Do you think Covid is real, or a conspiracy?

[John T Smith]

I believe that Covid is real, and I also believe that politicians will use any reason to try and control people... such as the most recent 'Covid relief' passed by congress had only a small amount for Covid, with the rest being for the 'pet projects' of the politicians
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Have the number of deaths assigned to Covid been inflated? I will say yes (see my statement above about control) but that does not mean that Covid is not serious, it only means that the politicians are USING Covid for control and to push an agenda and spending
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Since the Flu is slightly different every year, the Flu vaccine is also different every year... That different Flu shot is developed in ABOUT 5-7 months between the end of one Flu season and the beginning of the next Flu season... not after years of work for each new Flu shot... after LESS than a year for each new Flu shot
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Flu is a virus... Covid is a virus
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Making a Covid vaccine did not start at ZERO when Trump started "Operation Warp Speed" - The "fast" process used to create the Covid vaccine builds on the "fast" process used to create a new Flu vaccine in the months between Flu seasons... not years, a new Flu vaccine after only a few months... this is existing medical science that was adapted to create a new vaccine for a different virus
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There are a few people in Europe who have had an adverse reaction to the Covid vaccine (the AstraZeneca vaccine, not the Pfizer vaccine I was given) there are also people who are allergic to peanuts or shell fish or dairy products... and there people who are not allergic to any of those... that is just the difference between people
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I got my 1st Pfizer Covid shot Saturday March 13... I got my 2nd shot April 3rd... The only reaction I had was a slightly sore shoulder when I rolled over in bed... when the medical community says that the 'herd immunity level' has been reached I will gladly stop wearing a mask in public... until then I will keep wearing a mask with everyone else so the people around me aren't made to feel uncomfortable
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One additional thing... I heard on talk radio that the Pfizer Covid vaccine is only good for 6 months... I Googled and read the actual articles... the truth is that there has only BEEN 6 months of history since the very early test shots, and the vaccine is still over 90% effective... which is not at all the same as saying the vaccine is only good for 6 months
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So if/when you hear a fear monger on radio or TV, do a search and read for yourself... don't blindly listen to the fear mongers who are pushing some political agenda

[Chuck Uebele]

Yes, Covid is very real, and yes, the media has overblown much on it, to the point that people are so frightened that it is paralyzing their lives. From what I've read about the vaccine, it isn't like the normal flu vaccines. it's a new method of producing a vaccine that was developed a while ago, but there were many sceptics in the medical profession about this working. Covid got the ball rolling on using this new method, and Trump's warp speed got the ball rolling for mass production. Not sure if it this new vaccine would have gotten the clearance to start actual development without Trump. I'm sure the right will say yes, and the left will say no. Whatever the case, we have it luckily. I was suppose to get my Pfizer vaccine today, but I had to cancel due to a family emergency. Hopefully will be able to reschedule soon.

[John T Smith]

1st cruise line going out of US ports to say vaccine to travel... I'll bet the other cruise lines also do this

https://www.foxnews.com/travel/norwegian-cruise-line-require-covid-19-vaccine-crew-passengers

[Nancy OShea]

I worked in healthcare for several years.  Part of my job was sifting through medical literature.  I'm no stranger to articles and abstracts about Covid-19.

Covid conspiracy?  No. It's real.

How did Covid & masking become so politicized?   For the same reason all things become politicized.  Fear, ignorance & power.

When Europe was loosing one to two-thirds of its population to the Black Death, peasants condemned the crown and church for not doing enough to alleviate widespread suffering.  And although the Catholic church had sworn to protect lepers and Jews, it conveniently took a blind eye when the two groups were beaten back & persecuted for "causing the plague." 

Fast forward to 2021 and the senseless assault of a 65 year old Filipino American women.  Onlookers stood by doing nothing as the assailant kicked her and shouted "You don't belong here, you don't belong here."  The assailant was later charged with a hate crime but hatred of what?  Did he beat her for being Filipino or for "causing the plague?"  

Is Covid going to "miraculously disappear one day?"   No.  As SARS mutations go, Covid-19 is not the first or last we'll see from this.  I expect to be adding Covid to the list of boosters we get throughout adulthood along with pneumococcal, DPT and the annual H1N1 flu shot.

Which vaccine is better?  I don't think it matters at this point. Nobody anywhere has died of Covid after being vaccinated.  The efficacy rates on all of them including Sputnik V are very high compared to the flu vaccine's which is only 20-30% in any given year.  All Covid vaccines will protect you.  So take whichever one you can get. 

Vaxed is the new black!  My husband is fully vaxed (Pfizer). I will be fully vaxed (Moderna) on April 30.  Despite this, we will continue to wash our hands regularly and wear masks publicly to stave off seasonal allergies, colds and other viruses.  🙂

Stay safe everyone and let's have a great summer!

[KShinabery212]

My wife works in a senior home.... yes, it is very real.

I will leave it at that.  As I do not want to get too political on the Adobe site. 

Because of my wife's work even if she is vaccinated and I am not... I do my best to be as safe as possible as we do not completely understand the virus 100% and the various strains.  So, I live as safely as possible at the moment.

[Nancy OShea]

I got my 2nd Moderna vaccine yesterday.  Last time my arm hurt for a few days which was expected. But today I feel like I was hit by a train so I guess it's working :-).

[ceres]

Hello Nancy OShea, I hope you feel much better within 24 hours! Please rest during the interim.

Not everyone is the same, but let me describe some personal experiences with the Moderna vaccine. If this is tl;dr then skip to my final paragraph. I took my mother for the first Moderna vaccine injection on February 10th. She is 82 years of age and healthy (e.g. she insists on doing my laundry and cooking our meals while I stay with her). She complained of mild soreness in her arm, about 12 hours after the first injection and for 2 days after that. She was okay otherwise.

On March 10, a community RN administered my mother's second Moderna vaccine dose. Maricopa County in Arizona did a great job of getting those aged 65 and older vaccinated quickly. My mother got her shot at 11 am. Around 10 pm, she had chills and felt lethargic. I gave her 500 mg of Tylenol at midnight. She fell asleep quickly but wasn't feeling great at 7 am. She ate an egg and toast, and had slight fever. She took another 500 mg of Tylenol but felt a bit barfy, took a nap, and stayed in bed all day. That evening, she felt better. She didn't need any Tylenol. Her arm was sore for another 2 days, but she said it was not even close to the intense pain after getting a tetanus booster shot. And that was it!

tl;dr This is what the nurse said: Any malaise from the 2nd dose of the Moderna vaccine won't begin until 10 hours after the injection. She told us that there may be NO side affects, so DO NOT take any medication in advance. If flu-like symptoms do occur, then it is okay to take Tylenol or aspirin.

[Nancy OShea]

Thanks.  After much sleep and a couple of ibuprofen (Advil), I felt much better today. 

[Chuck Uebele]

Had my second Pfizer shot, yesterday. No side affects yet, other than the sore arm, which is starting to feel better.

[Nancy OShea]

Congrats, Chuck!  My husband had no side effects from Pfizer either. 

Maybe the fact that Pfizer has to be super, super cold and Moderna doesn't makes it easier.  In any case, I'm just grateful to be fully vaxed.

[Courtney R5E8A]

Honestly, I just think that we have to work on we can control. Thinking about politics or anything it's just a distraction.

[Nancy OShea]

Speaking of distractions...  there's no greater distraction than baseball.  

Beginning May 19th, fully vaxxed New York baseball fans can finally enjoy 100% capacity seating at Mets and Yankees ball games.  Just bring your vaccine card as proof.  For those who haven't been vaxxed yet, get out to the park to receive your shot onsite plus a FREE ticket to the ball game! 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-vaccine-new-york-free-yankees-mets-tickets/

Other franchises are following similar protocols.  Our vaccine cards are the new "must have" passport to carry if you want to be admitted to indoor/outdoor events now.

[Nancy OShea]

It's been a year since this topic started.  I guess most can agree that COVID in various forms is here to stay.

The FDA recently approved a 2nd booster shot for age 50 & over.  Are you planning to take the 2nd booster or wait?

https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavirus-covid-19-update-fda-authorizes-secon...

Fortunately, I'm not immuno-compromised.  Also, I had Omicron in December so I think my COVID resistance is adequate to get me through the summer months without a 2nd booster.  But if things change,  I may reconsider. 

[John T Smith]

Unfortunately the 'official' policy, as issued by saint fauci, is that only the shots are good... with NO mention of the natural immunity that having had the virus is any good

[Nancy OShea]

That's not entirely correct.  Dr. Faucci and others have said that both immunity from having had COVID and booster protection wane over time.  In the US, COVID mortality is still 600+ people per day.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/covid-cases.html

The BA.2 sub-variant which is dominate in the US right now doesn't appear to be more severe than Omicron BA.1 which I had.  But the CDC & WHO are concerned that a lot of people still have not recevied vaccine doses 1 & 2 much less a booster.  

[John T Smith]

Has fauci or anyone in the us government ever said that shots are not needed for those who have had covid?

Everything I have read (I may have missed something) is about the shots (such as military and/or police being fired if they don't get the shots) with no exemption for natural immunity

[Nancy OShea]

Natural immunity is something we are born with. 

Acquired immunity from illness or vaccine is not the same thing and its effectiveness doesn't last forever.  This recent article in The New England Journal of Medicine describes how long we remain COVID protected after illness and after vaccines.  Subjects who had both illness & received vaccines were better protected than those who had no vaccines.

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2118691#:~:text=Because%20of%20the%20limited%20length,wi...

There is no disputing that shots protect us from death by virus in the short-term.  I feel everyone who is in close proximity to other humans, should get the shots whether or not they've had COVID.  The only question is how much and at what intervals?

[John T Smith]

Natural or acquired, my point is that when militay-police-others are told they MUST be vaccinated or be fired, there is no allowance that I have ever read about that says someone who has had the virus is exempt from the shots... it is always get the shots or be fired

To me that one way approach is wrong, since someone who has had the virus and recovered does have at least as much, if not more, protection as someone who is vaccinated

[Nancy OShea]

When one is hired to protect public safety, they must be available to work when called.  Staff shortages were a big enough problem pre-COVID and that problem worsened when the pandemic hit.  The Los Angeles Police Department employs just under 10,000 POs officers.  They received over 2,600 requests for religeous exemption to the vaccine requirement.

I think it's tragic that vaccine mandates are needed at all.  One would expect police officers, teachers, firefighters, healthcare & military personnel to voluntarily seek vaccine protection.  If not for themselves then their loved ones and the people they were hired to protect. 

Nobody who is fully vaccinated has died died from COVID.  Meanwhile, unvaxed COVID patients (whether previously infected or not) continue to die.

[John T Smith]

>Nobody who is fully vaccinated has died died from COVID

What is your source for that statement?

A quick Google found 2 (there are more) statements that say otherwise

Sixty-five participants in the booster group died

Pfizer COVID booster shown highly protective against severe illness, death | CIDRAP (umn.edu)

participants who had received the BNT162b2 vaccine (15 deaths)

BNT162b2 Vaccine Booster and Covid-19 Mortality | NEJM

[Nancy OShea]

I'm talking about COVID deaths.  Not deaths caused by other factors such as excessive inflammatory response to the vaccine, immuno-compromised or diabetic individuals with other health issues.  Side-effect rates are low in this country and also vary by which vaccine was given.  

Boosted Americans 97 Times Less Likely to Die of COVID-19

https://www.webmd.com/vaccines/covid-19-vaccine/news/20220203/boosted-97-times-less-likely-to-die

Important to note:  It takes about 10 days following vaccines & boosters to be fully protected.  During that time, you may  not have enough anti-bodies to resist illness from COVID.  So timing is key.

The number of average weekly deaths for those who were unvaccinated was 9.7 per 100,000 people, as compared with 0.7 of those who were vaccinated and 0.1 of those who had received a booster. 

If you want to read more, the CDC reports on infection and death rates among vaxed & boosted vs other individuals, aged 50-64 during Delta and Omicron surges.

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7104e2.htm