Rates of severe disease may be staying at relatively low levels, but experts agree that there are probably more infections than the current surveillance systems can capture.

“There is more transmission out there than what the surveillance data indicates,” said Janet Hamilton, executive director of the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists. “And we should be paying attention to it, because we are starting to see an increase.”

Weekly hospital admissions have nearly doubled over the past month, including a 19% bump in the most recent week, CDC data shows. And a sample of laboratories participating in a federal surveillance program show that test positivity rates have tripled in the past two months.

There are some hopeful signs: Biobot data shows that wastewater levels may be starting to flatten, and relatively low hospitalization rates suggest that there may be a lower risk of severe disease for many.

  • Freeman@lemmy.pub
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    5
    arrow-down
    13
    ·
    1 year ago

    Just keep reading its further down.

    The immunity generated from an infection was found to be “at least as high, if not higher” than that provided by two doses of an mRNA vaccine, the authors wrote.

    While Murray and Wachter agreed that vaccination remains the safest route, having a past Covid infection should at least be considered in policymaking decisions going forward, such as vaccination requirements, they said.

    Its also important to note that paper was just after the “Omicron” variant, so relatively new in the timeline of what we knew.

    Then you claimed “the CDC advisory board is showing concerns that too frequent “boosting” may actually be training your immune system to ignore the disease and could have adverse affects.”

    These are concerns that have been voiced. Both in the EU and the US.

    Marco Cavaleri, European Medicines Agency’s head of vaccines strategy, expressed similar concerns over doling out additional vaccine doses every few months—an approach he said is “reactive.”

    “While use of additional boosters can be part of contingency plans, repeated vaccinations within short intervals would not represent a sustainable long-term strategy,” Cavaleri told a media briefing in January. “We should be careful in not overloading the immune system with repeated immunization.”

    https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/events/ema-regular-press-briefing-covid-19-11#event-summary-section

    The point being, and maybe it was a bit more poorly structured initial, is that there isnt a giant consensus here in the medical community, by a long shot. Even if those expressing any doubt are shouted down because voicing doubt is now “misinformation”. The central point here is that repeated vaccination for an otherwise healthy individual is not a sustainable plan. COVID is here to stay, learning to live with it and structure your interactions around it isnt misinformation. I didnt say vaccines arent effective, especially for those with co-morbidities. I didnt say vaccines shouldnt be an option. I said its a personal decision and not something that should be some political dog whistle or joined to some sense of superiority over those that dont feel they need them. If you have some immunity because you have been recently infected, thats as good as a booster. Its lasts as long. That doesnt mean you are a bad person, or irresponsible or inferior to others. Same with if you wear a mask all the time.