Author Archives: jbakerjrblog

Pfizer has announced they plan on asking FDA for emergency use approval for a booster COVID-19 vaccine shot. This request seems to be related more to Pfizer’s revenue stream than to any acute need for a booster. There is no evidence of a failure of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine efficacy against any of the variant viruses,Continue reading “Two issues with COVID-19 vaccines: Pfizer wants to do a booster and the Johnson and Johnson vaccine takes another hit.”

President Biden set a goal of having 70% of Americans get one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by July 4. It now appears that we will come in slightly short of that goal as a nation, as Americans will average about 67% of the population having received a single dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by July 4. ThisContinue reading “A missed goal….”

One of my most intelligent friends asked me today why we never talk about the treatment of COVID-19. My sad reply was that we still have no really effective treatments for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Current research still has not identified who is at risk for severe COVID-19. While advanced age and other risk factors such asContinue reading “Why we still have no highly effective therapy for COVID-19.”

I admit to leaning conservative on some issues and reading the Wall Street Journal most days. I believe that their news sections often have less “commentary” on events than many other sources. Unfortunately, their opinion section seems to be increasingly heading off the rails. More and more it publishes observations from uninformed sources that seemContinue reading “The Wall Street Journal finds two “experts” to argue for a COVID vaccination controversy that doesn’t exist.”

Biscuit has been gone over six months, but it turns out he’s been watching from afar the progression of this pandemic. While he’s been heartened by the success of the COVID-19 vaccines, he is disappointed by the discord around their use. His usually astute assessment of the current situation leads him to provide this adviceContinue reading “Biscuit returns to give us the best reasons for people to be COVID-19 vaccinated right now!”

In the noise from the media pronouncements on the coronavirus pandemic there were only a few reliable sources of balanced and insightful analysis of COVID-19 related issues. One of the best was from the Atlantic magazine. I have already written about the role that their COVID tracking project played in monitoring the pandemic at aContinue reading “Ed Yong’s Pulitzer Prize”

Recently there have been a number of reports in the news about heart issues after vaccination. Myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, and pericarditis, an inflammation of the outer lining of the heart, have been reported in some young people after receiving the second dose of the mRNA based COVID vaccines. In both cases, the body’s immune system causesContinue reading “In the news: myocarditis and breakthrough COVID infections after vaccination.”

There continues to be a debate about the origin of SARS-CoV-2 virus. A recurring rumor is that this virus was “engineered by humans as a bioterrorism weapon,” that this was a part of “gain of function research” to “supercharge the virus” at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, and this work was funded by the NIH.Continue reading “SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19, does not appear to be genetically engineered.”

Jon Rham was a sure bet to win this weekend’s Memorial golf tournament, a prestigious event that would have earned him $1.7M. He led by six strokes after three of the four rounds and was playing remarkably well. Unfortunately, as the round ended, he was approached by officials and told that he had tested positive for COVID-19Continue reading “What will be your cost for not getting COVID vaccinated?”

Doctors Rand Paul (Senator) and Anthony Fauci had several testy exchanges when Dr. Fauci testified before a Senate committee. One could boil down the argument on the need to wear masks after being vaccinated to this dichotomy: Dr. Fauci has argued it was crucial to continue to mask for COVID-19 protection, and Senator Paul disputed that assertion andContinue reading “Rand Paul was right on some issues with Dr. Fauci.”