dmack
Shiny_Rock
- Joined
- Aug 8, 2019
- Messages
- 268
That is reassuring to hear they think it’s okay..I hope my health department doesn’t cut it to too close and I wind up getting it past 42 days..I would be inconsolable..haha
I thought there were recent treatments for Covid that worked. That’s definitely scary..
If it’s ok for me to chime in, I’m happy to give my take. I’m a full-time public health researcher. Vaccines aren’t my specialty, but I’m fluent in the study designs and statistical techniques used to determine efficacy.
I would not worry about delaying the Moderna dose a few weeks after the 28 day period. Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have high efficacy after even one dose. Everyone where I am is being told it’s best to get two doses but not to worry if you have to delay the second dose.
So, we know that in the short term, even after one dose, you are very protected against symptomatic and sever COVID. After two shots, you’re even more protected. What we don’t know is how long that protection lasts. Is it possible that people who only get one dose lose immunity more quickly than people who get two doses? Maybe - we don’t have long enough follow up data to tell us one way or the other.
What I do know is that there is enough promise of one-dose efficacy that people are starting to mode out the “what ifs” of alternate dosing schedules. If vaccine supply remains scarce, our governments may determine that it’s better for all of us to be somewhat protected than a small portion of us to be fully protected and the rest not at all protected. Lots of who-knows here, but it’s al moving in the right direction. And there are more vaccines in the pipeline, so I anticipate scarcity is going to continue to decrease.
Re: treatments, yeah, we don’t really have anything new. The tools in the toolbox are the same ones we’ve had for years, we’ve just learned a lot over the past year about which tools work best when. In the hospitals I work with, the mortality rate has improved because they’re now smarter about treatment, which is great - but it’s still scary high.