wear a baseball cap so that air from above doesn't come down over my face on the plane, and I will wear glasses so my eyes don't take a direct hit. Yes, I know the air can flow all around my safety nets, just makes me not feel so nervous about things. Got my bivalent vaccine and flu shot today. That's about all I can do.

lazarus · Post by **lazarus** » Sat Sep 24, 2022 9:04 am

Glad you are being careful.

This whole being-a-responsible-adult thing isn't always fun.

booksfan · Post by **booksfan** » Sat Sep 24, 2022 9:36 am

kteague wrote: ↑
Fri Sep 23, 2022 6:41 pm
Where I am on the west coast the mask wearing in the stores is maybe 50/50. I wear mine. Interstitial Lung Disease has diminished 2 lobes of my lungs - don't have more I'm willing to risk. Over time I have let my guard down, even though I'm well aware I could regret it. Live in a busy household with people who move around out there quite a bit, both family and visitors. Family has a home studio here. They don't schedule many sessions, but still, there are a couple people in each week. Everyone tries to be mindful and keep their distance for a few days after having been out there - greetings are not so up close these days, etc. Just don't want to wear a mask in the house all the time. Guess we each have our lines. Been in this small apartment with one who had covid and they just stayed in a bedroom for a week. No one else caught it. One grandson has had it 3 times - works at a Covid testing site. I'm traveling next month (to the midwest where masks are rarely worn), and I will be wearing a good mask. I may be deluding myself but I will wear a baseball cap so that air from above doesn't come down over my face on the plane, and I will wear glasses so my eyes don't take a direct hit. Yes, I know the air can flow all around my safety nets, just makes me not feel so nervous about things. Got my bivalent vaccine and flu shot today. That's about all I can do.

Everyone has a different comfort level and that's a good thing. You have to do what makes you comfortable. We started traveling again last August and were careful how we did it. I wear a mask on planes and when required but not around town, but don't really go out much (we were homebodies to start with

). Since we are both double vaxxed and double booster, we figured that even though we have co-morbidities, we would either be asymptomatic or have mild cases when we came down with it. Our daughter, a preschool teacher, has had Covid twice, the rest of our family once. We were the lone holdouts...until last month! Hubby DID have a mild case, cold symptoms. I was pretty sick, enough so he insisted I call the doctor, which I was reluctant to do since I am not a candidate for Paxlovid. Fortunately, I did listen to him as I WAS a candidate for another anti-viral and it made a huge difference! My doctor said it was a good thing I was vaxxed, boosted, and took the anti-viral or I might have ended up in the hospital!

We plan on getting the bivalent once our 3 month wait is up! Good luck on your trip...stay healthy!

lynninnj · Post by **lynninnj** » Sat Sep 24, 2022 10:03 am

palerider wrote: ↑
Fri Sep 23, 2022 1:17 pm

squid13 wrote: ↑
Fri Sep 23, 2022 1:08 pm
Wearing a mask is like using a chain link fence for mosquito netting, the virus can go right thru those mask.
But the droplets that may be carrying the virus can't.

Well said,

I totally agree!

D.H. · Post by **D.H.** » Sat Sep 24, 2022 1:07 pm

squid13 wrote: ↑
Fri Sep 23, 2022 1:08 pm
Wearing a mask is like using a chain link fence for mosquito netting, the virus can go right thru those mask.

This is like "you can't percent 100% of crime, so why do we need a police department?"

lazarus · Post by **lazarus** » Sat Sep 24, 2022 3:38 pm

lazarus · Post by **lazarus** » Sat Sep 24, 2022 3:47 pm

booksfan wrote: ↑
Sat Sep 24, 2022 9:36 am
We plan on getting the bivalent once our 3 month wait is up

Although that has been the prevailing approach, you may want to run that three-month plan by your doc, since the full benefits of this bivalent vaccine may be somewhat time-sensitive:

Do you have to wait 90 days after having COVID to get a bivalent vaccine?

[Anna Durbin, a professor in International Health]: "No specific timeline has been established for the bivalent vaccine, but in general, it is better to wait a while—most experts recommend at least a month—after getting COVID to get vaccinated."

https://hub.jhu.edu/2022/09/01/bivalent ... s-q-and-a/

May be a judgment call by you and your doc, if you're in the U.S., since it appears from the following wording that the CDC and the AMA may not quite be on the exact same page on timing yet:

Should I get boosted if I've already had COVID-19?

Patients with a prior COVID-19 infection are eligible. But they should wait until they’ve fully recovered from acute illness and are out of isolation.

The CDC advises that it's probably best to wait at least three months after a COVID-19 infection to get the booster.

https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-car ... 20Fryhofer.

"Advises." "Probably." Just sayin'.

chunkyfrog · Post by **chunkyfrog** » Sat Sep 24, 2022 5:14 pm

Considering the timelines of plagues in history, our timeline from "We're all gonna die!"
to controllable has shortened considerably.
Still, we have to be ready for the unexpected.
This one could be with us for years to come.
Being a responsible adult is not the burden so many believe it is.

lynninnj · Post by **lynninnj** » Mon Sep 26, 2022 9:26 am

chunkyfrog wrote: ↑
Sat Sep 24, 2022 5:14 pm
Considering the timelines of plagues in history, our timeline from "We're all gonna die!"
to controllable has shortened considerably.
Still, we have to be ready for the unexpected.
This one could be with us for years to come.
Being a responsible adult is not the burden so many believe it is.

Yup.

Many in Asian countries were masking daily out in public esp public transportation.

I know I personally won't be caught off guard without PPE ever again.

ILoveFlowers · Post by **ILoveFlowers** » Tue Sep 27, 2022 1:59 am

I have accepted that things won't ever be quite the same as they were before. I still wear a mask in crowded public places, that is, those places I have to go to. I have lost the desire to go most crowded places that are optional. I realized I like not having to breathe other peoples' germs. For the first time in my life, I have not been sick -with anything- since the precautions first started. I have always spent a good part of the winter with flu, colds, etc despite getting my flu shot faithfully, and I've had nothing all this time, not one flu or cold or sore throat. I really like not getting sick! I'm thankful to live in an area where no one cares if I wear a mask in the grocery store or whatever. I don't mind being the only one. I've been different all my life, I'm used to it.

ILoveFlowers · Post by **ILoveFlowers** » Tue Sep 27, 2022 2:22 am

squid13 wrote: ↑
Fri Sep 23, 2022 1:08 pm
Wearing a mask is like using a chain link fence for mosquito netting, the virus can go right thru those mask.

The virus particles do not float around in the air on their own. They are carried in droplets of vapor that are breathed out. These are too big to travel through the mask. There are many studies and demonstrations on reputable sites online that you can find explaining this phenomenon.

I learned to mask before covid when I was caring for my husband who had terminal cancer. In spite of being on heavy chemo and being seriously immune suppressed, he never caught one of my several colds or flus from me during that time. Masks do make a difference.

lazarus · Post by **lazarus** » Tue Sep 27, 2022 3:27 am

ILoveFlowers wrote: ↑
Tue Sep 27, 2022 2:22 am
droplets

And apparently aerosols, making it truly airborne, despite earlier (outdated) denials of the significance of that fact.

aerosols: infectious viral particles that can float or drift around in the air. Aerosols are emitted by a person infected with coronavirus — even one with no symptoms — when they talk, breathe, cough, or sneeze. Another person can breathe in these aerosols and become infected with the virus. Aerosolized coronavirus can remain in the air for up to three hours. A mask can help prevent that spread.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases ... t%20spread.

Throughout much of 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) held tight to the idea that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, spreads through relatively large ‘respiratory’ droplets that are expelled by infected people while coughing, sneezing or speaking. These droplets contaminate nearby surfaces or get breathed in, so the WHO stressed the importance of washing hands and disinfecting surfaces.

It took many months for the agency to acknowledge that the virus could travel on tiny particles called aerosols that can spread widely and linger in the air. And nearly two years passed before the WHO clearly stated that the virus is airborne.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00925-7

ChicagoGranny · Post by **ChicagoGranny** » Tue Sep 27, 2022 7:52 am

ILoveFlowers wrote: ↑
Tue Sep 27, 2022 2:22 am
The virus particles do not float around in the air on their own. They are carried in droplets of vapor that are breathed out. These are too big to travel through the mask.

Yes, and not only that, but N95 masks even filter out more than 95% of individual enveloped virions. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7224694/

lazarus wrote: ↑
Tue Sep 27, 2022 3:27 am
And apparently aerosols

You verbed a noun.

lazarus · Post by **lazarus** » Tue Sep 27, 2022 8:08 am

ChicagoGranny wrote: ↑
Tue Sep 27, 2022 7:52 am
You verbed a noun.

Thanks, Granny. Would punctuation help?

And, apparently, aerosols.

Better?

[Sentence fragment] And [conjunction], apparently [sentence adverb], aerosols [plural noun].

The ‘End’ of COVID Is Still Far Worse Than We Imagined

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