Dontshootrude

Sorry if this has been discussed before, but another mRNA vaccine, CureVac, failed clinical trials. The only significant difference between it and the Pfizer vaccine was Curevac decided to use the naturally occurring base uracil, whereas Pfizer and Moderna decided to use a psuedobase in its place that was less immunogenic. That one change dropped the efficacy from 95% to below 40%. It is hard to believe how lucky we have been.

Full disclosure: I do not fully understand the lipid capsules. Very few people do. I do know they are incredibly complex and require very specific conditions to create and manufacture. I know more about immunology, and I know enough to know our knowledge and understanding of the system are incomplete at best. The mRNA vaccines have been an incredible achievement, and we are extremely fortunate everything came together like they did. If they had been delayed just a few more months our entire health care system would have completely collapsed during the Delta wave. To me, the risk of the known unknowns and unknown unknowns with a 3rd shot are not worth it when efficacy against severe disease remains at 90%+ for the majority of those vaccinated.

I wish it were that simple, but the delivery was one of the biggest challenges that was worked on over the last 20 years. We have the lipid capsules for mRNA and a couple proven adenovirus vectors that seem to work well. You can't just wave a magic wand and come up with a new system.

I'm not sure the delivery systems used by Pfizer and Moderna differ all that much. There are very few people in the world that really understand that lipid capsule technology and I would imagine they have reached similar conclusions. This is speculation on my part so maybe you have more knowledge than I do? And I wouldn't bank on them being easily modifiable. The current construction seems to be doing a good job stimulating the immune system which negates the need for an adjuvant to the vaccine, but that is exactly what has me concerned that we could see a cumulative effect that would reduce the effectiveness of the vaccines with every shot. Adjuvants in traditional vaccines are not carrying the actual target, so they can stimulate the immune system without the worry of reduced efficacy. These are so new we have no data to know definitively either way, which is why I caution people to not rush out and get them when the risk of what you are vaccinating for is incredibly low. Without more data it just isn't worth it.

The vaccine mixing studies will be important for you too. Data out of the UK suggests that combining the Astrazeneca vaccine with the Pfizer vaccine results in a better immune response compared to sticking with the same vaccine. You might be better served getting a J&J shot if you got an mRNA vaccine initially. It will be interesting to see what the vaccine recommendations and schedule looks like once we have all that data.

You are in the category where the risk/reward ratio begins to make sense. Talk to your doctor to confirm.

Reading the last couple pages of this thread, I can't help but jump in here. I'm a molecular biologist. I'm happy to verify with the mods, just PM me so I don't dox myself. I have not read most of this thread, so I apologize if what I'm about to say is redundant. Unless you are significantly immunocompromised, frail, living in a long term care facility, or specifically told to by your health care professional, I would encourage everyone to hold off getting a third shot for several reasons. 1. Efficacy against severe disease/hospitalization/death is still holding up well. The Israeli data that a lot of the panic is based on is a statistical anomaly, discussed in detail here. The vast majority of breakthrough cases in healthy people are very mild. The severe cases are concentrated among those that are extremely frail and with a significant number of comorbidities. 2. We have no high power studies examining the safety of a third shot. I'm at a loss why this would be publicly announced before we had clear data that this is a safe choice. 3. We have no idea if giving subsequent shots will reduce the efficacy of the delivery system. We know this is happening with the adenovirus vector vaccines (J&J and Astrazeneca).The mRNA is encapsulated in a lipid shell. It is possible that the immune system will begin to recognize this as foreign, mount a response against it, and develop memory. This could result in every mRNA vaccine you receive going forward will become less and less effective. This could have really significant consequences, because not only will mRNA vaccines likely continue to be the first vaccines available in future pandemics/health crises, but these also have huge potential to be very effective tools against cancer. To me, it seems like a pretty poor tradeoff to get a third shot to prevent a cold in exchange for potentially limiting your options to respond to significant health issues down the road. There are several ongoing studies that are examining the efficacy and safety of mixing and matching vaccines. I'm middle aged and don't have any known health issues, so I've made up my mind to not get another mRNA shot or a J&J shot for COVID as long as something crazy doesn't happen like efficacy against severe disease plummeting. The studies I'm waiting for revolve around Novavax. This is a subunit vaccine (injects the spike protein directly) much like the flu shot, and it will mitigate the risks I outlined in point 3. As long as the safety/efficacy data of using Novavax after vaccination with an mRNA vaccine looks good I will be willing to roll up my sleeve again. And for those that haven't, I strongly suggest you read the article in my prior post. The immune system is a highly complex and dynamic thing. Antibodies alone do not tell the complete story of protection, so don't freak out if you don't have enough antibodies to pay off the Loch Ness monster. Just food for thought. I'm happy to answer questions.

Great article on immunity and the necessity of a third shot: https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2021/09/waning-immunity-not-crisis-right-now/619965/

Been vaccinated since February 9th. I've been to several Crawfish boils without fear.

Ballgame.

I've done 4 cooks so far, about 7-8 hours of burn time and I'm still on the same tank.

That's an interesting thought. I froze an aliquot from passage 2. I'll have to sequence it along with a sample a few months from now and see how they compare.

Here's my next foray in pizza experimentation. I obtained starters from Naples, Ishia Island and Finland. Supposedly using a high quality starter will take the dough to the next level. It will take me a week to get them fully activated then it will be game on.

Lock thread. Unless you can count your teeth on one hand Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge is a shit hole. Asheville is awesome and Pisgah national forest is amazing. Concentrate your efforts there.

I've been tempted to get the cast iron sizzler plate but as of yet no. I'd be interested in hearing people's experiences using it for applications other than pizza.

Me too, but I'm skeptical of that website. It screams a scam site that takes your credit card info and never ships any product.

$6k? I can think of better ways to spend $6k but if you want to print out a bunch of cardboard globes I guess this product is for you. Go for it and report back.

It's been a while since I've posted here and I remember that for whatever reason imgur hates Texas football. Reuploading the pics.

I thought about an Ooni pro but the reviews I read are that the pizza cooks so fast and the fires burn so clean and hot that you can't taste the difference between propane and wood. I couldn't justify the extra cost compared to the Koda 16.

I just got my koda 16 and I love it as well. Have you settled on a dough? For dough I'm replicating Varasano's instructions with an Italian yeast starter and it's coming out great. If you haven't read his blog it is a great resource for homemade pizza, especially if you have a high temp oven like an Ooni. http://www.varasanos.com/PizzaRecipe.htm#Tier 1 The turning peel is a great tool by the way. Highly recommend.

You can also buy adjustable gas plugs that allow you to use modern ammo. https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1004719245?pid=412046

Sorry it has been a while since I logged on. I use a disposable aluminum pan on top of the deflector plate and under the cooking grates when I'm doing pork butts. I'm not exactly sure how tall they are but they are higher than 1/4". When I fill it with water I'll still have water in it at the end of a 14 hour cook. You can kind of see it in this pic:

Buzzrock owning the thread.

Looks incredible. Is 48 hours Overkill? How long at 500 and any advice for the red wine reduction?