Coronavirus in Massachusetts (assessment, safety, health)

[brk330]

Originally Posted by OutdoorLover

She/he was doing you a favor. Humira is a TNF-inhibitor, it's an anti-inflammatory drug. This means it will suppress the immune system too - but you need a strong immune response to get an effective result from the vaccine.

Actually I'm not sure it was because of getting any shot or an immunosuppressant shot.

All the info I'm finding is saying get the shot ASAP, even if you took Humira the same day. I mean it is one the reasons for eligibility in the first place.

I am going to split the difference and move my shot up a week just in case, But it would've been nice to know before driving to Lowell and getting in that crowd of people.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by OutdoorLover

So for what it's worth, I am also 62. You do have a point re the personal risks of having a course of disease varying with age. However, the reported incidence of *serious* side effects from the vaccines like anaphylaxis has really been very low and fatalities linked to the vaccines are nearly non-existent after hundreds of millions of doses given out. Moreover, the card-carrying vaccine folks I've heard discuss this say that if the patient is going to have a problem with a vaccine, it's much more likely to show up in the first few weeks after vaccination - this is much more true than with a drug. So with serious side effects being rare in the early months from direct observation, and experts saying that this is the lion's share of the risk due to the nature of vaccines, it's all the more reason why I perceive the risks of getting vaccinated as extremely low.

You’re confusing short term side effects with long term side effects. The short term safety data is irrefutable. We have zero long term safety data. The odds of something really nasty popping up are low but they aren’t zero. We’re old enough that it likely doesn’t matter.

[yesmaybe]

Hospitalizations are trending downward again for real now. If there's going to be a third wave it would have to start soon.

[rach5]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

Everyone in the building is wearing a mask. Double up your mask, wear a short sleeve shirt under your coat so you don't have to touch anything to remove clothing, and stand the whole time. That's how I did my flu shot at CVS last fall (except I didn't know double mask yet). That's how I got my COVID-19 jabs at a hospital clinic. I stayed 6 feet from anyone and stood the whole time.

The local cvs I just called is doing 6 (!) shots every 15 minutes. That must be incredibly crowded. Can they fore you to stay inside the store if you want to wait outside?

[OutdoorLover]

Originally Posted by brk330

Actually I'm not sure it was because of getting any shot or an immunosuppressant shot.

All the info I'm finding is saying get the shot ASAP, even if you took Humira the same day. I mean it is one the reasons for eligibility in the first place.

I am going to split the difference and move my shot up a week just in case, But it would've been nice to know before driving to Lowell and getting in that crowd of people.

Well, normally, you don't want to take anti-inflammatories prior to vaccination (or soon after), it can diminish the response, because inflammation is an important part of the immune response to the vaccine. Maybe you're an exception or Humira is an exception for some reason, but that's a normal guideline for vaccination (not just for Covid-19 vaccination). Ask your doctor if you don't believe me.

P.S. Found this ""If you have mild symptoms just after getting the vaccination, try to tough it out. If you can’t tolerate the temporary discomfort, I would use acetaminophen (Tylenol) over an NSAID,” Craig B. Wilen, MD, PhD, an immunobiologist in the Department of Laboratory Medicine at Yale University School of Medicine and a lead researcher from the study". Do you know why he's recommending Acetominophen if you have to use something? Because that's not an anti-inflammatory drug.
https://www.verywellhealth.com/pain-...accine-5111319

The paper that Dr Wilen is lead author on is this one "Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs Dampen the Cytokine and Antibody Response to SARS-CoV-2 Infection".
https://jvi.asm.org/content/95/7/e00014-21

I don't have enough background to know if there are cases where anti-inflammatories are fine to use during vaccine application, but I do know it's a broad concern, so the safest thing to do (in terms of ensuring benefits) is to avoid anti-inflammatories.

[OutdoorLover]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

You’re confusing short term side effects with long term side effects. The short term safety data is irrefutable. We have zero long term safety data. The odds of something really nasty popping up are low but they aren’t zero. We’re old enough that it likely doesn’t matter.

I don't think I am confused. Maybe it makes you feel better to say that, but I am comfortable with what I said.

[htfdcolt]

Looks like more clarity coming tomorrow!

https://twitter.com/MassGovernor/sta...42355377487881

[OutdoorLover]

Originally Posted by htfdcolt

Looks like more clarity coming tomorrow!

https://twitter.com/MassGovernor/sta...42355377487881

Thanks for sharing :-)

[yesmaybe]

Originally Posted by htfdcolt

Looks like more clarity coming tomorrow!

https://twitter.com/MassGovernor/sta...42355377487881

I'm expecting it to be April 12th for Phase 2 Group 3, and then May 1st for everyone. Hope that I'm wrong and the timelines are much sooner.

That being said they should be pretty much done with 65+ First Dose by the end of March. That leaves K-12 and the 2 issues people (and of course the Cheaters). There really isn't much visibility there is into how many K-12 are left but Baker did say there was 400k possible but at the same time it's possible that some of them got the vaccine in one of the earlier phases.

[CaseyB]

Originally Posted by rach5

The local cvs I just called is doing 6 (!) shots every 15 minutes. That must be incredibly crowded. Can they fore you to stay inside the store if you want to wait outside?

They want you to stay inside for at least 10 - 15 minutes afterwards so they can monitor you.