Vaccine – Pandemic Pondering

The Thanksgiving triple play: RSV, Flu and COVID discussed on Flashpoint November 20th at 10:00 AM

Dear loyal readers of pandemicpondering.com. I am back from a week of crossing the country for two professional meetings and for better or worse I can assure everyone that wearing masks on airplanes is passe’! I will be writing a post about what we have to be thankful for this week, but in the meanContinue reading “The Thanksgiving triple play: RSV, Flu and COVID discussed on Flashpoint November 20th at 10:00 AM”

The new booster shots discussed on Flashpoint September 11th at 10:00 AM

Dear loyal readers of pandemicpondering.com. I am back from my first international meeting since 2019! During the interim the government has finalized plans for the new COVID-19 boosters. I will be posting on them next week, but will discuss them this Sunday at 10:00AM EDT on Flashpoint with Devin Scillian on WDIV (channel 4) inContinue reading “The new booster shots discussed on Flashpoint September 11th at 10:00 AM”

Discussion on ongoing COVID-19 deaths on Flashpoint tomorrow June 26th at 10:00 AM

To loyal readers of pandemicpondering.com. Tomorrow, I discuss the ongoing reports of deaths and COVID-19 infections. The conversation will take place at 10:00AM EDT on Flashpoint with Devin Scillian on WDIV (channel 4) in Detroit. This dialogue is important since interpreting deaths associated with COVID can be confusing. Given the changes in COVID infections andContinue reading “Discussion on ongoing COVID-19 deaths on Flashpoint tomorrow June 26th at 10:00 AM”

Discussion on the new wave of COVID-19 infections on Flashpoint tomorrow May 15th at 10:00 AM

To loyal readers of pandemicpondering.com. Tomorrow, I discuss the current increase of COVID-19 infections and how to manage our response to this situation. The conversation will take place at 10:00AM EDT on Flashpoint with Devin Scillian on WDIV (channel 4) in Detroit. This dialogue is particularly important since the immunological landscape has changed and mayContinue reading “Discussion on the new wave of COVID-19 infections on Flashpoint tomorrow May 15th at 10:00 AM”

Discussion on the new wave of COVID-19 infections on Flashpoint tomorrow May 15th at 10:00 AM

BA.2 and Pfizer’s fourth booster shot

Two things have been buzzing this week, and both are confusing. Multiple people have been trumpeting the fact that there has been an uptick in COVID infections in certain European countries over the past three weeks. They attribute this to the presence of a variant of Omicron called BA.2. This variant has been reported toContinue reading “BA.2 and Pfizer’s fourth booster shot”

Omicron — the tale of two surges.

The explosive surge of COVID-19 infections caused by the Omicron variant is quickly waning across the United States. New infections have dropped dramatically in all parts of the country including areas that only recently were confronted with variant. Despite this, hospitals still house large numbers of ill individuals. While a smaller percentage of COVID patientsContinue reading “Omicron — the tale of two surges.”

COVID-19 virus BA.2; what is it and why the claim it is more infectious than omicron?

Yesterday the media was flooded with reports about a new variant of omicron designated BA.2. While this virus is almost identical to omicron it is differentiated genetically based on a few mutations in its spike protein. Ominously, this virus was reported to be present around the world including throughout the US. This was confirmed by theContinue reading “COVID-19 virus BA.2; what is it and why the claim it is more infectious than omicron?”

Are we ready for a 4th COVID-19 booster? Absolutely not!

As we struggle in the United States to get even a minority of adults immunized with a third booster shot of the mRNA vaccines, a news story came out of Israel suggesting that they are essentially ready to begin to administer a fourth dose of the Pfizer vaccine. One of my loyal readers was concerned about thisContinue reading “Are we ready for a 4th COVID-19 booster? Absolutely not!”

Do you need a booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine?

Yesterday an article in The Lancet provided an independent scientific assessment of the need for COVID-19 vaccine booster doses. The publication reviewed the current data on booster vaccines, which generally shows very good efficacy even with the Delta variant for the mRNA based vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna. The general tone of the article suggestedContinue reading “Do you need a booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine?”