Atticus,

Good to hear you are well! I'm good here, thanks for asking. :) Yes, I am the angel lady. Lol Great memory!:)

To answer your question about reason for still needing a mask despite being fully vaccinated, its because of me being immunocompromised. The vaccines are highly effective 90-95% in people with healthy strong immune systems. But, in people like myself who are immunocompromised or immunosuppressive the efficacy is not the same, its a lot less. There are even some people who have been vaccinated but still didn't produce any immune response. Therefore their bodies will not create any antibodies to help protect them from a Covid infection. Doctors still say to everyone get the vaccine despite it may not be as effective if it is at all. Its better to have some antibodies if your body produces some than none at all. Nobody can say who amongst this group of people will and will not produce a immune response. People who have a autoimmune disorder also fall into this group. The only indication that any doctor would have as to who may and may not is based on prior vaccinations and the efficacy those had.

Using me as a example: When I have received the flu and pneumonia vaccine my body didn't produce a healthy amount of antibodies to fight the flu and pneumonia if I were to ever get it. Because of this the doctors do not expect me to have a strong robust amount of antibodies for Covid. And taking into account I do have a weak immune system.

My doctors reccomended for me to wear a mask until herd immunity is reached. However long it takes for herd immunity to be reached is how long I will have to wear a mask for.

With all that being said, if I were to come in contact with someone with Covid the likely hood of me getting Covid is fairly high and the outcome for me could be lethal despite being vaccinated.

I hope this helps to answer your questions about it.

Best wishes,

Diamond Tiger<3

Yes thats a very thorough and comprehensive answer. Thank you for taking the time to write it.

Best wishes,

Atty.

Atticus,

You are welcome! I hope you understand it and it makes sense to you. Data has also shown breakthrough infections of right under 10k cases in the U.S.A. despite being fully vaccinated. Out of the breakthrough infection cases there has been 132 deaths reported. Although the cases are low and considered rare, it still has happened.


Best wishes,


Diamond Tiger<3

I trained as an immunologist.


In many countries getting vaccinated aginst Covid is free (it will happen to me next Monday).


I recommend it to everybody. This does not mean that the usual rules (wear a facemask, follow social isolation etc do not apply).

I hear of plenty of reports from those taking the jabs, from they are fine to some with slight reactions to major reactions. Just today a fellow on another group reported that his wife who has twin babies and had to take the vaccine or lose her job, has come down with MS like symptoms, she is in wheelchair and is being readied for a battery of tests. She has fear to breastfeed her babies. So would I. I've heard everything from major fatigue, seizures, blood clots, heart issues, nerve issues, tinnitus, and the MS symptoms.

Why some have no apparent issues and many have mild to severe issues. Hard to know WHY. We'll probably never know, we are not the developers.

The relatively few cases of severe side effects to the Covid vaccine versus the MILLIONS of deaths, plus all the other horrid effects for those with "long-Covid" or other bad side effects from the illness - make it a no brainer imo to get the vaccine and STOP the mutations and spread of this killer virus.

I have been vaxxed since March with no side effects other than sore arm a few days. I am still wearing a mask when around other people indoors, and practicing sanitization. Breakthrough infections are rare but no vaxx is 100% - however getting seriously ill once one is vaxxed is mitigated.

The serious resurgence of the Delta variant happening in predominantly unvaxxed communities should be a wake up call to anyone still spreading vaccine misinformation and conspiracy theories. Yes, some people have medical or other reasons not to be vaccinated, and I respect that. But not getting the vaccine due to believing the many myths that have spread about it is irresponsible, not only for oneself and one's family, but for the community as a whole. A higher vaxx rate = stronger herd immunity, and that gives less room for the virus to replicate and mutate. Simple, basic science of virology.

Some talk of government ineptitude;)
 

Lots of vaccine hesitancy here in Australia still. We're a mess right now. People in health related jobs are still on waiting lists here although I feel a sudden frantic change during the past week with other States having major problems with spreading of the Delta variant.

My daughter works in radiology and still hasn't been called up despite her being in a top level in the roll-out. People over 60 with serious illness are still on waiting lists and then having to play dice with Astrazeneca as it's the only one the GPs will give us because that's all the Federal government has given them with Pfizer being kept for the young.

I live in a regional area and it's not all that long ago that they put in the necessary refrigeration for storage of Pfizer. All this time later. (Mid winter day temp yesterday of 29C in my town). Pfizer and Astrazeneca are the only options we have and the latter has its own problems and Pfizer is in short supply.

The hesitancy here, in my opinion, has been mainly caused by government incompetency and mixed messaging and the usual misinformation. 'Too many cooks'.

For many of us who have serious health issues to begin with, it's actually been extremely difficult getting helpful information from our doctors even though that's where we should be getting it. It's been the usual blanket advice.

Here we have to sign a waiver. They're calling it "informed consent" but in fact, nobody is really giving individual health information for us to consent to and it's basically just paperwork covering legal indemnity for health professionals giving us the vaccines in case something does go wrong.

Everyone should be talking to their doctors and if they're not getting the information they need then they need to keep talking. In my situation I finally found out that my doses needed to be given at a certain point in time in the middle of my treatments.

So, I need to have the vaccine 1/2 way through my 3 week cycle of Immunotherapy. That's because my immune system is highly activated. Side effects for people on immunotherapy for example can include enlarged lymph nodes (as well as potential for the other possible side-effects, emphasis on possible) so if one is having regular 3 montly imaging such as I am then that has to be taken into account as well.

It's all extremely complicated for those with certain conditions and I plead with people to look for their own information and take it back to their doctors if they feel they're being given generic advice and there is anything that they don't understand. We have to look after ourselves. No one else can do that.

In my opinion, don't sign anything until you feel you can actually honestly give informed consent. Once you're in a position to do that then go for it asap.

I still and always have contended that strengthening our own immune systems is KEY and for me and my family and good friends that's our choice. And yes discuss with your doctors but as I see it, this is all so new they are not sure what to advise. This is all new technology and I'll stick with my old technology, my immune system. \

Make certain Vit D is optimal as I forever hear from my sources the value of D and all this.

Good luck with that.

It's not just ourselves we should be concerned about.
It's everyone else as well.

That's what the point of the whole thread from DiamondTiger was about. Having a highly activated immune system like myself puts me at risk. Having a immunocompromised system such as DiamondTiger puts her at risk even after vaccine. We rely on others to keep us safe. In the end, it doesn't matter how many vitamin precautions any of us take.

Just to put a few numbers out there for perspective and these are across the board, I don't think they take into account specific pre-existing illness. These figures actually helped me a lot in my own hesitancy as I am actually not someone to usually have a vaccine e.g. 'flu ---

Australia's New South Wales Health Minister stated on the ABC here Friday just past when speaking about the vaccine that so many of us are worried about...

"Understand for example that if you are over 60 and you get the virus you have a one in 200 chance of dying.

If you are over 50 you have a one in 500 chance of dying if you get the virus.

As opposed to that, if you have the vaccine, the AstraZeneca vaccine, it protects you to the extent that your chances of actually dying [from COVID] are one in 2 million."

And the statistics keep coming along--telling us that over 99% of those who are dying now from the delta variant are the unvaccinated.
Why the delta variant is causing an explosion of cases among the unvaccinated | PBS NewsHour

Yes, the vaccines are new and had to be made available under emergency provisions but this was a global emergency. The vaccines have been around for quite a while now and are proving their effectiveness and safety.

We have to go with what we have. Or put ourselves and others at considerable risk.