Which is why you can get it again, and why vaccines may not work very well.

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/...z0dKkItPZ07CJLXI7-Y4

So I guess it is more like flu than chicken pox.

So they're going to want to vaccinate people multiple times a year.

Hard pass.

This is all very distressing.

quote:

Specifically, the study's authors found that people with COVID-19 who never develop symptoms may see their antibodies fade more quickly than those who tested positive for the virus and also came down with its tell-tale symptoms.

This is an interesting detail....

Ok, I read the article. Of course, the authors mischaracterize the research.

If you test positive but are asymptomatic, you have much less immunity than someone who had symptoms.

Well, that makes perfect sense.

It is also possible that the asymptomatic person will remain so even with repeated exposure. So for whatever reason, that person has a natural immunity.

It would be nice to know if there are other viral diseases where this is observed.

I'd get vaccinated every two months, if I felt that it made it appreciably safer for me to move around in the world.

I wouldn’t. We don’t know the effects on the immune system of that level of vaccination.

Is there any disease where we vaccinate six times a year, year after year? That is truly uncharted territory.

Relying on a vaccine that loses effectiveness So fast might give folks a false sense of security. You think people are resisting masks and distancing now, watch what happens when a poor vaccine is available. I would be shocked if FDA and CDC would even approve it.

If they can’t figure out a reasonably safe and effective vaccine, then someone had better think of a way more comfortable mask. Cause we’re going to be wearing them a lot.

In sum, after all considerations, our solution is to hunker down and stay out of harm's way. We are very lucky to have the ability to do this, I am well aware!

quote:

a way more comfortable mask. Cause we’re going to be wearing them a lot.

This is definitely my view -- masks are going to become part of our everyday life very quickly.

I have not found a cloth mask that I can put up with yet. Either I can't seem to prevent my glasses from fogging up, or I find them too tight and it feels hard to breath, or they make me so hot I think I'm going to die (being a woman of a certain age...)

Anyway, I found that it's much more comfortable with a disposable surgical mask with a metal wire at the top. The wire keeps my glasses from fogging, and the material somehow is nowhere near as hot and doesn't stick to my face if I myself get overheated. So I bought several boxes of those surgical masks because I know they work for me (and I want to have extras on hand when I start passing them out to students, see the other thread about that).

But, whenever I mention that I'm more comfortable with the surgical masks, people keep offering to make me a cloth one. So, I'm getting one from a neighbor. I'm grateful for that and we'll see, maybe it will work better. But basically, I'm starting to wish maybe people would leave me alone. I have a mask that works for me, and I'm wearing it. That should be enough.

I think we would have more mask compliance if people were trying these different kinds of masks and were encouraged to find one that is comfortable for them.

There's a Japanese company known for making hi-tech fabrics designed for staying cool. They started selling a special kind of summer mask using their special fabric and of course the masks sold out immediately. I'm curious about them, maybe eventually they'll be available in the US.

Oh, man.

The judge in the Baltimore case required counsel to attend a conference in person, for 3.5 hours. We all had to wear masks.

It was miserable. At home, I tried every kind of mask we have. My homemade one that I sewed was hot and fogged my glasses. A bandana had to be re-tied and doesn't allow for adjustments. I have one that is a strip of black t-shirt fabric that hooks behind the ears, but it pushes against my nose, so it is good for a quick run into a store but not for hours on end.

So I wore a disposable surgical mask, which I had to tug at and adjust constantly. And when I was speaking, I felt like I was gasping for air. And since I couldn't see the judge's mouth, it was much harder than usual to figure out his reactions and adjust what I was saying.

I am also not crazy about the latest form of litter around here: surgical masks lying on the ground. I'd like to find something that isn't disposable.

The person who solves these problems is going to get rich.

I have found that you can re use them SK and they can be rinsed as needed.

Cindy, I found the higher I wear them on my nose, the less my glasses fog up. Also - a little piece of folded up Kleenex over the nose to fill in the gaps helps the air not go up that way and fog up your glasses. Also - depending on the fabric of the mask, some are easier to talk througho than others. The heavier Double fabric ones I made first are not as good as the ones that are double fabric out of Steve’s thinner dress shirts.

First Steve's t-shirts, and now his dress shirts.

Does he have anything left to wear?

quote:

Originally posted by piqué:
In sum, after all considerations, our solution is to hunker down and stay out of harm's way. We are very lucky to have the ability to do this, I am well aware!

This is our strategy as well.

Lucky for us we've always been homebodies. We don't have the same sense of loss/seclusion that other people are experiencing.

quote:

Originally posted by Mary Anna:
I'd get vaccinated every two months, if I felt that it made it appreciably safer for me to move around in the world.

+1

We'll schedule the shots together.

quote:

I have found that you can re use them SK and they can be rinsed as needed.

LL, do you mean the surgical ones? And they don't fall apart? Thus far, I have been reusing them just by putting them aside for a week, but these are ones I've only worn to the store or something, so for a shorter time.

The surgical one I had one for several hours, I wasn't talking that much, but it was pretty manageable. But frankly, I don't know that I'd want to reuse a surgical mask after I had it all day teaching, washable or not.

And reading about Cindy's experience, I am sure it's going to be unpleasant times.

I think trying to teach with the mask on is going to be a nightmare. Really. But I will do it, because getting covid would be a bigger nightmare.

I hate this.