Covid Quarterly Commentaries for Q3 2024

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In this article, I will be quoting from and commenting upon various news articles about Covid from the third quarter of 2024 (July to September).

Newsmax. As COVID Ticks Up CDC Recommends Updated Fall Shots.

Officials acknowledged the need for shots is not as dire as it was only a few years ago. Most Americans have some degree of immunity from being infected, from past vaccinations or both. COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations last month [May 2024] were at about their lowest point since the pandemic first hit the United States in 2020.

But immunity wanes, new coronavirus variants keep emerging and there are still hundreds of COVID-19-associated deaths and thousands of hospitalizations reported each week….

Health officials have told Americans to expect a yearly update to COVID-19 vaccines, just like they are recommended to get a new shot each fall to protect against the latest flu strains.

But many Americans aren't heeding the CDC's advice….

CDC officials on Thursday [6/27/24] presented recent survey information in which about 23% of respondents said they would definitely get an updated COVID-19 shot this fall, but 33% said they definitely would not.

The reason most Americans have not and will not get updated Covid shots is two-fold. First, there is the misinformation spread mainly by those on the right about supposed “dangers” of the shots. Second, there is the misguided idea that Covid is “just a cold,” again, mostly propagated by those on the right.

It is true the vaccines are not without risk, no medical treatment is, and it is true Covid has mutated into a less virulent form. However, the risks of the Covid shots are way overblown and the risk from Covid is still greater than that of the flu, and it is far worse than the common cold.

As the above quote indicates, hundreds of Americans die each week from Covid. No where near that many people die from the common cold, while flu deaths have also dropped to below that level since Covid. However, it is also true that these deaths, along with hospitalization, are almost exclusively seen in those in high-risk groups, namely the elderly and those with specific comorbidities, such as obesity. It is for such people which the cost/ benefit ratio of the shots greatly favors getting the booster shots each year.
6/28/24

Breitbart. ‘Lioness’ Actor Mike Heslin Dies at 30 After ‘Unexpected Cardiac Event’.

Breitbart. Jon Landau, Oscar-Winning ‘Titanic’ and ‘Avatar’ Producer, Dies at 63.

Breitbart. Reporter Sam Rubin Cause of Death Revealed.

Breitbart. Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff Tests Positive for COVID, Kamala Harris Tests Negative.

Headlines like these still bring on nonsensical comments from those on the right that any and all “unexpected” deaths by someone under 80 are due to the Covid vaccines and cries that the Covid shots don’t work anytime a famous person contracts Covid.

However, there is not a hint in either of these articles or many similar ones that the death was caused by the Covid shot, or even if the person was ever vaccinated. The antivaxxers just assume the person was. But most of all, the collective memory holing of Covid antivaxxers is quite astounding. They seem to forget that people have been unexpectedly dying at young ages since the beginning of time. That is seen in the cause of death for Rubin of “ischemic heart disease” being listed as “natural” and it being said, “Ischemic heart disease is a leading cause of death worldwide….”

On the last headline, the article goes on to state, “He is currently asymptomatic, continuing to work remotely, and remaining away from others at home.” It also astounds me that antivaxxers still do not understand the difference between testing positive and being asymptomatic and testing positive, getting very sick, and ending up in the hospital or even morgue. Those who are vaccinated and especially those who are boosted with the latest updated shot are most likely to be in the former category, while those who are not in the latter category. That will be documented shortly.
7/8/24

Washington Examiner. Biden with COVID: Protocols for sickness four years after pandemic.

In 2023, the CDC reports that more than 916,300 people were hospitalized due to COVID and more than 75,500 died from the illness….

The CDC issued guidance that COVID symptoms should be treated like other respiratory viruses, including flu and RSV, and people should stay home when they are sick….

Because the virus mutates relatively frequently, COVID vaccine recommendations are similar to those for flu, with a new vaccine each year to protect against severe infection in the fall and winter months.

According to the CDC, receiving an updated COVID vaccine “can restore and enhance protection against the virus variants currently responsible for most infections and hospitalizations in the United States.”

Jean-Pierre said in her press statement on Wednesday [7/17/24] that the president is “vaccinated and boosted.”

The most up-to-date COVID vaccines for the 2024-25 season will likely be available in the early fall….

Here we have exact numbers for Covid hospitalizations and deaths in 2023. Almost one million hospitalizations and over 75k deaths. Those numbers far exceed a normal flu season, while the common cold is not even close.

After this report, X (formerly Twitter) was awash with people quoting Biden saying that if you get vaccinated you would not get infected with Covid. But what those smart-alecks failed to notice is those quotes were from June of 2021. That was early in the pandemic and shortly after the vaccines became readily available. At that time, yes, the vaccines would protect against infection. But then the virus mutated into Delta, then Omicron, and then the wide variety of Omicron subvariants we have seen since then. With each new iteration, the vaccines became less able to protect against infection. In addition, vaccine (and natural) immunity wanes.

That is why updated booster shots are needed. They still do not fully protect against infection, but they do protect against severe illnesses, and Biden is a perfect example of that. Despite being older than dirt and so frail that he was forced out as the Democrat presidential candidate, he has only had mild symptoms each of the three times he has gotten infected. Thus, once again, the antivaxxers just cannot understand the difference between getting infected and only having mild if any symptoms and getting infected and being so sick you need to be hospitalized or even die. That difference is seen in the next article.
7/21/24

Washington Examiner. Is Biden’s latest COVID-19 diagnosis a vaccine and booster failure?

However, it should also suggest, based on a recent study, that the expectations of being vaccinated and boosted should seemingly shift from acting as an impenetrable wall of sorts that protects people from getting or spreading the virus to the vaccines preventing people from experiencing lingering harmful health problems, such as long COVID, or at least lessening the severity of the symptoms.

For example, a recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine revealed there was a “70% drop in long COVID cases due to vaccination.” So there is an argument to be made that vaccines are beneficial, but that argument is not predicated on the thought that getting the vaccine will prevent someone from contracting the virus altogether — which is what was originally said. Unfortunately, this perception still dominates many of the people’s views on the efficacy of vaccines. It would probably help if there were more public statements on how the perception of the benefits of vaccines should be shifted to focus on preventing long-term negative health problems.

In other words, in addition to preventing immediate severe symptoms, the Covid vaccines are proving to prevent against long Covid. This is a very real and debilitating illness that is now inflicting millions worldwide. But the best way to protect yourself against it is to get vaccinated with the latest updated Covid booster shot.
7/24/24

NPR. Researchers decipher MIS-C, the scary illness that followed COVID in some kids.

The condition is called multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children, or MIS-C, and it is serious but rare. Early in the pandemic, kids began showing up in emergency departments with symptoms including persistent high fevers, vomiting, fatigue and heart inflammation. Some needed intensive care and ventilators….

“Very serious disease”

“They’d come to the ICU because they also got inflammation of their hearts, which meant their hearts weren’t able to pump enough to get blood to all of the organs in their body and keep them alive. So it’s really a very serious disease,” recalls Dr. Aaron Bodansky, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, who treated children with the condition….

At the height of the pandemic, only a small subset of children – about 1 out of every 2,000 – who got infected with COVID went on to develop MIS-C. Most recovered fully….

These days, the condition is even rarer. DeRisi says it now mostly occurs only in unvaccinated children.

This condition is rare but very serious when it occurs. And it must be noted, it was first appeared “Early in the pandemic.” That would be before the vaccines became available. That means this heart-related condition is not related to the vaccines but to Covid itself. In fact, the best way to protect against it is by getting vaccinated.

That is all completely contrary to claims of Covid antivaxxers that children have nothing to fear from Covid and do not need to be vaccinated. It is true children for the most part have been little affected by Covid. But that does not mean they are absolutely immune to serious ramifications from a Covid infection. As such, parents should consider seriously, in consultation with your pediatrician, whether to get you kids vaccinated or not.
8/9/24

Washington Examiner. Fauci touts vaccine boosters and masks after getting COVID-19 for the third time.

He added, “It was a very, very mild infection. I’m 83 years old. I would think that if I were naive immunologically, this thing could have killed me, but it didn’t even make me significantly ill.”

Fauci said he had some “sniffles, a little fever, and sinusitis” before it was over….

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, coronavirus still tends to peak in December and January while also rising in July and August. The current COVID-19 vaccines now target the KP.2 strain, a descendant of the highly contagious JN.1 variant that emerged last winter. World Health Organization officials said 84 countries are seeing a rise in positive COVID-19 tests over the last several weeks.

Fauci is in the same situation as Biden. Given his age, a Covid infection could be very serious for him. But due to being vaccinated and boosted, he only has had mild symptoms each of the three times he has had Covid. It is probably because of their age and frailty that they keep getting infected, but it is because of the Covid shots they have had that they have only had mild infections.
8/9/24

New York Times. Should You Get Another Covid Shot Now?

An upcoming vaccine from the biotechnology company Novavax will target JN.1, a coronavirus variant that accounted for the bulk of cases in the United States this winter. The Pfizer and Moderna shots coming this fall will target KP.2, a newer offshoot of JN.1 that’s been circulating this summer. The variants responsible for the largest share of cases in the United States right now, KP.3 and KP.3.1.1, are closely related to KP.2 and JN.1….

Getting vaccinated with the currently available shots would likely lower your risk of a Covid infection for several weeks….

Beyond that, vaccines will continue to guard against serious disease, hospitalization, death and long Covid for months. Data from the C.D.C. has shown that people who received an updated vaccine after they became available last year were roughly 54 percent less likely to get Covid from mid-September 2023 to January 2024.

In other words, the Covid shots do reduce the risk of infection, but only for a short while. That is why it is best to wait until October to early November to get it. In that way, the reduced risk of infection will be there for Thanksgiving and then last through the holidays. But even after that, your risk of serious illness will remain greatly reduced for many months.

Note also the mention of the Novavax booster shot. That is what I got last year and will get again this year. I also had and will have my dad do the same. It is the best option for those who are leery about the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA-based vaccines. The Novavax shot is more of a traditional vaccine. I had no side effects from it last year, and neither did my dad, while we both had significant reactions to the Pfizer and Moderna shots. They only lasted a day or two. But still, with none from the Novavax, we will stick with it.
8/9/24

Erythritol and Blood Clots

Stat. One type of artificial sweetener may increase heart attack risk, preliminary study says.

CNN. Zero calorie sweetener linked to blood clots and risk of heart disease, study finds.

Medical News Today. A popular low calorie sweetener may raise the risk of blood clotting.

· One of the latest types of sugar substitutes are sugar alcohols, such as erythritol.

· Previous research has linked erythritol to cardiovascular issues such as heart attack and stroke.

· Researchers have now found that using erythritol may increase a person’s risk of blood clots….

Previous research has linked erythritol to an increased risk for cardiovascular issues, such as a study published in March 2023 that found an association between erythritol use and an increased risk for major cardiovascular events, including heart attack and stroke….

Now, Hazen and his colleagues have continued their erythritol research with a new study recently published in the journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, reporting that erythritol use may also increase a person’s risk of blood clots, which when formed inside a blood vessel can restrict the movement of blood and oxygen around the body.

What does this have to do with Covid? It is related to claims by Covid antivaxxers that the Covid vaccines cause blood clots, leading to heart attacks and strokes. That is why every time someone dies from such, they immediately blame the Covid vaccines. As indicated above, that claim is made despite not even knowing if the person in question was ever even vaccinated. Covid antivaxxers further claim there has been an increase in blood clots and their resultant adverse events, and they even claim that coroners are finding bodies “filled with blood clots.” They blame all of that on the Covid vaccines.

However, there is little evidence that claims about increased blood clots are true and less that the Covid vaccines would be responsible if such were true. But what there is solid evidence of is that Covid itself causes blood clots. As such, if there is an increase in such, it is probably due to Covid not the Covid vaccines.

But now we have one more possible explanation for the alleged increase in blood clots, that being the increasing popularity of low carb diets. Erythritol is a staple ingredient in low carb processed foods. Therefore, if someone following a low carb diet has been relying on processed low carb foods to maintain low carb macros, then that could lead to blood clots and the resultant heart attacks and strokes.

In other words, rather than asking when someone dies unexpectedly from a blood clot related event if the person was vaccinated (which again, antivaxxers don’t even bother to ask but just assume to be the case), it needs to be asked if the person was ever infected with Covid and if he or she was following a low carb diet.

The point is, there is actual solid evidence that Covid and erythritol cause blood clots, while scant evidence that the Covid vaccines do so. Consequently, the former two are the most likely causes of the alleged increase in blood clots and unexpected deaths, not the latter, if such is in fact occurring.
8/18/24

New York Times. New Covid Shots Were Approved. But Who Will Get Them?

In recent weeks, people have been hospitalized with Covid at a rate nearly twice as high as during the same time last summer. By late July, Covid was killing roughly 600 Americans each week, a substantial drop from this winter but double the number from this spring….

Last year’s Covid vaccines offered moderate protection against getting infected, but those defenses waned over time, studies have suggested. The shots provide a stronger guard against severe disease. Across all ages, a vast majority of Americans who were hospitalized for Covid did not receive the shots offered last fall, according to data presented in June to a C.D.C. advisory committee.

The first paragraph ought to drive Covid-deniers crazy, while the second paragraph ought to drive Covid-antivaxxers crazy. But both are the truth.

As already indicated, Covid is still killing hundreds of Americans per week. The exact number ebbs and flows with each season, but it still remains substantial.

Also as already indicated, the virus has mutated greatly since its first iteration. Even if someone was infected early in the pandemic or was vaccinated with the original vaccines, that protection has waned, and the virus has mutated greatly since then. As such, there is little protection from the current form of the virus. To put it another way, unless someone was vaccinated or infected within the past year, that person is not protected and needs the updated booster shots.

And yes, those shots are protective against hospitalization and death, though not fully against infection. The reason is explained next.
8/22/24

New York Times. New Covid Shots Recommended for Americans 6 Months and Older This Fall.

As the virus continues to mutate, the C.D.C. urged Americans to roll up their sleeves again for annual vaccinations….

“Professionals and the public in general do not understand how much this virus has mutated,” said Carol Hayes, the committee’s [C.D.C.’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices] liaison to the American College of Nurse-Midwives. “You need this year’s vaccine to be protected against this year’s strain of the virus.”

A vaccine by Novavax will target JN.1, the variant that prevailed for months in the winter and spring. The shots to be made by Pfizer and Moderna are aimed at KP.2, which until recently seemed poised to be the dominant variant.

But KP.2 appears to be giving way to two related variants, KP.3 and LB.1, which now account for more than half of new cases. All three variants, descendants of JN.1, are together nicknamed FLiRT, after two mutations in the virus’s genes that contain those letters.

Here is the explanation as to why the Covid vaccines are only moderately effective at preventing infection. The virus is mutating so rapidly that by the time the drug manufacturers develop and distribute an updated booster shot, the virus has already mutated beyond the exact variant the vaccine targets.

This again is why Biden said in June 2021 that if you got vaccinated, you would not get infected. That was true when he said it, as that was when the original vaccines were protecting against the original virus. But then the virus mutated, so the original vaccines were not as effective at preventing infection. As such, it is greatly disingenuous for Covid antivaxxers to say Biden lied back then. He did not. The situation on the ground changed, so that those words were no longer true.

And that is the situation today. Even if you get the most recent booster shot, you could still be liable to infection since those vaccines target an earlier variant than what is now already circulating. However, since the newest circulating variants are actually subvariants of the variant the vaccines target, they are still effective at preventing severe illness, hospitalization, and death.

This again takes us back at the seemingly inability of Covid antivaxxers to grasp the difference between asymptomatic infection and severe illness. Even if the newest booster shots do not prevent the former, they do reduce the risk of the latter, and that is a vital difference.

Moreover, it is why over the past year, most all of those who experienced severe illness did not receive last fall’s updated booster shot. And most likely, we will be saying the same thing next fall. Most all of those who will experience severe illness over the next year will not have received this fall’s updated booster shot.

On a couple of side notes, this phenomenon is also why, although there might have been some sense to vaccine mandates when the vaccines were first introduced through the summer of 2021, once it became apparent the vaccines did not prevent transmission, such mandates made little sense. However, the left and blue areas still pushed them for quite some time, far longer than made any sense. The only possible reason was that, with the vaccines reducing the risk of hospitalization, the mandates were needed to keep hospitals from being overwhelmed with Covid cases. But now that we are out of any such risk from Covid, any remaining such mandates are just ludicrous.

Also, this phenomenon is why there is no vaccine for the common cold. The cold virus mutates so rapidity, much more so than Covid, that by the time a vaccine could come to market, the virus would have mutated so much that the version of cold virus the vaccine targets would no longer exist, nor would it be related to the currently circulating form of the virus. Consequently, it would have little effectiveness. But thank God the cold virus is much less virulent than Covid, so a vaccine is not really necessary anyway.
8/22/24

Newsmax. COVID Tests Will Be Free Through Mail Order Again.

On the heels of a summer wave of COVID-19 cases, Americans will be able to get free virus test kits mailed to their homes, starting in late September.

U.S. households will be able to order up to four COVID-19 nasal swab tests when the federal program reopens, according to the website, COVIDtests.gov. The U.S. Health and Human Services agency that oversees the testing has not announced an exact date for ordering to begin.

The tests will detect current virus strains and can be ordered ahead of the holiday season when family and friends gather for celebrations, an HHS spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

Since they are free, you might as well order them at COVIDtests.gov. However, there is a slight problem with them—they are already expired! The expiration date on some of them is August 2024. However, the FDA says they talked with the manufacturer, and it said they are actually good for several months after that expiration date. Thus, maybe they will be accurate through the winter Covid season. But that is the incompetent Biden/ Harris administration for you.

After I wrote the preceding, I got my free tests. The only date I could see on them is 28-12-2023. It does not say, but I assume that is the manufacture date. But I have no idea how long a Covid tests is good for. Also, they were made in South Korea (hence why the month and day are backward). I guess that is better than North Korea, but you would think the government of the USA would buy such giveaways from a company in the USA. But Biden/ Harris have ridiculed the idea of “America First,” so I guess that is not so obvious to them.
8/23/24

Fortune Well. Older adults should get their flu shots now. Here’s why they also need stronger vaccines.

Flu season is nigh, and if you’re 65 or older, don’t dally on getting your updated 2024–25 vaccine.

Seasonal flu activity in the U.S. typically peaks between December and February, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends everyone aged 6 months and older get their annual shot by Halloween. However, Dr. Robert Hopkins Jr., medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, encourages older adults to protect themselves a bit earlier.

“For older adults and for folks who’ve got chronic medical problems, I usually recommend getting the flu vaccine around anytime from the middle of September through early October,” Hopkins previously told Fortune. “Because in those of us with immune systems that aren’t quite as robust, we want to make sure that we vaccinate at a time that’s likely to give us immune protection throughout the flu season.”

This article was posted on Fortune Well on September 8, 2024. But it contradicts the recommendation my doctor gave me on September 27, at my annual “wellness visit.” I wanted to get my flu shot at that visit, and then I planned on getting my Covid shot two weeks later. But he said to reverse the order and to get my Covid shot then, and my flu shot later, preferably late October.

His reasoning was that the flu shot only protects for about six months, but the flu season lasts until May. Thus, I might be liable to getting the flu in April if I got it that early. But he seemed to think the protection from the Covid shots lasted longer.

However, his office only had the Pfizer Covid shot, and I really wanted the Novavax one, as mentioned previously. As such, I got my flu shot then and scheduled my Covid shot at Walmart for October 11. I didn’t want to make another trip to Walmart in late October for the flu shot. If I get the flu in April, then I might regret the decision. But I did have my dad get his Covid shot first, on October 7, then he is scheduled for his flu shot two weeks later, on October 21. As such, he will be protected in April, while I might not be.

Note that it takes about two weeks for a vaccine to provide full protection. That is why I suggested that people get both shots (Covid and flu) by early November, so that they are fully protected for family Thanksgiving gatherings. Note also that some authorities say you can get the Covid and flu shots at the same time, but my doctor did not seem to think so. And with that two weeks time for a vaccine to take full effect, it just seems to me to make most sense to let that happen before getting another shot. And again, my doctor seemed to agree.
9/8/24

Newsmax. Survey: Americans Wary of Fall Flu, COVID Vaccines.

Just a slight majority — 56% — plan to get the flu shot this fall, researchers found.

Less than half (43%) say they’ll get the updated COVID vaccine.

We’re at the start of respiratory virus season, when you have the triple threat of flu, COVID-19 and RSV,” said researcher Dr. Nora Colburn, medical director of clinical epidemiology at Ohio State’s Richard M. Ross Heart Hospital.

“Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation about vaccinations, but the reality is that they are safe and highly effective in preventing serious illness and death,” Colburn added in a university news release. “Older adults, people with certain chronic medical conditions and those who are pregnant are especially at risk during respiratory virus season.”

It is sad there will be much needless suffering in the coming year due to the misinformation spread by Covid-antivaxxers.

On RSV, it is a one-time shot like most vaccines, as the RSV virus does not seem to mutate, as with most other viruses other than Covid, flu, and the common cold. My dad and I both got our RSV shot lat year, so we are good to go.
9/12/24

Overcoming Back Pain: A Mind-Body Solution

My first audio book is now available on Amazon, Audible, and iTunes. It is the story of how I overcame years of crippling low back pain, so much so that I was able to start powerlifting again. If you suffer from low back pain, this could be the solution to your problem. And even if you do not, this is an interesting story, with lots of twists and turns. For other formats for this book, see the Preview page on my fitness website.

The above article was posted on this website October 8, 2024.

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