2021-10-29 BC

Mitigation Measures The province announced that the indoors mask mandate was being extended indefinitely. This article reports that BCers can now get the federal vax passport. Statistics +584 cases, +9 deaths. I’m unsure of the vaccinations, but something like +6,797 first doses, +3,787 second doses, +8,731 other doses. Currently 436 in hospital / 156 in… Continue reading 2021-10-29 BC

2021-10-29 General

Vaccines This article says that NACI recommended boosters for a few more groups: People who got two doses of AZ or one of J&J, on the grounds that those seem to wane over time. People over 70 who could become severely ill from the disease. People from First Nations, Inuit and Metis communities. Front-line health-care… Continue reading 2021-10-29 General

2021-10-28 BC

Today’s dashboard vaccine numbers still don’t make any sense, so still no vax charts. Isolation This article says that there has been a spike in cases among Nanaimo’s homeless, who are having difficulty isolating. Mitigation Measures/Assholes This article reports on a court case which is wending its way through the system. There’s a group challenging… Continue reading 2021-10-28 BC

2021-10-28 General

Treatment This paper says that a single infusion of a new-to-me polyclonal antibody — sotrovimab — is 85% effective at preventing hospitalization when given early to high-risk COVID-19 patients. The FDA already gave an EUA to sotrovimab on 26 May; Canada gave interim approval on 30 July (and bought 10,000 doses on 4 October), so… Continue reading 2021-10-28 General

2021-10-27 BC

Note: the province’s dashboard‘s numbers don’t agree with the press release‘s numbers. Furthermore, the dashboard’s vaccination numbers don’t make any sense (+40 first doses, +0 second doses, +0 other doses???). So today, there will be no vaccination stats or charts. Crime This article says that random stranger attacks are up in Vancouver, and speculates that… Continue reading 2021-10-27 BC

2021-10-26 General

Pathology/Treatment A really puzzling and important question has been: why do some people get really really sick from COVID-19 while others breeze through? This preprint reports on measuring the hell out of three groups of people — healthy, hospitalized, and ICE — to figure out what was different between them. They found: At least 10%… Continue reading 2021-10-26 General

2021-10-26 BC

Vaccines / Boosters I got to the briefing late, but other sources say that BC will offer booster to the general population starting in January. There’s no need to register again — you’ll get contacted (just like you were for your first and second doses) between six and eight months after your second dose. They… Continue reading 2021-10-26 BC

2021-10-23/24/25 BC

Transmission This article reports that out of about 68 people at a live music show in Kamloops, all (allegedly) fully vaccinated, at least 18 people have tested positive for COVID-19. (And only 24 have been tested so far.) It sounds like the bar owner was very conscientious, and even so they had wicked spread. Assholes… Continue reading 2021-10-23/24/25 BC

2021-10-23/24/25 General

Transmission In this small study of Italian health-care workers who were tested regularly, all of the people who tested positive but were asymptomatic tested negative the very next day. The mean time for the symptomatic patients to test negative was 11 days. Pathology This preprint says they found SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in the cerebrospinal fluid of… Continue reading 2021-10-23/24/25 General