Variants
This preprint says that Delta is twice as likely to put you into the hospital than Alpha is.
Transmission
This article says that the US has identified the first cases of COVID-19 in deer. That’s kind of odd, because this article from July 2021 says that the USDA found antibodies in deer. Maybe it’s just that they confirmed it?
This preprint says that household transmission has gone up over time, which is consisant with the variants getting more contagious.
Vaccines
Canada approved Moderna for use in kids over 12.
This preprint from Qatar says that the Pfizer effectiveness against infection goes down to zero over time. (It’s still way effective against severe illness/death, though.)
I have a bit of a hard time believing that the effectiveness goes to zero after 25 weeks because it’s such an outlier. Diminished yes, but gone?
Someone on Twitter points out that there was a huge rise in cases with the introduction of Delta, and says that the data on effectiveness is being confounded by the effects of Delta.
This preprint says that vaccine effectiveness (as measured in test tubes) was way lower for the elderly than for young health care workers.
Long COVID
This paper says that 84.2% of people who had been hospitalized with COVID-19 didn’t feel like they were back to their pre-COVID levels.
This paper also says that ~20% had a job loss or change, ~38% had a loved one who had to take a lot of time off of work, and ~23% said they depleted their savings.
Symptoms
This preprint says that about 1/3 of all cases are truly asymptomatic (as opposed to pre-symptomatic), and that younger people are more likely to be asymptomatic. People with co-morbidities are more likely to show symptoms.
Side effects
No, COVID-19 vaccines do not affect your fertility (although getting the disease can).