I am Novavaxed!

After 2.5 years without any boosters, I am finally vaccinated again. I got the single injection (no follow up injections needed) in my left arm almost 2 hours ago. It took several tries yesterday to schedule a Novavax vaccine appointment. I had no luck after contacting my walking-distance medical clinic, or the clinic on a bus route south of me, or at Walgreens (despite the Novavax website's "vaccine finder" saying they offered it). Finally, I logged into the CVS website, and they had Novavax as an option. I scheduled immediately for the next morning, today. Normally, today is a work day for me, but I have today off so I can work Friday instead, part of the accommodation I'm making in order to mentor a new employee.

On the walk to the bus stop this morning, I passed many houses with frost on the yard lawn. It finally got that cold here in Minneapolis last night. On the way back... I had not just one but TWO buses just keep driving right past me at full speed, while I sat there patiently at the bus bench. I finally got up and walked to a more common bus stop. I caught the next ride home successfully.

Important news about Novavax and why I waited 2.5 years to finally get it:

1. I mentioned back in 2022 that Novavax included the S1 and S2 spike proteins of SARS-CoV-2. The other vaccines include only S1, which mutates quickly. In theory, my immune system should better protect me against future mutations if it knows the slow-moving target of the S2 spike protein. In theory.
   
   
2. In addition, the big news this weekend is that researchers may finally know why protection against COVID wanes so quickly. This article explains that the position of the spikes on the native virus (and most vaccines) is too far apart for certain immune B cells to "lock on" and establish the long term memory that we need, so our short-term immune memory fades quickly and we're left much less protected. The article notes that the "Novavax COVID-19 vaccine approved in the United States and some other countries uses insect cells to produce spikes that link together and form “rosettes,” which might offer tighter spacing of the protein and therefore durability benefits". That's big news. Now, of course, the race should be to create new vaccines with the spacing of spike proteins that helps our immune system to remember these proteins for the long term. In theory, Novavax is currently better than other vaccines at providing longer term protection. In theory.

Of course, we also know that the spike protein alone causes blood clotting, so any exposure to it can potentially offer side effects. Still, though, it is much, much better to get exposed in limited duration to a vaccine rather than a potential lifetime exposure to the self-replicating virus itself, if it establishes persistence in our bodies. Barring specific contra-indications, I still strongly recommend vaccination. And masking. And distancing. And air filtering. I'll write more in a future Moody Monday post about the good reason for continuing precautions.

Stay safe out there.