Justine Collum (she/her) 💖💜💙

Still masking. And doing a lot of other stuff mainly because y’all aren’t pulling your weight. Founder @BiVisibilitySTL

[aceplym @aceplym]

@sanrio Next year, Big Challenges, next year will be our year...

[Kelly @broadwaybabyto]

At ER with a POTS flare - heart rate is 180 at triage.

Nurse: “Are you fighting with your boyfriend sweetie?”

Me (somewhat indignant) “I don’t have a boyfriend. I have POTS”

Doctor: “Single? At your age? How come? You don’t want to be married?”

🧵/1

[Kelly @broadwaybabyto]

We need more HCWs masking - and far less psychologizing.

We must recognize that patients are the experts in their bodies and can provide valuable input into a possible diagnosis.

Let us be partners in our care - and believe us when we say something is wrong. /10

[Cameron @CamKolBergh02C]

Case in point

[Gators Daily 🐊 @GatorsDaily]

ITS CROCTOBER BABY

[Justine Collum (she/her) 💖💜💙 @jcollum682]

We’re playing with my friend’s Cricut and they made themself a Seattle Seawards can kooky - h/t @iamsambee

[Justine Collum (she/her) 💖💜💙 @jcollum682]

@MoonPie Now my dad is worried about us

[Friesein @Friesein]

Parents: The FDA is putting you in an extraordinarily unfair position on COVID vaccine selection.

Right as school is starting, they're going to force you to choose between vaccinating your child with mRNA now or waiting an unspecified amount of time for Novavax.

The mRNA option offered is a bit too specific, and should have been targeted to JN.1 instead of KP.2 (the mutational trunk, not a branch). The WHO presented reasoning in favor of selecting JN.1 instead of a KP sub-lineage since it was broader and more likely to be a common denominator with future variants. The VRBPAC committee agreed with this rationale and voted accordingly.

During the meeting, Dr. Peter Marks (director of the CBER) had tried and failed to propose selection of KP.2, knowing that only the mRNA providers would be able to meet that goal. The committee didn't agree with his reasoning.

Instead of adopting the WHO guidance and committee vote, the committee was circumvented and a press release was issued after the committee vote to select JN.1, announcing that providers would be able to target KP.2 instead at their discretion.

Then after doing all of this, as they have done before, they delayed approval of Novavax for an unknown reason, right as school starts.

To add to the frustration, Novavax's JN.1 vaccine has shown to be more efficient at neutralizing KP.3.1.1 (the dominant strain that is fueling the current wave) than other outdated KP lineages, but it is sitting in a warehouse unused. The fact that we do not already have access to this vaccine, and the fact that FDA will likely not make it available for at least another month (after school has started) is, frankly, negligence at best.

No parent should have to choose between a potentially more effective vaccine and a less effective one because the less effective one happens to be available. We are on the third formulation of Novavax's COVID vaccine, and every single time the FDA has tipped the scale so that mRNA comes out before Novavax. This needs to stop.

We need access to the best remedies and prevention for COVID as soon as possible. Novavax would have been ready to provide the updated vaccine in July if FDA were able to meet that deadline. Safety is not the driving factor in these delays. The clinical characteristics and safety profile of Novavax remains the same in spite of an altered strain selection.

If you are angry, just as I am, I am asking you to write and call the FDA to express your frustration. I will provide contact details on the following tweets. Let's put them in the hot seat. Make them explain why they're playing games with our kids' safety and limiting our choices.

If we do not get a satisfactory answer, then other options should be pursued.

[Justine Collum (she/her) 💖💜💙 @jcollum682]

It makes sense that it’s my 10th anniversary on Twitter - I joined to keep up on news and livestreams and protest stuff during the Ferguson Uprising. Mike Brown Forever. #MyXAnniversary

[Justine Collum (she/her) 💖💜💙 @jcollum682]

This video is 🥵🥵🥵🫡🏆 I’ve loved @adamconover ever since my teen called me out on stigmatizing herpes and made me watch an Adam Ruins Everything about it many years ago. Not to be dramatic but it did change my life. And he’s still out here doing the Lord’s work

[Adam Conover @adamconover]

I got a little intense at the @animationguild rally. Writers and actors stand with animation workers!!

[Adam Conover @adamconover]

I got a little intense at the @animationguild rally. Writers and actors stand with animation workers!!

[Nick #RespiratorsFilterAllPathogens😷 Anderegg @NickAnderegg]

Let me start by saying AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

Turns out SARS-CoV-2 RAPIDLY infects the NERVOUS SYSTEM long BEFORE it even enters the bloodstream.

These findings have huge implications! Here's an analysis of the study, written for a general audience. (Sorry in advance!)

1/many

[Sue J @SMpwrgr]

22yo "heartbroken many times" by sport she loves

When cvd hit she was plagued by illness, with multiple surgeries & suffering glandular fever & 2 strains of flu

Forced to stop training to recover, her future was uncertain

Made it to Paris & infected 😞

https://t.co/UAgXisj7zI

[Sue J @SMpwrgr]

1/2 This is heartbreaking 💔

Lani Pallister has withdrawn from the 1500m freestyle event due to a positive test to cvd

Pallister had withdrawn from the 400m freestyle ‘race of the century’ to focus on the longer event.

😞 https://t.co/IHIG5wg7LO

[Justine Collum (she/her) 💖💜💙 @jcollum682]

@ravengurl65 @MellilianFlyer @1goodtern Tbh I use “lockdown” even though I know it’s inaccurate, because it works to get people mentally to where I’m going for very quickly

[Aaron Collins @masknerd]

Thank you Violet for advocating for clean air. It's not always easy to stand up and speak out when so many others want to ignore a problem. @BenAffleck sometimes the smallest acts can lead to biggest changes, I hope you can support her efforts.
https://t.co/x8MqnI3srN

[Justine Collum (she/her) 💖💜💙 @jcollum682]

@JulieSax @masknerd Consider this thought experiment: “Are there any circumstances where you'd feel comfortable enough not to practice safer sex with strangers? HIV is a permanent part of our lives now, will you use condoms permanently?”

[Justine Collum (she/her) 💖💜💙 @jcollum682]

@LauraMiner100 @soupieboie @masknerd And it might not be the most common way to get COVID, but it’s a really common way to get H5N1, which I’m also watching.

[Justine Collum (she/her) 💖💜💙 @jcollum682]

@MunsingLaw @masknerd If you have the choice between an N95 that isn’t right for your face shape and gaps vs. a surgical mask that fits very well and has no gaps, you’ll be safer in the surgical mask even if the N95 is higher quality. It has to be well fitting, period.

[Ziyad Al-Aly, MD @zalaly]

We are experiencing a Covid surge

Here are some facts

Covid leads to more hospitalizations than flu
Covid leads to more deaths than flu
Covid is NOT seasonal; flu is
Even mild COVID can cause #LongCovid

According to CDC, COVID hospitalization rates are double those of the flu