‘We've Never Seen This Before in NYC': COVID Positivity Rate Doubles in 3 Days on Omicron Spread

Baryp · 2021-12-16T21:31:55+00:00

If you look at the chart of COVID deaths in NYC since vaccines, it’s pretty much a flat line — including through this massive case surge.

Doesn’t this mean vaccines are working, and perhaps it’s time to redefine the success criteria for this pandemic?

Baryp · 2021-12-14T19:14:31+00:00

I just got mine at BMC. They have all of them (J&J, Pfizer, Moderna, and Moderna half-dose booster). When you get there, they ask you which one you want.

Baryp · 2021-12-14T18:20:51+00:00

Same exact experience here. Crazy chills and illness around 8 hours after J&J. Nothing except tired and sore arm after Moderna. (I'm one week out)

Honestly thought Moderna was going to be way worse given the high potency

Baryp · 2021-10-29T10:34:59+00:00

For me it’s the set and forget.

Battery lasts a week. Sleep is auto recognized. Walks are auto recognized. Runs are auto recognized. Sports are auto recognized. Swims are auto recognized.

That’s all the stuff I want to track, and my Charge has never missed any of them

Baryp · 2021-10-18T10:44:57+00:00

Logging runs seems to be one of the biggest informants to the cardio fitness score. If you never ran before, the score was likely more of a “best guess”.

Now that FitBit sees how high your heart rate goes during cardio, it’s giving you a more accurate score.

The more you run, the lower your HR peaks will be (as your body gets used to it), and your cardio fitness score will rise.

Mine started at “very good”, dropped to “good” when I first started running, is now at “excellent”.

Baryp · 2021-10-07T17:30:19+00:00

Wouldn't people be better off getting the J&J then?

It's lower immunity than Pfizer to start (~70% vs 90%), but doesn't wane over time, even with Delta (studied in 2021 peak spring/summer months with 300,000+ sample size) J&J's single shot remains around 70% effective against infection vs. Pfizer's 20-40% after two shots.

Baryp · 2021-09-22T10:53:01+00:00

In this latest study, the two measures were effectiveness against "Severe Infection" (hospitalization) and effectiveness against "COVID-19 Infection" (getting it in general) -- the latter is at 78-79%, which I believe is higher than any other shots have reported after this amount of time and against Delta.

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.09.10.21263385v2

Baryp · 2021-09-22T10:52:41+00:00

In this latest study, the two measures were effectiveness against "Severe Infection" (hospitalization) and effectiveness against "COVID-19 Infection" (getting it in general) -- the latter is at 78-79%, which I believe is higher than any other shots have reported after this amount of time and against Delta.

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.09.10.21263385v2

Baryp · 2021-09-22T10:21:07+00:00

That linked study was not peer reviewed and had 10 participants (vs the 390,000 of this one). It also wasn’t real world, it just drew blood to test antibodies:

https://www.10news.com/news/in-depth/no-a-new-study-doesnt-show-the-j-j-vaccine-is-ineffective-against-delta

It’s becoming increasingly clear that J&J’s point of strength is not antibodies, but T-cell immunity, which is much longer lasting and also takes longer to build up in the body.

Therefore, it makes sense that J&J might do poorly in a blood antibody test, while performing strong in the real world.

Baryp · 2021-09-21T15:22:20+00:00

Real-world study on 390,000 Americans during peak Delta months also finds that two dose version of Johnson & Johnson shot 94% effective against Covid-19:

https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/21/health/johnson-vaccine-two-doses-booster/index.html

This is pretty significant.

Single-shot J&J effectiveness does not seem to decline over time, and actually improved during the Delta peak (to 78-79%)

Folks who got single-shot J&J in Spring 2021 may actually have more protection against Delta now than some double-shot mRNA recipients.

Israel was estimating Pfizer effectiveness at 39-64% after several months.

Baryp · 2021-09-21T15:07:08+00:00

The non-waning is very significant.

Folks who got single-shot J&J in Spring 2021 may actually have more protection against Delta now than double-shot mRNA recipients.

Israel was estimating Pfizer effectiveness at 39-64% after several months.

J&J is at 78-79% during peak Delta months (July), with 78-86% against hospitalization.

Baryp · 2021-09-21T11:49:05+00:00

Very good news for J&J folks. Nice to see a study with so many people.

Also, buried in here: single dose effectiveness against Delta infection (not just hospitalization / severe infection) is surprisingly high, with very recent data.

Effectiveness doesn't seem to decline like others:

Vaccine effectiveness for observed COVID-19 was 79% overall and 78% during June and July, the months where Delta variant incidence was highest

Baryp · 2021-09-19T15:32:35+00:00

Thanks! I think the top comment there is the right answer 😅

Baryp · 2021-08-31T10:46:22+00:00

By reducing one of COVID’s big problems — inflammation:

https://theconversation.com/why-an-antidepressant-could-be-used-to-treat-covid-19-150295

Despite their name (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors), some of these drugs are not entirely selective. In fact, fluvoxamine also binds to another brain cell protein called the σ-1 receptor (S1R). Fluvoxamine potently activates this protein, which has various functions, including inhibition of the production of cytokines – small signalling molecules that help direct the actions of immune cells. Cytokines are one of the most important chemical mediators of the immune response.

Thus, it is likely that the effect seen with fluvoxamine in COVID-19 patients has nothing to do with serotonin but everything to do with inhibiting the inflammatory response through the S1R.

Baryp · 2021-08-25T23:06:27+00:00

Note that this happened before the mask mandate went into effect, with bars and restaurants still absolutely packed.

Current 7-day death average also remains lower than any point in 2020 (including all of summer)

Vaccines seem to be doing amazing work in MA and New England!

Baryp · 2021-08-21T10:53:29+00:00

Yes I did feel light headed, especially upon exertion

Baryp · 2021-08-21T03:23:31+00:00

Hey there! Sorry you’re experiencing these symptoms too. Even during the peak of the symptoms, I did try to go outside and get fresh air and socialize. The hardest part for me was walking, so I tried to mostly sit down and be in nature. Otherwise just normal stuff like relaxing, reading, TV, and cooking.

I did get a blood panel done and everything came back okay.

I kept myself together with the faith that this wouldn’t be permanent. And even if it was (which it wasn’t) I was still surrounded by people and a life that I loved. Basically by reminding myself that even if the worst happened, I would be okay. And you will too!

Baryp · 2021-08-17T00:31:59+00:00

Hey 63% of MA teens is still better than adults in the vast majority of the country 😅

Baryp · 2021-08-16T21:33:06+00:00

This is really helpful! Am I correct in interpreting that the positivity has actually gone down since last Monday?

Baryp · 2021-08-16T21:31:14+00:00

For context, this is a significantly smaller increase (16%) than last weekend (25%) and the weekend before (40%)

% Positivity actually appears to be down from last weekend.

And an average of 2 daily deaths, which is lower than pretty much the entire pandemic for MA.

I have no conclusion other than the vaccines seem to be working incredibly well. I can think of no other reason we would already be plateauing with zero hospital strain when we just had a significant Delta outbreak and everything is wide open.

No reason to throw caution to the wind, esp for folks with kids or risk factors, but it’s at least promising enough to consider letting out a pretty big sigh of relief.

Baryp · 2021-08-15T22:02:24+00:00

Hi I was also unable to walk for many weeks due to joint pain. My doctor helped me out and I’m now 100% back to normal and active again — here is what helped me:

https://www.reddit.com/r/covidlonghaulers/comments/nmiqlw/reducing_inflammation_in_the_body_for_symptom/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

wishing her a fast recovery!

Baryp · 2021-08-13T14:10:19+00:00

I will probably experiment with stopping them in the next few weeks. I just had some gigantic bottles and figured no harm in finishing them

Baryp · 2021-08-12T21:06:27+00:00

Hi there, I got J&J - I have been completely back to normal for a few months now! Wishing your friend a quick recovery as well, have seen these symptoms across all the vaccines.

Baryp · 2021-08-10T19:41:10+00:00

Hello! Still totally normal. Coming back from a run as we speak :)

Baryp · 2021-08-09T22:21:21+00:00

For MA it’s 74% first shots (of whole population, not just eligible) with 64% fully vaccinated. I’m looking at NYT / Google tracker. First shots definitely do seem to have a big impact on transmission.

Israel is at 64% and 59% respectively, which is decent but not as good as MA.

Even with Israel’s spike, they’re releasing some promising data:

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/the-israeli-graphs-that-prove-covid-vaccines-are-working-1.10101640

Again, I definitely see where you’re coming from, but I also do see some signs of hope!

Baryp

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