Lunchtime pandemic reading.
Standard disclaimer: this is a roundup of informative pieces I've read that interest me on the severity of the crisis and how to manage it. I am not a qualified medical expert in ANY sense; at best I am reasonably well-read laity. ALWAYS prioritize advice from qualified healthcare experts over some person on Facebook.
This is also available as an email newsletter at https://lunchtimepandemic.substack.com if you prefer the update in your inbox.
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I received my first dose of Moderna's mRNA vaccine yesterday. So far my arm is sore with a feeling like you worked out a little too hard the previous day, but that's it. Looking forward to completing the regimen in a month, knowing that I will be substantially less at risk (but never zero risk) of catching COVID-19 and suffering significant health challenges from it.
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For folks in the USA, the Vaccine Spotter does what many have been doing manually: automated scans of vaccine locations, looking for openings.
Source: https://www.vaccinespotter.org/
Commentary: This does not cover mass vaccination programs, but for retail pharmacies and other community sites, it's a useful tool to supplement your search for a vaccine in the USA.
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Hispanic and LatinX populations have been impacted the most in the USA. "Within each U.S. Census region, the proportion of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 was highest for Hispanic or Latino patients. Racial and ethnic disparities were largest during May–July 2020 and became less pronounced as the pandemic spread throughout the country; however, disparities remained in December 2020 in all regions.
Racial and ethnic disparities in COVID-19 hospitalization are driven by both a higher risk for exposure to SARS-CoV-2 and a higher risk for severe COVID-19 disease (e.g., due to higher prevalence of underlying medical conditions) among racial and ethnic minority groups, both of which are influenced by social determinants of health.§§ The regional and temporal patterns in disparities observed in this analysis are likely driven primarily by differences between racial and ethnic minority groups and White persons in SARS-CoV-2 exposure risk associated with occupational and housing conditions and socioeconomic status (6,7). The declining racial and ethnic disparities observed in late 2020 do not necessarily reflect reduced risk for infection or improved outcomes for certain racial and ethnic minority groups, but rather an increased risk for infection and subsequent hospitalization among White patients as COVID-19 spread throughout the United States (8). COVID-19–related hospitalization is one of several measures that can provide insight into the impact of COVID-19 on racial and ethnic minority populations and should be interpreted in the context of other measures such as COVID-19 incidence and mortality rates. It is important to continue to monitor racial and ethnic disparities in COVID-19 infection and outcomes at national, regional, and local levels.
Understanding the social determinants of health contributing to geographic and temporal differences in racial and ethnic disparities at a local level can help guide public health prevention strategies and equitable resource allocation, including COVID-19 vaccination, to address COVID-19–related health disparities."
Source: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7015e2.htm?s_cid=mm7015e2_w
Commentary: This sort of data is important, not only to understand what has happened, but also to plan for the future. COVID-19 leaves a long trail of health impacts behind it, and populations affected will need additional support.
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The FDA says that the critical supply shortage of N95 masks may be drawing to a close. "The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is recommending health care personnel and facilities transition away from crisis capacity conservation strategies, such as decontaminating or bioburden reducing disposable respirators for reuse. Based on the increased domestic supply of new respirators approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) currently available to facilitate this transition, the FDA and CDC believe there is adequate supply of respirators to transition away from use of decontamination and bioburden reduction systems.
The FDA recommends that health care personnel and facilities:
Limit decontamination of disposable respirators. Decontaminated respirators and respirators that have undergone bioburden reduction should be used only when there are insufficient supplies of new FFRs or if you are unable to obtain any new respirators.
Transition away from a crisis capacity strategy for respirators, such as decontamination of N95 and other FFRs.
Increase inventory of available NIOSH-approved respirators—including N95s and other FFRs, elastomeric respirators, including new elastomeric respirators without an exhalation valve that can be used in the operating room, and powered air-purifying respirators (PAPRs). Even if you are unable to obtain the respirator model that you would prefer, the FDA recommends that you obtain and use a new respirator before decontaminating or bioburden reducing a preferred disposable respirator."
Source: https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/letters-health-care-providers/fda-recommends-transition-use-decontaminated-disposable-respirators-letter-health-care-personnel-and
Commentary: As long as supplies continue to be plentiful, this is good news. The FDA's advice is sound advice for everyone: increase your inventory of masks and such so that you're not taken by surprise in the next crisis. And the next crisis that requires masks could be a chemical explosion, wildfires, large dust storms, or any number of respiratory challenges. There's no harm in having an extra box or two of masks on hand in your home now that supply issues have eased up, and you won't be scrambling for them in the next emergency.
I'm personally watching pricing on powered air-purifying respirators for welding (not healthcare, I still don't want to take supply away from healthcare workers) to see if they come down. A welding PAPR is designed for incredibly hostile environments and if we encounter a disease or disaster that needs more than what an N95 mask can provide, I'd like to have it on hand. If nothing else, it'll make for a great Halloween costume.
And there will be a next emergency, without a doubt. When is the question, not if.
Which brings up one more point: yes, a year ago, we were scrambling for toilet paper and a variety of other goods. What's changed for you since then? Have you maintained more supplies in your residence? If not, you might want to think about general preparedness, so that future crises are less panic-inducing.
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A reminder of the simple daily habits we should all be taking.
1. Always wear the best mask available to you when out of your home and you'll be around other people. Respirators are back in stock at online retailers, too. Wear an N95/FFP2/KN95 that's NIOSH-approved or better mask if you can obtain it. If you can't get an N95 mask, wear a surgical mask with a cloth mask over it.
2. Get vaccinated as soon as you're able to, and fulfill the full vaccine regimen.
3. Wash/sanitize your hands every time you are in or out of your home for any reason.
4. Stay home as much as possible. Minimize your contact with others and maintain physical distance of at LEAST 6 feet / 2 meters, preferably more. Avoid indoor places as much as you can; indoor spaces spread the disease through aerosols and distance is less effective at mitigating your risks.
5. Get your personal finances in order now. Cut all unnecessary costs.
6. Replenish your supplies as you use them. Avoid reducing your stores to pre-pandemic levels in case an outbreak causes unexpected supply chain disruptions.
7. Ventilate your home as frequently as weather and circumstances permit, except when you share close airspaces with other residences (like a window less than a meter away from a neighboring window).
8. Masks must fit properly to work. Here's how to properly fit a mask:
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Common misinformation debunked!
There is no mercury or other heavy metals in the Pfizer mRNA vaccine. https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/12/09/1013538/what-are-the-ingredients-of-pfizers-covid-19-vaccine/
There is no genomic evidence at all that COVID-19 arrived before 2020 in the United States and therefore no hidden herd immunity:
Source:
There is no evidence SARS-CoV-2 was engineered, nor that it escaped a lab somewhere.
Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/01/29/experts-debunk-fringe-theory-linking-chinas-coronavirus-weapons-research/
Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0820-9
Source: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/05/anthony-fauci-no-scientific-evidence-the-coronavirus-was-made-in-a-chinese-lab-cvd/
There is no evidence a flu shot increases your COVID-19 risk.
Source: https://www.factcheck.org/2020/04/no-evidence-that-flu-shot-increases-risk-of-covid-19/
Source: https://academic.oup.com/cid/advance-article/doi/10.1093/cid/ciaa626/5842161
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A common request I'm asked is who I follow. Here's a public Twitter list of many of the sources I read.
https://twitter.com/i/lists/1260956929205112834
This list is biased by design. It is limited to authors who predominantly post in the English language. It is heavily biased towards individual researchers and away from institutions. It is biased towards those who publish or share research, data, papers, etc. I have made an attempt to follow researchers from different countries, and also to make the list reasonably gender-balanced, because multiple, diverse perspectives on research data are essential.
This is also available as an email newsletter at https://lunchtimepandemic.substack.com if you prefer the update in your inbox.