The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, its boosters and third dose shots are the only ones that have full FDA approval, while Moderna is offering third dose shots at many pharmacies in multiple states without official FDA approval and without doctor recommendation. The third dose of Moderna is exactly the same as the first two shots, and a booster shot is typically a half dose. Currently, the Moderna vaccine, as well as its booster and third dose shots, are approved for emergency use and the FDA will be meeting in mid-October to discuss further approval for Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.

“Pfizer is the only approved Covid booster available right now,” said Dr. Yolanda Reyes, a neurologist in Miami, Florida. During the pandemic, she was called in as an emergency doctor to help treat Covid-19 patients while hospitals were at their max capacity. “If you got Pfizer, you can take the booster six months after your last shot, especially if you’re at risk, like being over the age of 65. Your booster shot should match whatever your other vaccines were. So if you got Moderna, you shouldn’t mix it with Pfizer.”

Dr. Reyes’ statements match the CDC’s website on booster shot guidelines: don’t mix your shots, and only take it if you fall into a certain group of high-risk individuals that may need greater protection, such as healthcare workers.

“I’m a healthcare worker exposed to Covid every day,” said Dr. Reyes. “I’m 59, not over 65, but I’m older. Maybe if I was a younger doctor, my response would be different because I think my immune system will be able to handle it. But since I’m older, I’m taking the booster because immunity from the shot goes down over time and I need to be protected, especially to help others.”

Despite these guidelines, there is still confusion across these high risk groups regarding booster shots, especially those who received a Moderna vaccine. In pharmacies across the country, Moderna “boosters” are being offered, which are usually just a third shot with a full dose of the vaccine, exactly the same as the first two shots.

“It was my understanding at the time that I got it that it was the exact same shot that I got on the previous two times, which would be the full dose, although I thought maybe I would be getting a half dose,” said Laura Bonavita, a Jupiter, Florida resident who got a third dose of Moderna. 

Bonavita sought out a booster shot because she has an autoimmune disorder and was traveling soon. With many airlines back at full capacity, she wanted some extra protection before her flight.

“Even though I do wear my mask all the time and I carry hand sanitizer, I just felt that I would be better prepared if I would get the third dose,” said Bonavita. “So, I got my third dose without talking to my doctor first. I just went ahead and got it at a pharmacy because I knew I was going to be on an airplane.”

All she had to do was list her existing conditions that qualify her need for a booster once she got to the pharmacy . She did not have to show proof of her existing conditions. 

Some people over the age of 65 were waiting for the news of a third dose to come out, hoping it would reinforce their immune system and give them further protection. Older residents have also found that their side effects from the vaccine are similar to how they reacted to the first two doses.

“I got vaccinated because I wanted to feel protected from Covid-19, especially at my age,” said Orfilia Barrientos, 89, a Miami resident. “After the booster shot, I had no reactions or symptoms, it was not painful or uncomfortable at all. I do feel much safer knowing I have it, especially since new variants can always appear.”

 Dr. Reyes encourages her reluctant patients to take the vaccine anyways, if not for themselves, then for those around them.

“Taking your booster doesn’t mean that you have less immunity, or that the first two shots that you took were not effective,” said Dr. Reyes. “What it means is that we know that the effectiveness of vaccination decreases over time. So getting a booster is exactly that, it’s a booster. You’re going to boost, or help out, your immune system.”

And, many agree, increasing vaccination rates is the only way to bring society back to a safer, more normal life. 

“I’d recommend everyone that can get vaccinated to do so,” said Barrientos. “It’s the only way we’ll start to see normalcy again.”

The post Covid-19 Booster Offers More Protection and Confusion appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

New York City smoke shop owners are worried that the state’s ban on flavored e-cigarettes could hurt their business and open a door for illegal underground markets. 

After New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced an “emergency executive action” on Sunday to ban flavored vape products, local smoke shop owners are concerned that the ban  would directly affect their businesses and eventually force them to close. 

Hazem Flaco, owner of The Village Hemp Shop on MacDougal Street, said that flavored vape products take up to around 70 to 80 percent of his sales. 

“The majority of my customers were here for the flavored e-cigarette,” Flaco said. “Now most of them are moving either to non-flavored or even worse,  switching back to traditional cigarettes.”

John Ranni, a convenience store owner on Bleecker Street, said around 60 percent of his customers switched to e-cigarette from tobacco over the past few years, and most of them use flavored vape. 

“Thank god I sell beers and other products in my store,” Ranni said. “Otherwise I will be out of business just like a lot of smoke shops here.”

Outside of Convenience store Smoke & Beer on Bleecker Street in Manhattan, a poster of Juul and nicotine oils is placed in front of the store. The owner of the store John Ranni is expecting a decline in the store’s e-cigarette business as a result of the state’s recent ban on flavored vape. Photo by Shiyu Xu.

Following a recent ban in Michigan and a call from President Trump for a federal prohibition on certain vaping products, Cuomo pushed the state for a ban on flavored e-cigarettes. 

The effort from both the state and federal levels to ban flavored vaping products is a response to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report, which shows 380 confirmed or probable cases of lung disease related to vaping in 36 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands, with six confirmed deaths.

A  2018 National Institute of Health study shows an increasing proportion of high school seniors who reported vaping in the past year with a 10 percent rise as of 2017, and the percent of 12th graders who say they vaped “just flavoring” in the past year also increased to 25.7 percent in 2018 from 20.6 percent in 2017. In July, Cuomo signed a law that raised the minimum age for purchasing tobacco and e-cigarettes in the state from 18 to 21.

What upset both Flaco and Ranni the most, was that the ban would open a door for illegal underground markets to sell more flavored vape products, which they believed were the true cause for lung diseases and deaths.  

“It’s just gonna open doors to illegal and black markets, but it’s not gonna do anything with all the health issues that are going on,” Flaco said. “Just imagine how much money that black markets will make out of this situation.”

Ranni said that now he has to check his customers’ IDs because he is concerned that some of them might sell second hand to those unlicensed sellers on the street. 

“The problems are the underground markets that sell fake THC oil coming from other countries or even homemade for cheaper prices,” Ranni said. “The health issues are caused by the illegal market products, not the flavored vape.”

Shelves of JUUL  and other e-cigarette products at Smoke & Beer on Bleecker Street in Manhattan.  Photo by Shiyu Xu.

While FDA is finalizing the plans to ban all flavored e-cigarettes nationwide, including mint and menthol, some consumers express frustration.

Amir Podoswa, 22, a consumer of flavored e-cigarettes for years, called the ban a “government overreach” and “public policy failure” that lacks accurate scientific evidence from CDC.

“People don’t smoke because it tastes good,” Podoswa said. “If the law does pass, I wouldn’t be surprised to see many people, including myself, turn back to tobacco products.”

Podoswa said he understands that the law intends to prevent underage vaping, but without any strong scientific support that confirms the fatal harm of flavored vape, it seems unfair for e-cigarette users.

“I mean, if they really want underage people to stop vaping, how about actually enforcing the currently existing law that prohibits them from doing so, instead of punishing the consumer,” Podoswa said. “The only rational conclusion that I can think of is that this is an effort of the tobacco lobby to regain the market they have lost.”

The post Ban on flavored vape could hurt NYC smoke shops appeared first on Pavement Pieces.