Vaccines I have been very excited about NDV-HXP-S, which uses a 6-proline substitution (which makes the spike protein more stable) of the spike protein called Hexapro. Well, today a preprint came out with preliminary results that have two really good results in mice modified to have a human immune system. First, they developed an awesome… Continue reading 2021-05-31 General
Category: Variants
2021-05-29 General
Vaccines If I understand this paper correctly, scientists found spike protein in the blood of mice after vaccinating them with AZ. (See previous discussion of why that matters in the 26 May General blog posting.) There have been a number of papers which say that you are much less likely to transmit COVID if you… Continue reading 2021-05-29 General
2021-05-28 General
Variants This paper says that the antibody response from a Pfizer vax to B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 is lower, but the T-cell response is just fine. That means there will be a few more cases in a B.1.1.7- or B.1.351-rich environment, but there won’t be severe cases. A lot of people are worried about the B.1.617.2… Continue reading 2021-05-28 General
2021-05-27 General
Mitigation Measures Whaddayaknow, masks work. This literature review says so. Variants B.1.617.2 is now dominant in the UK. This is legit something to worry about, as one dose of vax is only about half as good as two doses. Vaccines Some scientists think that COVID-19 immunity from vaccines will last years, if not a lifetime.… Continue reading 2021-05-27 General
2021-05-22/23 General
Yesterday was a bit of a slow news day, plus I uh forgot to hit the Publish button, so today you get a 2-for-1 post! Schools A US CDC report says that schools that required teachers and staff to use masks had 37% lower rates of COVID-19. Schools which improved ventilation had 39% lower rates… Continue reading 2021-05-22/23 General
2021-05-12 General
Variants There is a somewhat worrying report from Qatar saying that the efficacy of only one dose of Pfizer is only 29.5% against infection from B.1.1.7 and 54% against hospitalization. If you only have one dose, maybe don’t go licking doorknobs just yet. However, this report, also out today, from the UK from December to… Continue reading 2021-05-12 General
2021-05-11 General
Secondary Effects A study in the UK says that diabetes diagnosis, management, and mortality have been impacted pretty badly during the pandemic. 🙁 Vaccinations Today, Canada passed the 40% mark in what percentage of its population has gotten at least one dose, and it doesn’t look like the vaccination rate is slowing down at all!… Continue reading 2021-05-11 General
2021-05-08 General
Immunity A huuuge study in Denmark looked for reinfections and from that, figured out the efficacy of getting sick in preventing later infections and found that it was 80·5%, 47·1% for those aged 65 years and older. And yes, mRNA vaccines are like 95% efficient, so yes, the mRNA vaccines are higher efficacy than actually… Continue reading 2021-05-08 General
2021-05-07 General
Drug interactions Apparently some people were worried that Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) would make a COVID infection worse. Not so, says this study. Variants Remember yesterday when I said that B.1.617.2 was not of concern? I was too fast. While it does not seem to have unusually good immunity/vaccine evasion, it does seem to be… Continue reading 2021-05-07 General
2021-05-06 General
My computer is in the shop, and working with my other computers is extremely painful, so these posts are likely to be shorter in the next six days. I particularly am likely to skip posting many “oh look, vaccines again show that they are really effective!” unless it is against a VOC. Variants There was… Continue reading 2021-05-06 General