I’m waiting until late October/early November like last year. I am still wearing a mask in stores. Every time I stop, I get sick! I really have trouble handling a common cold at this point so…
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We mask indoors too and feel it has kept us well, especially when traveling and around sick folks.
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And subways in NYC! KN95’s work…
KF94s work too. We had dinner in a large group, including a guy who had a bad case of pneumonia and did NOT get sick. We masked except while eating & drinking.
Am glad we have had the pneumonia vaccine
Note that multiple pneumonia vaccines are available. If it has been some time since you got a pneumonia vaccine, you may want to consider getting a newer one that covers more types: Bacterial pneumonia and vaccine (recommended for age >=50)
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Have had several. Thanks.
ETA: Just checked on line records: Looks like I have had 4 pneumonia vaccines- the last ones in July 2024 (can’t recall if the 2 listed as July 2024 were in on injection, but it shows 2…)
When I got a call from the pharmacy that I should get another covid vax, I didn’t believe that so I googled and it said for under 65 it is once a year and for over 65 it is every 6 months. That was in February I think and of course things could have changed since then.
I do not wear masks but I think I might start wearing gloves on public transportation or high traffic places like the grocery store. I’m pretty good about following the 6’ rule still and take my own equipment to the gym (weights, stretchy bands, ball) and wash my hands after playing bridge or mahjongg.
Update:
My pneumonia listing on record was a duplicate so I only had one last July. The pharmacist and nurses said that as for when we can get the newest vaccine, they said that until it is available they won’t have the official protocol for how long we have to wait to get it. But most likely the protocol will be the same as before.
Interesting item… Co-worker’s H (mid 70s) with Alzheimer’s has had a fever & cough for a few days. This morning, she took him into the urgent care where her D works. They did chest x-rays, bloodwork, but no covid test. Why? They stopped doing it because insurance doesn’t pay and it’s $300. They tell their patients to test at home and let them know the results. Like that is going to happen around these parts.
My SIL currently has covid now (for the 6th time? maybe more at this point), so that’s why I asked if he had been tested. Co-worker was also very hoarse all day yesterday sucking on throat lozenges. It wouldn’t surprise me if they were both positive… I doubt they will test at home.
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Strange. Original Medicare pays for covid tests conducted by health care providers. Even if they have an Advantage plan, coverage should include covid testing.
Since her D works there, she should investigate the reasons further, as their excuse – insurers don’t pay – makes little sense.
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PCR testing?
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anyone heard a release date for the updated vax.?
Here is a comparison of LP.8.1 with the previous vaccine target variants:
It looks like LP.8.1 is much closer to the 2024 vaccine variants KP.2 and JN.1 than any of them are to the prior vaccine variants XBB.1.5, BA.5, and B.1 (ancestral).
COVID-19 may be growing this summer.
It would be interesting if there were some indication of relative risk of getting COVID-19 now based on (a) COVID-19 infection in 2024, (b) vaccination with 2024 COVID-19 vaccine, (c) neither.
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Three out of five people in our house just had Covid this month. I had it the worst and it took 2 full weeks to recover. We all had vaccines last fall. My assessment is that this current strain was worse than a bad cold but not quite as bad as a bad flu, although lingering symptoms for 2 weeks were not fun and started to be worrisome. I think there’s an uptick in cases this summer although most people don’t test. We did since my husband had been with his 90 year old dad when he was showing early symptoms. The three family members who tested positive had Covid last in 2023. The family member who had it in 2024 didn’t get it this time, despite household exposure.
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H and I were a bit tired so we tested for covid, RSV and Flu A&B. Fortunately our tests were all negative for all of those conditions. (I had bought these combined tests some months ago from Europe.) m
You are correct that it seems very few are testing for anything these days. My brother & his wife and D came back from China and niece was sick and brother didn’t sound 100% but they invited us for dinner the next night (niece’s bday). We had other plans but I doubt they test for anything.
I bought the Covid/a/b flu test on Amazon. We live in a small town and limited resources. I took a test this week all neg, so just had a bad cold. Lasted almost exactly 3 days. Weird.
A still-small summer wave of COVID-19 is developing.
Perhaps it is small because the current variants (LP.8.1 and NB.1.8.1) are close enough to last year’s variants (JN.1, KP.2, etc.) that infection or vaccination last year provides some protection against the current variants.
YLE posted yesterday that if you are under 65 and low risk, the window to get your next Covid vax will be shut possibly as early as Friday of this week, when the FDA labeling guidelines are due to be announced (and go into effect immediately.) While it still may be possible for those under 65 to get the 2025/26 vaxx off-label, it won’t be easy. Therefore she highly suggests getting the 24/25 version this week for those who won’t be eligible for the updated vaxx. The 24/25 vaxx is still a good match for the current Covid strains. Per YLE, CVS is no longer scheduling appointments for the 24/25 vaxx, but local pharmacies and possibly Walgreens are. Because H and I are traveling to Japan for 3 weeks in November, and both of us are under 65 with no risk factors, we want to get vaxxed this week if possible before we get shut out of any options. I was able to schedule appointments at our grocery store pharmacy for tomorrow for the 24/25 version. We’ll see if it is actually available to us - fingers crossed!
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