Category Archives: Uncategorized

Several people have contacted me asking whether the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine would be best for their child under the age of five. There are several issues here, but no perfect answer. The very good news is that both these vaccines have almost no toxicity in this age group. Even rare concerns like myocarditisContinue reading “The best COVID vaccine for children under 5 and an update on long COVID”

As the latest wave of infections from COVID-19 winds down, the strongest indication that the fundamental dynamic of this pandemic has changed has been the stark drop in virus-associated deaths. The daily average of deaths from COVID-19 now stands at 264, which is a 12% drop in the 14-day average over the prior two weeks.Continue reading “New COVID-19 deaths fall below 300 per day in the U.S., while the media turns to monkeypox.”

The full effects of the “children” of the Omicron virus are being seen around the world. In Europe and the United States, infections from the BA.2 variant are peaking, while in South Africa the BA.4/5 variants are also reaching the peak of infections. In Portugal, which had a severe outbreak with these viruses, infections areContinue reading “Worldwide death rates have not increased from the latest COVID-19 viruses.”

With the emergence of the new BA.2 SARS-CoV-2 variant, COVID infections have again risen. The good news is that although hospitalizations have increased, they are well below levels seen with previous infection waves. In addition, the increase of SARS-CoV-2 immunity induced by repeated doses of vaccines and infections also appears to be preventing any increaseContinue reading “As COVID-19 cases rise again, who needs to wear a mask?”

The U.S. passed a sad milestone yesterday as we identified the one-millionth person whose death was attributed to COVID-19. While I won’t get into the debate about whether these assignments were entirely accurate, the bottom line is that excess deaths from COVID-19 are probably close to that number. In some ways the ongoing dribble ofContinue reading “One million dead and updates on Paxlovid.”

First, I wanted to thank everyone who expressed concern after my Last Post outlining how I got infected with COVID-19. I want you to know that I’m doing very well. Being 10 days out from symptoms and diagnosis, and viral antigen negative, I’ve now returned to my normal activities. Several important things happened this week.Continue reading “New COVID updates 4-29-2022”

After more than two years of precautions and developing techniques to avoid COVID-19 infection, an Easter weekend trip to Washington, DC to see my daughter seemed like a pretty safe proposition. The travel mask mandate was still in effect, and I wore an N95 mask the entire time I was traveling and in hotels andContinue reading “I get COVID”

What follows is not medical advice; you should contact your doctor for that. It also does not represent an opinion from Michigan Medicine. But, since many people are confused about the “second booster” or 4th overall mRNA vaccine shot, this is my take. I have been reluctant to weigh in on the need for aContinue reading “Musings on the 4th dose (second booster) mRNA COVID-19 vaccine”

There has been quite a bit of discussion in the press about the most recent SARS-CoV-2 virus. U.S. public health officials are (for once!) being circumspect in their comments about the risk and have not called for reinforcement in public health restrictions. Importantly, there have been no increases in the number of cases or hospitalizationsContinue reading “The next surge? It won’t happen right now despite the debate about the BA.2 “sub-variant”.”