Covid 48： The Long March

[Theda Baratheon]

41 minutes ago, Luzifer's right hand said:

Sorry to hear that you are still suffering from it. Hopefully the B12 treatment will work for you.

Thank you  at least it has truly introduced me to the genuine beauty of a good nap!!!

[Underfoot]

2 hours ago, Theda Baratheon said:

Long covid 5 months later. Still twitching, jerking, fatigued, in pain. But I got my first b12 injection today - have a loading dose of 6 shots over 2 weeks and I’m hoping they will make a big difference to my fatigue and energy levels and help me get to a place where I can implement good habits again that will get me more well in the long run. 

Hate to come at you out of nowhere, but I've been having bad muscle issues / muscle pain+tightness post-covid as well, along with fatigue and weakness. What is the jerking/twitching you're experiencing? I have had three episodes lasting multiple hours (up to 15 hours) of involuntary muscle contractions all over my body that make me jerk/twitch/stutter. The doctors don't know what's going on (and my B12 levels are fine). Generally, all my muscles are super tight and I am very stiff/in pain. 

Is that what you're experiencing, and do the docs say it's long covid?

I hope the B12 helps!!!

[Theda Baratheon]

14 hours ago, Underfoot said:

Hate to come at you out of nowhere, but I've been having bad muscle issues / muscle pain+tightness post-covid as well, along with fatigue and weakness. What is the jerking/twitching you're experiencing? I have had three episodes lasting multiple hours (up to 15 hours) of involuntary muscle contractions all over my body that make me jerk/twitch/stutter. The doctors don't know what's going on (and my B12 levels are fine). Generally, all my muscles are super tight and I am very stiff/in pain. 

Is that what you're experiencing, and do the docs say it's long covid?

I hope the B12 helps!!!

Im really sorry to hear you’re experiencing this. 

so I get a definite hand tremor, primarily my right hand shakes a lot when I’m tired or concentrating or holding something. And I also get a jerk in my head/neck/shoulder - it’s like I’m always quickly turning my head, but it’s totally involuntary. I’m very very fatigued. I get random pains, sometimes in such strange places I never even knew I could ache, muscle and joint pains. It doesn’t sound as intense as yours at all, but it does happen pretty consistently almost every day - other stuff too but it’s 6.30 & I still haven’t slept this evening lol. I’ll comeback tomorrow morning & add any more relevant stuff. 
The doctors called it post viral fatigue and then a bit later long covid 

 

[Underfoot]

9 hours ago, Theda Baratheon said:

Im really sorry to hear you’re experiencing this. 

so I get a definite hand tremor, primarily my right hand shakes a lot when I’m tired or concentrating or holding something. And I also get a jerk in my head/neck/shoulder - it’s like I’m always quickly turning my head, but it’s totally involuntary. I’m very very fatigued. I get random pains, sometimes in such strange places I never even knew I could ache, muscle and joint pains. It doesn’t sound as intense as yours at all, but it does happen pretty consistently almost every day - other stuff too but it’s 6.30 & I still haven’t slept this evening lol. I’ll comeback tomorrow morning & add any more relevant stuff. 
The doctors called it post viral fatigue and then a bit later long covid 

 

Ugh I'm sorry you're experiencing that. It doesnt sound too far off from what I'm experiencing overall, minus the couple of seizure-light episodes. My hand also has a bit of a tremors sometimes when in use.

The doctors have been calling what's going on for me psychiatric/stress induced, and my neurologist said I am having "startle" reactions. I refuse to believe I am THAT stressed, and my neurologist was overall dismissive of me in a way I didn't like.

No one has considered long covid for me at all, but maybe I need to be pushier because I'm tired of all the shrugging they're doing. Idk why but I would feel better if I could just name it. I haven't heard anyone else who's had covid talk about similar symptoms in terms of it being long-covid until I saw your post, so it's making me wonder. 

thanks for sharing!

[Zorral]

@Underfoot / @Theda Baratheon

This is really rough, what you two are going through.  Much more work on long covid needs to be done.

I am seeing some of these symptoms now, though milder than yours, and not all of them, but the head thing for sure, in our friend, who had covid in August, got Paxed, was fine, then covid rebounded, though again, milder than the first round.  His wife also got it from him as he rebounded.  They both have had covid before too.  Professors, and teaching, and needing to commute for their work.

 

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

Still no where near where we were during our 4th wave, but still trending in the wrong direction. We’ve seen how fast this can move when it starts rolling the wrong way.

https://globalnews.ca/news/9968619/alberta-covid-hospitalizations-up-since-july-health-minister/amp/

ETA: Do you think anyone actually remembers how fast this can move when it starts rolling the wrong way?

Edited September 27, 2023 by Deadlines? What Deadlines?

[LongRider]

23 minutes ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

Do you think anyone actually remembers how fast this can move when it starts rolling the wrong way?

Yes, however, there are so many who now believe we’re back to normal, and we are not.   It could get real rough.    

[Zorral]

It's a really big mess.  Gads, we were so lucky to get ours!

This year's chaotic vaccine rollout is wildly different than before. Can we fix it in time? [Though Imma gonna say, that my records for getting the vaccine the first time(s) around here in NYC were also gddmned chaotic and a real mess -- except for having to pay for trhem.}

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/this-year-s-chaotic-vaccine-rollout-is-wildly-different-than-before-can-we-fix-it-in-time/ar-AA1hp4LO?

Quote

 

.... These vaccines are the first that aren't rolled out by the U.S. government, and without funding that was directed to public health programs in the state of emergency, the outreach is nowhere near what it was at the height of the pandemic, said Lori T. Freeman, the CEO of the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO). 

As a result, some people ready to roll up their sleeves to get the latest COVID-19 vaccine are being met with delays, canceled appointments and out-of-pocket costs. Meanwhile, pharmacists are walking out of CVS pharmacies and demanding the chain hire more staff to handle an overwhelming workload, while Rite Aid prepares for bankruptcy.
"Without a pandemic, without a public health emergency, and with COVID dollars clawed back with the debt ceiling negotiations, all of that money for big campaigns is lacking," Freeman told Salon in a phone interview.

All insurers are legally required to cover the COVID-19 vaccine, and the federal government is stepping in to pay for vaccines for those who lack insurance through the Bridge Access Program. But insurers have been slow to implement these vaccines into their systems, leading to the stuttered rollout of the vaccine, said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease and health policy professor at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

"There have already been people who have gone to their pharmacies and physician's offices looking for the vaccine and have discovered that they haven't been covered yet, so that means they're going to have to come back again," Schaffner told Salon in a phone interview. "A vaccine deferred is often a vaccine that is never received, unfortunately."

Lead Director of External Communications at CVS Health Amy Thibault told Salon in an email that delays were due to supply issues.

"Our pharmacies are receiving the updated COVID-19 vaccine on a rolling basis, but we're experiencing supplier delivery delays," Thibault wrote. "Regarding coverage, we've seen significant progress with payers updating their systems to enable coverage for the updated COVID-19 vaccines."

Although the public health emergency ended in May, people continue to be hospitalized and die from COVID-19, with more than 1.1 million Americans killed by the virus since the pandemic began. Nationally, COVID hospitalizations have been steadily increasing since June, along with the rise of Omicron variants like EG.5 (nicknamed "Eris") and FL.1.5.1 (nicknamed Fornax.) The vaccines are predicted to work against these strains of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which evolves naturally in ways that will sometimes render vaccines next to useless. This is why new shots must be developed with some regularity.

Meanwhile, approximately 18 million Americans have developed long COVID and data suggests that number will continue to rise with more infections. Although the immunocompromised, elderly and people with other health conditions are the most vulnerable to severe infection, COVID-19 continues to be one of the top 10 leading causes of death for children in the U.S.

This rollout, including mRNA vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, boosts immunity toward Omicron variants. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended the shots for everyone 6 months and up and projects that this could prevent 400,000 hospitalizations and 40,000 deaths over the next two years. 

One reason the CDC gave this blanket recommendation was simplicity, Schaffner, who attended the CDC's advisory committee meeting, said. This stems in part from parallel messaging on this year's "triple threat" of influenza, COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), the viruses that could cause significant illness and death this fall and winter. A newly approved RSV vaccine now exists, which was recently recommended by the CDC for pregnant people and adults 60 and up to protect themselves.

However, people are already vaccine-hesitant and pandemic-fatigued, thus complicating an already full vaccination season, which could reduce uptake. In a survey released this week by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), just 23% of Americans said they definitely planned to get the latest COVID-19 vaccine, and another 23% said they might.

But even those who want the shots may struggle to actually get them. Nursing homes, which have been decimated by the pandemic, have been waiting for vaccines, according to a recent report from KFF Health News (which is not affiliated with KFF), but neither the RSV or the COVID shots have been easy to get.

"This is a much more complicated vaccination season than we have ever had before," Schaffner said. "I think this year will be a learning experience both for the general public and for providers."

Not everyone agrees with the CDC's approach. Dr. Paul Offit, Director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, said that if fewer people are expected to get vaccinated this year, the vaccine should have targeted the people most at risk for being hospitalized first. That's what public health officials from the U.K., Germany and some other European countries did.

"I think the best messaging comes with being straightforward with the American public about who really most benefits from this because I think that gives you your best chance of getting people in those groups to get vaccinated," Offit told Salon in a phone interview. "You could argue when you say 'give it to everybody,' that is interpreted as everybody is equally at risk — when that's not true."

However, the healthcare system is very different in the U.S. than in European countries, Offit added.

"We don't have a national health system and this is where that shows," he said.

Regardless, the question remains about how many people will take the new vaccines. Only about one in five people got last year's bivalent booster and one in four adults in the U.S. are completely unvaccinated, according to CDC data and the KFF survey. Although it has been improving over time, uptake has been particularly low in Black communities, in part because vaccination sites are disproportionately located in white neighborhoods but also because of decades of mistrust built up in response to prior medical malpractice.

Notably, just 6 million doses have been put aside for the uninsured through the Bridge Access Program, when at least 27 million people in the U.S. are uninsured, Freeman said. The demand for vaccines is a moving target that distributors are trying to balance without losing money, she added, especially because these vaccines have to be kept cold and take resources to store and administer.

"Six million doses split out in that way doesn't seem to be a lot of doses or a lot of coverage," Freeman said. "We really don't know what the demand is going to be."

Schaffner said he expects some of the wrinkles in the rollout to smoothen out over time. Although Le wasn't able to find a Moderna shot near her home in Charlottesville, which she preferred, she was able to get vaccinated with a Pfizer vaccine in the next few days from a local Walgreens. Although the pharmacy staff was doing the best they could, she still had to wait an hour and a half to get the vaccine, she said.

"It's really a crucial moment," Freeman said. "This is the best time to make sure that people that want it and need it most get it." ....

 

 

[Theda Baratheon]

On 9/26/2023 at 3:51 PM, Underfoot said:

Ugh I'm sorry you're experiencing that. It doesnt sound too far off from what I'm experiencing overall, minus the couple of seizure-light episodes. My hand also has a bit of a tremors sometimes when in use.

The doctors have been calling what's going on for me psychiatric/stress induced, and my neurologist said I am having "startle" reactions. I refuse to believe I am THAT stressed, and my neurologist was overall dismissive of me in a way I didn't like.

No one has considered long covid for me at all, but maybe I need to be pushier because I'm tired of all the shrugging they're doing. Idk why but I would feel better if I could just name it. I haven't heard anyone else who's had covid talk about similar symptoms in terms of it being long-covid until I saw your post, so it's making me wonder. 

thanks for sharing!

I straight up told the doctors that I had just had covid and thought it might have been related which is why they said post viral fatigue and then long covid. Some have been more understanding than others. Some doctors have been very dismissive. I remember one saying “well those symptoms are quite nondescript” when I listed out like 10-15 lol and told me my first blood test was totally fine (when some things did come back abnormal). But later on he did check over my SECOND blood test that another doctor had to advocate for and advised me to get b12 injections because I’m very low. So I don’t know what the general attitude is towards long covid but I don’t think it’s the best - probably still a bunch of people who simply don’t believe it exists. 
but if you persist and perhaps say you think it’s covid then there will be a doctor out there who will listen and advocate for your health. I had to mention I was previously fairly active and want to get back to that life and only wanted to reduce my work hours not take a sick leave, unfortunately those might have endeared me more to the second doctor which is unfair really but what can you do? 

[Theda Baratheon]

On 9/26/2023 at 5:08 PM, Zorral said:

@Underfoot / @Theda Baratheon

This is really rough, what you two are going through.  Much more work on long covid needs to be done.

I am seeing some of these symptoms now, though milder than yours, and not all of them, but the head thing for sure, in our friend, who had covid in August, got Paxed, was fine, then covid rebounded, though again, milder than the first round.  His wife also got it from him as he rebounded.  They both have had covid before too.  Professors, and teaching, and needing to commute for their work.

 

I haven’t had a vaccine in AGES. The UK hasn’t been rolling them out for younger people. But my next b12 shot this afternoon I’ll ask the nurse if they know what’s going on & whether I’d be considered eligible to get the jab now and the flu jab 

[Zorral]

Nobel Prize Awarded to Covid Vaccine Pioneers
The physiology or medicine prize for Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman recognized work that led to the development of vaccines that were administered to billions around the world.

Gift link -- NYT -- I love this because they chose to wear masks for the photo of them with their award!

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/02/health/nobel-prize-medicine.html?

Women in Science!

Long Overlooked, Kati Kariko Helped Shield the World From the Coronavirus
Collaborating with devoted colleagues, Dr. Kariko laid the groundwork for the mRNA vaccines turning the tide of the pandemic.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/08/health/coronavirus-mrna-kariko.html

 

[Heartofice]

4 minutes ago, Zorral said:

Gift link -- NYT -- I love this because they chose to wear masks for the photo of them with their award!

Purity test passed.

[Zorral]

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww! Bad smell!

 

[Zorral]

Gift link:

https://wapo.st/3tlP4E5

 

Quote

 

The troubled rollout of updated coronavirus vaccines is proving especially challenging for physicians and parents seeking to immunize children — a reflection of distribution delays, shortages at pharmacies and financial obstacles confronting pediatric practices.

The federal government is no longer buying and distributing all vaccines, unleashing a host of complications as the new shots, recommended for everyone older than 6 months, hit the private market in mid-September. The updated vaccines are tailored to provide a shield of protection against coronavirus variants in circulation and arrive as the fall respiratory illness season dawns and an expected winter covid-19 uptick looms.

The issues have been pronounced for pediatric vaccines, which come in a different dose size and packaging.

Elias Kass, a Seattle-area provider, said he sees a disconnect between federal officials stressing the importance of getting vaccinated and the experiences of his patients, who must reschedule appointments because the practice doesn’t have enough information about when vaccine doses will arrive.

“Nobody is acknowledging the delay in pediatric vaccines, nobody is explaining it, nobody is giving updated timelines,” he wrote in an email last week. “The number of babies and kids who have tested positive in the last week or two is incredibly depressing. This rollout should have happened months ago.”

Mandy Cohen, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, urged patience.

“Manufacturers and distributors were getting out the adult vaccines first. So that was what was shipping in the first number of days,” Cohen told reporters Thursday. “The supply is filling out, and make sure that you’re calling ahead to your pediatrician or your pharmacy to see if the vaccine is available, and if not, check back again.” ....

 

 

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

Speaking of virtue signalling, the classics are coming back, Mellon farmer!!!

https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/alta-premier-health-minister-non-committal-on-getting-covid-19-shot-this-fall-1.6580276
 

Quote

Look, I'm a healthy person, I tend to take care of my immune system.

 

Quote

I'm very healthy as well. I have a very healthy immune system.

It’s all fallen down the memory hole. The way we went back to business-as-usual in the summer of 2021, the 4th wave that hit in the fall of 2021, a flood of ICU and non-ICU hospitalizations, Hospitals jammed with patients, the federal government and military getting involved to shuttle overflow to neighbouring provinces… guess what; didn’t happen, fuckers!

Add to that, these UCP clowns are mostly concerned with not pissing off their political base. I’m beginning to rethink my policy of not enthusiastically mocking these “healthy immune system” idiots.

6 hours ago, Zorral said:

Nobel Prize Awarded to Covid Vaccine Pioneers
The physiology or medicine prize for Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman recognized work that led to the development of vaccines that were administered to billions around the world.

What?!? You mean it didn’t go to those people who do their research on Facebook? 

Edited October 2, 2023 by Deadlines? What Deadlines?

[Mithras]

"discovery of the therapeutic value of leucotomy in certain psychoses" 

[The Anti-Targ]

I was sick 3 weeks ago for nearly 10 days, didn't test, recovered, then got sick again this week, tested and am positive for COVID-19 now. Seems highly unlikely my previous illness was COVID as there's been a lot of non-COVID respiratory illness going around the last month or so and re-infection so quickly seems highly improbable. I was sicker before than I am now (so far, 3 days in with symptoms).

A significant difference between my two illnesses is this time around much more brain fog relative to other physical symptoms. Probably in absolute terms about the same amount of brain fog, but because I had worse headache, worse throat, deeper cough and lower quality sleep with the first illness that brain fog is more like a secondary symptom of those other symptoms, whereas, this brain fog feels more like a primary symptom.

Sorry to hear about the chronic symptoms @Theda Baratheon and @Underfoot

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

18 hours ago, The Anti-Targ said:

I was sick 3 weeks ago for nearly 10 days, didn't test, recovered, then got sick again this week, tested and am positive for COVID-19 now. Seems highly unlikely my previous illness was COVID as there's been a lot of non-COVID respiratory illness going around the last month or so and re-infection so quickly seems highly improbable. I was sicker before than I am now (so far, 3 days in with symptoms).

A significant difference between my two illnesses is this time around much more brain fog relative to other physical symptoms. Probably in absolute terms about the same amount of brain fog, but because I had worse headache, worse throat, deeper cough and lower quality sleep with the first illness that brain fog is more like a secondary symptom of those other symptoms, whereas, this brain fog feels more like a primary symptom.

Sorry to hear about the chronic symptoms @Theda Baratheon and @Underfoot

Wow that sucks. 

I haven't been following the situation in NZ for a while. How are you doing there vis a' vis Covid? 

[The Anti-Targ]

On 10/6/2023 at 9:27 AM, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

Wow that sucks. 

I haven't been following the situation in NZ for a while. How are you doing there vis a' vis Covid? 

Just caught a glimpse of an update of our COVID stats. Health dept is now counting deaths differently to when this all started. Used to be death withing 28 days of positive test, now its deaths attributed to COVID-19 (presumably on the death certificate). I think over all that means fewer deaths than under the old definition. Does WHO still go by the withing 28 days of positive test?

Most people are largely ignoring it / treating the risk much like cold/flu. Though more people are definitely dying from COVID, still, than from the common cold. Interesting stat I saw as part of the update is about 10% of re-infections are within 90 days of the person's last case. So it seems you can't even be certain you're not at risk for even 3 months. So much for natural immunity it seems. 

I'm on day 7 and the only remaining symptom is a persistent light cough.

I submitted my RAT result online last week and got a text message advising about isolation, then I got a call today from the health agency following up on my symptoms and asking a few demographic questions (smoking, weight, vax status etc). The interviewer was surprised that this was my first time [with confirmed COVID-19]. Kinda surprised they are still doing these follow-ups.

Question for the hive mind, because I'm too lazy to search the internets: is neuralgia a symptom? My brother-in-law [completely independently] got COVID last week, and a few days ago he got some pretty bad nerve pains (back and legs) and docs have not been able to find a physical cause. Spent almost a whole day in the ER, the one upside of having COVID is they stick you in a private room as soon as you get to the ER, so no sitting around in an uncomfortable and crowded waiting area.

[BigFatCoward]

On 9/29/2023 at 9:23 AM, Theda Baratheon said:

I haven’t had a vaccine in AGES. The UK hasn’t been rolling them out for younger people. But my next b12 shot this afternoon I’ll ask the nurse if they know what’s going on & whether I’d be considered eligible to get the jab now and the flu jab 

I'm getting mine at the end of this month so it's definitely out there. I'm considered at risk because of Asthma so I get offered pretty early in a cycle.