How can one who is elderly or immunocompromised "take extra precautions" when no one around us is doing anything at all to mitigate respiratory disease spread? I can certainly avoid bars, restaurants, movie theaters. But I am likely to be exposed in medical appointments since no one in medical offices is even masking anymore and there is no evidence of air filtration. I have to go for a MOHS procedure on my chin soon and obviously I cannot mask. I will be exposed to the air that all people who have been in that office have been exhaling all day. I get that it is not possible to get everyone to mask everywhere anymore, but dropping mask mandates in medical offices results in negligent exposure of vulnerable people to a deadly or disabling virus. With 11% of those who have had Covid now have Long Covid, and one quarter of those disabled from being able to work or do fun activities, this is serious. It is dismaying to have most discussions of an impending surge only dealing with the effect on hospitals and on deaths with no thoughts about how many of the people who are going to get Covid might end up disabled. It's not dying that is scary, it's being disabled!
While the absolute numbers of cases and hospitalizations are indeed up, the absolute numbers are trivial. AT this time. However, we have systematically removed any form of useful surveillance system and downplayed the risks of getting COVID administratively.
Vulnerable people need to protect themselves. Remain up to date on vaccines; mask in high-risk areas including while traveling. although there is little indication COVID transmission is associated with fomites, hand washing and general precautions are always a good idea.
Clean air has been a priority for awhile but despite a targeted goal in some of the COVID funding, few schools and public buildings did improve their HVAC systems.
Every COVID (re)infection carries an increased risk of long COVID. Unfortunately we don't know much about that syndrome, so we do not know if it diminishes life span or not. We cannot yet agree even on why some suffer from long COVID while others apparently see no ill effects (although there is new and interesting literature/research thereon).
My wife and I sre putting on our N95s again and using hand sanitizer. It feels like 2021 again. I don't care about the stares, I just hope we don't have to deal with the open hostility we had to deal with back in the early years when somehow things got politicized
The sharp increase in wastewater, and its continued rise since it was first noted, gives me pause. Since we systematically dismantled anything that passed for viral testing and surveillance, we can't depend on case counts, and since hospitals do not routinely screen for COVID on admission, we are likely missing even more cases when more cases than we did during the active testing phase of the pandemic. So, I ignore the case counts. Hospitalizations and deaths remain our "best" indicators of community spread, which is a sad state. I am concerned, like you, about the south. And, Florida, with its other problems (sharp rise in Hansen's disease solely from soil contamination) along with its dismal number of older people vaccinated, AND with its meager increase in numbers is concerning. I wish I had confidence their health department would report COVID numbers accurately, but, alas, I don't. So we're back to a sparsely-implemented indirect process to attempt to successfully evaluate where we are with this disease.
I wish we could get COVID listed as a mandatory reportable illness, and increase, at the same time, the incidence of testing, to get some idea of where we really are.
As an older elementary teacher, I am concerned. Windows open, air purifiers, mask as needed, and hope like heck the updated vaccine is available sooner rather than later!
Thank you as always for the very timely and helpful information. I know it’s better to wait for the flu vaccine but does it make sense to get the RSV vaccine for those over 65yo? 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
Absolutely! It takes 2 weeks for the vaccine to fully take effect, and those >age 65 are the most vulnerable to serious disease & death from RSV due to immunity waning with age (despite likely having caught it mildly or asymptomatically during our youth). Question is whether to get GSK's Arexvy, which is currently available, or wait for Pfizer's which trials have shown to be slightly more effective. But "a bird in the hand," which is why at 72 with asthma, breast cancer in remission and a stable ocular melanoma, I rolled up my sleeve for Arexvy. I will get the new XBB-specific monovalent COVID vax as soon as it's available. But I'll wait till late Sept. or early Oct. for the flu shot, as I usually do, to avoid its efficacy waning before the flu season ends.
How can one who is elderly or immunocompromised "take extra precautions" when no one around us is doing anything at all to mitigate respiratory disease spread? I can certainly avoid bars, restaurants, movie theaters. But I am likely to be exposed in medical appointments since no one in medical offices is even masking anymore and there is no evidence of air filtration. I have to go for a MOHS procedure on my chin soon and obviously I cannot mask. I will be exposed to the air that all people who have been in that office have been exhaling all day. I get that it is not possible to get everyone to mask everywhere anymore, but dropping mask mandates in medical offices results in negligent exposure of vulnerable people to a deadly or disabling virus. With 11% of those who have had Covid now have Long Covid, and one quarter of those disabled from being able to work or do fun activities, this is serious. It is dismaying to have most discussions of an impending surge only dealing with the effect on hospitals and on deaths with no thoughts about how many of the people who are going to get Covid might end up disabled. It's not dying that is scary, it's being disabled!
While the absolute numbers of cases and hospitalizations are indeed up, the absolute numbers are trivial. AT this time. However, we have systematically removed any form of useful surveillance system and downplayed the risks of getting COVID administratively.
Vulnerable people need to protect themselves. Remain up to date on vaccines; mask in high-risk areas including while traveling. although there is little indication COVID transmission is associated with fomites, hand washing and general precautions are always a good idea.
Clean air has been a priority for awhile but despite a targeted goal in some of the COVID funding, few schools and public buildings did improve their HVAC systems.
Every COVID (re)infection carries an increased risk of long COVID. Unfortunately we don't know much about that syndrome, so we do not know if it diminishes life span or not. We cannot yet agree even on why some suffer from long COVID while others apparently see no ill effects (although there is new and interesting literature/research thereon).
My wife and I sre putting on our N95s again and using hand sanitizer. It feels like 2021 again. I don't care about the stares, I just hope we don't have to deal with the open hostility we had to deal with back in the early years when somehow things got politicized
The sharp increase in wastewater, and its continued rise since it was first noted, gives me pause. Since we systematically dismantled anything that passed for viral testing and surveillance, we can't depend on case counts, and since hospitals do not routinely screen for COVID on admission, we are likely missing even more cases when more cases than we did during the active testing phase of the pandemic. So, I ignore the case counts. Hospitalizations and deaths remain our "best" indicators of community spread, which is a sad state. I am concerned, like you, about the south. And, Florida, with its other problems (sharp rise in Hansen's disease solely from soil contamination) along with its dismal number of older people vaccinated, AND with its meager increase in numbers is concerning. I wish I had confidence their health department would report COVID numbers accurately, but, alas, I don't. So we're back to a sparsely-implemented indirect process to attempt to successfully evaluate where we are with this disease.
I wish we could get COVID listed as a mandatory reportable illness, and increase, at the same time, the incidence of testing, to get some idea of where we really are.
As an older elementary teacher, I am concerned. Windows open, air purifiers, mask as needed, and hope like heck the updated vaccine is available sooner rather than later!
I agree with your assessment. I wrote about the impending surge two days ago: https://www.acsh.org/news/2023/08/10/new-covid-surge-has-begun-timing-bad-17251. If people don't start becoming more conscientious about taking precautions and getting treatment if they're infected, it's going to be bad.
Thank you for that article. Very informative and much appreciated.
You rock. Thank you for this!!
Thank you as always for the very timely and helpful information. I know it’s better to wait for the flu vaccine but does it make sense to get the RSV vaccine for those over 65yo? 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
Absolutely! It takes 2 weeks for the vaccine to fully take effect, and those >age 65 are the most vulnerable to serious disease & death from RSV due to immunity waning with age (despite likely having caught it mildly or asymptomatically during our youth). Question is whether to get GSK's Arexvy, which is currently available, or wait for Pfizer's which trials have shown to be slightly more effective. But "a bird in the hand," which is why at 72 with asthma, breast cancer in remission and a stable ocular melanoma, I rolled up my sleeve for Arexvy. I will get the new XBB-specific monovalent COVID vax as soon as it's available. But I'll wait till late Sept. or early Oct. for the flu shot, as I usually do, to avoid its efficacy waning before the flu season ends.