Covid surging in Bonaire

[scubadada]

Where are you seeing this? I can't find anything....

Are you a member of Undercurrent? The report was filed yesterday.

 

[tursiops]

Are you a member of Undercurrent? The report was filed yesterday.

Oh, OK, got it. Yes, I'm a subscriber.
I was not looking in Reader Reports. I don't normally read those!

However, I have to read it with a grain of salt.....he trashes VeriFly, but apparently tried to use it to go to Bonaire, for which it is not valid. it is for coming home, and it works well for that.

You have to wonder what the 42 people were doing that caused them to have so many infections. He mentions nothing about vaccinations, masks, or social distancing.

As always, one side of a story is not very helpful.

 

[scubadada]

Oh, OK, got it. Yes, I'm a subscriber.
I was not looking in Reader Reports. I don't normally read those!

However, I have to read it with a grain of salt.....he trashes VeriFly, but apparently tried to use it to go to Bonaire, for which it is not valid. it is for coming home, and it works well for that.

You have to wonder what the 42 people were doing that caused them to have so many infections. He mentions nothing about vaccinations, masks, or social distancing.

As always, one side of a story is not very helpful.

You should read the trip reviews, they are very enlightening, with the grain of salt. They are complimentary to SB, I think somewhat more critical, experienced group, in general. Do you submit your trip reports to Undercurrent, you should.

I agree with you, Verifly worked very well for us coming home from Bonaire. Correct, no information on vaccination status. One side of the story is better than no side. I emailed the Undercurrent author, asking how he thought 11 of them had become infected. We'll see if he answers me.

 

[Joneill]

You have to wonder what the 42 people were doing that caused them to have so many infections. He mentions nothing about vaccinations, masks, or social distancing.

By all accounts, Omicron is incredibly transmissable - so I'd imagine just dining with other folks is enough to easily catch/spread it. All it takes is 1 person in your group to get it and then all bets are off (unless you are all living in bubbles with zero interaction for the whole trip).

Vaccination (and boosting) also means very little as well in terms of contracting Covid at this point - it will likely prevent you from getting seriously ill, but will not prevent infection and transmission. I know plenty of vaccinated and boosted folks who have tested positive with mild or no symptoms over the past 4-6 weeks. Most appear to have gotten it from very casual contacts - not from mass gatherings.

BTW - I confirmed that the group with 9 out of 40 testing positive that I posted about yesterday was staying at Buddy Dive, but have not gotten any other details yet.

 

[scubadada]

So 11/42 at Divi and 9/40 at Buddy Dive. How do these infections occur?

 

[uncfnp]

Vaccination (and boosting) also means very little as well in terms of contracting Covid at this point - it will likely prevent you from getting seriously ill, but will not prevent infection and transmission. I know plenty of vaccinated and boosted folks who have tested positive with mild or no symptoms over the past 4-6 weeks. Most appear to have gotten it from very casual contacts - not from mass gatherings.

Not specific to Omicron…

Covid-19: Booster dose reduces infections and severe illness in over 60s, Israeli study reports

Rates of infection and of severe illness were substantially lower in people aged over 60 who received a booster (third) dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech covid-19 vaccine than in those who had only two doses, Israeli researchers have reported.1 Using the Israeli Ministry of Health database (for 30...

www.bmj.com

“Rates of infection and of severe illness were substantially lower in people aged over 60 who received a booster (third) dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech covid-19 vaccine than in those who had only two doses, Israeli researchers have reported.”

Specific to Omicron…

No Omicron immunity without booster, study finds — Harvard Gazette

Traditional dosing regimens of COVID-19 vaccines available in the United States do not produce antibodies capable of recognizing and neutralizing the Omicron variant, reports a new study.

news.harvard.edu

“The blood samples were used to measure how effectively each vaccine induces production of protective immunity in the form of antibodies against the Omicron pseudovirus, as well as the Delta and wild type viruses. The results were striking. “We detected very little neutralization of the Omicron variant pseudovirus when we used samples taken from people who were recently vaccinated with two doses of mRNA vaccine or one dose of Johnson & Johnson,” says Balazs. “But individuals who received three doses of mRNA vaccine had very significant neutralization against the Omicron variant.”


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Is it perfect? Of course not. But I am going to maximize my protection and at this point it means a booster shot and I plan to time it for 3 to 4 weeks per trip.

I had the 2 dose Pfizer first of 2021 then a breakthrough infection July. Some research suggests that individuals such as myself may have the best immunity but I still plan to give myself an extra boost for all the reason highlighted by the most recent posts. That is if I don’t test positive before then.

 

[Lorenzoid]

But I am going to maximize my protection and at this point it means a booster shot and I plan to time it for 3 to 4 weeks per trip.

Do you mean you plan to time your booster so that you receive it 3-4 weeks before your trip?

By the time of my Bonaire trip in March it will have been four months since my booster. Will protection already be waning? (Rhetorical question, I suppose.)

 

[uncfnp]

Do you mean you plan to time your booster so that you receive it 3-4 weeks before your trip?

By the time of my Bonaire trip in March it will have been four months since my booster. Will protection already be waning? (Rhetorical question, I suppose.)

I would have gotten it sooner had I not had the breakthrough infection. I planned it for the first of the year, 6 months post infection, but the speed of Omicron took me by surprise and I decided to postpone for a number of reasons until the end of January. At 3 weeks after the booster I should have my best shot at travel covid free. Eric is fighting the booster but I think recent events may push him into the booster camp as well.

How long the booster will help is anyone’s guess and depends on the vagaries of the virus but the one study suggested booster protection wanes at 10 weeks. But again, that is just one estimate.

 

[rmorgan]

FWIW, I received this advice from someone in the tourist sector this afternoon: "To give you guys good idea of how everything is on the island right now. All businesses are open and masks are required in grocery stores, etc. The relatively high numbers for Bonaire are mostly young people who are quarantined. The hospital is still not stressed. I wouldn’t be worried about coming right now."

Today's numbers: 156 tested, 96 positive, 25 visitors, 787 active, down 37 since yesterday. Yesterday and today have been the lowest reported positives since January 2, although the percentage of positives is basically unchanged, ranging from 56-62%. The numbers of visitors' negative tests are not published, but if today's reporting includes 5-day PCR results for flights last Wednesday-ish (supposition on my part), then the visitor numbers aren't terrible.

We're scheduled down on the 24th, and are still undecided, but not optimistic.

 

[tbriggsnh]

We're scheduled down on the 24th, and are still undecided, but not optimistic.

My group is heading down the week after you. For me personally it's not the end of the world to have to stay down another 5-7 days but I'd be bored out of my mind if I couldn't go outside. I'm undecided at this point but have exchanged a few emails to see what the $$ penalties would be if we reschedule to early-May.