Wednesday, September 8, 2021

Sid Salter: Breakthrough Cases: Get the Shot, Mask Up, & You Will Still be at Covid Risk

  This weekend, I completed my 10-day Covid-19 Delta Variant quarantine period. My wife and I both were diagnosed with so-called “breakthrough cases” of the virus.

Our diagnoses came after traveling to Alaska for a family event. But there’s no way of knowing whether the exposure came on the Kenai Wilderness in rural Alaska, on board the seven-plus hour flight from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta to Ted Stevens Airport in Anchorage, or shopping at the Walmart in Starkville the night before we departed.

The doctor called our diagnoses “breakthrough cases” – a Covid-19 diagnosis when a fully diagnosed person tests positive despite following all the vaccination protocols. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say such “breakthrough” infections are to be expected in that while the Covid-19 vaccines are highly effective in providing immunity, no vaccine is 100 percent effective.

We were both fully vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine – first and second shots. We wore the masks until the instructions came that the fully vaccinated could relax those requirements under certain conditions. We distanced. We hunkered down and limited contact with friends and family. Although not perfectly, we did our best to follow the pandemic rules.

Then when the Delta Variant emerged, we returned to the masks. But despite those precautions, we caught that strain of Covid-19.

For both of us, the good news was as advertised – we were sick at home for several days with high fever, severe congestion, some nausea, fatigue, and a few other symptoms including loss of taste and smell. Because of my medical history, my doctor recommended that I take the Regeneron monoclonal antibody therapy (MAT) infusion.

With underlying health conditions that included a compromised immune system, I did not entertain a Covid-19 diagnosis without concern. But we did not develop severe Covid-19 symptoms that required hospitalization and all things considered, we had light cases not unlike a bad case of the flu. I credit that outcome to being fully vaccinated in advance and taking the MAT infusion when my physician directed it.

We were two of the national average daily diagnosis count of 160,901 out of some 40 million total reported cases. In Mississippi, we were two of a daily average case count of 2,746 from the total state reported cases of 446,863. Unfortunately, those numbers will increase – as will the number of deaths from Covid.

There are some realities to be accepted about the Covid-19 pandemic. First and foremost, the pandemic has been permanently and irreparably politicized. While I appreciate that fact intellectually, try as I might it just does not make sense to me that as a nation, we have chosen to fight each other over this virus rather than fighting the insidious virus.

But at both the federal and state level, it’s a fact that as yet there isn’t sufficient political will among public elected officials to make national or state vaccine or mask mandates part of any meaningful solution. There are constitutional conflicts, separation of powers issues, and debate over religious exemptions that will bog down any attempt at implementing those strategies for years.

Those realities are exacerbated by another undeniable fact – the Delta Variant is one of several mutations that will continue to make battling the pandemic very much of a moving target. Unfortunately, the science indicates that our society will be battling this scourge for some time.

So, after surviving a Covid-19 diagnosis, here’s the advice of a liberal arts major with no claimed or implied expertise in epidemiology or public health management – get fully vaccinated as soon as possible, follow the protocols for masks, distancing, handwashing, and the rest until the experts lift those protocols.

Finally, follow the advice of qualified medical professionals you know and trust, not politicians, about your health and that of your loved ones. 

 Sid Salter is a syndicated columnist. Contact him at sidsalter@sidsalter.com.


34 comments:

Anonymous said...

I bet you contracted it at the Walmart in Starkville-

Anonymous said...

This article has made me itching to get the Booster! Bring it On Biden!

I'm still getting bug eye looks while wearing my mask everywhere. Like I got a big fat booger hanging out of my nose.

We need to hold China accountable for leaking the virus out of the WuHaun Lab. They could reduce our trade deficit by 50%. From $345.2 billion to 172 billion.

Anonymous said...

I can believe that the vaccine lessened the severity. I can believe that the monoclonal antibody treatment lessened severity.

What I can't believe, however, is that he still believes masks work.

Anonymous said...

Gets the vaccine, wears his face-binky and still gets the virus. Received lifesaving treatment to undo the ADE the vaccine caused. Still begs us to take the vaccine. Sid wants us dead.

Anonymous said...

This was insane. Tells us he's vaxxed then goes on to tell us they went thru basically everything Covid offers with the exception of a hospital visit. Then mentions, finally, he's "at risk". Yet still wants ALL to get a "vaccine" that clearly doesn't work as it should if it were a real vaccine. Break thru cases are now the science of proof ! Mandates are tyranny no matter what you think ! And this coming from me ,a sucker who has had a un approved vax while serving my country!

Anonymous said...

1) New Report Shows Unvaccinated People Are More Than 15 Times More Likely to Die From COVID-19 Compared to Vaccinated People. The vast majority of people dying with COVID-19 are unvaccinated.

2) Unvaccinated people were also 4.4 times, or 440 percent, more likely to catch COVID-19 than vaccinated people. The difference between vaccinated and unvaccinated teens was even greater during the week ending Aug. 21, 2021, with unvaccinated people aged 12 to 17 being 6.3 times, or 630 percent, more likely to get COVID-19 than vaccinated people in the same age group.

So, keep spreading the lies and spewing the virus. Cause you work for the Reds, just as much as Joe.

"A pro-Chinese government online influence operation is targeting Americans in an effort to exploit divisions over the Covid-19 pandemic and "physically mobilize protestors in the US in response," according to a new report from cybersecurity firm Mandiant and experts at Google."

Anonymous said...

This whole campaign went off the rails once HCP and the Government decided this big pharma drug was good for everyone OR ELSE ! And this is what is happening right now. Ignoring certain facts like just how many folks out there refuse the Flu vax ! You actually think those folks will take this brand new unproven drug ? And oh yes, it is a drug. No longer be calling it a vaccine.

Anonymous said...

@2:21 Yes! The Chinese convinced me not to take a vaccine, not the healthy, mid 20s European soccer players dropping dead on the pitch from heart inflammation. I hope the Rushanz!!!! don’t start as well.

Anonymous said...

Today an article was published where a scientist from Pfizer admitted that the Pfizer vaccine had a much lower amount of mRNA than the Moderna vaccine. mRNA creates antibodies in the blood. He said that the Pfizer vaccine had 30 mcg of mRNA and that Moderna had 100 mcg of mRNA. My common sense and logic tells me that the Moderna vaccine is 3 times stronger than the Pfizer vaccine, thereby implying that the Moderna should be considerably more effective against COVID than Pfizer. My educated guess is that in the vast majority of the “breakthrough” COVID cases, the individual had received the Pfizer vaccine.

Anonymous said...

What ? JJ not showing The Dobbs scaring loving crap out of pregnant women and their unborn babies without giving us a single word on the "health" of the victims prior to Covid diagnosis. Meanwhile, the NIH just gave a million and half dollars to four Universities to STUDY the vaccines and how they mess with a womans cycle and reproductive health. Why ? The vaccines are awesome according to many of you here.

Anonymous said...

here's what helped you recover quickly :
vaccination

Here's all the stuff that was a complete waste of energy and did no good whatsoever:

" We wore the masks until the instructions came that the fully vaccinated could relax those requirements under certain conditions. We distanced. We hunkered down and limited contact with friends and family. Although not perfectly, we did our best to follow the pandemic rules."

Anonymous said...

We just had two vaccinated people at work come up positive and we’re all required to wear masks. We also have 3 people unvaccinated that are fine.

Anonymous said...

Today an article was published where a scientist from Pfizer admitted that the Pfizer vaccine had a much lower amount of mRNA than the Moderna vaccine.

Link?

Anonymous said...

JJ ? No reports of the NEWS about Fauci LYING to congress about gain of function ? Why JJ ? Same reason why all the sudden you are keeping certain posts from being seen ? You vaccine pushers are no better than Biden himself. Sure as hell close to Big Tony.

Anonymous said...

2:52 The important number is what is the amount of antibody floating around in the blood that is sufficient to prevent a new infection from taking hold. I have not seen any data establishing what is that minimum effective level of antibody needed. Without that sort of data it may be just as likely that the Moderna vaccine is producing way more antibody than your body needs to prevent an infection.

We actually need data, not theories.

Anonymous said...

@2:21 Your figures do not apply to Israel where more vaccinated patients are hospitalized than non-vaccinated. The honest answer to any of the Covid questions continues to be "we don't know".

Anonymous said...

What does it mean to be fully vaccinated? One shot, two shots, three shots, or four? How long should you wait between shots? Does natural immunity affect that?

Who suggested we have 25% attendance at outdoor football games last year, with masks mandated?

Who has moved the goalposts on the primary purpose of the vaccine? First it was to get herd immunity, prevent hospitalizations, and stop the spread. Now it is to prevent hospitalizations.

#twoweekstostopthespread

Good luck following the science. Surely y’all understand some skepticism due to the fact that the scientists - hopefully all of whom are well-intentioned — are learning on the fly re: this novel disease.



Anonymous said...

It’s so bad here in Mississippi that one of the field hospitals at UMMC is being decommissioned due to low patient volume. All you need to know. Lou Ann Woodward, Thomas Dobbs and the like are bs fear mongers that prey on rubes and those that can’t read

Anonymous said...

"All you need to know. Lou Ann Woodward, Thomas Dobbs and the like are bs fear mongers that prey on rubes and those that can’t read"

My apologies for the clinical terms, but that is a huge load of total bullshit...full of worms...that a large drench of Ivomec couldn't treat.

Anonymous said...

Many were willing to risk short term gain over potential long term unknowns.

Others are willing to play the short term odds, take simple effective preventative measures, and not worry about potential long term ramifications.

The only question for the short-term group now remains whether they will open go along with the majority and the leadership when it comes to boosters.

Anonymous said...

“First and foremost, the pandemic has been permanently and irreparably politicized. While I appreciate that fact intellectually, try as I might it just does not make sense to me that as a nation, we have chosen to fight each other over this virus rather than fighting the insidious virus.”

Sad, but true. And the reason why it got politicized is because of Donald J. Trump. Whatever else he did right or wrong, his failure to unite our country against a common enemy was Presidential malpractice of the highest order. Full stop.

Anonymous said...

@ 8:43 pm - Sorry, the left has politicized everything about the pandemic. It started with PPE, then test kits, then masks, then shutdowns, then re-openings, then questioning the safety of the vaccines under development, then vaccine distribution, and then vaccine equity because distribution and access were somehow racist. Now the current phase of the culture war involves marginalizing unvaccinated persons despite the data showing a significant percentage of hospitalizations and deaths have involved fully vaccinated persons. (In August in Mississippi, 13% of hospitalizations and 13% of deaths involved fully vaccinated persons).

House Majority Whip Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) reportedly told Democrats on a conference call in March 2020 that the party should exploit the coronavirus: “This is a tremendous opportunity to restructure things to fit our vision.” Clyburn’s statement, reported by The Hill, which cited a source on a “conference call featuring more than 200 members of the House Democratic caucus,” recalls an infamous statement by Rahm Emanuel, the incoming chief of staff to President-elect Barack Obama during the global financial crisis, who told the Wall Street Journal: “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste … This crisis provides the opportunity for us to do things that you could not do before.” Mar. 19, 2020, The Hill

Anonymous said...

It has been my experience that those who use their intellect to justify their gut-level opinions cannot be reasoned with in any meaningful way because their primary motivation is to prove themselves right. I’m done arguing, at least for now. Y’all have worn me out. Have it your way.

Anonymous said...

Has anybody gotten the breakthru covid on Moderna vaccine. Ever time I read it happening its Pfizer or J & J. Not a doctor just asking

Anonymous said...

I love how he ends with "follow the advice of qualified medical professionals you know and trust, not politicians" right after telling us what to do. What about writers who are so uninformed they don't know masks have not stopped the spread of COVID anywhere in the world and still brag about wearing them? Should we follow their advice? I do follow the advice of medical professionals I trust. That's why I I don't pretend that one of the most basic facts of immunology, natural immunity, doesn't exist and rush out to get a shot that might give me heart problems for the rest of my life.

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.08.30.21262866v1

Anonymous said...

A gentleperson dies of COVID and goes to heaven where they encounter God. They ask why their prayers were not answered to deliver them from dying of COVID. God expresses surprise at the question and indicates: When this pandemic started I gave gifts as it progressed on ways to avoid succumbing. Social distancing, masks, and 3 different vaccines (the star of this story had lived in the US) were progressively given as safeguards as the pandemic advanced. You took no personal responsibility and failed to follow social recommendations, refused to wear a mask, and did not reach out to receive a vaccine. Prayers were answered, but the answers were ignored by you.

I grew up in a rural Baptist Church in SC. I was taught that there is evil in the world and we must depend on our faith to counter it. It is not enough to pray for deliverance. One must be willing to accept blessings that are delivered. We all need to pray for those that are sick, and must continue to encourage people to accept the blessing that have been provided. Refusing to wear a mask is about the same as refusing to put a diaper on a baby or refusing to use toilet paper. The low incidence of flu last winter more than validates the effectiveness of masks and social distancing on viral spreads. Depending on a monoclonal antibody keep you from dying from COVID is nonsensical. It has not been approved by FDA, was tested in less than 10% of the people that test run on Moderna and Pfizer just in the US, and costs between $3000 and $5000 per dose administered. Grow up and wear a mask and get the vaccine.

Anonymous said...

1:01 : You left out something kinda important and I imagine GOD knows as well. Dr. Anthony Fauci et al created this virus and all but admit it back in 2012. I don't know but me thinks that has more to do with Satan. So by default this vaccine is of Satan. GOD's gift is natural immunity based on treating your body as a temple. That is the gift. So maybe you should study harder when it comes to GOD's word.

Anonymous said...

1:01 The low incidence of flu last winter more than validates the effectiveness of masks ..."

Laughable.

Anonymous said...


The China virus is the last thing I'm worried about when I have to enter a Wal Mart.

Cricket said...

The incidence of flu was only lower because we saw many places using tests that were faulty at distinguishing between the two. Dr. Peter McCullough has spoken about this. Look it up yourselves.

What you brilliant people also fail to recognize in this debate is the lack of early interventions and treatment at diagnosis. How many people in the hospital went to a drive through to get tested? Got their results called to them and never saw a physician? Got the Deferral treatment of “go to the ER when you can’t breathe”? How many went to a clinic to get tested? And did they get the same deferral treatment? How many were educated on nutritional aspects of the immune system? We’ll never know the extent of the neglect. I ask all my patients who’ve had it and have found, not surprisingly, they were offered nothing. Do y’all know part of why people can’t breathe with covid is the amount of blood clots in their lungs? It’s why more oxygen isn’t that helpful. We’ve had 18 months to study the disease. More time than they studied it for the vaccine. Why don’t we have more treatment options? Oh we do. Cheap ones that are being censored. Experts sharing knowledge all over the world are being silenced. Why? What’s the threat? Why am I, an unvaccinated nurse working in a high risk area, so far immune to COVID? Is it because I’m taking recommended supplements? Have taken ivermectin post unmasked exposure? Is it my clean diet and robust gut micro biome? I don’t know the answer but I sure don’t want to take the risk of the shot when what I’ve done for 18 months has worked.
I’m over the coercion. Anyone who gets early treatment fairs better regardless of vaccination status. 98% of all reported cases in the US survived. Let’s start with early treatment and DEMAND our medical leaders provide it. Leave the vaccine for the most vulnerable.

Anonymous said...

8:28 Amen.

Anonymous said...

8:28 : amen

Anonymous said...

Fine 8:28 am but you ignore wearing a mask.

I don't want you to spew on me. You won't reduce the amount of virus you put into the air.
If you had the smidgeon in high school( doubtful) or college ( also hard to believe), your understanding is limited to division.

Anonymous said...

Air travel requires that mask be worn. How would he have contracted Covid while wearing a mask? Just asking.


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Trollfest '07 was such a success that Jackson Jambalaya will once again host Trollfest '09. Catch this great event which will leave NE Jackson & Fondren in flames. Othor Cain and his band, The Black Power Structure headline the night while Sonjay Poontang returns for an encore performance. Former Frank Melton bodyguard Marcus Wright makes his premier appearance at Trollfest singing "I'm a Sweet Transvestite" from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." Kamikaze will sing his new hit, “How I sold out to da Man.” Robbie Bell again performs: “Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be Bells” and “Any friend of Ed Peters is a friend of mine”. After the show, Ms. Bell will autograph copies of her mug shot photos. In a salute to “Dancing with the Stars”, Ms. Bell and Hinds County District Attorney Robert Smith will dance the Wango Tango.

Wrestling returns, except this time it will be a Battle Royal with Othor Cain, Ben Allen, Kim Wade, Haley Fisackerly, Alan Lange, and “Big Cat” Donna Ladd all in the ring at the same time. The Battle Royal will be in a steel cage, no time limit, no referee, and the losers must leave town. Marshand Crisler will be the honorary referee (as it gives him a title without actually having to do anything).


Meet KIM Waaaaaade at the Entergy Tent. For five pesos, Kim will sell you a chance to win a deed to a crack house on Ridgeway Street stuffed in the Howard Industries pinata. Don't worry if the pinata is beaten to shreds, as Mr. Wade has Jose, Emmanuel, and Carlos, all illegal immigrants, available as replacements for the it. Upon leaving the Entergy tent, fig leaves will be available in case Entergy literally takes everything you have as part of its Trollfest ticket price adjustment charge.

Donna Ladd of The Jackson Free Press will give several classes on learning how to write. Smearing, writing without factchecking, and reporting only one side of a story will be covered. A donation to pay their taxes will be accepted and she will be signing copies of their former federal tax liens. Ms. Ladd will give a dramatic reading of her two award-winning essays (They received The Jackson Free Press "Best Of" awards.) "Why everything is always about me" and "Why I cover murders better than anyone else in Jackson".

In the spirit of helping those who are less fortunate, Trollfest '09 adopts a cause for which a portion of the proceeds and donations will be donated: Keeping Frank Melton in his home. The “Keep Frank Melton From Being Homeless” booth will sell chances for five dollars to pin the tail on the jackass. John Reeves has graciously volunteered to be the jackass for this honorable excursion into saving Frank's ass. What's an ass between two friends after all? If Mr. Reeves is unable to um, perform, Speaker Billy McCoy has also volunteered as when the word “jackass” was mentioned he immediately ran as fast as he could to sign up.


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If you get tired come relax at the Fox News Tent. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both will entitle you to free drinks.Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required, just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '07 is for EVERYONE!!!

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