Three pieces of good news from publications that together indicate that immunity obtained from infection with SARS-CoV-2 will protect against further infection, COVID illness, and from infecting other individuals with the virus. The first study in the journal Science examines rhesus macaques infected with SARS–CoV-2. All of the animals who were infected had clinical illness compatible withContinue reading “SARS-CoV-2 immunity looks stronger than many expected.”
Author Archives: jbakerjrblog
Who gets the vaccine first!
The hang over from yesterday’s party over Moderna’s COVID vaccine results roiled pundits and the market. Obviously, the minimal amount of data released yesterday doesn’t allow anyone to make a definitive conclusion about whether the vaccine will work. I mentioned all these concerns in my post on the vaccine news yesterday, so today I don’tContinue reading “Who gets the vaccine first!”
The beginning of the end of the pandemic?
Today’s big news was Moderna’s press release of the results from the Phase I clinical trial of its Coronavirus vaccine. The vaccine, comprised of RNA coding for the spike protein of COVID, induces the cells in the recipient to produce portions of the coronavirus protein, which then induce an immune response. The vaccine showed noContinue reading “The beginning of the end of the pandemic?”
COVID hospitalization rates continue to fall despite reductions in social distancing.
Today, there were several stories addressing Secretary Azar’s comments that many states with higher levels of COVID infection are now seeing fewer new cases. He was quoted remarking that in states reducing social restrictions increases in COVID cases aren’t being seen. The reasons behind this may be complex but important to verify. Since reduced socialContinue reading “COVID hospitalization rates continue to fall despite reductions in social distancing.”
Biscuit and Nindy get good news! We get the worst COVID ideas of the week
While most of us were frustrated this week by bizarre federal hearings and the seeming lack of progress in managing the pandemic, Biscuit was ecstatic! First, both Biscuit and Nindy started shedding with the warm weather, so they don’t need haircuts like everyone else in the house. Then both were happy to hear that notContinue reading “Biscuit and Nindy get good news! We get the worst COVID ideas of the week”
An additional problem with the national testing program.
After I published a blog post outlining the problems with the national testing program, another issue surfaced. A paper in the Annals of Internal Medicine showed that the window of accuracy for testing people for coronavirus infection is very narrow. Patients tested too early or late after the onset of symptoms showed false negative resultsContinue reading “An additional problem with the national testing program.”
FDA issues an alert about the Abbott ID NOW.
Today the FDA published an alert on the Abbott ID NOW COVID screening test. I refer you to my post on this issue from two days ago.
The proposed US COVID testing program is inherently flawed.
A commonly heard refrain has been the call for COVID testing as a preamble to reducing social distancing. The concept underlying this is that people will be screened to identify infected individuals, and then they and their contacts will be identified and isolated. This will control transmission and reduce the number of infections. While thisContinue reading “The proposed US COVID testing program is inherently flawed.”
Yahoo “News” screws up; but states need to do better when counting COVID.
Yahoo! “News” has an article today that demonstrates what is wrong with internet coverage of COVID. The article, entitled “Greatest Increases of COVID Deaths Projected in Republican states,” at first confused me, because it wasn’t clear what a “Republican state” is. The author, Kristin Myers, seems to define a kind of state that isn’t in theContinue reading “Yahoo “News” screws up; but states need to do better when counting COVID.”
Flash; You may not want to be tested for COVID-19 using the Abbott ID NOW.
Today, a paper available online reinforced concerns that the Abbott ID NOW, a rapid molecular (genetic) detection test for COVID-19 viral RNA, is significantly less sensitive than traditional genetic assays employing the polymerize chain reaction. The major advantage for the Abbott test is that it is a small device that can be transported to testing sites andContinue reading “Flash; You may not want to be tested for COVID-19 using the Abbott ID NOW.”
Pandemic Pondering 