Author Archives: jbakerjrblog

I am sure everyone watched the Sunday morning news shows this week. Statements were made by government representatives about the pandemic extending through 2022 and one of the reasons given was that new virus variants spreading through the world would required new “booster” vaccines. I was actually shocked by several of these statements as justContinue reading “Don’t believe everything you hear on the Sunday morning news shows.”

Today I’d like to address the issue of vaccination of individuals who have already been infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. There is a growing consensus supporting the concept that SARS-CoV-2 immunization may provide better and more broad spectrum immune protection than infection alone. While infection provides protective immunity for six months or more, the immunityContinue reading “Vaccinate the COVID-19 infected?”

Even as much focus has been on vaccination rollout and progress of COVID-19 variants, some researchers are undertaking a study to understand aspects of the virus’ activity. The concept, according to U.K. researchers, is to infect up to 90 people with the SARS-CoV-19 virus in a research setting, determine the minimal amount of virus necessaryContinue reading “Why purposely infect people with COVID-19?”

On Valentine’s day I remarked about the impressive drop in COVID-19 infections observed since late December. The media has picked this up and suggested many reasons behind this fall in infections. Many don’t make much sense, especially citing a change in seasonality of infections since winter “seasonal” increases in respiratory virus infections are usually notContinue reading “Yes, the vaccines are starting to make a difference!”

Tonight, I’m going to recommend that you read a new article in Vox by Benjamin Linas, MD, an infectious disease specialist focused in epidemiology. He relates the story of his three children who are “locked out” of their Brookline, MA public school. He puts the blame for this on the teachers union in the school systemContinue reading “Will children ever get back to school?!”

There is a consistent stream of news on the “variant” SARS-CoV-2 virus from the U.K. This virus variant, known as B.1.1.7, first came to attention in December. Researchers determined that it had rapidly become more common across Britain in just a couple of months. The variant has been described as “fast-spreading” because it is wasContinue reading “What is really happening with “dangerous variant” COVID-19 infections in the United Kingdom?”

The news on COVID-19 infection numbers this Valentines Day continues to be good! New cases per 100,000 individuals remain low, even in California. Texas and Tennessee remain the only outliers. The number of new cases continues to drop and has been below 100,000 for several days. Even in the states with the most new cases,Continue reading “A valentine of a report on current COVID-19 infections in the U.S.”

According to an article from the Wall Street Journal, crucial information regarding the beginning of the pandemic has been withheld from WHO investigators during their visit to China.  Identified information about the earliest illnesses that appeared to be related 2 SARS Co V2 infection was withheld and not provided to the WHO. This meant thatContinue reading “Updates on two COVID-19 stories related to China.”

At the end of a week when more vaccination sites seem to be closing than opening (due to lack of the vaccine), Dr. Tony Fauci exhibited unbridled enthusiasm for vaccine availability by April. His exact words are, “If you look at the projection, I would imagine by the time we get to April, that willContinue reading “Fauci reiterates: Everyone will have vaccine by April!”

Children are now thought to be a less vulnerable population for COVID-19. Not only do they effectively handle the infection, they also appeared to shed less virus and therefore tend to infect fewer people. The CDC has even indicated that elementary schools should be reopened without vaccinations of students as they do not provide highContinue reading “Why vaccinate children? We have barely started the elderly!”