Monday, September 9, 2024

Super Contagious Covid FLiRT variants Make The Latest Covid Vaccine An Absolute Necessity

 


With the latest AARP Bulletin warning of a siege by new contagious Covid (FLiRT )variants, it's now time to get the latest vaccine, given that 2nd and 3rd infections can be much worse than initial mild ones (which I had last Thanksgiving).  According to the Bulletin:


"A new crop of coronavirus variants is behind the majority of the infections we’re seeing this summer. The strains KP.3, KP.3.1.1, KP.2 and KP.2.3 — collectively known as FLiRT variants — make up nearly 70 percent of COVID-19 cases in the U.S., CDC data shows as of Aug. 3. A close relative, LB.1, is behind 16 percent of infections. FLiRT is an acronym for some of the variants’ spike protein mutations.

The FLiRT variants, which are in the omicron family, appear to be highly transmissible, meaning they spread easily."

Cause for concern?  Maybe, but I plan to get the new booster on Wednesday, far enough in advance of the next Firmagon injection so that the effects from each do not collide. Also, I will be postponing getting the latest flue shot for another week.


 About 3 weeks ago the Food and Drug Administration approved new mRNA coronavirus vaccines Thursday, clearing the way for shots manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna to start hitting pharmacy shelves and doctor’s offices within a week. Health officials, understandably, encourage annual vaccination against the coronavirus, similar to yearly flu shots. Everyone 6 months and older should receive a new vaccine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends.  


In regard to flu shots, for the first time in a decade the vaccine will include three strains rather than four. The influenza B Yamagata strain hasn't shown up in testing since March 2020, so flu vaccine manufacturers dropped it this year. Unlike influenza A strains, flu B only circulates in people so when respiratory virus transmission plummeted early in the pandemic, strain B couldn't survive.


With respect to Covid, the FDA has yet to approve an updated vaccine from Novavax, which uses a more conventional vaccine development method but has faced financial challenges.


The underlying vaccine technology and manufacturing process are the same, but components change to account for how the virus morphs. The new vaccines target the KP.2 variant because most recent covid cases are caused by that strain or closely related ones.


Covid is less dangerous overall than it was earlier in the pandemic because our bodies have become used to fighting the virus off and nearly everyone has some degree of immunity from receiving shots or getting sick. A new shot is meant to shore up existing defenses. But for those of us who are older, and especially with vulnerable immune systems (I have bronchiestasis), these shots are critical.  


The U.S. differs from other countries in recommending an updated coronavirus vaccine for everyone except young infants, rather than just those at heightened risk for severe disease because they are 65 or older, are moderately to severely immunocompromised or have serious medical conditions.


Health officials rejected a more targeted recommendation, with some contending that it’s easier to tell everyone to get vaccinated than to try to define what makes a person high-risk. Most Americans have a risk factor for severe Covid, such as being overweight or having diabetes and this is one reason vaccines for all are recommended. Of course, you still have vaccine wackos like RFK Jr. and Bill Maher asserting only the elderly need them, or the immuno-compromised. But they are living in a fool's paradise and ought to check out the case of a young, otherwise healthy woman who got a 3rd Covid infection after two prior mild bouts. Well, the third time she became violently allergic to all her favorite foods, and in one case ended up in anaphylactic shock.


Of course, our scientific understanding of coronavirus vaccines has evolved since they debuted in late 2020 and we now know certain demographics are more at risk, more vulnerable to severe infection and even long Covid. But that does not confer universal dispensation to all and sundry and Maher should certainly know better. As for RFK Jr. his brain has been worm -eaten and any goon who saws off the heads of whales and mounts them on his car can't be all there anyway.


 For those not snookered by Maher, and the other retinue of anti-vaxxers, here’s what to know about the new vaccines.



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