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Alwayssunnyinarizona t1_jditzmk wrote

Reply to comment by porkypuha in What happened to the old COVID variants, like Delta? Could they come back? by number1dork

The most common strain in the US currently, omicron xbb 1.5, transmits better than previous strains - the virus would die out if it didn't. There's the pressure exerted by herd immunity, but if the viruses didn't transmit more efficiently, they'd die out.

I also lead a life that should make it really easy to get infected, but the vaccines continue to work. There's a high chance you've been exposed and the infection was so mild you didn't even notice - either because you were vaccinated or immunologically lucky.

I'm also a bit surprised, as when something has been in the news - RSV or norovirus, for example, we've already had it a week prior (kids in daycare/school), so we're certainly at high risk of exposure for something like covid. All I can say is that the vaccines seem to be working.

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Matrix17 t1_jdj5svb wrote

What's the current guidance on how often you should get boosted?

Girlfriend and I did in the fall, then at Christmas we both got sick but only she tested positive. So I dont know if I should be waiting a certain time after that

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Alwayssunnyinarizona t1_jdjaqo7 wrote

There's no real specific guidance, but it's starting to turn into more flu-like guidance - vaccines recommended every year around the same time you'd be getting an annual flu vaccine, regardless of whether you were infected in the last 6-12 months or not. Expect there to be additional combo vaccines this fall (flu/covid), and that may persist for years until/unless covid starts to fall below background common cold status.

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Matrix17 t1_jdjfkq1 wrote

Yeah I hope it becomes a combo vaccine. Since the uptake now is low, it might boost the numbers a bit. But the same people who won't take a covid vaccine are probably the same that won't take a flu vaccine. And it's not like flu vaccine numbers are high to begin with

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SwimmingWonderful755 t1_jdjqc1q wrote

(New Zealand) I was recently part of a medical trial relating to getting a covid vaccine at the same time as, or 6 weeks after a flu jab. Pfizer funded, double blind, decent sized pool, one of many countries participating, tra la. Results aren’t available publicly yet, but work is being done on the viability of piggybacking them, at the very least.

Anecdotally, I had covid and flu jabs at the same time (soreness at the site etc (and later confirmed when unblinded) and placebo at 6 weeks, no reaction more than swelling at the injection site. Chatting with others in the waiting room, sounded like it was similar in our cohort, at least.

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MidnightAdventurer t1_jdkcgs1 wrote

The latest booking system on the NZ MOH website gives you the option to have both at the same time.

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SaltConfiscation t1_jdkbsti wrote

So it would behoove one to wait until the fall at this point? I was meaning to get boosted last fall but wound up missing it, but I'm unsure what to do. Official guidance always says to get it of course, but is that really worth it?

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Alwayssunnyinarizona t1_jdkebp9 wrote

That'd probably fall under the category of giving medical advice. There may be an updated vaccine in the fall, I'm not really sure how that will play out.

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drunkenknight9 t1_jdje7kd wrote

It's not about the number of cases out there but rather the severity. If everyone is getting covid but no one is getting sick enough to die or need intensive care, there won't be a need anymore for a vaccine. The natural life cycle of any virus is for it to become more infectious and less dangerous to the hosts since that's the best way for the virus to survive. The multitude of viruses that cause the common cold have already undergone that evolution. Influenza is a very unique case because of the structure of the virus that allows recombination among and between strains from different species means novel flu strains can happen any time without much warning and our immunity can be very variable. There are other outliers like HIV but most viruses that have ever infected humans have become relatively inert. A great example of the most extreme form of becoming inert is JC virus which is entirely asymptomatic and inconsequential unless someone is prescribed certain immunosuppressive medications. If you do get put on one of those medications you have to be tested for it otherwise it can reactivate and cause progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy which is almost universally fatal.

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Matrix17 t1_jdjfvml wrote

The only issue with that approach is long covid is still a thing even in mild cases, and we still don't know enough about how it's caused or the best way to treat it

You can end up with similar issues with any respiratory virus, but covid is unique in that it happens more frequently, is more severe, and covid itself spreads more than the cold, flu, or other common respiratory viruses

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Alwayssunnyinarizona t1_jdjnje1 wrote

>The natural life cycle of any virus is for it to become more infectious and less dangerous to the hosts since that's the best way for the virus to survive.

That's not really true.

>As evidence mounts that the omicron variant is less deadly than prior COVID-19 strains, one oft-cited explanation is that viruses always evolve to become less virulent over time.
>
>The problem, experts say, is that this theory has been soundly debunked.

​

And in my comment, I did not distinguish case numbers vs. case severity. I said "until/unless covid starts to fall below background common cold status." I'm sorry that you read it that way.

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sciguy52 t1_jdk5p46 wrote

> The natural life cycle of any virus is for it to become more infectious and less dangerous to the hosts since that's the best way for the virus to survive.

This is a myth that gets repeated too often. Viruses sometimes become less deadly, sometimes more deadly. And many remained as lethal as always.

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Corvus-Nox t1_jdjpav6 wrote

In Canada, I believe the guideline is 6 months between boosters or after an infection.

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MaybeTheDoctor t1_jdjm4vv wrote

This is probably not a question you should ask strangers on the internet. But my belief is that I have gotten my last booster, and same is true for most people, unless they have some other medical reasons, and unless something else changes this is now just over.

We are down to a rate of 10 cases per 100000 people, so it will just slowly die out from here on, or worst case just linger on forever as a mild illness you can risk to get together with a million other mild illnesses we never cared to do much about.

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Matrix17 t1_jdk669w wrote

The numbers aren't representative though because very few are testing now and being logged

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