Gosh, I wonder whether we should have researched the RSV shot before my mom got it. I didn’t realize they were short of it. My mom just got it without a thought. She’s 83, but extremely healthy and has little exposure. I feel bad for encouraging her to take something a baby could have used.
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Don’t feel guilty. 
Your mom most definitely got the senior version of the preventative vaccine that is not designed for babies. There is a therapeutic vaccine that is used as a treatment in infants who got RSV. And then there is a preventative vaccine for pregnant women in their last trimester who then pass their immunity to the babies.
Immune system is very complex!!
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The RSV shot for 60+ is not supply constrained (but may be at limited locations as I noted above)…it’s nirsevimab (Beyfortus), the vaccine for babies that is experiencing shortages. Here’s the notice of the extra doses released this week:
https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/16/health/beyfortus-cdc-fda-rsv/index.html#
Oops cross posted with bunsenburner
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Great, thanks, you two! No guilt here, then, glad she got it.
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I got the flu and RSV vaccines at the same time. Our grandson had RSV last year when he was 5 months old. He spent 5 days in the PICU. Scary stuff. I got the vaccine because this same little family is having a new baby in January and I didn’t want to risk infecting the newborn (or their currently pregnant mother).
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We’re 65+ and gotten both the flu shot and the latest Moderna vax. Our PCP does not recommend that we get the RSV shot, but did not go into details about his objection. At that point, I just wanted to end our appointment and didn’t press the issue.
D and both grandkids have been sick for nearly two weeks - no fever, but lots of congestion, coughing and fatigue from interrupted sleep. They will not test for Covid, and rarely see their pediatrician. Older GD was feeling better yesterday, so I hope whatever it is will be self-limiting and the little ones will be okay soon.
Did you read that compmom said she had never been sicker? And bunsenburner wrote, “Definitely NOT a walk on a beach! My husband has never had such high BP! It was really scary. Covid is a nasty thing.” I just don’t understand the reluctance.
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To answer the upthread question, friend who had to go to the hospital for RSV is recovering well, still supposed to isolate (we are in a warm climate, but he is out and about walking by himself, staying away from others for 2 more days, per dr.) He had Covid vax but not RSV vax yet
Unwanted effects of vaccines does mean that it is desirable to have different vaccines available, since they may not all have the same risk of each unwanted effect.
However, the US has very low vaccine diversity for COVID-19 vaccines.
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People definitely have had personal stories as far as Covid, that’s for sure. Don’t know if one can always extrapolate from that. For us, fully vaccinated and even after recently vaccinated, we got Covid once anyways. Healthy, fairly mild cases. SIL’s boyfriend, recently and fully vaccinated, at risk with one lung, got brutally sick.
From our limited experience, makes me think that if you are very healthy and not at risk, maybe you don’t have to get a vaccine every six months or whenever the latest vaccine comes out. If you’re at risk, not only should you get every last vaccine, maybe stay away from crowds, excess exposure, as the vaccine might not save you anyways.
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To add to the last point… also have access to a doctor who will be willing to prescribe Paxlovid.
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We’re going on a cruise in the Far East on Feb, and hoping our doctors will prescribe Paxlovid ahead of time, just in case.
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Yes, that will be interesting to see what happens with the flu vaccine uptake for this month.
I understand vaccine burnout, because I am tired of all the covid vaccines. Yet I get them all (just had my 7th; this time Novavax). I’m getting the flu shot this week. I’m not sure about the RSV shot.
As far as getting the RSV shot to lessen the community spread and protect young babies, I don’t know about that. If it was so important, the CDC would recommend RSV shots for everyone who will be around young babies. They don’t. They only recommend the Tdap and flu shots to protect young babies too young to be vaccinated.
I definitely understand the burnout especially since it’s hard to tell if the covid vax actually helps. In the beginning, definitely. But so many people would have mild cases anyway and it doesn’t seem like it prevents it too well anymore. So who knows.
That being said, I don’t mind getting it once a year with the flu shot. Easy enough and hopefully it does help some. I dont think my kids have been getting the boosters past the first one and I won’t press them.
GF got it for the second time last month. Her first was in college before the vaccines were available. S never got it despite living in a small apartment and WFH all day. Same with her when he got it in April 22. It’s such a strange disease.
The in-law updates. Sounds like they’ve all got it bad, but it doesn’t sound like they got my in-laws (or themselves) paxlovid. I wasn’t around for the phone call so details from H are slim.
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DH got Novavax on 11/15. He just told me he’s popped into afib. His afib is chemically controlled and has been for over a decade. Nothing else has changed in the last week.
Yup, I blame the vaccine. Now I guess we wait to see if he is one of the ‘low risk don’t worry about it’ myocarditis cases.
grrrrrr
H and I got the additional booster in early Nov, knowing we were going to be at a couple of big crowded events. Hoping that does pay off - we were at a family wedding this past weekend and heard yesterday that the newly weds and most of the bride’s family now have Covid 
YLE has a post describing apparent inequities in use of the newest booster, including comparison to last year’s booster.
I’m usually a big fan of YLE, but this column is a epi fail. It’s based on pure speculation, and not science. For example,
"This would show whether there are new barriers to accessing the fall vaccine for marginalized groups (rather than hesitancy to get vaccinated). "
Uh, not necessarily; basic rule in epi: correlation does not equal causation. What “barriers” is she thinking of? For example, perhaps the ‘barrier’ is the ending of work from home, when during covid everyone had free time to go stand in line at a mass innoculation site. Now, works have to punch-in so not to convenient.
All ACA-approved plans offer free vaccines, which are plentiful at the major pharmacies, as were the original vaccines. And the poor get free health care from CA.
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maybe in CA but not everywhere!
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