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What does the future hold after COVID will be discussed on Flashpoint, May 28th at 10:00 AM.

Dear loyal readers of pandemicpondering.com. I am back on Flashpoint this Sunday to discuss the future of healthcare in the US after the COVID-19 public health emergency has ended! It is appropriate to discuss this topic on Memorial Day weekend given the tremendous losses we have all suffered and the challenges we face in theContinue reading “What does the future hold after COVID will be discussed on Flashpoint, May 28th at 10:00 AM.”

Where do we go now that the pandemic is over?

Many of you who have been following http://www.Pandemicpondering.com will note that I have taken about a month off to get some perspective on the COVID-19 pandemic and work on other projects. The good news is that the pandemic is over with the United States government ending their “COVID National Emergency” tomorrow, May 11th, and the WHOContinue reading “Where do we go now that the pandemic is over?”

The lab leak finally gets attention

In a post I made first on April 30, 2020, then again on May 27th 2021, I suggested we should focus on the possibility of a laboratory leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology as a source of he COVID-19 pandemic. There finally appears to be bipartisan interest in this, supported by intelligence assessments thatContinue reading “The lab leak finally gets attention”

The pandemic has ended. What should we do now?

The announcement a few weeks ago that President Biden is suspending the COVID-19 emergency declaration on May 11th puts a formal end to this pandemic. As is often the case, this declaration comes long after our society has informally ended its own pandemic precautions. There are a few important implications for the president’s declaration, predominantlyContinue reading “The pandemic has ended. What should we do now?”

What is really happening with these new Omicron COVID virus variants?

Every week or so there seems to be an impassioned announcement of a new Omicron variant of the COVID virus (SARS-CoV-2) that “threatens our population.” The latest, called XBB.1.5, has arrived with great fanfare. It even has been nicknamed “Kraken” because it is supposedly monstrous! XBB.1.5 was first identified in the Eastern United States whereContinue reading “What is really happening with these new Omicron COVID virus variants?”

Are vaccines driving the development of COVID variants? A response to the Wall Street Journal editorial.

I’ve been asked by several readers to evaluate an editorial in the Wall Street Journal with the provocative title “Are vaccines fueling new COVID variants?” This editorial by Allysia Findlay, a non-medical member of the Journal’s editorial board, proposes that vaccinating individuals against COVID-19 is now responsible for driving the creation of new COVID virusContinue reading “Are vaccines driving the development of COVID variants? A response to the Wall Street Journal editorial.”

Good COVID news for the over 50 crowd this Christmas.

While there has been considerable debate about the use and value of COVID-19 interventions in young people, there is no doubt that they are really necessary in older individuals. Essentially 90% of deaths from COVID right now occur in those over 65 years old, and the bulk of the hospitalizations come from people in thisContinue reading “Good COVID news for the over 50 crowd this Christmas.”

Dr. Fauci’s Retirement

I have made no secret about my respect for Tony, who I was fortunate to train with for a brief time 40 years ago. Despite this, I think the current controversy surrounding him was the unfortunate result of several errors he made. One of the biggest was probably taking advice from people like Drs. BobContinue reading “Dr. Fauci’s Retirement”

Let’s all be thankful that it isn’t 1918.

As we try to understand the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, it might be useful to analyze the course of the 1918 influenza pandemic, the closest similar event for which we have accurate public health records. There are interesting parallels and some important differences between what happened in 1918 and the COVID-19 pandemic of theContinue reading “Let’s all be thankful that it isn’t 1918.”