Hi Everyone, It's Been About A Year Since I Posted About Updated COVID Vaccines And It's Time For Another

Hi everyone, it's been about a year since I posted about updated COVID vaccines and it's time for another update if you are in the US:

THE BRIDGE ACCESS PROGRAM IS ENDING!!!!

If you are uninsured or your insurance does not cover covid boosters, please schedule a new booster appointment before the end of August because the Bridge Access Program (the way the government will still pay for your booster) ends in September. The updated mRNA boosters from Moderna and Pfizer are available now. Go Go GO!!!

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Bridge Access Program

This Program provides no-cost COVID-19 vaccines to adults. Learn how.

Shitty, I know! If you can call your congressional reps, the FDA, the CDC, whomever to tell them you want this program to continue/be reinstated, that would be great. Also, while you're at it, call the FDA to tell them to expedite the approval for the updated Novavax booster (3017962640).

The new Novavax vaccine is designed for the JN.1 strain which is one of the most recent mutations of the virus going around. If you have insurance and can afford to wait, I highly recommend getting the Novavax booster when it becomes available.

KFF Health News

Is Novavax, the Latecomer Covid Vaccine, Worth the Wait? - KFF Health News

People with special medical considerations are hoping the Novavax shot will bring fewer headaches, fevers, and less fatigue than have been r

We are currently in the largest Covid summer surge since 2021

CNN

The US is experiencing its largest summer Covid wave in at least two years | CNN

It may be time to dust off the face masks and air purifiers.

If you haven't had a booster in the past six months you are essentially unvaccinated. New strains with different spike proteins keep evolving faster than vaccine development and distribution can keep up. All that said, getting Covid is not a moral failing. If you do feel sick, take a rapid test! If it's negative, test again a day or two later. It is better to know than not to know. Here's a refresh on how to take a rapid test correctly:

The Conversation

15 things not to do when using a rapid antigen test, from storing in the freezer to sampling snot

It’s easy to avoid common pitfalls when taking rapid antigen tests. Here are a few to watch out for.

If you do get Covid, it is worth getting on antiretrovirals within the first week of symptoms to reduce the overall viral load your body has to fight. If your insurance doesn't cover Paxlovid or Remdesivir, here are other low/no-cost ways to access it:

paxlovid.com

PAXCESS™ | PAXLOVID™ (nirmatrelvir tablets; ritonavir tablets)

The PAXCESS™ Patient Support Program may help eligible patients lower the cost of PAXLOVID™ and access savings, with or without insurance. T

Here's a good guide for how to actually handle being sick:

Ko-fi

Basic Acute COVID Care (version 1)

plague prose published a post on Ko-fi

Regardless of your vaccination status, masking with a KN95 or N95 respirator (or equivalent standards in your country i.e. FFP2/3 in the EU) is the most reliable way to protect yourself and others. If Covid protections are a financial burden, there is likely an active Mask Bloc near you doing free distribution of respirators and tests that would be happy to help you. Here's a global map of them from covidactionmap.org

Google My Maps

COVID Action Map - Google My Maps

Mapping COVID action groups worldwide. Groups are not pinned to exact addresses. On Instagram and Twitter as @covidactionmap.

Some quick tips: if you're wearing a bi-fold mask, flatten the nose-bridge wire completely, then mold it to your nose on your face for a better fit. The best mask is the one that you will actually wear regularly to protect yourself. I really like the selection of styles, sizes and colors from WellBefore:

WellBefore

Masks

Masks are capable of protection against a variety of airborne particles, and with WellBefore’s supply of masks, you can find the perfect fit

As school is starting, getting you and your family boosted is one of the best things you can do to protect yourselves. Masking is perhaps even more important. If you can advocate for updating and regularly changing the HVAC filters at your local schools to MERV-13 or higher to keep the indoor air cleaner, that can also make a big difference. Better indoor air quality in schools helps protect kids from illness, allergies, wildfire smoke, and more per the EPA's website.

These are steps you can take to improve air quality at home as well. Corsi-Rosenthal boxes are low-cost and highly effective for cleaning the air indoors.

en.m.wikipedia.org

Corsi–Rosenthal Box - Wikipedia

Here's a map of clean air lending libraries for getting access to air purifiers for events from cleanairclub.org

Linktree

cleanairclub - Listen on Spotify - Linktree

View cleanairclub’s Linktree. Listen to their music on Spotify here.

An “I can see when people will die displayed above their heads” story but it is not the time of their death. It’s the order.

I love that the internet saw people comparing women and other alienated groups of people and went, “they’re dating,” and, “they support each other.” We’re improving as a society.

gender is a performance and im getting heckled by those old gay muppets

A master to his action-hero trainee says, "Your movements are sloppy. You lack awareness of your body when you fight. Your hands move and yet you do not hold them in your mind's eye. Come. We will remedy this."

And then the master paints his trainee's fingernails and orders the trainee to complete a series of complicated tasks without smudging the nail polish.