Covid Booster Shot

[sadoan]

We are sailing out on May 27th and I am scheduled to receive my first covid booster shot on April 29th. 

 

My question is, if I receive the booster can it make me test positive?  Should I wait until we return to receive it?

[Biker19]

Just now, sadoan said:

My question is, if I receive the booster can it make me test positive?  Should I wait until we return to receive it?

No and no.

 

🍿

[smokeybandit]

The booster (or any covid shot) most certainly cannot make you test positive.  

[rudeney]

But it can make you sick, with COVID/Flu-like symptoms, and that would mean a fail the wellness check questionnaire.  But it seems that you have plenty of time between your booster and the cruise, so that shouldn't be an issue.

[Tlbecker1]

We have never tested positive after either of our boosters, you will be fine.

[deliver42]

I'm cruising on the 14th of may, and have decided not to take a chance on the booster before the cruise. I will get my 2nd booster after the cruise. Our next cruise is in december, and by then i hope things settle down, and also stop the testing.

[AlohaLivin]

3 hours ago, rudeney said:

But it can make you sick, with COVID/Flu-like symptoms, and that would mean a fail the wellness check questionnaire.  But it seems that you have plenty of time between your booster and the cruise, so that shouldn't be an issue.

Rare, mild, and very short-lived considering the entire population per the national clinical stats (the made up “data” from FB and the hair-on-fire segment not being considered of course).

Edited April 27, 2022 by AlohaLivin

[tallnthensome]

What does this have to do with Royal Caribbean Cruise Line? 

[AlohaLivin]

54 minutes ago, tallnthensome said:

What does this have to do with Royal Caribbean Cruise Line? 

Nada, not RCCL specifically at least.

Edited April 28, 2022 by AlohaLivin

[rudeney]

2 hours ago, AlohaLivin said:

Rare, mild, and very short-lived considering the entire population per the national clinical stats (the made up “data” from FB and the hair-on-fire segment not being considered of course).

 

Short-lived, yes, but I am not sure about "rare and mild".  At least half the people I know who had mRNA vaccines experienced flu-like symptoms.  I guess they might be mild in terms of not requiring treatment, but most all of them missed a day or two of work.  Unless they sought treatment, and few people would have as they were warned of the side-effects, their cases would not show up in any clinical data.  

[AlohaLivin]

13 minutes ago, rudeney said:

 

Short-lived, yes, but I am not sure about "rare and mild".  At least half the people I know who had mRNA vaccines experienced flu-like symptoms.  I guess they might be mild in terms of not requiring treatment, but most all of them missed a day or two of work.  Unless they sought treatment, and few people would have as they were warned of the side-effects, their cases would not show up in any clinical data.  

I’m a healthcare provider, as is my sister, and that’s what the data has been showing. Most people are not missing work. The most frequent symptom is an arm that has a red rash and that isn’t a majority of people, half do not feel like they have the flu. But I’m not going to continue to debate this, I was throwing out  the facts according to the clinical data vs. casual reporting. It doesn’t help to suggest that conversational data applies to the actual clinical data in the rest of the US or world populations.

[rudeney]

I am not disputing what clinical data shows. I once worked as a statistician and wrote computer programs to track and analyze data with HIV infections.  That was back in the 80's when it was called "AIDS".  The doctor I worked for reported to Anthony Fauci and was funded by the NIH.  I understand how valid scientific data is gathered and tracked.  I also understand that if patients do not seek treatment and report their symptoms, they are not tracked.  That is why something like the number of annual flu cases we report are "estimated".   If we just went by the number of treated cases, we'd miss all the people who have the flu but just treated themselves with OTC meds and rest. 

 

It's the same here.  Many people had flu-like symptoms after the mRNA vaccine, but few sought medical care because they were warned it might happen and accepted it as a known side-effect that would pass in a day or two.  I know anecdotal evidence is not scientific, but when a large majority of people I know said they had these symptoms and most of them missed at least one day of work or other activities because of it, I have to believe there is something to it.  I work for a small company with 14 employees.  All but two of us had side-effects bad enough to miss a day of work.  Of those two, one was me who had the J&J shot, and the other just had not bad symptoms. 

 

Regardless of whether there is some validity to this anecdotal data not, I'd say it's enough to recommend that people avoid taking an mRNA vaccine close to when they need to be healthy for an activity, such as a cruise.