Coronavirus, End of Year Edition, 2022
The Numbers:
More in keeping with reality, the number of people hospitalized with Covid for this wave has increased from around 30,000 to 34,800 for around the same time period.
The peak number I plotted was 447,000 on Dec 22. The decline since then probably has to do with insufficient reporting during the Christmas holidays, rather than a significant drop.
The New York Times Interactive graph ( It can be found here...) has slightly different numbers and is reporting a slight rise in the number of cases. My source may not be as accurate as theirs, but I'll stick with it because it is an easy scrape, and is good enough. This is more about trends than anything else.
Dominant Variants in the US:
BQ's 62% Holding steady since last report
BA.5 8% Half the previous percentage.
BF.7's 4% Half the previous percentage
XBB 18% Triple from last report
BN.1 4.0% Holding steady
All of these are Omicron (BA5) descendants. All have minor refinements that will make the them more infectious, and nullify some treatments, see below. The latest booster, which was designed with BA4 and BA5 in mind. Early studies show that it is effective against these variants.
Per CDC tracker...
Free Government Tests (again!)
The federal government will ship you 4 Covid tests for free. Just go to Covidtest.gov and fill out the form.
Odds and Ends...
One of the podcasts I listen too, mainly on long drives (thanks Dennis!), is Skeptics Guide to the Universe. Two of the presenters are MD's, so their credentials are very good when it comes to biological issues. They had attended an event where they were exposed to the current flu virus. One had gotten his flu shot, along with the latest bivalent Covid booster, and was uncomfortable for a couple of days. The other, who had been scheduled for his shots the following week, had symptoms dire enough to almost be hospitalized.
Get your flu shot.
They also had a brief discussion on how the rest of the presenters felt getting both flu and Covid booster at the same time. One said she had a rough 2 days following the shots, and another reported just a bit of pain around the injection site. They postulated that if your previous shots were all Moderna, then post shot symptoms were light. But their statistical sample (3) was too small. I'll add my my 2 cents. I got both flu and Covid bivalent with no post shot effects. My shot record is Moderna, boosters Moderna, J&J, and the last one was Pfizer.
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| 4 more shots and the next one is free! No, wait... |
I have read that getting mixed makers of the shots offers a little, emphasis on little, more protection. But that is not the reason for the mixed group of shots. That had to do with my first 3 being given at the VA in Coatesville, which is 50 minute drive each way, while the others were at Costco, 10 minutes.
