Vaccines I see a lot of anxiety about vaccines decreasing in effectiveness. In the US, Biden announced that third-dose-boosters would start being delivered on 20 August, never mind that the FDA has not yet approved boosters. Here is an example of someone showing the waning effectiveness of the vaccines: But some of the studies have… Continue reading 2021-08-19 General
Category: Mitigation Measures
2021-08-17 General
Variants This article talks about a lot of things, but says: Breakthrough cases appear to be increasing for Delta. However, they don’t give any “before” numbers, and it’s not clear if it’s just because the number of vaccinated people is increasing. The absolute number of breakthrough cases is still low. The average age of a… Continue reading 2021-08-17 General
2021-08-14 General
Mitigation Measures Huh. This web page from the US CDC says that an N95 with an exhalation valve is as good or better at source control (i.e. protecting the people the wearer is close to) than a procedure mask (the standard medical hook-over-your-ears mask that you see unfortunately frequently see lying on the ground as… Continue reading 2021-08-14 General
2021-08-13 General
Hospitalizations An independent statistician pulled together this graph: Why does Quebec have such a fall-off in hospitalizations/confirmed case and ICU admissions/confirmed case when the other provinces do not? Because Quebec does a better job testing/finding cases, so the denominator is bigger. Note that the most recent data is excluded because the episode date is when… Continue reading 2021-08-13 General
2021-07-27 General
Mitigation Measures This article says that the Canadian border guards are close to striking. Supply This article says that Canada now has enough vaccine for two doses for every person over 12. Vaccines This study found way more of a certain kind of impurities in AZ than in J&J, and those impurities sure look like… Continue reading 2021-07-27 General
2021-07-21 General
Mitigation Measures This article reports that the land borders to the US will stay closed to non-essential travel until at least 21 August. American tourists will be able to come here, but Canadian tourists won’t be able to go there by land. (Canadians can still fly to the US with a negative test. The US… Continue reading 2021-07-21 General
2021-07-20 General
Vaccines This article had this stunning graphic of the difference in mortality in the UK due to vaccines: This article reports that vaccines might re-activate dormant chickenpox, leading to shingles. If you are over 50, get a shingles shot! Mitigation Measures This article says that some restrictions in long-term care homes have been lifted. Visits… Continue reading 2021-07-20 General
2021-07-19 General
Mitigation Measures This article says that fully-vaccinated Americans/permanent residents will be able to come to Canada starting on 6 August 9 August; the rest of the world can come starting on 7 September. There are strings: Travellers must present evidence of gotten the full course of shots of some Canada-approved vaccine (Pfizer, Moderna, AZ, or… Continue reading 2021-07-19 General
2021-07-16 General
Vaccines This preprint found that antibody levels wane over time, moreso for AZ than Pfizer, and less so in women. (BNT162b2 is Pfizer; ChAdOx1 is AZ.) Reminder: antibodies are only one element of protection, and the body should be able make more if the B-cells are well-trained. This article says that vaccines for kids 6… Continue reading 2021-07-16 General