For those who think my recent posts have been fodder for anti-vaxxers, here is more evidence to encourage everyone to get vaccinated and to get the booster. Delta has returned and thrown all the immunocompromised under the bus.
political references removed by admin
I’m not sure the Delta variant ever left us so I’m not clear how it’s ‘returned’. Your post two months ago was actually entitled, ‘the Delta variant in the U.K. continues to surge’. Incidence and hospital admissions are predictably rising as anticipated and will continue to do so. Deaths are significant but thankfully massively reduced as a result of the vaccination programme.
The immunocompromised have been promised some priority for the booster.
I’m not sure what’s changed to prompt this to be honest and the Govt advice in the U.K. has always been to vaccinate which is very sensible.
Newdawn
Newdawn you forgot one thing: No Politics!
Yes quite right, no politics! 😉 Actually, a Covid free posting day would also be so welcome!
Newdawn
Hi Newdawn I don’t post or reply often but wanted to drop in to say I so understand where you are coming from. I did not think for a moment that you were saying we should not discuss Covid , but unbelievably,
how pleasant it would be to only have the illness our community was created to deal with to sort out.
I for one will admit to trawling through and passing some Covid related posts. Does this mean I am not concerned, of course not. Just that I need a break.
I cannot imagine how difficult it has become for you administrators to manage to keep abreast of all that is going on, especially with the differences in the countries we all represent.
So thanks all you admin and volunteers, I really don’t envy you.
Stay safe, whichever country you live in.
Bubnojay
Yes sorry. But when government policy makes it harder for CLLers to return to "normal" life or even survive, I think we need to take a stance. Ignoring COVID, BTW, does not make it go away.
I'm afraid it will never go away no matter what anybody does. This virus will keep mutating. The best thing we can hope for is that at some point it will change into a flu like mild virus causing not many deaths. But since even the flu can be deadly for some... This virus is a truly life-changing thing. We need to get used to the new normal.
When Delta cases peaked a month ago and sharply dropped everyone thought we must have hit herd immunity and it was safe to go forward with "Freedom Day" and remove all mitigations. I believe this act amounted to throwing us under the bus, but not enough people protested. 9 days after that, cases stopped dropping and leveled off. Now it is resurging to the surprise of a lot of MPs. I hope they change their minds about "living with COVID" and restore some sensible public health policies.
All I'd say is stay away from these concerts which are mass spreading events and also from anyone either friends or family that have been the last few weeks.We don't really go into any building apart from hospitals or GP when we have to use them.
We don't mix with anyone unless it's outside from a distance.
Dave
Yes indeed, theguardian.com/uk-news/202...
Actually there is no such thing as a herd immunity against delta. Because it keeps infecting vaccinated people too. It's not like the polio vaccine where you got the vaccine and you could be 100% sure that you won't get it. As long as it's infecting vaccinated people it will spread , it will mutate and under selection pressure it will get better and better avoiding the vaccine. Just look at what's happening in Israel.
Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca vaccines and the 'impossibility' of COVID herd immunity as Delta changes the score
abc.net.au/news/2021-08-17/...
Dr Kylie Quinn, a vaccine expert from RMIT University, said it was "becoming clear" that the Delta strain did reduce the efficacy of the vaccines, or the number of vaccinated people protected from contracting COVID.
"The CliffsNotes version is 'Delta has changed things'," she said.
"There's reduced vaccine efficacy against developing symptoms, but how Delta impacts on transmission of the virus, we're still getting a grip on.
"But if you're trying to understand this benefit of vaccination, it's pretty clear that there's still really substantial protection for severe illness, hospitalisation and death for all of these vaccines against Delta."
Dr Quinn said the vaccines' ability to protect against severe illness was the "key issue" as the lack of herd immunity meant all Australians would be "meeting the virus" at some point.
That's what I meant. There is not going to be a herd immunity. And since CLL patients can't rely on being protected by the vaccine from a serious outcome...
It is only dangerous for Pfizer folks 6-mo after the second shot and Moderna folks 8-mo after the second shot. Then you get a booster and you are well protected again. You are right that herd immunity will be extremely difficult against the Delta.
Got the booster 7 days ago. Arm was sore a few days and a slight fever.
If you do a Google search for 'coronavirus data Northern ireland' an interesting graph will be shown. I've found it tricky to find many places where the performance across the UK can be shared. This graph will show in NI we have a sustained surge for a month or more, levels not much below those at the start of the year. You can also look at England, Wales and Scotland (it's doing poorly). It does show that the deaths are much reduced but they are still significant. I can find no source of how the deaths are made up, by age, vaccination status or health conditions. We (in NI) aren't talking about any measures to reduce the spread. Masks are still mandatory but its not enforced. Who decides when the pandemic is over? I suggest it is society and most have made that decision already. The bulk of society aren't so interested in what cases or deaths there are, or what the science suggests may follow.
That's so sad for us, and for school kids who will walk into this maelstrom soon.
Seems like it’s headed the same direction as the flu....annual booster for the variants. Maybe twice a year. Maybe monthly!!!😉
Annual influenza epidemics result in about 3-5 million cases of severe illness and about 250,000 to 500,000 deaths worldwide.
medscape.com/answers/219557...
Pneumonia is a major cause of death among all age groups, resulting in 3 million deaths in 2016 (the 4th leading cause of death in the world).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epide...
Both are now considered epidemics, and vaccinations providing partial immunity are acceptable. We have learned to 'live with it'.
Covid is still in a pandemic stage, and although we were able to get relatively effective vaccines within an year, the death rates and worldwide vaccination rates are not as yet acceptable enough for covid to be downgraded to epidemic status.
Countries with vaccination rates above 70% are starting to remove public health safeguards, although they are not openly saying it (except for occasional slips ups: edmontonjournal.com/news/lo... ).
Despite the effectiveness of simple public health measures like masks and social distancing for not just controlling covid, but also flu and pneumonia, I do not expect these measures will remain in place in countries with vaccination rates above 60%+.
Somehow these measures (masks especially) are not acceptable, esp. in the west, though utilized widely in many Asian countries post SARS. Pollution might also have played a part for widespread acceptance in those countries.
I am near certain that covid vaccines for children below 12 will soon be approved, and within 2-3 years, covid will be downgraded to an epidemic and thus the few million deaths annually will become socially acceptable.
We would have 'learned to live with it'.
Those of us with compromised immunity will just have to continue taking precautions (and not just for covid) and hoping that at least 1 amongst the 90+ covid vaccines under development will provide adequate if not sterilizing immunity for us...
raps.org/news-and-articles/...
Are we thrown under the bus?
I think not. It just the same as for every other pathogen. We need to be much more careful than the general population while they go about their merry ways...
Are we as protected by the vaccines against covid as we are for the flu or pneumonia?
This remains a question mark, not just because of the vaccine efficacy but also because of our unique to us disorder. That is case for every pathogen for us.
But I am very hopeful that over the next few years there will be an adequate vaccine or treatment for those with hematological disorders.
There are too many of us for the pharma industry to overlook 😆!
We just aren't there yet.
So I personally will take every booster that comes along - just the same as I do for flu and pneumonia. And continue wearing a mask indoors and wash my hands frequently - and not just because of covid...
and live my life with taking the risks (and precautions) that I consider acceptable.
Enlarged under arm lymph nodes during treatment
Itchy knots under skin
Chemo-Free Treatment Best Option for CLL Patients Under 70
Under 50 and had FCR? 
