# Coronavirus general discussion and chit-chat **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [August 12, 2020, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-general-discussion-and-chit-chat/917903 "2020-08-12T17:29:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 42
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2021, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-general-discussion-and-chit-chat/917903/824 "2021-10-05T19:20:38Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > and I seem to remember Trep jr saying it wasn’t an option). Medically it would be an option but many places policy and staff-wise don’t do injections that would require any disrobing. It gets complicated when juggling privacy, chaperoning and time constraints. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2021, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-general-discussion-and-chit-chat/917903/825 "2021-10-05T20:46:00Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > …what happens if you get two sore arms? IME any soreness is somewhere between inconsequential and minimal. Far from incapacitating. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2021, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-general-discussion-and-chit-chat/917903/826 "2021-10-05T21:07:12Z")
I wear gym shorts under my pants. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2021, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-general-discussion-and-chit-chat/917903/827 "2021-10-05T21:15:33Z")
Just posted from _ **Fast Forward** _, out of Boston **Johnson & Johnson could ask the FDA** as soon as today for authorization of a booster shot to go with its original one-shot vaccine. In fact, in anticipation of this request, the FDA’s advisory group already scheduled a meeting to consider it on Oct. 15. That’s one day after it will meet to discuss, and probably approve, a **Moderna** booster. As you know, the FDA and CDC already authorized a booster for the **Pfizer** vaccine for certain groups of people. Each of Moderna’s first two shots contained 100 micrograms of mRNA, and it is asking for permission to give a booster that contains 50 micrograms. By contrast, all three of Pfizer’s shots contain 30 micrograms of mRNA. The J&J vaccine does not use mRNA.… ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2021, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-general-discussion-and-chit-chat/917903/828 "2021-10-05T22:17:30Z")
Ugh. I have a hiking buddy,“Jen.” We hiked last Friday and have plans to hike Thursday. She’s fully vaxxed, as am I. Now I’ve found out that Jen and two unvaxxed, anti-vaxx/anti-mask friends of hers, Ann and Carl, went to a big anti-vaxx rally last Sunday. Nobody there wore masks. Jen is completely swayed by Ann, who’s a former nurse-practitioner. Nothing I could say would convince Jen that Ann is full of BS. I’m 65 and have auto-immune issues. I have not been masking up when Jen and I hike because she assured me she was being cautious. Jen knows my pro-vaxx views, so she won’t tell me about the rally. I’m going to wear a mask and tell her my doctor advised it. But this ticks me off. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2021, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-general-discussion-and-chit-chat/917903/829 "2021-10-05T22:26:12Z")
> [@nelliebly](#): > > I’m going to wear a mask and tell her my doctor advised it.- Why put it off on your doctor? Wearing a mask in this situation is absolutely the right thing to do-- I encourage you to own that decision. (If it were me, I might skip it just because I don’t want to be around your friend’s stupid friend.) ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2021, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-general-discussion-and-chit-chat/917903/830 "2021-10-05T22:30:44Z")
Oh, her stupid friend won’t be going, just Jen and me. I think I’m going to have to give her some explanation for the mask, as I haven’t worn one when hiking with her. I guess I could just say I suddenly got more concerned about breakthrough COVID . I’m not 100% sure she’d buy it. I hate that so many people have become so infuriatingly pig-headed. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2021, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-general-discussion-and-chit-chat/917903/831 "2021-10-05T23:31:38Z")
> [@nelliebly](#): > > I guess I could just say I suddenly got more concerned about breakthrough COVID . Makes perfect sense and is 100% a believable reason. You don’t have to feel or BE defensive about wearing a mask. > [@](#): > > I’m not 100% sure she’d buy it. Why does it matter? (Not challenging you… just curious.) ---
**Author:** ![Tfletch1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tfletch1/32/5340_2.png) [@Tfletch1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tfletch1)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2021, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-general-discussion-and-chit-chat/917903/832 "2021-10-06T00:12:37Z")
> [@nelliebly](#): > > a former nurse-practitioner What the fuck is up with these nurse practitioners? i swear I keep reading about these goofballs. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2021, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-general-discussion-and-chit-chat/917903/833 "2021-10-06T00:29:11Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > At the moment there is a drive to vaccinate for 'flu in parallel with plans for booster shots for COVID. I mean, really in parallel - one visit, one shot in each arm. I can remember decades ago getting multiple shots in one arm. Why are they choosing to do it one in each arm, instead? Is there a medical reason for that? ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2021, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-general-discussion-and-chit-chat/917903/834 "2021-10-06T00:47:35Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Why does it matter? (Not challenging you… just curious.) It would only matter if she questioned it or said something like, “Oh, COVID is not that big a deal. All those people aren’t REALLY dying of it,” Which is the nurse-practitioner’s line these days. 🙄 ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2021, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-general-discussion-and-chit-chat/917903/835 "2021-10-06T00:52:37Z")
> [@Tfletch1](#): > > What the fuck is up with these nurse practitioners? i swear I keep reading about these goofballs. Right? Until I met Ann, I really thought nurse-practitioners were highly scientific people who, you know, understood basic medical principles. Then I thought she was an anomaly. Then the pandemic hit. And Ann has a friend who’s an _MD_ who spouts all this anti-vaxx bullshit. I really wish people could lose their license to practice medicine for pushing this crap. Although Ann let her license lapse. She’s making a killing selling woo remedies for the evil 5G. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2021, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-general-discussion-and-chit-chat/917903/836 "2021-10-06T02:24:06Z")
To be balanced, I know several excellent non-insane NPs, including my current and previous PCPs. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2021, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-general-discussion-and-chit-chat/917903/837 "2021-10-06T02:57:55Z")
I know they’re out there. I’m just so freakin’ frustrated that there’s even a small percentage who are pushing this idiotic anti-vaxx BS. If you’re that well-educated, you shouldn’t be so anti-science, anti-medicine. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2021, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-general-discussion-and-chit-chat/917903/838 "2021-10-06T03:15:27Z")
I agree. ---
**Author:** ![Tfletch1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tfletch1/32/5340_2.png) [@Tfletch1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tfletch1)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2021, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-general-discussion-and-chit-chat/917903/839 "2021-10-06T15:41:51Z")
> [@susan](#): > > To be balanced, I know several excellent non-insane NPs, including my current and previous PCPs. Oh, I know. It just seems that whenever I hear clinicians espousing strange ideas, they turn out to be a nurse practitioner as opposed to a nurse or doctor. I’m sure it’s just a coincidence. ---
**Author:** ![Mikkel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikkel/32/13151_2.png) [@Mikkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikkel)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2021, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-general-discussion-and-chit-chat/917903/840 "2021-10-06T16:55:48Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > I’m not sure that’s true in the UK (and I seem to remember Trep jr saying it wasn’t an option). (Denmark) I got my flu shot October the first. The doctor asked whether I wanted the shot in the arm or in the buttock. Since I’m a taxi driver and have to sit down most of the day, I chose the left arm. No pain or soreness, so he could have used either site. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2021, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-general-discussion-and-chit-chat/917903/841 "2021-10-06T17:17:29Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > But aside from the fact that I have never had a vaccination - or any sort of shot, I think - in my dominant right arm, and don’t much want one, what happens if you get two sore arms? fwiw, I’ve had flu shots for years, and I’ve never had an arm so sore that it mattered whether I slept on it or not. YYMV, but I think my experience is the norm. I was sore enough from the covid vaccine to avoid sleeping on that side for a day. > [@Morgyn](#): > > Why are they choosing to do it one in each arm, instead? Is there a medical reason for that? I’ve been wondering this, too. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2021, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-general-discussion-and-chit-chat/917903/842 "2021-10-06T17:40:51Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > fwiw, I’ve had flu shots for years, and I’ve never had an arm so sore that it mattered whether I slept on it or not. The only time I had a sore arm from a flu shot was when I got one that included a strain that I had probably been sick with the previous flu season. (Got a shot then, too, but it didn’t include what turned out to be the dominant strain that season. I got very sick, but was never tested or officially diagnosed – it’s my presumption that I had the flu.) > [@Morgyn](#): > > Why are they choosing to do it one in each arm, instead? Is there a medical reason for that? It’s funny to bring animals into this, but I know for my pets, they do separate limbs for different vaccines, and document which one went in which limb. It allows them to tell which vaccine is causing a reaction if there is one. (And for cats, it can help reduce the chances of a tumor at the vaccination site, I believe.) I’m sure at least a good deal of the point in this case is to be able to tell which vaccine is causing any local reaction. Maybe it’s also thought that it minimizes the chances of there being a combined local reaction. That is, who knows if someone would be more likely to get the severe “Covid arm” reaction\* if they also got a flu shot in the same arm? Better to reduce the variables. \*Not just pain in the injected arm, but severe swelling, itching, redness, pain in that entire arm. ---
**Author:** ![mistymage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mistymage/32/459_2.png) [@mistymage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mistymage)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2021, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-general-discussion-and-chit-chat/917903/843 "2021-10-07T11:49:50Z")
> [@Tfletch1](#): > > What the fuck is up with these nurse practitioners? i swear I keep reading about these goofballs. As with any degree, you have someone who graduated at the bottom of their cohort. Or as the joke goes “What do you call the person who graduated last in their class? Doctor.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-general-discussion-and-chit-chat/917903.md?page=41) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-general-discussion-and-chit-chat/917903.md?page=43)