Category Archives: Uncategorized

One of the issues I have been examining recently is the fact that this third spike in COVID-19  infections has been accompanied by a much lower rate of patient deaths. I’ve suggested that we need to focus on hospitalizations as another marker of severity of new infections. The data on hospitalizations are now fully defined onContinue reading “COVID-19 hospitalizations are occurring at a much lower rate than in April.”

I have previously commented extensively about “herd immunity” in COVID-19. PatP asked me to update my comments and discuss the implications of allowing the virus to circulate through the population. She has very cogent comments, but I am not going to respond at the present time for one reason. Herd Immunity will be an entirelyContinue reading “Our discussion of “Herd Immunity” must wait until after we get our first vaccine results!”

This post is in response to a comment from Ronald Gries. He responded to my question, “where are the increasing COVID deaths?” He wrote; “You ask where the deaths are. Per the (Detroit) Free Press today, according to Michigan state data, more than 500 Michiganders have died from COVID -19 in October compared to lessContinue reading “Michigan deaths from COVID-19”

On Halloween the tradition of combing the neighborhood for treats is important in many ways. It is not just for children, who look forward to the holiday, but to locals that use it to reinforce a sense of community. Often, it is one of the few times that older community members meet children. This yearContinue reading “Should your child trick or treat? Not in the traditional sense, but acknowledge your neighbors!”

I wrote earlier this week about the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in Europe. One abnormality in the infection peak now being experienced is that COVID-19 deaths are not increasing proportionally. This is similar to what’s now being seen in the United States where we are clearly in the third peak of infectious activity, butContinue reading “Where are all the COVID-19 deaths?”

Today, a study from Imperial College in London was all over the news.  It reportedly found evidence that antibody immunity to COVID-19 decreased over time. Again, this is an unpublished study simply placed on the BioRX website. Therefore, it lacked any peer review or scientific vetting before it was released to the press. The studyContinue reading “Imperial College of London press release touts paper saying COVID Immunity is dropping, but skips the scientific review!”

The same week there were several studies in the news that showed airline travel was safe from COVID-19, an article in USA today highlighted that this safety is not absolute. This reinforces the concerns currently being faced by airline passengers. This report details a troubling outbreak of COVID-19 on a flight from Doha to DublinContinue reading “A disturbing story about COVID-19 airline safety.”

The EU and Britain have seen significant increases in COVID-19 cases, especially in countries with prior outbreaks. Unlike the U.S., these countries did not have a second peak this summer, but there are several differences from the earlier peak that deserve mention. Spain, France, and the UK continue to lead the infection count, and theContinue reading “Brief update on Europe”

Last night while I was being interviewed on national TV, supposedly about the FDA’s vaccine advisory committee, the commentator anxiously asked me what I thought about “the finding” that we could have 500,000 people die from COVID-19 by this coming February. I didn’t have time to respond adequately in the segment, but I feel itContinue reading “500,000 deaths by February? Another fairy tale by IHME.”

Thursday, the advisory committee to the Food and Drug administration (FDA) that provides oversight to the development of vaccines met for the first time to consider Covid-19 vaccines. Known as the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, or VRBPAC, this committee was not reviewing any specific COVID-19 vaccine, but more importantly was developing theContinue reading “Thursday was the most important day in the development of a potential COVID-19 vaccine.”