Coronavirus prep
Replies
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Who here (besides me) bought a pulse oximeter because of COVID?
when myself and a family member both had covid, it was comforting to check my oxygen levels while recovering at home.
I bought one for ourselves and had one delivered to both grown children and some other family members. Article in the local news about a healthy 32 year old dying in our community when her levels got too low before seeking medical attention.
My wife and I both had Covid and used it, but we never got a reading outside the normal range.2 -
paperpudding wrote: »T1DCarnivoreRunner wrote: »My SIL texted me that her neighbor had gone to the health dept vaccine clinic nearby for her appt and heard they had a couple of hundred extra J&J shots that they were accepting walk ins for. I put on some real pants and ran down there and within 15 minutes I was vaccinated.
I am on their mailing list and follow them on FB, and there were no emails or posts advertising it. And there were folks there, but no line. I'm so grateful I found out about it, but no idea why they weren't pulling names off the state list and texting people.
So I ran a bit of a fever last night and felt generally achy. I woke up this morning and the fever is gone for now, but the news said the FDA is suggesting the US halt J&J because it's also seeing rare cases of this blood clot disorder. Oh boy
Nate Silver has a valid point if you follow him on Twitter. Basically pointing out that the number of deaths prevented by going forward with the vaccine far outweighs the number of deaths from this blood clot issue. He is right.
But that depends a bit where you are.
Here in Australia AZ is no longer recomendec for under 50's unless in high risk situations.
As we have almost zero community transmission, any number of deaths from clotting issues would outweigh the deaths from Covid.
Of course we will eventually open international borders - but that is the situation now.
Of course - he was looking at statistics in the U.S.
Basically, 6 cases and 1 death with 7 million vaccines vs. a conservative estimate that 1 in 100 of those vaccinated will get infected with Covid if not vaccinated and 1 in 150 of those infected will die. Statistically, we are talking about a whole lot more dead when we don't give the vaccine. 467 deaths among those 7M because they don't get vaccinated vs. 1 death among those 7M because they do get vaccinated.
He acknowledges this model completely ignores transmission - a rate of 1:1 is a conservative estimate that should be used. So it's actually far worse to stop vaccinations than the statistics would indicate.
In Australia, "a conservative estimate that 1 in 100 of those vaccinated will get infected with Covid" is going to be a very different number and that changes the end result.8 -
In a related question to the pulse oximeter (which my Apple watch has one and sometimes it is accurate LOL). How many folks do NOT have a thermometer? I am constantly astounded to hear friends tell me when I ask if they are running a fever that they do not have one......I will admit that without children prior to having the flu in early 2018, I only had a couple old ones which the batteries were dead on, but with Covid, I have at least 1 which runs mechanically (not mercury but another chemical which is just as difficult to read) and 2 which are digital.4
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SummerSkier wrote: »In a related question to the pulse oximeter (which my Apple watch has one and sometimes it is accurate LOL). How many folks do NOT have a thermometer? I am constantly astounded to hear friends tell me when I ask if they are running a fever that they do not have one......I will admit that without children prior to having the flu in early 2018, I only had a couple old ones which the batteries were dead on, but with Covid, I have at least 1 which runs mechanically (not mercury but another chemical which is just as difficult to read) and 2 which are digital.
I think it is way more common to have one if you have kids.
I had an old, nearly dead digital one that I hadn't used in a while...it got some use early on in the pandemic, when I was paranoid and taking my temperature every day.
I just replaced it with a new digital one, and put it to good use! Got to tell the CDC survey exactly how high my fever was after my second vaccine dose!4 -
Who here (besides me) bought a pulse oximeter because of COVID?
when myself and a family member both had covid, it was comforting to check my oxygen levels while recovering at home.
I did too. I read that people were going to the ER way too late because they didn't realize that their oxygen levels were dangerously low, so I ordered one.1 -
T1DCarnivoreRunner wrote: »My SIL texted me that her neighbor had gone to the health dept vaccine clinic nearby for her appt and heard they had a couple of hundred extra J&J shots that they were accepting walk ins for. I put on some real pants and ran down there and within 15 minutes I was vaccinated.
I am on their mailing list and follow them on FB, and there were no emails or posts advertising it. And there were folks there, but no line. I'm so grateful I found out about it, but no idea why they weren't pulling names off the state list and texting people.
So I ran a bit of a fever last night and felt generally achy. I woke up this morning and the fever is gone for now, but the news said the FDA is suggesting the US halt J&J because it's also seeing rare cases of this blood clot disorder. Oh boy
Nate Silver has a valid point if you follow him on Twitter. Basically pointing out that the number of deaths prevented by going forward with the vaccine far outweighs the number of deaths from this blood clot issue. He is right.
From a public health perspective it makes sense, even if 1/1000 people died from the vaccine, the other 999 would be protected from COVID death. But do I want to be that one person who sacrifices myself for the cause? Not really.
I think the main issue here is that we have other vaccines available that don't *seem* to have the same reaction. So is it really ethical to continue using vaccines that do cause this reaction?
As paperpudding suggested that probably depends on how bad the outbreak is in a given place. In Australia it would seem that they could safely wait without too much death and destruction happening. Here in Ontario cases are out of control and our hospitals are getting overwhelmed, so might not be the best idea to wait.2 -
All our thermometers broke, batteries corroded, otherwise not functional. We might have one, but I'm honestly unsure. We too bought a pulse oximeter that I find comforting to use occasionally even having NOT had covid
Also had adult offspring buy them. 4 -
SummerSkier wrote: »In a related question to the pulse oximeter (which my Apple watch has one and sometimes it is accurate LOL). How many folks do NOT have a thermometer? I am constantly astounded to hear friends tell me when I ask if they are running a fever that they do not have one......I will admit that without children prior to having the flu in early 2018, I only had a couple old ones which the batteries were dead on, but with Covid, I have at least 1 which runs mechanically (not mercury but another chemical which is just as difficult to read) and 2 which are digital.
Very good point.
My dd just got off quarantine last Thursday. She does not have one. Her birthday is coming up 4/30. We can visit with her starting 4/22, which is two weeks after our 2nd covid shot. She’s getting a thermometer in her birthday gift box. We have one, it’s never been opened, so I’ll have to check it to see if it’s working.
BTW, my daughter has been working from home for several years, contact with others limited to, visiting us, grocery shopping, and the laundromat. She is very diligent about following the guidelines, and still contracted covid. Be careful everyone.
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SummerSkier wrote: »In a related question to the pulse oximeter (which my Apple watch has one and sometimes it is accurate LOL). How many folks do NOT have a thermometer? I am constantly astounded to hear friends tell me when I ask if they are running a fever that they do not have one......I will admit that without children prior to having the flu in early 2018, I only had a couple old ones which the batteries were dead on, but with Covid, I have at least 1 which runs mechanically (not mercury but another chemical which is just as difficult to read) and 2 which are digital.
I did get a pulse oximeter, and around the same time I also got a thermometer. I'd not had one pre-covid (no kids, so I never really had a need), and I realized that I wouldn't know if I were running a fever (or even what my normal temp was). At first it was hard to find one, so I suspect there was a run on them, but I eventually acquired one.2 -
Just heard on the news that Canada had it's first case of vaccine induced blood clot. They also said the woman is "recovering at home" - so that is encouraging. Now that they are aware of it I guess they can be on the lookout and treat it promptly when it happens.1
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Just heard on the news that Canada had it's first case of vaccine induced blood clot. They also said the woman is "recovering at home" - so that is encouraging. Now that they are aware of it I guess they can be on the lookout and treat it promptly when it happens.
They're not releasing her age, dammit. Although we know she's over 55....1 -
I'm totally plagiarizing this from a FB account called "your local epidemiologist" posting on what was discussed at the hearing about the J&J vaccine, so I haven't fact checked this. Hopefully it's accurate
Considering the combo of CVST with low platelets, this is a bit higher incidence than in the general population.
From the 6 cases:
* Don't yet know if treatment with heparin caused the one death.
* Only one was on birth control.
* None had pre existing coagulation disorders.
* Don't know yet if it's under reported, it's possible older people's cases weren't linked to the shot as it happens a week or more after vaxx.
* Don't know yet if any previously had covid.
Interestingly, no CVST events have ever been reported in J&J's other vaccines that use an adenovirus which were the foundation of their covid vaccine.
They plan to meet in no later than 10 days to make a decision on how to proceed.8 -
Just heard on the news that Canada had it's first case of vaccine induced blood clot. They also said the woman is "recovering at home" - so that is encouraging. Now that they are aware of it I guess they can be on the lookout and treat it promptly when it happens.
My vague understanding is it's very treatable as long as a knowledgeable practitioner knows it's not a typical clotting issue, as typical treatment would be heparin and that will make things worse.5 -
Who here (besides me) bought a pulse oximeter because of COVID?
when myself and a family member both had covid, it was comforting to check my oxygen levels while recovering at home.
I bought one!
In the beginning I was terrified of being contagious but not symptomatic and killing my mother. Getting a pulse oximeter reading before visiting her helped with that.4 -
SummerSkier wrote: »In a related question to the pulse oximeter (which my Apple watch has one and sometimes it is accurate LOL). How many folks do NOT have a thermometer? I am constantly astounded to hear friends tell me when I ask if they are running a fever that they do not have one......I will admit that without children prior to having the flu in early 2018, I only had a couple old ones which the batteries were dead on, but with Covid, I have at least 1 which runs mechanically (not mercury but another chemical which is just as difficult to read) and 2 which are digital.
I thought I had a working thermometer but it turns out I was wrong. I tossed it and have yet to replace it. I'd have one if I had children.2 -
SummerSkier wrote: »In a related question to the pulse oximeter (which my Apple watch has one and sometimes it is accurate LOL). How many folks do NOT have a thermometer? I am constantly astounded to hear friends tell me when I ask if they are running a fever that they do not have one......I will admit that without children prior to having the flu in early 2018, I only had a couple old ones which the batteries were dead on, but with Covid, I have at least 1 which runs mechanically (not mercury but another chemical which is just as difficult to read) and 2 which are digital.
We have one, but I have only used it to check due to covid.
You don't know when you have a fever? With kids you can tell by looking and gauging behavior, let alone feeling their forehead. Their cheeks get flushed, they have thin skin and it shows almost instantly when they have an elevated temperature. May not work with older kids though, they don't have that same thin baby/little kid skin.2 -
ExistingFish wrote: »SummerSkier wrote: »In a related question to the pulse oximeter (which my Apple watch has one and sometimes it is accurate LOL). How many folks do NOT have a thermometer? I am constantly astounded to hear friends tell me when I ask if they are running a fever that they do not have one......I will admit that without children prior to having the flu in early 2018, I only had a couple old ones which the batteries were dead on, but with Covid, I have at least 1 which runs mechanically (not mercury but another chemical which is just as difficult to read) and 2 which are digital.
We have one, but I have only used it to check due to covid.
You don't know when you have a fever? With kids you can tell by looking and gauging behavior, let alone feeling their forehead. Their cheeks get flushed, they have thin skin and it shows almost instantly when they have an elevated temperature. May not work with older kids though, they don't have that same thin baby/little kid skin.
When I was a kid, I never felt sick when I had fever, and my fevers were always high (40-41C). I remember being shocked the first time I actually felt sick and tired as a pre-teen. My mom was a little worried too, since she was used to bribing me with cartoon marathons just so I would sit still and rest when I was sick.
As an adult, my natural temperature is about 1C lower than ”normal”, so others can’t recognize a slight fever by checking my forehead as my fever is their normal. I also needed a thermometer when I worked at a grocery store and running even a slight fever at work was an absolute no-no, so checking at home every time I felt even a little bit sick was a must.4 -
T1DCarnivoreRunner wrote: »My SIL texted me that her neighbor had gone to the health dept vaccine clinic nearby for her appt and heard they had a couple of hundred extra J&J shots that they were accepting walk ins for. I put on some real pants and ran down there and within 15 minutes I was vaccinated.
I am on their mailing list and follow them on FB, and there were no emails or posts advertising it. And there were folks there, but no line. I'm so grateful I found out about it, but no idea why they weren't pulling names off the state list and texting people.
So I ran a bit of a fever last night and felt generally achy. I woke up this morning and the fever is gone for now, but the news said the FDA is suggesting the US halt J&J because it's also seeing rare cases of this blood clot disorder. Oh boy
Nate Silver has a valid point if you follow him on Twitter. Basically pointing out that the number of deaths prevented by going forward with the vaccine far outweighs the number of deaths from this blood clot issue. He is right.
From a public health perspective it makes sense, even if 1/1000 people died from the vaccine, the other 999 would be protected from COVID death. But do I want to be that one person who sacrifices myself for the cause? Not really.
I think the main issue here is that we have other vaccines available that don't *seem* to have the same reaction. So is it really ethical to continue using vaccines that do cause this reaction?
As paperpudding suggested that probably depends on how bad the outbreak is in a given place. In Australia it would seem that they could safely wait without too much death and destruction happening. Here in Ontario cases are out of control and our hospitals are getting overwhelmed, so might not be the best idea to wait.
J&J is the only single-dose, and I am hearing from a lot of people that won't do 2, but will take 1. Or they are ok with J&J because it works differently supposedly. In addition, a single-dose works best for transient populations (such as prisons).
Finally, there is that question of how many vaccine doses are available otherwise. Does pulling J&J delay some from getting a vaccine. My understanding is that the answer is Yes... and that's why the risk is so much higher to pull it.
FTR nobody is "sacrificing" themselves - it isn't known if you will be the 1 in 7 million that dies from the vaccine. It is taking a risk of getting Covid (1 in 15,000 deaths if using conservative estimates and incorrectly ignoring compounded spread to others) vs. taking the risk of death from vaccine at 1 in 7,000,000.10 -
SummerSkier wrote: »In a related question to the pulse oximeter (which my Apple watch has one and sometimes it is accurate LOL). How many folks do NOT have a thermometer? I am constantly astounded to hear friends tell me when I ask if they are running a fever that they do not have one......I will admit that without children prior to having the flu in early 2018, I only had a couple old ones which the batteries were dead on, but with Covid, I have at least 1 which runs mechanically (not mercury but another chemical which is just as difficult to read) and 2 which are digital.
I had a pulse oximeter long before Covid. Last month, I moved and somehow misplaced my accurate thermometer. I question the accuracy of my backup after I've seen some of the recent results. These are both digital, but not fancy at all (they are just rectal thermometers... which should be a more accurate method, so question is the device).0 -
SummerSkier wrote: »In a related question to the pulse oximeter (which my Apple watch has one and sometimes it is accurate LOL). How many folks do NOT have a thermometer? I am constantly astounded to hear friends tell me when I ask if they are running a fever that they do not have one......I will admit that without children prior to having the flu in early 2018, I only had a couple old ones which the batteries were dead on, but with Covid, I have at least 1 which runs mechanically (not mercury but another chemical which is just as difficult to read) and 2 which are digital.
Me. I dont have one.
(nor a pulse oxometer either)
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T1DCarnivoreRunner wrote: »T1DCarnivoreRunner wrote: »My SIL texted me that her neighbor had gone to the health dept vaccine clinic nearby for her appt and heard they had a couple of hundred extra J&J shots that they were accepting walk ins for. I put on some real pants and ran down there and within 15 minutes I was vaccinated.
I am on their mailing list and follow them on FB, and there were no emails or posts advertising it. And there were folks there, but no line. I'm so grateful I found out about it, but no idea why they weren't pulling names off the state list and texting people.
So I ran a bit of a fever last night and felt generally achy. I woke up this morning and the fever is gone for now, but the news said the FDA is suggesting the US halt J&J because it's also seeing rare cases of this blood clot disorder. Oh boy
Nate Silver has a valid point if you follow him on Twitter. Basically pointing out that the number of deaths prevented by going forward with the vaccine far outweighs the number of deaths from this blood clot issue. He is right.
From a public health perspective it makes sense, even if 1/1000 people died from the vaccine, the other 999 would be protected from COVID death. But do I want to be that one person who sacrifices myself for the cause? Not really.
I think the main issue here is that we have other vaccines available that don't *seem* to have the same reaction. So is it really ethical to continue using vaccines that do cause this reaction?
As paperpudding suggested that probably depends on how bad the outbreak is in a given place. In Australia it would seem that they could safely wait without too much death and destruction happening. Here in Ontario cases are out of control and our hospitals are getting overwhelmed, so might not be the best idea to wait.
J&J is the only single-dose, and I am hearing from a lot of people that won't do 2, but will take 1. Or they are ok with J&J because it works differently supposedly. In addition, a single-dose works best for transient populations (such as prisons).
Finally, there is that question of how many vaccine doses are available otherwise. Does pulling J&J delay some from getting a vaccine. My understanding is that the answer is Yes... and that's why the risk is so much higher to pull it.
FTR nobody is "sacrificing" themselves - it isn't known if you will be the 1 in 7 million that dies from the vaccine. It is taking a risk of getting Covid (1 in 15,000 deaths if using conservative estimates and incorrectly ignoring compounded spread to others) vs. taking the risk of death from vaccine at 1 in 7,000,000.
My "sacrificing myself" comment was based on my hypothetical 1/1000 scenario regarding risk in general not specific to the 1 in 7 million. However the 1 in 7 million isn't necessarily accurate either as they don't have all the data. For example if elderly populations were vaccinated first (and make up say half of the 7 million) and they react less frequently then the risk to someone 30 years old could be significantly higher. Also they originally said that women were at higher risk for AZ but that could due to the fact that the proportion of women in health care fields is higher, so they got the vaccine first.
All that said the risk does appear to be quite low - but we won't know until a lot more data comes in how low it really is.2 -
T1DCarnivoreRunner wrote: »T1DCarnivoreRunner wrote: »My SIL texted me that her neighbor had gone to the health dept vaccine clinic nearby for her appt and heard they had a couple of hundred extra J&J shots that they were accepting walk ins for. I put on some real pants and ran down there and within 15 minutes I was vaccinated.
I am on their mailing list and follow them on FB, and there were no emails or posts advertising it. And there were folks there, but no line. I'm so grateful I found out about it, but no idea why they weren't pulling names off the state list and texting people.
So I ran a bit of a fever last night and felt generally achy. I woke up this morning and the fever is gone for now, but the news said the FDA is suggesting the US halt J&J because it's also seeing rare cases of this blood clot disorder. Oh boy
Nate Silver has a valid point if you follow him on Twitter. Basically pointing out that the number of deaths prevented by going forward with the vaccine far outweighs the number of deaths from this blood clot issue. He is right.
From a public health perspective it makes sense, even if 1/1000 people died from the vaccine, the other 999 would be protected from COVID death. But do I want to be that one person who sacrifices myself for the cause? Not really.
I think the main issue here is that we have other vaccines available that don't *seem* to have the same reaction. So is it really ethical to continue using vaccines that do cause this reaction?
As paperpudding suggested that probably depends on how bad the outbreak is in a given place. In Australia it would seem that they could safely wait without too much death and destruction happening. Here in Ontario cases are out of control and our hospitals are getting overwhelmed, so might not be the best idea to wait.
J&J is the only single-dose, and I am hearing from a lot of people that won't do 2, but will take 1. Or they are ok with J&J because it works differently supposedly. In addition, a single-dose works best for transient populations (such as prisons).
Finally, there is that question of how many vaccine doses are available otherwise. Does pulling J&J delay some from getting a vaccine. My understanding is that the answer is Yes... and that's why the risk is so much higher to pull it.
FTR nobody is "sacrificing" themselves - it isn't known if you will be the 1 in 7 million that dies from the vaccine. It is taking a risk of getting Covid (1 in 15,000 deaths if using conservative estimates and incorrectly ignoring compounded spread to others) vs. taking the risk of death from vaccine at 1 in 7,000,000.
My "sacrificing myself" comment was based on my hypothetical 1/1000 scenario regarding risk in general not specific to the 1 in 7 million. However the 1 in 7 million isn't necessarily accurate either as they don't have all the data. For example if elderly populations were vaccinated first (and make up say half of the 7 million) and they react less frequently then the risk to someone 30 years old could be significantly higher. Also they originally said that women were at higher risk for AZ but that could due to the fact that the proportion of women in health care fields is higher, so they got the vaccine first.
All that said the risk does appear to be quite low - but we won't know until a lot more data comes in how low it really is.
Elderly who wanted vaccines got them before J&J became available in US, so highly unlikely that half are elderly. Recipients will skew young.4 -
I thought this was a good piece on the pause and reasons for it/discussion about it: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/04/13/johnson-and-johnson-vaccine-blood-clots/0
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I have a digital thermometer, but it is at least 20 years old and not necessarily reliable. My temp runs low these days (97.2 yesterday at the vaccination clinic) so I can feel like I have a fever and be seemingly normal though I don't know if that's the old thermometer or my real temp.1
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T1DCarnivoreRunner wrote: »T1DCarnivoreRunner wrote: »My SIL texted me that her neighbor had gone to the health dept vaccine clinic nearby for her appt and heard they had a couple of hundred extra J&J shots that they were accepting walk ins for. I put on some real pants and ran down there and within 15 minutes I was vaccinated.
I am on their mailing list and follow them on FB, and there were no emails or posts advertising it. And there were folks there, but no line. I'm so grateful I found out about it, but no idea why they weren't pulling names off the state list and texting people.
So I ran a bit of a fever last night and felt generally achy. I woke up this morning and the fever is gone for now, but the news said the FDA is suggesting the US halt J&J because it's also seeing rare cases of this blood clot disorder. Oh boy
Nate Silver has a valid point if you follow him on Twitter. Basically pointing out that the number of deaths prevented by going forward with the vaccine far outweighs the number of deaths from this blood clot issue. He is right.
From a public health perspective it makes sense, even if 1/1000 people died from the vaccine, the other 999 would be protected from COVID death. But do I want to be that one person who sacrifices myself for the cause? Not really.
I think the main issue here is that we have other vaccines available that don't *seem* to have the same reaction. So is it really ethical to continue using vaccines that do cause this reaction?
As paperpudding suggested that probably depends on how bad the outbreak is in a given place. In Australia it would seem that they could safely wait without too much death and destruction happening. Here in Ontario cases are out of control and our hospitals are getting overwhelmed, so might not be the best idea to wait.
J&J is the only single-dose, and I am hearing from a lot of people that won't do 2, but will take 1. Or they are ok with J&J because it works differently supposedly. In addition, a single-dose works best for transient populations (such as prisons).
Finally, there is that question of how many vaccine doses are available otherwise. Does pulling J&J delay some from getting a vaccine. My understanding is that the answer is Yes... and that's why the risk is so much higher to pull it.
FTR nobody is "sacrificing" themselves - it isn't known if you will be the 1 in 7 million that dies from the vaccine. It is taking a risk of getting Covid (1 in 15,000 deaths if using conservative estimates and incorrectly ignoring compounded spread to others) vs. taking the risk of death from vaccine at 1 in 7,000,000.
My "sacrificing myself" comment was based on my hypothetical 1/1000 scenario regarding risk in general not specific to the 1 in 7 million. However the 1 in 7 million isn't necessarily accurate either as they don't have all the data. For example if elderly populations were vaccinated first (and make up say half of the 7 million) and they react less frequently then the risk to someone 30 years old could be significantly higher. Also they originally said that women were at higher risk for AZ but that could due to the fact that the proportion of women in health care fields is higher, so they got the vaccine first.
All that said the risk does appear to be quite low - but we won't know until a lot more data comes in how low it really is.
Elderly who wanted vaccines got them before J&J became available in US, so highly unlikely that half are elderly. Recipients will skew young.
Yeah I don't know the exact demographics, it was just an example of how the data could be skewed in the early going. I am just saying that the stated 1 in 7 million figure is not likely to be accurate when all the data comes in. Or it may be accurate in absolute numbers, but certain demographics could potentially have a higher risk. There is no way to know that this early on.
FWIW when I said EVEN IF the numbers were 1 per 1000 it would still make sense to use it from a public health perspective, I wasn't suggested that number was accurate either. Simply trying to make the point that looking at things from a public health perspective, yes a few people dying from the vaccine is better than a substantially higher number of people getting Covid and dying. But one person looking at their own personal risk is a different scenario.0 -
Our UK, BBC news report has just had an, involved scientist talking about the risks of clots. He was saying because the underlying "natural" occurrence level in any population of the clotting event are undetermined its is difficult to know how many more have been created by vaccination. He went on to say the numbers known to have these clots because the have the virus are known. He did give the numbers which are greater than any attributed to the vaccine, I've just not carried it this far. He said, the risks associated with having covid and having the clots from it are many more than from the vaccine.4
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I thought this was a good piece on the pause and reasons for it/discussion about it: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/04/13/johnson-and-johnson-vaccine-blood-clots/
You're right, this article seems better.
I understand why this next might be so, but I think the general run of news coverage has been hyper-focused on "should we stop" in terms of pandemic spread, which is of course the vital consideration. But it's missing nuance about why one might pause, I think.
I think all of us like it when the information we get about risks, and symptoms to watch out for, is current and accurate (I got a handout at my vax site, but there's much more online from authoritative sources). I think we even *expect* that, would be outraged to learn it wasn't current and that health authorities had strong hints that it was not complete at the time.
Specifically, within that, we expect to get valid information about who *shouldn't* take particular vaccines or drugs, the special cases. I'm not up on what those are for these vaccines specifically - I only paid attention to whether there were contraindications for me 😉 - but I recall there being late questions about good/bad for pregnant women (now resolved, I think), and know that other vaccines are off-limits for people with egg allergies and things like that. We expect to be informed ahead of time about those things.
We don't even have a decent handle on whether there are only 6 cases, without doing some further investigation, though we obviously know there are not huge numbers, or some of the millions who've gotten the vaccines would be dropping like flies.
Beyond that, there's the issue of how to treat the (presumed small) number of cases like this that do arise. The idea that routine treatment for blood clots makes these particular rare clots more deadly is important. Doctors/hospitals need to be informed of this, even if rare, so they don't kill people they could have saved.
The pause allows for some research into the particular cases, to find out if they have something(s) in common, to look into whether there have been more cases but not at first linked to the vaccine . . . then to update written guidance about who should/shouldn't get a specific vaccine, what symptoms people who get it should look out for, how medical professionals should assess & treat the rare cases that do occur, etc.
I feel like this is another case of the system *working*, trying to protect the public and meet its expectations, but with the actions perceived by a segment of the public as mismanagement, incompetence, etc., probably at least in part because the general public doesn't usually see as graphically how this sort of sausage is usually made.8 -
Who here (besides me) bought a pulse oximeter because of COVID?
when myself and a family member both had covid, it was comforting to check my oxygen levels while recovering at home.
Little late to answer this but I did.
Only because I was more worried about dh's risk of getting really sick due to smoking. We did end up getting Covid around Thanksgiving time so it was somewhat comforting to keep an extra eye for any problems before they blew up. 1 -
I thought this was a good piece on the pause and reasons for it/discussion about it: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/04/13/johnson-and-johnson-vaccine-blood-clots/
Beyond that, there's the issue of how to treat the (presumed small) number of cases like this that do arise. The idea that routine treatment for blood clots makes these particular rare clots more deadly is important. Doctors/hospitals need to be informed of this, even if rare, so they don't kill people they could have saved.
This is an issue here in Ontario. We are being told our hospitals are at the breaking point, we had the highest case count ever today, our ICU's are at record capacity, we are bringing in out of region doctors and nurses to help out, they are cancelling routine hospital admissions/surgeries, and we are set to open a temporary field hospital today.
I'm not sure if this is news anywhere else, but *kitten* is real bad here.
I have zero confidence that anyone presenting with a vaccine reaction could access the care they need at this point.11 -
My parents were fully vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine a month ago, I received the J&J vaccine around the same time. I had to take my father to the hospital to replace a defibrillator battery. After about four hours in the ER, they did a COVID test for him, and it was positive.
So, I had to leave the hospital immediately, and I had to get a COVID test per CDC guidelines. It's a surreal feeling when you thought you and yours were protected, but maybe not.
BTW, for those who haven't had the joy of pushing a bristly stick up your own nose and swishing it around your nasal cavity, I recommend it because you can promise yourself a doughnut afterwards. 17
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