The Biden administration plans to urge all Americans to get a booster shot for the coronavirus this autumn to counter a new wave of infections, a White House official said on Sunday.

The official said that while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are reporting an increase in infections and hospital admissions from the virus, overall levels remain low.

On Thursday, Moderna (MRNA.O) said initial data showed its updated COVID-19 vaccine is effective against the “Eris” and “Fornax” subvariants in humans.

Moderna and other COVID-19 vaccine makers Novavax (NVAX.O), Pfizer (PFE.N) and German partner BioNTech SE (22UAy.DE) have created versions of their shots aimed at the XBB.1.5 subvariant.

Pending approval from health regulators in the United States and Europe, the companies expect the updated shots to be available in the coming weeks for the autumn vaccination season.

We will be encouraging all Americans to get those boosters in addition to flu shots and RSV shots,” the official said, referring to the Respiratory Syncytial Virus.

  • edric@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    I wonder if the new boosters will be given out for “free” (in quotes because it’s taxpayers money blah blah, for the pedantic people)? I definitely want a booster since it’s been more than a year(?) since the last one, and it would be great if they gave it out without additional charge.

    • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I had a whole thing with my pharmacy about this. They kept on asking for insurance and social security numbers. Me repeatedly pointing out that the vaccine is free and open to everyone living in the US regardless of status.

      I swear they can’t help themselves. They are so used to these fucking games.

  • Hazdaz@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Something tells me that this is going to be a hard sell.

    I think most people are out of pandemic-mode already even if the pandemic isn’t done with us. And while it should be easier to sell the idea of getting a booster to people since there weren’t piles of dead bodies from the vaccines like the anti-vaxx people predicted, but that kind of logic doesn’t work on folks. The anti-vaxx people were proven wrong, and yet somehow those people are going to claim they were correct and be even more adamant about not getting the vaccines this time.

    • Rolder@reddthat.com
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      1 year ago

      It’s a slightly harder sell because the vaccine didn’t kill me nor did I expect it to, but it definitely did knock me on my ass with some flu like side effects for a day or two.

      • aircooledJenkins@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I got the flu and covid shots last time. Knocked me on my ass for the weekend. BUT when I caught covid a few months later, it was an annoying cold. I’ll take a weekend on the couch over a week or more of shittiness any time.

        • Rolder@reddthat.com
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          1 year ago

          I have the ultimate defense against Covid: Being a loser who never leaves home unless I have to

        • 0XiDE@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Guess I was lucky - no shots and covid was still like an annoying cold.

          • Coreidan@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            For sure. Everyone’s immune system is different.

            Some people can get the flu and only be out a day or two. Some people get it and it kills them.

            It also depends on which strain you came in contact with. The virus in the beginning was a lot more violent then what it is now. Mutations have weakened the virus over time.

      • Cryst@lemmy.ca
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        1 year ago

        Did you get covid? Because even with all my vaccines and boosters I felt like absolute shit for 4 to 5 days and was out of work for a week. When I returned I still certainly wasn’t 100% until the 2 week mark. I can’t imagine what it would have been like without a vaccine. A day or two of feeling crappy ill take. Thank you very much.

        • SeaJ@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          You probably would have been very hard hit with COVID. The vaccines kind of knocked me out of commission for a day. I got COVID in February and I was out for a week with some lingering effects for another week. I quarantined and did not give it to the rest of my family though.

    • Fades@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I tried to get another booster for this year and my doctor said I can’t because I’ve already had the boosters. I was like yeah last fucking year but he told me to fuck off.

      So until this shit gets down to the docs and pharmacies, you may not have much success unless you are older or immunocompromised

          • kent_eh@lemmy.ca
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            1 year ago

            Welcome to an endemic disease.

            Like influenza, well have to keep getting tailored vaccines each year as the disease continues to mutate and circulate.

        • kent_eh@lemmy.ca
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          1 year ago

          It will be better than not getting one, but the newest version of the vaccine will be more tailored towards some of the newer strains that are out there. (In addition to the older strains that still exist)

      • DragonTypeWyvern@literature.cafe
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        1 year ago

        They should already know. Flu vaccines get updated every year, and we’ve known COVID immunity falls off fairly rapidly regardless. People were going only 3-6 months between infections in the initial outbreak. I don’t know what the longevity of the COVID vaccines are but it doesn’t seem great, even ignoring that you need updates for new mutations.

        Now, maybe his supply of vaccine doesn’t protect against the latest strains, but if that was the case I’d expect him to have mentioned that, because it isn’t the overall supply either since some places are throwing them away.

        There’s always the chance your doctor is just an idiot.

        After all, do you know what you call the bottom 10% of a medical school graduating class?

      • SeaJ@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        Your doctor sounds like a fucking moron.

        However, at this point wait until the new one next month.

        • Ullallulloo@civilloquy.com
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          1 year ago

          There is a real concern that getting too many boosters too frequently may be able to cause immune system “fatigue”, essentially causing it to do the opposite and train your immune system to ignore COVID-19 because it starts to think it’s just always supposed to be there. A vaccine once a year shouldn’t be able to cause it, but we’re getting into new waters with fighting COVID.

          • SeaJ@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            They said it has been over a year. I am sure they would have been fine.

  • RagnarokOnline@reddthat.com
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    1 year ago

    I feel like I’m only just recently hearing about “RSV” (Like within the last 9 months).

    Is that a new thing or do I just live under a rock?

    • Saneless@sh.itjust.works
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      Babies always got it. But this is the first time I’ve really seen it be a concern for adults

      I got it in December and holllly shit. Covid would have been better, supposedly. My parents got covid and they weren’t out of it very long but this thing kicked the shit out of them for 2 weeks

      I got it a couple weeks later and I’ve never been so wiped the hell out for 10 straight days. And a couple more weeks to recover

      After seeing how people fared with covid and seeing what I went through with RSV, I’ll take as many RSV vaccines as I’m allowed to take for the rest of my life

      • MagicShel@programming.dev
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        1 year ago

        It was explained to me that RSV is a concern for adults more because they transmit it to young children who are at much greater risk from it. Most adults who get it don’t even know it from another routine illness (sounds like your parents were an exception). I’m not a doctor, this is just how it was explained to me.

    • SuzyQ@sh.itjust.works
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      I didn’t know it was a thing until my second child got it in 2012. He had recently turned 1, so it wasn’t as bad as it could have been (baby danger is for those 1 and younger). It took a while, but it cleared up. He was put on an emergency inhaler to help with the symptoms. I’m convinced that the RSV infection plus the fact that he was a small child (25th percentile for height and weight, but otherwise healthy) contributed to him developing asthma. His asthma doctor told me that is a very real possibility (there’s no way to know for certain). He’s gotten better as he’s gotten older, but I’m forever on edge with new respiratory infections.

    • dhork@lemmy.world
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      It’s not a new thing, but I think the shots were mainly given to kids in the past. But the symptoms can mimic Covid, so I think they have started advising more adults to get the shots.

      RSV isn’t a new thing, but the vaccine apparently is. See the reply. Below

      • Riccosuave@lemmy.world
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        This is completely wrong. The RSV vaccine was not approved until May of 2023. The push to release this vaccine, and for older adults to receive it is tangentially related to COVID in multiple ways.

        First, the COVID lockdowns caused a massive resurgent wave of RSV infections in both young children and older adults due to the fact that it is a childhood illness with some degree of lifelong immunity that wanes as the virus mutates over time as well as from the degradation of your immune system as you age. When that infection chain in younger children was broken it had consequences on the intensity and mutation of the virus that were not necessarily unprecedented, but perhaps unexpected. This is what lead to a large number of very serious infections in younger children, and then older people in a very short amount of time. I’m not a scientist, but you can look up the statistics for yourself if you’re interested.

        Secondarily, the research into COVID vaccines as well as this rise in rebound cases of RSV spurred on the push to study, test, and release these RSV vaccines for adults over the age of 60 who were most at risk. These vaccines have not been approved for children, or anyone under the age of 60 in any country in the world thus far. Again, I am not a scientist, and I do not understand the complexities that lead to so many failures in producing an effective vaccine for RSV when it has been attempted since at least the 1960’s. However, I do know that multiple RSV vaccines that went through human trials in children caused deaths from severe immune responses when patients experienced natural infection. So it is unlikely any vaccine will be created that is either capable or intended to provide prophylactic protection from native infection in children. The current vaccines are intended to strengthen the already existing immune response in adults only, and those are two somewhat different things.

        Edit:

        • Here is the citation from the Lancet regarding deaths from serious immune responses during human trials of a previous vaccine that was attempted during the 1960’s.

        https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanmic/article/PIIS2666-5247(23)00195-7/fulltext#:~:text=On May 3%2C 2023%2C the,Union on June 7%2C 2023

        • Additional information from the New York Times regarding the Monoclonal Antibody drug that was released for use in infants as a form of passive immunity to fight pre-existing infections. This is fundamentally different from a vaccine, and has an entirely different action mechanism.

        https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/17/health/rsv-infants-fda.html

        • An in depth explanation of the difference between active immunity provided by vaccines, versus passive immunity to pre-existing infection provided my monoclonal antibodies.

        https://www.astrazeneca.com/what-science-can-do/topics/covid-19/covid-19-difference-between-antibodies-and-vaccines.html#:~:text=Vaccines are a type of active immunity.&text=They require a healthy immune,to produce infection-fighting cells.&text=Monoclonal antibodies are a type of passive immunity.

            • Sassy@lemm.ee
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              1 year ago

              You absolutely did say that the trials killed infants. You only suddenly started mentioning a trial from sixty fucking years ago because I called you out. How does an ancient trial have any bearing on today’s vaccines? Why bother? Why did you say specifically that vaccines were only approved for seniors when they have been approved for babies? What is your motive for spreading confusion?

  • curiousaur@reddthat.com
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    1 year ago

    The last few boosters I got made me sicker than the last few COVID cases I got. Fever aches and fatigue for about 2 days.

    • evatronic@lemm.ee
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      When we failed to take the initial spread seriously and let the thing turn endemic, yes. Yes it will. Much like the flu.

    • Dudewitbow@lemmy.ml
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      Likely, but keep in mind, generally overtime, viruses become less* lethal as its the non lethal ones that survive to spread(as lethal ones kill host, and killing the host is detrimental for the spread of a virus)

      Dudewitbow

      • Coreidan@lemmy.world
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        Not really. Most viruses get weaker as they mutate. It only makes it easier for the virus to survive and thrive if it is less destructive to its host.

        If viruses got more violent we’d all had died from the common cold a long time ago.

      • AlexWIWA@lemmy.ml
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        True it just sucks that it’s yet another thing I have to worry about just to live and perform my job correctly. I hate getting sick regardless of lethality.

  • Zak@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Great, but why can’t I get it now? These have been basically ready for a while.

    • Smokeydabear94@lemmy.world
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      My understanding is that this is a different “mutation” of the omicron variant, and the new booster is with the updated target but I heard it’s not out until autumn, I think it’s Moderna? Is developing the one I’m thinking of

  • Bonesince1997@lemmy.ml
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    What a joke, coming from someone who could use the company. Where you been the last two years?! Unless you have a specific issue, everyone has moved on. Even the Biden administration deemed the pandemic over. So what, it wasn’t? No one is going to listen to you, expect me, but that’s just because I never stopped with my pandemic protocols, though I have amended them.

    • Scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech
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      I mean… No? It’s never over over, it’s just we reached herd immunity. These are just shot updates, just like our annual flu shot. The pandemic is over, but that doesn’t mean COVID was eradicated

  • Efwis@lemmy.zip
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    With the uptick of infections in the UK and other areas, I knew this recommendation was coming. And since it’s not “free” anymore big pharma is going to take in the money on this cash cow.

    I can’t take the vaccine, unless I wanna die, so please don’t think I’m an anti-vaxxer.

    TBF I’ve had Covid twice, it wasn’t fun, but it only lasted in me for like 3-4 days. I’m one of the lucky ones that didn’t end up in the hospital. Doctor told me to take vitamin c and zinc which I think helped reduce the infection time.

    • Vlyn@lemmy.zip
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      What’s the actual reason you can’t get the mRNA vaccine? Are you allergic to a certain chemical in them?

      • Efwis@lemmy.zip
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        The risk for heart attack due to one of the chemicals in them. I have had 2 heart attacks in 2021, one I actually died on the table for 2 minutes, twice. my cardiologist said if I took the mRNA vaccine it would kill me. So here I am. I have no problem with people taking the vaccine or not, their body their choice. But, IMHO, if they really put the time into it, they could program the vaccines to literally kill the virus instead of just making the symptoms lighter. WE have the tech, the problem is big pharma knows if they actually did the right thing they would lose money.

        Ain’t capitalism great? Don’t make a cure, just make a band-aide so you can make more money.

        • Bo7a@lemmy.ca
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          No offence intended. But if a chemical could kill me in a microscopic dose I’d probably want to share the name of said chemical. Which chemical will kill you? And how much of it is in a typical vaccination?

          Or are you just taking us for a story-telling ride?

          • Efwis@lemmy.zip
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            No story, honestly I don’t remember the name of it, I’ve had so much going on in the last couple years I’m lucky to remember it my birthday today.

            I don’t think it’s one in the typical vaccinations since I can take the flu shot with no problems as well as my pneumonia shot very 5 years.

            One thing I don’t do is tell fables, I’m not the Bible after all.

              • Efwis@lemmy.zip
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                Fuck you. I’m not fear mongering. I made my comment if you don’t want to believe it that is your choice. I’m not going to hold anyone hand when telling the truth never have never will. For example the Bible is a bunch of fairy tales and trump is a traitorous son of a bitch.

                Good day.

            • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
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              Listen so I believe that you believe you heard something, and I fully get your paranoia. It can’t be fun going thru what you went thru. Would you be against the idea of your cardiologist putting their recommendation in writing? Explicitly saying “if you get the vaccine you will die from it because of such and such chemical”. It really shouldn’t take that long and let’s say somehow someway your doc misspoke or you misheard it, even if it is a 1 in a billion chance, wouldn’t it be better to be sure?

              No, I don’t expect you to share this with me or anyone else. Just have it for your own good.

              • Efwis@lemmy.zip
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                I agree with you but after my second heart attack, he passed away from one. How’s that for irony?

                Anyway I’m not really worried about it. The doctors don’t ask about them anymore anyway.

        • Vlyn@lemmy.zip
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          That’s not how vaccines work. You don’t “program” them. For example the Covid mRNA vaccine is only in your body for literally days (at most). At max a week later it’s fully gone, no more trace of the actual vaccine.

          It just tricks your own cells into creating harmless proteins that look similar to the actual virus, so your anti-bodies learn how to attach to them and eliminate them. They learn, they reproduce and remember. When the actual virus gets into your body your body just goes “Ah, I know that stuff already, I know what to do.” instead of not even realizing there’s a virus at first and then frantically trying to find a solution to the intruder (which is based on random chance pretty much, if your body is too slow the virus has too much time to spread, either fucking you up or even killing you if your immune system isn’t up to speed).

          This video is really cool in regards to that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmpuerlbJu0

          • Efwis@lemmy.zip
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            i was using the term program for lack of a better way to put it. I will watch the video though, I’m always interested in learning new things

        • artvandelay@lemm.ee
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          This is the power of propoganda. You can tell someone you literally died and they’ll still tell you do it again. I’m sorry you had to go thru that and hope you never have to again.

          • Efwis@lemmy.zip
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            Trust me, I’m doing everything possible to not have another one. I may not be in perfect health, but heart attacks are one of the scariest things I’ve ever dealt with. Sometimes you gotta hate the human body for the hell it puts you through.