Variants This article talks about the race to contain B.1.1.529, now formally named Omicron (not Nu). This article reports that Pfizer/BioNTech say that they will know in under two weeks how effective their vax is against Omicron, and that they can have a revamped shot done in 100 days. Moderna says they’ve been working on… Continue reading 2021-11-26 General
Category: General
2021-11-25 General
Variants Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck. Remember how yesterday I wrote this totally depressing analysis of how hard it was going to be to vaccinate our way out of this mess with our current vaccines? It just got harder. There’s a new variant under investigation — B.1.1.529 — with thirty fucking two mutations. People who I follow and respect… Continue reading 2021-11-25 General
2021-11-24 General
I spent a lot of time on my “when will it end” section, immediately below, so I ignored almost all other news. I’ll catch up tomorrow. Mitigation Measures/Vaccines/Opinion/Analysis Everybody wants to know when the pandemic will end — when we can stop masking in grocery stores, when we can go to the Whatsit Expo without… Continue reading 2021-11-24 General
2021-11-23 General
Mitigation Measures I have heard that it is critically important for masks to fit well to be useful, yet most of the people I see wearing masks have big obvious gaps in them. How could these possibly work? And yet, clearly they do. In addition to multiple studies showing mask-wearing reduces cases, pretty much every… Continue reading 2021-11-23 General
2021-11-20/21/22 General
Pathology This article says that people with mental illnesses are at much higher risk of COVID-19 infection, hospitalization, and death. I gather that it’s not the mental illness per se, but the consequences of mental illness that put them at risk. Mitigation Measures This article reports that the Government of Canada has ended its COVID-era… Continue reading 2021-11-20/21/22 General
2021-11-19 General
Vaccines This article reports that Health Canada and NACI have approved the pediatric Pfizer vaccine for 5-11 year olds! Interestingly, NACI says that kids should space the influenza and COVID-19 vaccinations, not because they shots are less effective, but because if there is an adverse effect, they want to be able to tell which shot… Continue reading 2021-11-19 General
2021-11-18 General
Treatments This article talks about the good long-term results of AstraZeneca’s polyclonal antibody (brand name Evusheld). The article says it’s a two shot therapy like a vaccine, and given pre-exposure gives 83% protection over six months, sort of like a vaccine. Unlike a vaccine, however, it should work just as well in people who are… Continue reading 2021-11-18 General
2021-11-17 General
Vaccines This study (in the US) found that for counties with vaccination rates above 40%, for each percentage increase in vaccination rate, the COVID-19 case incidence dropped by 1.5% and the death incidence dropped by 2.7%. Go vaccines! I prefer to wait until things are done-done before publishing about them, but this is important: anonymous… Continue reading 2021-11-17 General
2021-11-16 General
Long COVID This preprint says that they found a chemical signature (elevated IL-1ß, IL-6 and TNF-α) associated with Long COVID. This is good for two reasons: it can help “prove” to doctors that the patients really have Long COVID and aren’t just lazy and it can suggest what the problem is and hence how to… Continue reading 2021-11-16 General
2021-11-13/14/15 General
Vaccines This article says that Novavax — once it gets approved and once the manufacturing line gets booted up in 2022 — will be produced in Montreal! The article says they expect to be able to make about 2M doses per month. This article mentions how the US’ vaccination of young children has an added… Continue reading 2021-11-13/14/15 General