Wife saw Pulmonologist yesterday. I went with, of course. "Node" is disappearing on its own.

[jaxexpat]

Talking with doctor after this fine news, the subject went to covid and vaccinations, generally. He mentioned that, though vaccinated, last July he was given covid by unvaccinated patient while in his office, not on the covid ward where he sees patients, treating and signing death certificates. He said he's even gotten the Omicron version as well, though boosted. He says his history is similar to others in his field.

He looks very tired and haunted, gaunt. He admitted as much. He volunteered the following which I paraphrase, "the thing that has gotten predictable is that when I intubate someone, the last thing they say is how they'll get the vaccine as soon as they get out of the hospital. It's hard to stop myself from telling them that they'll not leave the hospital alive. All the intubated people die in the hospital. These days, with Omicron, all my patients in the covid ward are unvaccinated and very many of them are in their eighties. How do people survive to be 80 years old and remain so foolish that they aren't vaccinated? Enough with my ranting."

He asked if we were vaxed and boosted and we, of course, said we were, but that my daughter, her husband and 2 of her children had not been and that they were all just getting over the covid. Here's when he told us the most important thing. Again, with the paraphrase, "That's good, they're getting over it, the antibodies they've generated will prevent serious "long covid" despite the absence of vaccine. The fact is that the Omicron variety, with so many people getting it, is probably going to provide herd-immunity until, at some point, covid will be just another flu." I asked if my daughter's family was okay then with no vaccine against any future covid variants. He said, "the disease really shouldn't turn into another lethal, Delta-like variant and that the vaccines were unnecessary for people who've already generated antibodies in the face of fewer, if any, future variants".

I walked away relieved. My family has missed another political, Trump related, threat to their lives.

[Shellback Squid]

1. "the antibodies they've generated will prevent serious "long covid" despite the absence of vaccine"

that assessment makes no sense, oxymoronic

[viva la]

3. The antibodies provided by infection won't last

As long as a vaccine and boosters. Your daughter's family should probably treat this as the first vaccine shot, and get a booster in a couple months. They dodged a bullet once. They might not be as lucky next time.

[Merlot]

5. That's what jumped out to me as well - makes no sense

Getting covid is what causes long covid - how could getting covid a tibodies protect you from long covid?

And the whole only people in their 80's are unvacinated and dying? How convienient I supose.

[xmas74]

6. I didn't take it as only people in their eighties

Are unvaxxed and dying. I saw it as how are so many in that age group still vax hesitant or even fully antivax after living through what they have. There are plenty of younger antivaxxers who haven't lived in a time where they saw the consequences of no vaccine until now. The 80somethings lived through polio and should be able to understand why it's essential. That and if you're eighty and being intubated your chances are much lower than someone much younger, minus other comorbidities. I think it was awkwardly phrased.

As to long covid idk how he can predict it. Right now Omicron seems less deadly and has less side effects. We don't know the damage three months, six months, three years, even a decade later.

[empedocles]

2. Risks are everywhere

[viva la]

4. And vaccine shots are at the CVS. 😙

I hope OP's daughter's family takes advantage.

[Ms. Toad]

7. There's already a variant with nearly as many new mutations

designated as a variant under investigaton (one step below "of interest," and a name. It is on 4 continents, and 40 countries, at least.

I believe it has 26 additional spike mutations.

Take what your doctor says with a grain of salt. At least as long as these variants continue to be this contagious and sent people to the hospital at the rate they are currently sending them, it's not like the flu (regardless of how may people they kill directly) because of the impact on health care more generally.