Biden administration looks to avoid vaccine hiccups as COVID-19 treatment coverage goes commercial

[Social Media]

 

The Biden administration is looking to avoid hiccups in the rollout of new COVID-19 vaccines as it begins shifting coverage of coronavirus treatments to the private market.

Private insurance companies will need to start covering treatments beginning Wednesday, but the federal government’s supply will remain available for providers to order and distribute from until it runs out or expires.

 

Distributors and health care providers may continue to order Pfizer’s Paxlovid from the U.S. government until Dec. 15, along with Merck’s Lagevrio through Nov. 10. 

Medicare and Medicaid will cover the drugs for free through the end of 2024, and the uninsured will also have access to free treatment through 2028 as part of an agreement with the manufacturers.

Administration officials have acknowledged the problems when the vaccines moved to commercial payers but said ample supply plus a relatively long transition period for antivirals should make it so those same issues — delayed insurance coverage and lack of supply — don’t happen again. 

“The federal product will continue to be available for days to weeks. And that gives a chance for the insurers, the [pharmacy benefit managers], the pharmacies, providers, all to work through the system changes needed to distribute the product commercially and effectively,” a senior Health and Human Services (HHS) official told reporters during a recent briefing.

 

FULL STORY

 

[retarius]

End this vaccine madness. Gifts to unworthy Big Pharma. 

[connda]

The uptake of the "free" boosters in the US has been abysmal.  Once people have to shell out $120 bucks for a booster - well - suddenly most of the population will become "vaccine hesitate" at least according to the Main-Stream-News who will of course blame "anti-vaxxer" propaganda.
The fact that the shots fail of stop those who receive it from contracting the disease, and people like myself who never took the shots in the first place only came down with mild flu-like symptoms that were a nuisance for a few days - well - that will be ignored.  It's gonna be a hard sell. 

Wise individual investors would have shorted Pfizer stock months back when the writing was on the wall.  Wait for the WHO to declare another pandemic and then BTFD.  🐻

[Red Phoenix]

A PBS Newshour 27 October press-release states that only 7% of U.S. adults and 2% of children have gotten a shot.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/vaccine-data-shows-rates-for-latest-covid-19-booster-is-abysmal-only-7-percent-of-u-s-adults-with-shot

One expert called the rates “abysmal.”

The numbers, presented Thursday at a meeting held by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, come from a national survey of thousands of Americans, conducted two weeks ago.

The uptake figures are so 'bad' (depending on your point of view of course), that it is difficult to get info on the actual figures.

555

[owl sees all]

They have millions of shots ready. As it gets closer to the 'best by' date, can we expects a big scary one? Perhaps one with a name like Killasaurus. Get the fear back into the people.

 

But if that fails; simply ship them off to Africa at cost. Hope they don't forget to put them in the fridge.

Edited October 31, 2023 by owl sees all
added a '''

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

4 hours ago, connda said:

Once people have to shell out $120 bucks for a booster

 

In the U.S., for this year's COVID vaccine, basically no one should actually have to be paying for the shot themselves -- notwithstanding the publicity about the retail pricing for the vaccines...

 

Because, the COVID vaccines basically required to be covered by all private insurance plans and the federal government's own Medicare and Medicaid programs. And beyond that, the feds have launched programs to provide free vaccine access to those without health insurance.

 

COVID-19 shots will be free for most, regardless of insurance

"Though it's the first season that COVID vaccines will no longer be covered by the government, insurance companies as well as government-run programs like Medicaid and Medicare are expected to cover the shot.

...

The estimated 25-30 million adults without insurance or with limited insurance plans will still have access to the vaccines for free through a CDC initiative called the Bridge Access Program."

...

Uninsured children will also be able to access vaccinations through the Vaccines for Children program, which offers them at no cost to eligible kids through a national network of participating health care providers."

 

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/covid-19-shots-free-insurance/story?id=103167181

 

Part of the reason for the slow vaccine rollout has been problems with the first-time transition from free government provided COVID vaccines to those now handled thru the private health insurance industry and commercial pharmacies.

 

In the early going, a lot of people went looking to obtain the vaccine, only to be wrongly told they'd have to pay directly for the vaccines, because insurers hadn't fully updated their systems to show the status of the COVID vaccines as covered treatments. Supposedly those kinds of problems have now been remedied.

 

Many people experiencing COVID vaccine cost confusion due to delay in insurance coding

"CIGNA Healthcare said it updated its systems with the new codes almost two weeks ago, but some pharmacies are submitting claims incorrectly.

 

Independence Blue Cross said, "We are aware of the unexpected delay in coding. As of Tuesday, September 19, the delay has been addressed and pharmacies are able to bill Independence directly."

 

The bottom line is your COVID boosters should be covered. If your claim is denied at the pharmacy, contact your insurer for reimbursement and make sure you're at a pharmacy covered by your plan.

 

https://abc7chicago.com/covid-booster-insurance-costs-paying-out-of-picket-for-vaccine-cvs-shots/13810459/

 

Edited October 31, 2023 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

 

And for the uninsured:

 

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/meetings/downloads/slides-2023-10-25-26/02-COVID-Stokley-508.pdf

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

And meanwhile, COVID illness continues to take its toll on Americans, as many still go unvaccinated or are undervaccinated (those who never received the prior bivalent vaccines):

 

Oct 27, 2023

 

"Cases remain low compared with the pandemic’s early months. Even so, health officials say about 18,000 hospitalization and 1,200 deaths are still being reported each week."

 

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/vaccine-data-shows-rates-for-latest-covid-19-booster-is-abysmal-only-7-percent-of-u-s-adults-with-shot

 

 

Edited October 31, 2023 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Interestingly, CNN has reporting indicating that the vaccination levels for this year's new COVID vaccines in the U.S. -- one month into the rollout -- weren't far off from those for the bivalent COVID vaccines last year, despite all of this year's privatization snafus.

 

"Through October 13, about 31 days into the rollout of the updated vaccines, about 10 million Americans have received a shot, according to HHS. But that number is probably an underestimate because the vaccines are now commercialized, so the government can no longer track vaccination data as closely as it did when it was the distributor of the vaccines.

 

At 31 days into last year’s rollout of the Covid-19 bivalent vaccines, about 12 million doses had been given, according to CDC data."

 

https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/18/health/covid-vaccine-awareness-campaigns/index.html

 

Edited October 31, 2023 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Of course, it also didn't help that Republican lawmakers in the U.S., in their COVID denying, anti-vax zeal, managed to substantially cut the government's funding against COVID, including public education funds that would have supported and promoted the new vaccines rollout.

 

"In May, during the budget negotiations between Republicans and the White House, the administration agreed to give back $27 billion that had been allocated to efforts to fight Covid-19.

 

One of the programs that was affected was a $150 million effort by HHS called “We Can Do This,” which was in the midst of planning a fall education campaign to boost awareness of the Covid-19 vaccines. As a result of the rescission, HHS lost that entire program, which was launched in 2021."

 

https://www.wsiltv.com/news/health/with-education-funding-cut-and-trouble-tracking-doses-experts-see-scattered-covid-19-vaccine-rollout/article_f151ddee-f941-5c73-a5cc-c1d1aca9666d.html

 

 

 

[stats]

A trolling post with multiple unsourced and unsubstantiated COVID claims has been removed for contravening the forum's Community Standards.

 

[dhupverg]

Nobody wants an mrna product that Pfizer themselves admit is a gene therapy ( See this reading of Pfizers own documents by Senator Rennick in OZ confirming these products are gene therapy.  Note he reads Pfizer's own words.).

 

I'm actually amazed at how there is serious shilling going on for these products with the shills thinking that the public still thinks these things are great.

  "

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

These are claims by an anti-vax politician with a history of peddling COVID misinformation, and his claim has been widely debunked by numerous authorites:

 

No, COVID-19 vaccines aren’t gene therapy

"CLAIM: The COVID-19 vaccines “are a gene therapy, NOT a vaccine.”

 

AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The COVID-19 vaccines do not change a person’s genes, as gene therapy does, experts say. The shots from Pfizer and Moderna use messenger RNA, or mRNA, to instruct the body to create a protein from the coronavirus.

...

THE FACTS: False claims that the vaccines alter humans’ DNA have circulated since before their debut in late 2020."

 

https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-covid-vaccines-gene-therapy-806280914802

 

And as for the credibility of the politician:

 

FACT CHECK: Experts rubbish senator’s deadly vaccine claim

 

Queensland senator Gerard Rennick claimed that Australia’s 2021 official death statistics provide evidence COVID-19 vaccines have caused thousands of excess deaths. But experts say that the claim is false.

 

https://www.sbs.com.au/language/english/en/article/fact-check-experts-rubbish-senators-deadly-vaccine-claim/f3rolwvxu

 

 

"Senior health officials have rejected claims made by Gerard Rennick that Covid-19 vaccinations amount to “experimenting” on children after the Liberal senator questioned the safety of the vaccine for children aged five to 11 in a Senate inquiry.

 

It comes after Rennick posted anti-vaccine content on Facebook making similar claims."

 

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/dec/07/liberal-senator-gerard-rennicks-vaccine-claims-condemned-by-health-officials-in-covid-inquiry

 

 

"We also check in with his parliamentary colleagues Craig Kelly and Gerard Rennick, who have shared misleading information about a document from vaccine manufacturer Pfizer."

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-11/coronacheck-george-christensen-vaccinated-death-statistic/100899316

 

Edited October 31, 2023 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

It's also not clear the Pfizer website this anti-vax politician is quoting from in his YT video, not surprisingly, has anything to do with Pfizer's COVID vaccine.

 

The Spectator Australia media outlet's website includes a link to a Pfizer website that supposedly is the source of  Rennick's quotes. But the linked Pfizer website doesn't contain the exact language quoted by Rennick nor does it mention the COVID vaccine at all.

 

"Senator Rennick: ‘I have a Pfizer document here from their own website. It says, “Gene therapies are delicate, intentional processes encapsulating the desired gene. Manufacturing gene therapies is challenging and it requires certain steps including transfection.” That is on Pfizer’s own website."

 

source link:

 

That link leads to the following Pfizer webpage, which makes no mention whatsoever of Pfizer's COVID vaccine:

Gene Therapy: Behind the Scenes

Unlocking the Promise of Gene Therapy

"Pfizer is working to unleash the next wave of treatment innovation for patients living with rare genetic diseases."

 

https://www.pfizer.com/science/innovation/gene-therapy/manufacturing

 

Pfizer is working on gene therapy treatments for various genetic diseases.

 

But COVID is not a genetic disease, and Pfizer's COVID vaccines are not any kind of gene therapy.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

And more on the YT accuser being disowned by his own party:

Anti-vax Coalition MP Gerard Rennick dumped

July 7, 2023

 

"A Coalition senator known for anti-vaccine views and odd claims about climate change will be dumped from parliament after he lost his position on the party’s Senate ticket.

...

Rennick’s loss means Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, who wrote an endorsement for Rennick, will no longer need to deal with the negative media attention attracted by the maverick’s conspiratorial claims.

...

He has compared COVID jabs to AIDS, prompting widespread backlash including from conservatives such as 2GB radio host Ray Hadley who labelled Rennick a “complete and utter dickhead”.

 

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/anti-vax-coalition-mp-dumped-20230707-p5dmnb.html

 

Renegade Queensland senator Gerard Rennick appeals after being booted from LNP ticket

Fri 14 Jul 2023

 

An LNP source has confirmed Senator Gerard Rennick has lodged an appeal after being dropped from a winnable spot on the party’s Senate ticket.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jul/14/renegade-queensland-senator-gerard-rennick-appeals-after-being-booted-from-lnp-ticket

 

 

[Eleftheros]

2 hours ago, dhupverg said:

I'm actually amazed at how there is serious shilling going on for these products

Are you serious? Pfizer's stock price has dropped 40% this year, from $50 to $30 per share, so of course they are going to try to cram in as many sales as possible while there are still gullible nitwits around.

 

If they don't do that to the best of their ability then the shareholders will have plenty to say.

[Bkk Brian]

40 minutes ago, Eleftheros said:

Are you serious? Pfizer's stock price has dropped 40% this year, from $50 to $30 per share, so of course they are going to try to cram in as many sales as possible while there are still gullible nitwits around.

 

If they don't do that to the best of their ability then the shareholders will have plenty to say.

Since when are people at risk who are advised to have boosters to keep them out of hospital or save their lives gullible nitwits?

[impulse]

8 hours ago, Bkk Brian said:

Since when are people at risk who are advised to have boosters to keep them out of hospital or save their lives gullible nitwits?

If only that was the plan...  But they're not just pushing the vaccine on those at risk.  They're pushing it on everyone over what, 6 months old?

I'll answer the rest of your question.  If you're 30 years old and have virtually no risk from Covid, but some finite (albeit small) risk of vaccine injury from known and unknown side effects, you'd be a gullible nitwit to take the vaccine.  If you have a 6 year old child at virtually no risk from Covid and an unidentified risk for the rest of his life from long term unknown side effects, you'd be a nitwit to have your child vaccinated with a formulation that couldn't have possibly been tested for long term effects.  If you've been triple vaxxed and still got Covid (generally more than once, like most of my family), you'd be a nitwit to get another vaccine.  Being on the receiving end of a significant vaccine injury myself, I'd be a nitwit to take another bite out of that apple.

 

If you're in the age bracket or health care condition where Covid is a significant risk, go for it.  Vaccines make sense, because the risks of Covid exceed the (yet unknown) long term risks from the vaccine.

 

Interesting study that came out in plenty of time for the Covid vaccine discussion:

 

Results  From 2001 through 2010, the FDA approved 222 novel therapeutics (183 pharmaceuticals and 39 biologics). There were 123 new postmarket safety events (3 withdrawals, 61 boxed warnings, and 59 safety communications) during a median follow-up period of 11.7 years (interquartile range [IQR], 8.7-13.8 years), affecting 71 (32.0%) of the novel therapeutics. The median time from approval to first postmarket safety event was 4.2 years (IQR, 2.5-6.0 years), and the proportion of novel therapeutics affected by a postmarket safety event at 10 years was 30.8% (95% CI, 25.1%-37.5%).

 

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2625319

That's why you don't mandate a brand new treatment...

 

 

[Bkk Brian]

1 minute ago, impulse said:

If only that was the plan...  But they're not just pushing the vaccine on those at risk.  They're pushing it on everyone over what, 6 months old?

I'll answer the rest of your question.  If you're 30 years old and have virtually no risk from Covid, but some finite (albeit small) risk of vaccine injury from known and unknown side effects, you'd be a gullible nitwit to take the vaccine.  If you have a 6 year old child at virtually no risk from Covid and an unidentified risk for the rest of his life from long term unknown side effects, you'd be a nitwit to have your child vaccinated with a formulation that couldn't have possibly been tested for long term effects.  If you've been triple vaxxed and still got Covid (generally more than once, like most of my family), you'd be a nitwit to get another vaccine.  Being on the receiving end of a significant vaccine injury myself, I'd be a nitwit to take another bite out of that apple.

 

If you're in the age bracket or health care condition where Covid is a significant risk, go for it.  Vaccines make sense, because the risks of Covid exceed the (yet unknown) long term risks from the vaccine.

 

Interesting study that came out in plenty of time for the Covid vaccine discussion:

 

Results  From 2001 through 2010, the FDA approved 222 novel therapeutics (183 pharmaceuticals and 39 biologics). There were 123 new postmarket safety events (3 withdrawals, 61 boxed warnings, and 59 safety communications) during a median follow-up period of 11.7 years (interquartile range [IQR], 8.7-13.8 years), affecting 71 (32.0%) of the novel therapeutics. The median time from approval to first postmarket safety event was 4.2 years (IQR, 2.5-6.0 years), and the proportion of novel therapeutics affected by a postmarket safety event at 10 years was 30.8% (95% CI, 25.1%-37.5%).

 

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2625319

That's why you don't mandate a brand new treatment...

 

 

They are not pushing anyone, there's no mandate here.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

2 hours ago, impulse said:

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2625319

 

A legitimate piece of research -- which I've seen cited by anti-vaxers before -- that probably has limited relevance to the subject at hand here, which is COVID vaccines.

 

1. the study looks at approvals of novel (new type) drugs approved by the US FDA between 2001 and 2010, which is a full decade before COVID and the COVID vaccines came along.

 

2. Show me where the study and its listed drugs makes mention of any kind of vaccine product... because I find no mention of vaccines whatsoever involving the study's listed postmarket safety events.

 

3. The study itself notes that most of the clinical trials for the drugs referenced in the study involved "fewer than 1,000 patients," -- whereas the Pfizer COVID vaccine clinical trial involved more than 40,000 people, and the Moderna trial about 30,000.

 

https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-and-biontech-conclude-phase-3-study-covid-19-vaccine

 

https://www.evaluate.com/vantage/articles/news/snippets/its-official-covid-19-vaccine-trials-rank-among-largest

 

It’s official: Covid-19 vaccine trials rank among the largest

"A look at some of the largest clinical trials undertaken with experimental agents in recent years puts these endeavours into context: of phase III trials registered in clinicaltrials.gov, Covid-19 vaccine studies count for five of the 10 most expansive, in terms of enrolment. Vaccines dominate the top 10, largely because these projects require vast pivotal programmes to identify low-frequency safety issues that might occur in broader swathes of the population."

 

Edited November 1, 2023 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[Eleftheros]

7 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

https://www.evaluate.com/vantage/articles/news/snippets/its-official-covid-19-vaccine-trials-rank-among-largest

 

It’s official: Covid-19 vaccine trials rank among the largest

 

Everything fine and dandy with vaccines and vaccine trials ...

 

... says 'analytic' company whose clients "include the Top 25 global pharma companies".

Another triumph for self-exculpation.

 

 

[placeholder]

15 minutes ago, Eleftheros said:

 

Everything fine and dandy with vaccines and vaccine trials ...

 

... says 'analytic' company whose clients "include the Top 25 global pharma companies".

Another triumph for self-exculpation.

 

 

Your comment is a triumph of misunderstanding. The report simply notes how many participants there were in clinical trials predating  authorization. Unless of course you have evidence that these numbers are false. I won't hold my breath waiting for you to provide such evidence.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

The point of the above comments is NOT to claim that COVID vaccines never have side effects... They do have side effects, although by all authoritative accounts those are very rare among the some 13 billion doses administered worldwide thus far...

 

The point, as health authorities have maintained throughout, is that the far more than rare risks of COVID are much greater than the very rare risks of vaccine side effects, as illustrated below regarding the U.S. even now in 2023:

 

"health officials say about 18,000 [COVID] hospitalization and 1,200 deaths are still being reported each week."

 

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/vaccine-data-shows-rates-for-latest-covid-19-booster-is-abysmal-only-7-percent-of-u-s-adults-with-shot

 

 

 

https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#datatracker-home

 

 

And when the U.S. CDC stopped publicly reporting the data this spring with the end in the U.S. of the declared COVID emergency, the unvaccinated were still having COVID deaths at a rate three to four times higher than both boosted and primary vax only populations.

 

 

And that dynamic didn't just apply to elderly people, but also to younger people (ages 30-49) as well:

 

 

https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/united-states-rates-of-covid-19-deaths-by-vaccination-status

 

And those comparisons are just tracking COVID deaths by vax status, without even adding the burdens of COVID hospitalizations, serious illness, Long COVID, etc etc.  Which is why public health authorities continue to recommend people stay up-to-date on COVID vaccines.

 

 

Edited November 1, 2023 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

And despite the claims of some here, even children are not immune from the risks of COVID illness, even now with the current variants, in part because children tend to have among the lowest vaccination rates by age group for COVID.

 

As Covid-19 hospitalizations climb, rates among seniors and children raise concern

September 22, 2023

 

"Seniors have the highest rates of Covid hospitalizations by far, but hospitalizations among children — especially among those younger than 5 — are rising fast.

...

Nearly 1,200 children were admitted to the hospital with Covid-19 during the week ending September 9, marking a five-fold increase over the past three months. Hospitalizations among adults increased about three-fold in that same time period.

...

Children accounted for 6% of all Covid-19 hospital admissions during the week ending September 9, federal data shows."

 

https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/22/health/covid-hospitalizations-seniors-kids-vaccines/index.html

 

Edited November 1, 2023 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Over 15 million Americans got updated COVID vaccines so far

November 2, 2023

 

"WASHINGTON, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Over 15 million people in the United States, around 4.5% of the population, had received the updated COVID-19 shots by Oct. 27, a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) spokesperson said on Wednesday, lagging behind last year's vaccinations.

 

Close to 23 million people had received updated boosters as of Oct. 26 last year, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data shows. The 2022 fall vaccination campaign started around 10 days earlier than this year's.

...

The updated shots from Pfizer (PFE.N) and BioNTech (22UAy.DE), Moderna (MRNA.O) or Novavax (NVAX.O) are single-target vaccines aimed at the XBB.1.5 Omicron subvariant of the coronavirus, which was dominant in the U.S. for much of this year but has since been overtaken by other variants as the virus evolves."

 

(more)

 

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/over-15-mln-americans-got-updated-covid-vaccines-so-far-2023-11-01/

 

Edited November 5, 2023 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[owl sees all]

On 10/31/2023 at 9:30 AM, retarius said:

End this vaccine madness. Gifts to unworthy Big Pharma. 

Pay to get yourself sick.

[Red Phoenix]

8 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

The updated shots from Pfizer (PFE.N) and BioNTech (22UAy.DE), Moderna (MRNA.O) or Novavax (NVAX.O) are single-target vaccines aimed at the XBB.1.5 Omicron subvariant of the coronavirus, which was dominant in the U.S. for much of this year but has since been overtaken by other variants as the virus evolves."

 

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/over-15-mln-americans-got-updated-covid-vaccines-so-far-2023-11-01/

~

The Reuters statement is indeed correct that "the XBB.1.5 Omicron subvariant of the coronavirus, which was dominant in the U.S. for much of this year has since been overtaken by other variants as the virus evolves."

But what they do NOT mention is that end October that XBB 1.5 subvariant now only occurs in 0.6 % of cases

 

The Oct. 28 report of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) contains an overview of the reported genomic sequencing < see attached graph >.

Source: https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#variant-proportions

 

Reuters also mentions that the updated shots that are currently rolled out in the US are "single-target vaccines aimed at the XBB.1.5 Omicron subvariant of the coronavirus", which is on the way out to become extinct (currently only 0.6 %). 

 

THAILAND > When applying for the booster shot be aware that Thailand doesn't have any of the newer, monovalent boosters that have been rolled out recently in the U.S., UK and elsewhere...  

They can still provide you with the PREVIOUS covid-jab, which was a bi-valent aiming at two variants BA.4 and BA.5 as well as the original strain of the Covid-19 virus.

Needless to say that these variants are already extinct. 

 

Edited November 5, 2023 by Red Phoenix

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Regarding the relevance and expected effectiveness of the new monovalent COVID vaccines against the currently circulating HV.1 variant, as has been previously noted in another thread where you made the same kind of comments as above:

 

My response:

 

Fortunately, both of the more recent primary COVID variants are descendants of the XBB family variant that was/is the basis for the newest monovalent vaccines, so there's expected to be continuing protection.

 

"Both are descendants of the XBB variant. The updated Covid vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, which became available last month, target a different XBB descendant, called XBB.1.5.

 

But disease experts say the new shots should offer cross-protection against the currently dominant strains. Dr. Scott Roberts, an infectious disease specialist at Yale Medicine, said that although the vaccine is not a "perfect match" for HV.1, "it’s still a good match because it’s still within the same family of variant."

 

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/new-covid-variant-dominant-slow-vaccine-uptake-rcna122361

 

 

[stats]

A post making an unsourced and unsubstantiated claim contravening the forum's Community Standards has been removed.

 

"In factual areas such as news forums and current affairs topics member content that is claimed or portrayed as a fact should be supported by a link to a relevant reputable source."

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Some Covid Vaccines Are Still Hard to Find

Vaccine appointments for kids remain limited, and Novavax shots are hard to come by

 

Nov. 6, 2023

 

The recently authorized Covid vaccines promised to protect the public against an expected uptick of respiratory illness this winter. But getting shots into arms is still proving challenging.

...

The early hiccups with claims and appointments for the Pfizer and Moderna shots have largely been resolved, she said, but other obstacles remain. Doses for children, in particular, have been slow to reach doctors’ offices.

...

Some adults have also raised concerns about difficulties accessing the updated Novavax vaccine, which clinical trials suggest has fewer immediate side effects than the Pfizer or Moderna shots and may provide longer-lasting immunity against severe disease.

 

(more)

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/06/well/live/covid-vaccines-novavax.html

 

 

 

Edited November 7, 2023 by TallGuyJohninBKK