Mitigation Measures
Whaddayaknow, masks work. This literature review says so.
Variants
B.1.617.2 is now dominant in the UK. This is legit something to worry about, as one dose of vax is only about half as good as two doses.
Vaccines
Some scientists think that COVID-19 immunity from vaccines will last years, if not a lifetime.
Transmission
This study in Spain looked at transmission at an indoor concert with about 500 people in attendence. tl;dr: They found that — with the right testing, masking, and ventilation — there was no spread of COVID-19.
Details:
- The scientists split about a thousand people who tested negative on a rapid test into a concert-goers group or a control group who went home.
- The scientists gave all of the participants a regular PCR test before sending them on to the hall or home. 3% of both the control group and the concert-goers tested positive after the fact on the PCR test.
- The concert-goers had to wear an N95 mask (provided) the whole time except when actually drinking or smoking (in a designated smoking area where distancing was enforced). They didn’t say if people actually did keep the masks on or not.
- The HVAC was set to keep the hall a little chilly so that people could keep their coats on (because there was no coat check) and it was quite well-ventilated.
- Eight days after the concert, everybody was PCR-tested again. NOBODY in the concert group tested positive, while two in the control branch did.
This article says that after a year of distancing, we are likely to get hammered by other types of respiratory viruses like RSV and the flu.
Recommended Reading
This interview touches on many subjects, including mixing&matching vaccines, delaying doses, variants, and more. Relatively short.