Category Archives: Uncategorized

The specifics of the current US COVID-19 situation.

Where are we at with COVID-19 right now, and why is there such a variety of messages being communicated?  We are in an unfamiliar situation with COVID-19 in the United States. There have been many headlines about reaching new heights in daily hospitalizations and deaths from this third peak of infections. These are all true.Continue reading “The specifics of the current US COVID-19 situation.”

Follow up on the Danish mask study and vaccine prioritization.

There were several comments about the Danish study that did not show efficacy for masks in preventing COVID-19. Some readers provided references to other studies that were not placebo controlled, but did show the value from wearing masks. Several readers provided a link from a New York Times critique of the the Danish study, thatContinue reading “Follow up on the Danish mask study and vaccine prioritization.”

Health care workers and long-term care residents will likely get the first COVID-19 vaccine doses.

The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) took the first official stance on prioritizing who will get the first doses of any COVID-19 vaccine. For almost four hours the committee discussed in detail who within the priority groups would get access early on when doses are limited. For example, the committee wanted to ensure thatContinue reading “Health care workers and long-term care residents will likely get the first COVID-19 vaccine doses.”

Does wearing a mask really help prevent COVID-19?

One of the most frequent questions I get asked is whether wearing masks really helps prevent the transmission of COVID-19. I answer that the data is not entirely conclusive, but clearly this is a respiratory infection, and it stands to reason that lowering aerosol levels should decrease infection rates.  There have been small scale studiesContinue reading “Does wearing a mask really help prevent COVID-19?”

The New York times verifies that AstraZeneca’s half dose COVID-19 vaccine was a mistake. The real question is what they need to do next.

 By now it’s pretty obvious that I’ve been disappointed with how AstraZeneca has conducted their COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials and reported the results. I was particularly concerned about their releasing partial data through press releases and making the efficacy of their vaccine sound better by referring to a subgroup of patients that I believed was caused byContinue reading “The New York times verifies that AstraZeneca’s half dose COVID-19 vaccine was a mistake. The real question is what they need to do next.”

What have the results of the vaccine trials told us about COVID-19 infection?

The uniform success of the first three COVID-19 vaccine trials has been a much-appreciated outcome. While the remarkable success of the RNA based vaccines and the relative success of the adenovirus vaccine are welcome, the results from these clinical trials probably tell us as much about the COVID-19 infection itself as the efficacy of theseContinue reading “What have the results of the vaccine trials told us about COVID-19 infection?”

AstraZeneca’s very strange data release around their COVID-19 vaccine.

AstraZeneca and its partner Oxford University released the final, phase III clinical data on their coronavirus vaccine this morning. At first, I was confused since some of the press releases state that it was 90% effective, others stated it was 60% effective, and yet other press releases came up with an average of 70% effective. TheseContinue reading “AstraZeneca’s very strange data release around their COVID-19 vaccine.”

Biscuit’s worst, most ridiculous COVID-19 vaccine rumors.

Like most folks Biscuit was overjoyed with the news that there were not one, but two, highly effective coronavirus vaccines. Who could argue with two independent studies showing both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to be 95% effective in preventing COVID-19?  The results from the Phase III trials of both vaccines suggested to him thatContinue reading “Biscuit’s worst, most ridiculous COVID-19 vaccine rumors.”