I just got back from my 6th COVID vaccination.
It's all for the best, since my last one was a year ago, but that's not why I got it. I got it because it turns out the CAR-T procedure wiped out all my existing immunities. I only found this out a couple of weeks ago, which means I've been wandering around for the past couple of months with no COVID immunity.
Anyway, I now have a year's worth of vaccinations to get, everything from flu to polio to Tdap—although, oddly, not MMR. I wonder why I don't need that one?
Holy mackerel, Kevin. Can I just say, I'm really, really glad you found out this way and .... not some other! Glad you're getting your shots, and looking forward to both agreeing with and disagreeing with your posts over the many coming years!
That goes for me, too! But you don't exactly sound "antiscience."
Now we can hope to see Kevin's numbers continue to descend...
You'll be missing smallpox too.
That's true, but I'm older than Kevin and have never had that one, at least not as far as I know.
That would be because as near as I can tell, smallpox wasn't prevalent enough in the US by the 1950s that either vaccination or variolation was being routinely recommended, at least not in my area. Vaccination was still being done for foreign travel, but by the mid-1970s the global eradication program was far enough along that I was told you really shouldn't bother unless you were going someplace where the disease was still active. I think the vaccine is effective after exposure, which would have made getting it beforehand less urgent. But the CDC also says protection tails off after about 5 years anyway since it's not variola but a close relative.
When I was younger I used to see plenty of people with the coin-sized variolation scars on their upper arms, but they were mainly either more than a generation older or immigrants, since a lot of European countries were still doing it into the 1960s (I don't know whether they used actual variola for that or the related virus but if the real thing, then protection I think would be lifetime).
I was born in 1956 and my wife in 1960. We were both vaccinated for smallpox. I remember when it was done to me. It had to be in 1960 or later.
Into 1964 at least. It might vary by region and timing of vaccines in a given area.
I was born in 1957 in the Netherlands and was vaccinated for smallpox. Weirdly, the scars are on my foot-two of them because apparently the first one didn't take. According to my mother, Dutch doctors at that time were concerned about unsightly scars on girls' arms, so they vaccinated our feet instead.
In the United States, routine smallpox vaccinations stopped in 1972. I got one in elementary school in the mid 60's. In the Horn of Africa, it persisted until 1977. The last variola minor infection was in Somalia in 1977 and the last variola major infection, the more deadly strain, was in Bangladesh in 1975.
I got the latest Pfizer bivalent jab three weeks ago at the Walgreens in Menlo Park, CA. They didn't charge me. It was unaware Covid jabs are still (in some places?) free, and had been expecting to pay cash. But it was a nice "welcome home" gesture.
It's a matter of when the federal gov'ts stock runs out. (Or the Biden administration, or the new budget allocates additional money towards new purchases.)
In a perfect situation, you'd be able to wait until the universal COVID vaccine was available, that way your antigenic imprint would be good for every COVID variant.
Wow Kevin, that was a shock and a half. Go for them, slow and steady.
The latest / newest Covid vaccine is not out yet, is it?
Be well, Kevin!
Dunno. Maybe you already have autism. Best to consult with RFK, Jr.