David writes:
Hello Daniel! On June 6, I received my first HPV vaccination (Gardasil 9, 0.5 ml) since I had never gotten it as a kid. However, when the person giving the injection pulled the needle out I swear I felt a few tiny drops of liquid drop on my arm. I don’t remember anything like this ever happening before. Is it normal for a tiny amount of vaccine to be left in the needle and for this to happen, or should I be worried that I didn’t get the full dose, and restart my vaccine schedule as if the first one never happened?
Thank you guys for everything you do,
David
Toni writes:
Hello! Looking to pick your brain.
I have an almost 20 month old baby boy that unfortunately experienced COVID in utero around 14 weeks gestation and again at 13 months old. The very same day he received his first Moderna COVID-19 vaccine his grandmother infected him (along with the rest of the family) with COVID!? It was upsetting to say the least, as we sacrificed a lot of social gatherings over the holidays.
My question is- is there any meaningful benefit to give him his second dose of the COVID shot? He is otherwise a healthy and very active baby boy with exposure to a school attending, 6 yr old brother (double vaxxed and dodged the infection 7 months ago when everyone in the house was terribly sick). The baby himself is not yet in daycare but the plan is for him to start Winter 2025. Full disclosure, I’m a family doc with a busy practice (mostly elderly) and have fallen off the wagon with keeping up with the latest pediatric recommendations.
Thanks so much for your time and for ALL THAT YOU DO!!!
Toni 🙂
Janet writes:
RE: Biden and COVID
His doctor reported that he had taken his 10th dose of paxlovid. I thought from you that 5 doses/days was all that was needed.
My son with MS was prescribed 5 days x2, but went with just the 5 days as he heard so many times from you that that was all that was needed.
Now I’m wondering if it was a mistake to second guess the prescription from his MS clinic. He started a new immune-suppressant drug a couple months before.
Best,
Janet
Nova Scotia
(And I was not eligible for Paxlovid for my recent and 1st bout, being in Nova Scotia)
Jean writes:
Hi Dr. Griffin! I live in Alabama and heard you’ve never been here. You should visit Huntsville which is a great city in the scenic mountains of North Alabama. It’s known for NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center; the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology; and many technology sector companies. The Saturn V rocket was designed and built here in the 1960’s, giving Huntsville the nickname Rocket City. But, I digress.
My TWIV question is as follows. I received Novavax in October 2023 and again in March 2024. Now four months later, I will be traveling during the summer Covid surge. Should I get another Covid vaccine booster now or wait until the fall when updated vaccines will be available? Thanks so much! I’m listening here in Alabama!
Sincerely,
Jean
J writes:
Hi Dr. Griffin,
In her most recent Substack post, Dr. Jetelina (Your Local Epidemiologist) stated that:
“Evidence shows that Paxlovid works for a small subgroup of people: medically vulnerable over 65 years and those who are not up-to-date on Covid-19 vaccines.
Unfortunately, Paxlovid is not as effective as we had hoped for everyone else. Evidence suggests that it doesn’t protect against long Covid, and it doesn’t decrease the number of days you’re sick (if you’re up-to-date on vaccines).”
This surprised and concerned me. As a 48 year old with mild asthma but otherwise healthy, my plan (with my doctor’s input) has been to use Paxlovid should I get covid. I have come to trust Jetelina very much, but this comment makes me wonder if I should skip the Paxlovid if that situation comes to pass. I am fully vaxxed, with most recent dose in Fall 2023, so the context of my question applies to folks who are fully vaxxed and not “65+ and medically fragile.”
I followed her link to the paper about long covid, and it seemed only to address Pax as a treatment for LC, rather than a treatment for covid which might reduce the incidence of LC. It also does seem to be a bummer that it does not reduce the # of days one has symptoms, but I wonder if there are data that show statistical significance for (1) reducing severity of those symptoms and (2) reducing adverse outcomes like ER visits, hospital admission, need for ventilator and other serious interventions, or death.
Is it really the case that only folks who are 65+ and medically fragile should take Paxlovid based on our current data and understandings? Even under those conditions, an otherwise healthy 75 year old would skip it, too.
With appreciation,
J