My son just came down with a mild case of COVID (JUST in time to recover, so as to come as planned for Passover with his brother. It will be nice to celebrate the holiday off ZOOM for a change!).

His Facebook update about his positive test, also spoke of getting something called Paxlovid. His smart cousin replied she too had COVID and was getting it too.

I never heard of it, but it seems to be a real help. Have you all heard of it?

Paxlovid

I hadn't heard of it either.

Glad your son has access to it!

Yes it’s the new Pfizer antiviral. Pretty much the standard of care now.

There are a bunch of articles on Paxlovid in the COVID Odds and Ends thread, starting around the beginning of November 2021.

I think when threads go on and on over many pages, it deflects from the purpose (keeping on topic).

Perhaps that's why various members missed early notices about Pavlovid and notification about a second booster's only affording limited protection. We lose our "train of thought".

That's why I posted separately about the Israeli study showing second boosters only afford limited protection. Also about Pavlovix.

I admit there's an art (which I haven't mastered!) to wording news items so people read them, and better still, are moved to respond!

I mentioned the Odds and Ends thread because I thought there might be something useful there for those who missed the Paxlovid items when they were originally posted. (Or forgot about them like I do all the time... ) .

That style of thread is really a digest/aggregator with news bits about a single topic like COVID. Its intent is to disseminate information rather than to promote deep dive discussion on individual items. And probably only useful if checked on a regular basis. The option to create a separate thread on a particular topic, as you did, is always there for anyone who wishes to.

I also thought it provided one stop shopping for information on COVID rather than multiple threads that clutter up the main page. For someone not interested in COVID, they can just skip the thread entirely if they want.

And speaking of sticking to the topic...

I've been surprised by how many people (both here and IRL) *don't* seem to know about Paxlovid. Could be that we're beginning to get COVID-deaf and/or learning to live with the virus. I thought it was pretty important; it's one of the factors I'm considering when it comes to decisions about boosters.

And as long as we're on the topic of antivirals, here's a comparison of the two currently available, Paxlovid from Pfizer and molnupiravir from Merck.

https://www.statnews.com/2021/...om-merck-and-pfizer/

“Could be that we're beginning to get COVID-deaf and/or learning to live with the virus.”

That’s true for me. I’ve decided to get whatever boosters the CDC recommends and move on.

I wish I had your confidence. Mine in agencies like the CDC/FDA/WHO has changed, and even diminished, during this pandemic.

My confidence in the scientists is still strong, while recognizing that they do not always speak with one voice. That's OK; it's how science works.

I'm struggling with what to do next.

Luckily, my decision does not need to be made until Mary Anna gets boosted, and that booster becomes effective.

However, I am thinking that I may need to reevaluate the relative risks and benefits of various precautions. All contingent on what Mary Anna thinks, of course.

I'm just glad we're getting to treatments we can mostly agree on.

While messaging from the CDC has been suspect, so was the information they were able to glean, and it changed rapidly and often. It's much like the Rumsfeld line “You go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time.”.

quote:

Originally posted by Mikhailoh:
I'm just glad we're getting to treatments we can mostly agree on.

While messaging from the CDC has been suspect, so was the information they were able to glean, and it changed rapidly and often.

The CDC has been the target of a relentlessly negative media campaign for several years now.

I think the CDC has done a decent job and I’m not buying any of it.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:
“Could be that we're beginning to get COVID-deaf and/or learning to live with the virus.”

That’s true for me. I’ve decided to get whatever boosters the CDC recommends and move on.

Yes, this is me. Though I only just got my booster, before going to my mom’s. My antibodies were really high in the fall when the boosters became available for us, so I decided not to get the shot. They are really high again now. My current plan is to get them checked in 6 months and get the second booster then if I need to.

It’s weird living here in Montana, where most everyone has gone back to pre Covid behavior. You see almost no one masked in the grocery stores. It was a bit of a shock to travel to Seattle, where the mask mandate was recently dropped, but if you go into the store, you feel weird NOT wearing one because everyone else still is. There was a guy I would see on my morning walks (outside) still wearing a mask while running, and he would cross the street when he saw me.

We are slowly trying to socialize a little bit more, but I have confirmed that everyone is vaxxed and boosted first. Oh, and by socialize, I mean invite people to come to our house. We're not about to go into a restaurant or cafe yet. For one thing, the wastewater numbers here remain high. A few weeks ago, we had one friend over. And then yesterday we had three friends over (one was the same from the previous visit).

I still wear a mask inside any campus building and while teaching. And we still wear masks in grocery stores.

And although my uni recently dropped its testing requirement, I will continue getting tested weekly until the semester ends.

Paxlovid or something like it will only factor into my decision making when I'm sure that we would be able to get it if we needed it. Right now, I'm not sure that's true. As it happens, I have a dr's visit coming up (to consider new migraine meds, fingers crossed!!) and I'll ask about it then.

We've been invited to a music party and are trying to decide whether to attend or not. It's on April 23, so the semester won't be over yet... The host is asking all invitees to only attend if they're fully faxxed and boosted....

I would love to attend, and play! But we attended their parties regularly up until covid, and they are always crowded, and involved people yelling at each other chatting with each other in cramped spaces, and lots of food and drink. In that environment, masks would be awkward at best, so it seems that if we plan to go, we should assume we'll be there maskless and that has to feel ok or we won't go.

I'm really torn over whether to go or not. We need to decide soon of course....

Story about new federal website:

https://www.npr.org/2022/03/30...-tests-and-treatment

And Test-to-Treat, the program to get people antivirals if they do catch COVID. Enter your location and it tells you where to go for tests and meds.

https://covid-19-test-to-treat...dhhs.hub.arcgis.com/

I’ve bookmarked that website.

Thanks!