#COVID Testing

[willowreader]

If you have a cold and test negative for COVID you are not in the clear. Tests take a while to turn positive. Meanwhile you are spreading COVID to family and friends. Mask up if you have any symptoms. This virus is just evil.

[damnyousubdermalirritants]

UPDATE: NOVAVAX NOW AVAILABLE!!!

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!!!

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.

We are currently in the largest Covid summer surge since 2021

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:

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:

If you get sick, rest radically even after you stop testing positive on rapid tests. Avoid exercising for at least eight weeks after the fact to reduce the risk of developing long covid.

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

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:

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.

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

[theculturedmarxist]

[incognitopolls]

We ask your questions so you don’t have to! Submit your questions to have them posted anonymously as polls.

[allthecanadianpolitics]

A rapid test importer landed an estimated $2 billion in federal contracts in 2021 and 2022, despite giving regulators incomplete data about its product’s accuracy, Global News has found. A year-long investigation into federal procurement revealed that BTNX, a small rapid test supplier based outside Toronto, deleted dozens of specimens, or samples, from a study it submitted to Health Canada. That evaluation showed how well the company’s test detected COVID-19. The deletions made BTNX’s test appear more reliable and sensitive than it really was, according to researchers Global News consulted. The device could detect the virus in users who were the most contagious, but results from leading regulators’ evaluation programs indicate BTNX’s test was much less dependable in all other cases.

Continue Reading

Tagging @politicsofcanada

[pandemic-info]

Viral shedding by asymptomatic people may represent a subset of total infections, but uncertainty remains regarding how much they contribute to totals.

Viral shedding may antedate symptoms, usually two days.

Viral titers are highest in the earliest phases of infection, 1-2 days before the onset of symptoms, and then in the first 4-6 days of illness in patients without immunosuppression.

When Is COVID-19 the Most Contagious?

Researchers estimate that people who get infected with COVID-19 can spread it to others 2-3 days before symptoms start and are most contagious 1-2 days before they feel sick.

&

How long after exposure will you test positive for COVID-19?

Depending on which COVID-19 variant you've been exposed to, you may test positive 3-5 days later. If you've been exposed to the virus but don't have any symptoms, wait for 5 days before you get tested. If you test too early and you do have COVID-19, you may falsely test negative.

[mateodoodle]

If you've got old covid tests, make sure you visit the fda's website to check if the expiration date got extended!

Lots of brands were able to prove after initial release that their shelf life was longer than expected, so even some that I have that are on the older side ended up still lasting into early next year.

Edit: I've heard that tumblr is weird about posts w links so i reblogged with a link to the website directly if you want to use that as well!

[ralfmaximus]

Americans are eligible for four (4) more free covid tests per household starting the week of November 20, 2023.

You can order them directly from the USPS right here.

[kyidyl]

PSA with sick season upon us: your local library might have free covid tests if you need them since the govt isn't giving them out free anymore. Idk why, but we have em so other libraries might too.

[snapthistiger]

took the Covid test just to be sure and the results are negative, which is a positive thing..

[willowreader]

Keep testing. It's important.

[gumjrop]

As the summer wave of COVID-19 cases continues to rise, households in the US will be able to order free virus test kits mailed to their homes, starting in late September.

According to COVIDtests.gov, managed by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, households will be able to order up to four COVID-19 nasal swab tests when the federal program reopens at the end of September. A specific date, however, is not yet announced. Per the website, “the COVID-19 Tests will detect current COVID-19 variants and can be used through the end of the year.”

“Tests will detect current virus strains and can be ordered ahead of the holiday season when family and friends gather for celebrations,” an HHS spokesperson said in an emailed statement to the Associated Press.

The announcement comes in tandem with the FDA approval of updated COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, ahead of the fall and winter respiratory virus season. As of this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the number of people testing positive for COVID-19 keeps rising, along with emergency room visits since mid-May. Hospitalizations are rising, too.

The CDC also reports that COVID-19 has become endemic, which means that, while still posing significant health risks, we’ll be getting yearly updated vaccines to protect against mutations and waning immunity, just like annual flu shots.

According to data from the CDC, as of May 11, only 22.5% of adults got last year’s updated Covid vaccine. Only 14.4% of children ages 6 months through 17 years got vaccinated.

For this fall, the CDC recommended that all Americans aged 6 months and older get the new shots. CVS is currently offering appointments for the new COVID-19 vaccine starting no earlier than late August, and Walgreens is offering appointments that begin September 6. Those uninsured will likely have to pay out of pocket for the vaccine as the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Bridge Access Program comes to an end in August.

Uninsured minors aged 18 and under can still get free COVID-19 vaccines — and other free immunizations — as part of the Vaccines for Children Program.

[ricisidro]

How Long Is Covid Contagious?

The CDC advised 5 days of isolation after a positive Covid test, followed by 5 days of masking when out in public is still a good guide.

#SARSCoV2 #COVID19 #COVID #CDC

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/18/well/covid-contagious-period.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

[pokabrows]

The us government will be relaunching their program to give out free covid tests at the end of September. Like before each household will be eligible for 4 free tests. I'll make sure to post/reblog something when I find out it's live.