You know for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, you're supposed to get the same shot twice, not one of each right?

I know I'm persona non grata here, but I'm not here to argue. Just wanted to add I've heard that in some nations they mix and match, presumably due to lack of availability, I believe.

They've been mixing the two a lot here recently, as Moderna has become more widely available. The two are supposed to be very similar, so I'm assuming it doesn't matter if you get one of each. While waiting after getting the second, I even heard one of the nurses claim that having one of each was slightly more effective than having two of the same. No idea if that's true or not, but if it is, then yay!
Turns out that those who initially got the AstraZeneca vaccine for their first dose got Pfizer or Moderna for their second, after the use of AZ got suspended in Norway, so I guess it really doesn't matter, as AZ is built differently to the other two.

I suppose that's plausible, but you should probably double check with your healthcare provider.

Just get 2 of each

Just get all of them. Every day. Just to be safe, you know.

I was perfectly healthy before I caught covid. I got it back in November 2020, my symptoms were pretty mild but I wouldn't wish them on anyone. It took me 3 weeks before I started feeling better. I was pretty tired most of the time. At some point during the first 3 weeks I lost my taste and didn't recover it until February. It's incredibly weird when the stuff you eat has the right texture but no taste. Even after that, I had neurological damage with my taste buds. I ate spaghetti at some point and then for a good 2 weeks everything tasted like spaghetti (maybe you think that tastes good, but it's not when everything has the same taste). I used to like Cheerios but now it taste wrong, nothing like I remember it tasting. Other cereals seem ok. I get brain fog from time to time which didn't used to happen before, those days I can barely get any work done.

Got my vaccine as soon as I could. Definitely hoping I won't catch a variant.

Worst part is that I caught it through no fault of my own. I was being extra careful for months barely going out. A woman I don't know had to get tested because her husband caught it. Before she got the test results, she went to my dad's work, everyone caught it. I caught it from my dad.

We've been mixing and matching here in Canada too. I got double Pfizer but my wife got Pfizer/Moderna. She was slightly more sore than I was the next day, but no major symptoms.

Beware the Four Horsemen of Vaccination!

I definitely don't want any of those guys inside me

Seems legit. I had an intimate date with Moderna, recently. He said he had candy... he lied!

That sux Apos. What does brain fog feel like?

It's hard to explain, it's like I lose the ability to solve problems. I don't even feel like that when I get drunk. I tried to code a tic-tac-toe game the other day and I couldn't do it. Good thing it's not like that every day.

Norway has just ended the pandemic domestically thanks to the patriotic efforts of its citizens who took responsibility in maintaining social distancing and wearing masks while the vaccination program was ongoing and whom also took the vaccine themselves (over 90% of adults above 17 have taken the first shot and it's expected it will be over 90% fully vaccinated in the coming 2-6 weeks). Life is now almost completely back to normal with the sole exception of airplanes and airports still maintaining restrictions.

This is what life would be like in the US since 3 months ago if it weren't for the vaccine sceptics.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Sep 26 2021, 10:41 am by Zincoshine.

So now, 6 months after the start of this topic, has anything turned you more for or against vaccination Ultraviolet?

Also I do have to eat my words from earlier in this topic, having received a sequence of Pfizer-Pfizer-Moderna myself (mix and match), if that's satisfying to anyone. Personally I'm not looking forward to a booster every 6 months (my 2nd and 3rd doses both knocked me out for a full day), but with all the variants that keep popping up (which I attribute to the anti-vax movement preventing us from reaching a herd immune state) I don't see any good alternatives.

I got triple Pfizer. Australia has finally decided to open borders and no more lockdowns, and as a result we're in a massivr upward climb of covid as it sweeps through.

What has come out of this is that omicron is super effective at bypassing the vaccine. BUT for some reason i dont understand the third shot gives u a huge leap of protection tht the first two dont.

As a result theres now a mad scramble to get boosters. What was once recommended to be six months after 2nd shot got moved to 5 and now 4.

One statistic I hear over and over again is how you're 20 something more likely to get hospitalised from covid if you're unvaccinated versus if you have had your third shot.

But read that sentence again.

Notice the wording? They always compare unvaccinated vs 3rd shot. Never 2nd or 1st shot. I suspect this is because the truth of the matter is 2nd or 1st shot must be quite similar to being unvaccinated in terms of protection, otherwise why downplay it?

But i have no idea how to find the source of this statistic. I'd love to know if anyone does.

One thing I think you're wrong on is blaming antivax for herd immunity. This is a flu virus. Why do we get yearly flu vaccines before covid? Because they wear off. It's the same here.

This sort of virus never creates a permanent immune defence like other things like smallpox or what not. We will be taking boosters for the rest of our lives. We will be catching covid for the rest of our lives.

UNLESS there is a major breakthrough in medical science that allows flu vaccines to permanently cure.

A couple of things here:
Firstly, covid is not like the flu. It affects a much wider range of organs, is generally more severe and often has lasting effects on the patient.

The reason we have a new flu vaccine every year is not because the immunity wears off, it's because the virus mutates. Researchers are trying to predict the variant for the next season, and adjust their vaccine formula accordingly. This has to be done in advance to have enough time to produce vaccine until season starts. Sometimes the prediction is off and the vaccine doesn't work well or not at all. Totally different for covid. The vaccines generally work well.

The reason we won't reach herd immunity, but instead will reach an endemic state, is because we have no sterilizing vaccines with which to eradicate it entirely. We have that for smallpox.

And also we will likely not be taking boosters all our lives. In fact, preliminary research shows that the 4th booster has no effect: https://www.bloombergquint.com/onweb/israel-trial-suggests-4th-dose-not-warding-off-omicron-infection
It's perfectly normal for many vaccines to need 2 initial doses and 1 a while later.

Ok let's clear things up a bit. First of all, COVID isn't a flu virus, it's a Coronavirus and Coronaviruses cause the common cold. The reason why this one is deadly is because it's new which means people have never been exposed to it before. The other 4 older Coronaviruses have had first contact with people when they are very young and hence don't cause serious illness.

Second, a full vaccination by the old definition of full vaccination will protect you from getting sent to the hospital by COVID whereas a booster will prevent you from being really sick when you do finally get COVID.... And you will eventually get COVID. Omicron's mutations and speed mean that it is inevitable, the vaccinations and boosters only determine how sick you will become from it. As a rule of thumb, if you're not fully vaccinated, you're likely to end up in a hospital.

The other thing I have to clear up is the permanent boosters thing. Because of Omicron spreading too quickly and burning itself out, this is likely to be the wave that ends the pandemic by making the disease endemic as everyone outside China will have immunity either via vaccine or prior infection by the end of summer (Northern hemisphere). As such, COVID will become just another common cold... And i don't think you'll need boosters anymore at that point unless you want to travel to an Asian country. (But you already need a typhoid booster for that anyway)

Okay I learned some things.

But they say you can catch covid even if you've already caught it in the past. You can catch covid even if you're triple vaxxed. So how can we ever be immune, let alone herd immunity?

There have been plenty of studies comparing the effectiveness of 2 shots vs 3. Here's an article that lays it out in a nice chart.



Having 2 shots still significantly reduces your likelihood to be hospitalized compared to being unvaccinated.