COVID effects A study in the UK found that about a third of COVID survivors were diagnosed with neurological disorders, with about a quarter of the total COVID patients getting their first-ever neurological diagnosis. (My interpretation says that this is things which happened during their first bout and Long COVID — they didn’t separate them.)… Continue reading 2021-04-06 General
Author: Ducky
2021-04-04/5 General
Vaccines Great news! There’s a next-gen, (probably) really effective, easy to make, cheap COVID-19 vaccine on the horizon! The COVID19 spike sidles up to the ACE2 receptor, and when the spike docks, it changes shape. Many of the vaccines (Pfizer, Moderna, J&J) use a modification (the two proline, or 2P, modification) to the spike genome… Continue reading 2021-04-04/5 General
2021-04-04/5 BC
Supply I want to point out that it’s now been almost a month since Novavax finished its Phase 3 trials in the UK, and it’s been taking about a month between Ph3 and approval. Novavax looks like a fine vax, is fridge-stable, we’ve ordered 76M doses, and no other country has approved it. They have… Continue reading 2021-04-04/5 BC
2021-04-2/3 BC
It’s been kind of slow, with Good Friday yesterday and a Saturday today. Hockey Fourteen Canucks players and three coaches have tested positive for COVID, and the reports are that the P.1 variant is in at least some of the players. Games will be postponed until at least April 8, but daaaayam, 14 players out… Continue reading 2021-04-2/3 BC
2021-04-01 BC
Vaccine Clinics My sources tell me that the clinic at the Vancouver Convention Centre has about 20 vaccinators, with about 6 greeters and 6 check-in people. The Province announced that workers must be given time off to take the vaccine. Supply An article about supply says: 300 kilodoses of the vax which Canada withdrew from… Continue reading 2021-04-01 BC
2021-04-01 General
Vaccines There is yet another study showing how good the vaccines are. This one, from Pfizer, shows that the vaccine remains 91% effective for at least six months, and is fully effective against B.1.351. Canada has given regulatory approval to the factory which made the AstraZeneca doses which the US is loaning to Canada! The… Continue reading 2021-04-01 General
2021-03-31 BC
Vaccinations Apparently, the three London Drugs locations which are offering AZ doses to ages 55-65 in the Lower Mainland took appointments last night and are now full. Meanwhile, the ~150 Shoppers Drugs locations don’t have an online booking system, and they are getting swamped. I was concerned yesterday that the appointment booking eligibility was stuck… Continue reading 2021-03-31 BC
2021-03-31 General
Vaccines Great news! Preliminary results say that the Pfizer vax works great in adolescents! This was to be expected, but this means we are methodically getting closer to being able to vaccinate children. More and more studies are showing that vaccines reduce asymptomatic infection by a lot — between about 75 and 95%, depending on… Continue reading 2021-03-31 General
2021-03-30 BC
Vaccinations Today, the province announced that people between 55 and 65 in the Lower Mainland can sign up for AstraZeneca shots tomorrow via their local pharmacies. Unofficial channels say that the province hopes to post a list of the pharmacies tomorrow. There are about 430K people between 55 and 65 in the Lower Mainland; we… Continue reading 2021-03-30 BC
2021-03-30 General
Vaccines Yet another paper which finds that, surprisingly, antibodies against COVID Classic work much better against P.1 than against B.1.351. A paper says that AstraZeneca is 70% effective at preventing symptomatic COVID from B.1.1.7 and only 29% effective against asymptomatic COVID from B.1.1.7, ouch. The paper says that it is 82% effective against symptomatic illness… Continue reading 2021-03-30 General