Thanks for the booster update! I value your opinion and I hope you stay covid-free. I'm going to start masking again. I'm hearing so so many covid cases in my circle. Is this a very contagious variant again? Seems to be really active.
Sounds like Marvel and Disney are missing a co-promotional opportunity 😂
I appreciate this addition to what I’m reading, and I plan to get a boost. It’s been about a year and no covid in between. The last couple weeks have “that feeling” again, where everyone knows someone with Covid recently or currently.
Thanks also for giving people who want to mask sometimes and places some validation. It’s tough out there swimming against the stream.
I’ve been trying to decide if I should wait until my provider has the vaccine or go to a CVS now. Your recommendation to time the shot to get protection over the holidays helped me sort this out. Thanks Ryan.
Thank you Dr. Ryan, I had the 4th Covid shot on 6/15. On 7/17 I was sitting in the waiting room of the Union Hospital Emergency Entrance with my daughter waiting on results for tests she had taken that ended in emergency surgery that evening. On the afternoon of 7/24 while driving home from a weekend away to celebrate my 80th birthday I started feeling sick. I had a bit of sore throat and cough and could not wait to get home to lay down. I took a test which turned out negative on 7/26 because I had a house guest coming to stay at my house the next day from out-of-state to attend his class reunion. I continued to feel yucky and tested again on 7/31. This time the test was positive. I was never extremely sick but just was tired and didn't feel good. From your letter today it appears that I should probably wait until the 1st of November to get my next booster. I may be traveling until the middle of November.... from the end of October. Should I get the flu shot the first of October? Also, there is the RSV vaccine. I was told yesterday that a friend had gotten the flu shot and RSV at the same time and was very ill currently. My thinking is to spread these shots out.
Another logistical aspect is that pharmacy rollout has kind of been a cluster. Insurance not set up so people paying out of pocket (if they can afford to) then submitting for reimbursement. Or the pharmacy canceling appointments last minute either due to not having the vaccine yet or the insurance issue.
I was one of many novids who took the fall with whatever is circulating in NY. 4 others just in my family. It certainly was no cold for me, I was in bed for 3 weeks. Having what I think might be a neurological lingering symptom: a burning sensation in my mouth. Going to try treating for thrush and hope that’s it. I’m immunocompromised, so it’s possible.
I plan to get my booster mid-October. While I had a recent infection, I don’t want to rely too much on my suppressed immune system. I’m hoping Novavax might be out then but who knows.
I’ve been masking because I’m immuno (my infection was from a visit from my mom, didn’t mask for that one time:/) but I’m starting to see more masks. I think people are tired of getting sick over and over.
I got my booster on 9/16/23. It was my eighth shot, overall. From fall 2022 to September 2023, I checked my antibodies on a regular basis and they routinely clocked in at >25,000 u/mL - no evidence of waning during the year that elapsed between my 7th shot and my 8th. I respond quite well to vaccines, it appears.
On 10/5/23 I tested positive for the first time ever. A spectacularly sharp line on a rapid test (and a fainter control line, as a result - apparently that's normal). I have every reason to believe that I detected it right away, having tested negative the day before. I had started experiencing some symptoms earlier that afternoon. It's hard for me to identify post-nasal drip sometimes, because I also have laryngeal reflux (which actually started after a bad cold in 2005). As soon as a I saw the result, I called the city's hotline and Paxlovid was delivered the next day. I've been very rigorous about testing throughout the pandemic, in part because my mother has CLL. Until the official end of the PHE, I wore a fresh N95 daily on the subway.
I'm still counting this as a win, and I've got a weird feeling of closure now. I'm fairly confident that my course will be mild - thanks to my preexisting immunity and the antiviral. And I'm following the CDC isolation guidelines, for what they're worth.
I’ve heard this pattern before, too. Frustrating. I know they say it’s likely inactivated or chopped up viral antigens being shed… but to me it sounds like another round of viral replication. I don’t know except that you should be fine either way… but you’re very careful around your mother, so extend that precaution longer, right? I would take another round of paxlovid but that’s just me and not a guideline.
Dropping back in to say that, tentatively, the 10 day course of Paxlovid after my initial rebound may have done the trick. I'm wondering what kind of host factors might eventually predict the likelihood of Paxlovid rebound, e.g.
Ok happy to hear that! I appreciate the stories alongside the narrow studies. It's variable but I think the scientific community is coming around the fact that viruses can take longer to clear than we traditionally think
Dropping back in to say, I think the 10 day course after my Paxlovid rebound did the trick - negative for about a week now. And I got tested for nucleocapsid antibodies yesterday. I got 'em now!
I'm curious to know just how soon I can flip to PCR negative.
Hi Dr. McCormick - my two <5 kids (ages 2 and 4) got their first COVID vaccine in February and promptly got COVID. Would you still recommend a booster this fall, or is that enough hybrid immunity for now?
Cases up. Booster up?
Thanks for the booster update! I value your opinion and I hope you stay covid-free. I'm going to start masking again. I'm hearing so so many covid cases in my circle. Is this a very contagious variant again? Seems to be really active.
Sounds like Marvel and Disney are missing a co-promotional opportunity 😂
I appreciate this addition to what I’m reading, and I plan to get a boost. It’s been about a year and no covid in between. The last couple weeks have “that feeling” again, where everyone knows someone with Covid recently or currently.
Thanks also for giving people who want to mask sometimes and places some validation. It’s tough out there swimming against the stream.
I’ve been trying to decide if I should wait until my provider has the vaccine or go to a CVS now. Your recommendation to time the shot to get protection over the holidays helped me sort this out. Thanks Ryan.
Thank you Dr. Ryan, I had the 4th Covid shot on 6/15. On 7/17 I was sitting in the waiting room of the Union Hospital Emergency Entrance with my daughter waiting on results for tests she had taken that ended in emergency surgery that evening. On the afternoon of 7/24 while driving home from a weekend away to celebrate my 80th birthday I started feeling sick. I had a bit of sore throat and cough and could not wait to get home to lay down. I took a test which turned out negative on 7/26 because I had a house guest coming to stay at my house the next day from out-of-state to attend his class reunion. I continued to feel yucky and tested again on 7/31. This time the test was positive. I was never extremely sick but just was tired and didn't feel good. From your letter today it appears that I should probably wait until the 1st of November to get my next booster. I may be traveling until the middle of November.... from the end of October. Should I get the flu shot the first of October? Also, there is the RSV vaccine. I was told yesterday that a friend had gotten the flu shot and RSV at the same time and was very ill currently. My thinking is to spread these shots out.
Thanks for the info. I’m flying to Seattle 3rd week in October. Plan to get my booster ASAP.
Another logistical aspect is that pharmacy rollout has kind of been a cluster. Insurance not set up so people paying out of pocket (if they can afford to) then submitting for reimbursement. Or the pharmacy canceling appointments last minute either due to not having the vaccine yet or the insurance issue.
I was one of many novids who took the fall with whatever is circulating in NY. 4 others just in my family. It certainly was no cold for me, I was in bed for 3 weeks. Having what I think might be a neurological lingering symptom: a burning sensation in my mouth. Going to try treating for thrush and hope that’s it. I’m immunocompromised, so it’s possible.
I plan to get my booster mid-October. While I had a recent infection, I don’t want to rely too much on my suppressed immune system. I’m hoping Novavax might be out then but who knows.
I’ve been masking because I’m immuno (my infection was from a visit from my mom, didn’t mask for that one time:/) but I’m starting to see more masks. I think people are tired of getting sick over and over.
I got my booster on 9/16/23. It was my eighth shot, overall. From fall 2022 to September 2023, I checked my antibodies on a regular basis and they routinely clocked in at >25,000 u/mL - no evidence of waning during the year that elapsed between my 7th shot and my 8th. I respond quite well to vaccines, it appears.
On 10/5/23 I tested positive for the first time ever. A spectacularly sharp line on a rapid test (and a fainter control line, as a result - apparently that's normal). I have every reason to believe that I detected it right away, having tested negative the day before. I had started experiencing some symptoms earlier that afternoon. It's hard for me to identify post-nasal drip sometimes, because I also have laryngeal reflux (which actually started after a bad cold in 2005). As soon as a I saw the result, I called the city's hotline and Paxlovid was delivered the next day. I've been very rigorous about testing throughout the pandemic, in part because my mother has CLL. Until the official end of the PHE, I wore a fresh N95 daily on the subway.
I'm still counting this as a win, and I've got a weird feeling of closure now. I'm fairly confident that my course will be mild - thanks to my preexisting immunity and the antiviral. And I'm following the CDC isolation guidelines, for what they're worth.
I’ve heard this pattern before, too. Frustrating. I know they say it’s likely inactivated or chopped up viral antigens being shed… but to me it sounds like another round of viral replication. I don’t know except that you should be fine either way… but you’re very careful around your mother, so extend that precaution longer, right? I would take another round of paxlovid but that’s just me and not a guideline.
Dropping back in to say that, tentatively, the 10 day course of Paxlovid after my initial rebound may have done the trick. I'm wondering what kind of host factors might eventually predict the likelihood of Paxlovid rebound, e.g.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8857552/
Ok happy to hear that! I appreciate the stories alongside the narrow studies. It's variable but I think the scientific community is coming around the fact that viruses can take longer to clear than we traditionally think
Dropping back in to say, I think the 10 day course after my Paxlovid rebound did the trick - negative for about a week now. And I got tested for nucleocapsid antibodies yesterday. I got 'em now!
I'm curious to know just how soon I can flip to PCR negative.
Hi Dr. McCormick - my two <5 kids (ages 2 and 4) got their first COVID vaccine in February and promptly got COVID. Would you still recommend a booster this fall, or is that enough hybrid immunity for now?