Moderna shot lasts … sort of

If you got a Moderna RSV shot last year and think it’ll last through the next season, you’re half right. The company says its vaccination is 50% effective in its second year. That’s bad news for Moderna, as both GSK’s and Pfizer’s RSV shots were more effective — 78% — after 18 months.

Speaking of RSV vaccines

Two decisions out of the CDC. First, the agency tweaked its guidance for the shots, saying, essentially, that’s its Pretty Darned Important for people 75 and older, and Not Quite as Important for people 60-74 (unless they’re at high risk^*).

Second, despite the FDA’s approval of the shots for people 50 and over, the CDC declined to endorse that, meaning insurance probably won’t cover for younger folks.

^* Those with “chronic heart disease, advanced-stage kidney disease, chronic lung illnesses, [or] severe obesity”

Get your Covid vax this fall

The CDC has officially recommended that everyone eligible get an updated Covid-19 vaccination this fall. This might seem obvious — of course you should get a vaccine — but the official recommendation is important for insurance (especially Medicare/caid) coverage.

Covid is still out there; it killed more than 75,500 Americans last year. Perspective: That’s the equivalent of two 737s crashing every single weekday throughout the year.

ICYMI: Multivitamins

The Flintstones are not going to be happy: Apparently multivitamins don’t help you live longer. That’s the result of a pretty big study — almost 400,000 tracked over 27 years — out of the US National Cancer Institute. In fact, taking them was associated with a slightly higher risk of death.

But … that doesn’t mean vitamins can’t help at all, just that a daily multivitamin doesn’t. People (in case you haven’t noticed) are individuals, and they can be deficient in various vitamins and minerals where a targeted supplement can make a big difference.

It’s possible that people who just pop a convenient multivitamin without considering their actual needs are simply less concerned about their health. Could healthier people be more likely to check for and treat deficiencies?

No hidin’ place down there

I went to the rock to hide my face, but the rock cried out, “No hidin’ place!”

In this case the rock is the US Supreme Court, and the people trying to hide were the Sackler family of Purdue Pharma fame.

SCOTUS voted 5-4 that no, the multi-billion-dollar opioid settlement between the family and the government (for the Sacklers’ role in the opioid crisis) cannot give the Family immunity from civil lawsuits.

Although Purdue filed for bankruptcy, the Sacklers did not. The ruling means the whole mess gets sent back to bankruptcy court where this time the Family can’t dodge liability.

Oops, did we capitalize “Family”?

Fungus news: death in the garden

There are “high levels of multidrug-resistant fungi in commercially available compost, soil, and flower bulbs” — high enough to be dangerous to people with compromised immune systems. That’s what UGA agricultural researchers found, and when they say “dangerous,” they mean those people are “facing a near 100% fatality rate if infected with a multidrug-resistant strain.”

As the lead researcher put it, “People don’t think of tulips as deadly, but they could be.”