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… Continue reading 2021-08-27 General
Author: Ducky
2021-08-26 General
Side Effects This paper says that cloth masks are the worst for speech intelligibility. Use a medical mask. Long COVID This preprint from China says that: The proportion of previously hospitalized patients with COVID who had symptoms dropped from 68% at six months to 49% at 12 months. The proportion with fatigue increased slightly, from… Continue reading 2021-08-26 General
2021-08-26 BC
Mitigation Measures This article says that 75% of Vancouverites approve of the renewed mask mandate. Statistics +724 cases, +2 deaths, +9,079 first doses, +11,283 second doses. Currently 149 in hospital / 83 in ICU, 5,640 active cases, 155,096 recovered. first doses second doses of adults 84.4% 76.7% of over-12s 83.7% 75.6% of all BCers 76.2%… Continue reading 2021-08-26 BC
2021-08-25 BC
Statistics +698 cases, +1 death, +8,023 first doses, +10,247 second doses. Currently 139 in hospital / 75 in ICU, 5,356 active cases, 154,669 recovered. first doses second doses of adults 84.2% 76.5% of over-12s 83.5% 75.4% of all BCers 76.0% 68.5% We have 408,459 doses in fridges; we’ll use it up in 27.4 days at… Continue reading 2021-08-25 BC
2021-08-25 General
Vaccines This preprint says that giving solid organ transplant patients a fourth booster increases antibody levels. I have to wonder when it stops: do we give them five? six? twenty? when the rest of the world is clamoring for their first? This study found that there were three cases of myocarditis per 100K COVID-19 vaccinations,… Continue reading 2021-08-25 General
2021-08-24 BC
Mitigation Measures The province announced a new mask mandate for all indoor public spaces, regardless of vaccination status. This includes mass transit and taxis, but exempts restaurants if seated and fitness centres when actively engaged in physical activity. The province has announced back-to-school plans: Masks will be mandatory in schools above grade 3. Daily health… Continue reading 2021-08-24 BC
2021-08-24 General
Vaccines This thread gives a more general discussion of this preprint and says that while antibody levels in the blood, yeah, do go down for six months, the memory B cells totally rock at ramping up antibodies when needed. This thread gives a more general discussion of this preprint about waning vaccine effectiveness in Israel.… Continue reading 2021-08-24 General
2021-08-23 General
Vaccines This Twitter thread is an excellent discussion of how to understand the “do vaccines wane” discussion. Please go read it. The US FDA today gave full approval to Pfizer, as opposed to the Emergency Use Authorization that it had given. This is important because there were entities which were not legally able to require… Continue reading 2021-08-23 General
2021-08-23 BC
Mitigation Measures The province will be requiring vaccination by 13 September to enter a number of different types of establishments. These include indoor ticketed sporting events, indoor and patio dining in restaurants, fitness centres, casinos, and indoor organized events (e.g. conferences and weddings). UBC will be requiring proof of vaccination to live in the residence… Continue reading 2021-08-23 BC
2021-08-21/22 General
Transmission This great preprint of healthcare workers in the Netherlands finds that despite having similar PCR results for vaccinated and unvaccinated people, vaccinated people actually are less likely to have actual infectious viruses. PCR tests look for pieces of RNA, but the RNA might be fragments, it’s not necessarily whole virus which can cause infection.… Continue reading 2021-08-21/22 General