TWiV 917: Boosters on, Paul Offit

July 10, 2022

Paul Offit returns to TWiV to discuss why, during the recent FDA advisory committee meeting, he voted against releasing revised COVID-19 vaccines containing an Omicron component, and the reasons why children must be vaccinated against the disease.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Rich Condit, and Kathy Spindler

Guest: Paul Offit

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Download TWiV 917 (70 MB .mp3, 117 min)
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Weekly Picks 1:20:41

Dickson – Woody Herman and his orchestra. 1955-1965. Signature song: The Preacher. Signature album: Woody Herman and His Orchestra (1956)
KathySolargraphic analemmas
Rich – Windy (desktop; app)
Vincent Why monkeypox is mostly hitting men who have sex with men

Listener Picks

MarkHand Wash Dance – NHK WORLD-JAPAN

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

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8 comments on “TWiV 917: Boosters on, Paul Offit

  1. Steve Blake Jul 11, 2022

    To say that the Epidemic is over when we think it’s over and go back to doing whatever we want regardless of whether we’re transmitting disease or not is stunningly immoral.

  2. Dear TWIV, Thank you for your ongoing work! Your discussions are quite impactful.

    In the context of your enjoyable conversational format, I was worried that some might interpret this show’s back and forth on your personal feelings of “fatigue” as condescension to those who experience post-infectious fatigue.

    As you know, a complaint of fatigue can represent excess sleepiness, weakness, or fatigue. These symptoms can be serious and should trigger medical evaluation.

    Myalgic encephalitis / Chronic fatigue syndrome itself is not rare and can be attributable either to an identifiable antecedent (e.g. Epstein Barr Virus infection or brain injury) or remain idiopathic. As I tell my patients, “idiopathic” means that you make your doctors look like idiots. The designation of “Idiopathic”, of course, does not indicate that a person is malingering

    Certainly, chronic fatigue can be a symptom of psychiatric illness. At the same time, people with psychiatric illnesses are not immune to Epstein Barr Virus infection, for instance, or its sequelae.

    If listeners doubt CFS as a condition, I invite them to talk to colleagues about patients who were vigorous hard-chargers who were then disabled by fatigue.

    I am including a recent review from BMJ on the subject.

    Once again, thank you for giving us the benefit of your wisdom..

    Dr. Josh Rotenberg
    Houston TX

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4585442/

  3. Victoria Henricksen Jul 14, 2022

    Dearest Dickson,
    For the best big bands, please consider Western Swing, in particular, Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys.
    Cheers, Viki

  4. Harry Jul 14, 2022

    Great episode, great questions. Seems like protection against serious disease and death is still holding.

  5. Frank Jul 15, 2022

    Dear all, first of all thank you so much for your immensely important and helpful contributions, especially in these pandemic times. Since I am (better: was) a physicist a comment about Einstein and the Nobel prize. As far as I know the physics committee didn’t come to a decision in 1921 because the theory of relativity was still not fully accepted. Plus: antisemitic colleagues tried everything to make sure Einstein did not get the award. Sine the bending of light by gravitational force (curved space-time) had been proven already during a solar eclipse and Einstein was getting more and more popular, the Nobel committee decided in 1922 to award the prize for 1921 to Einstein. So he would have been given the 1921 prize on Dec 10, 1922 in Stockholm. But when the decision was made public Einstein had already boarded a ship to Japan for a longer visit there. The German consul then represented Einstein at the ceremony, after fighting over this with the Swiss consul… But that is another, sad story. In short: Einstein got the 1921 prize awarded in 1922 and never went to Stockholm for the ceremony. Please keep up your great work and stay healthy!
    Frank (big fan from Germany)

  6. Kathy C. Jul 15, 2022

    First time watching you on Youtube vs Apple Podcasts.

    I have a few questions from Dr. Offit’s visit that you probably know the answers to, I am sure. First, what happens in your immune system when you boost too often? I don’t think that was explained in full as the discussion of a 4th or 5th (?) booster for COVID could be coming? What are the dangers/concerns about boosting too often or unnecessarily?

    I still have questions about a 4th booster- my husband and I are both 49, 50 and my college daughter, 19, all triple boosted. She is down with her second case of COVID after our vacation. We all caught it the first weekend of May, no severe disease, although I was positive for 10 days, my husband was positive for 5 and my daughter 4.

    As my child goes back to college in August, if a 4th booster is offered to all people, should she take it? I work in a high school, should I take it? My husband is getting on airplanes, should he get it?

    I’ve tried to look on my own, but there are no compelling answers and I’d appreciate your professional insight.

    Lastly, anecdotes are not data, but during our recent vacation to British Columbia, my husband and I had a normal, regular head cold (tested at home 2x before departure). My daughter did not catch our head cold but when we came home, we did not have covid, and she does. I looked and saw the data is somewhat inconclusive as to if circulating antibodies to common cold viruses may/may not help with SARS-CoV2, but I think we are one anecdotal data point.

    Thank you for your insights and discussion!
    Kathy C.