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 a qualified healthcare provider who knows your specific medical situation over advice from people on the Internet.
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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"The world has administered 6 billion doses of COVID vaccines to 3.4 Billion people
For people waiting for more data before getting the shot
The data is in
We've vaccinated nearly half of all humanity
The vaccines are safe"
Source:
Commentary: We have never administered so much, to so many, so quickly. And by now we would see massive side effects if there was ANYTHING wrong with the vaccines.
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Boosters authorized for high risk in the USA. "The Food and Drug Administration authorized a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine Wednesday for emergency use in people ages 65 and up, as well as those 18 and older at high risk of exposure to the coronavirus or severe illness. Boosters are to be given at least six months after people get their second doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
An advisory group to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention opened a two-day meeting on the safety and effectiveness of Pfizer's booster shot. The advisers will vote Thursday on who would qualify for third shots.
Recommendation from the CDC group, called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, is needed before booster shots can be administered. If the head of the CDC, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, signs off on the committee's recommendation, third doses of the Pfizer vaccine could be administered promptly."
Source: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/fda-oks-pfizers-booster-shot-older-adults-people-high-risk-rcna2085
Commentary: If you were in the first couple of waves of those vaccinated, you are likely eligible for a booster.
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Denial isn't just in one nation. "More than a dozen infectious disease and critical care doctors are calling on the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers to drop plans to play games in full-capacity arenas this season as the province of Alberta lurches into an unprecedented medical crisis amid the fourth wave of COVID-19.
The Flames are scheduled to host the Oilers on Sunday in the teams’ first National Hockey League pre-season game of the 2021-22 season. Both Alberta-based teams say they have safety protocols in place and plan to play to 100 per cent capacity.
Those decisions to play in front of packed arenas come as the Alberta government is asking the federal government for assistance airlifting its sickest patients to hospitals in other provinces.
Alberta Health Services, the provincial body that oversees healthcare in Alberta, has said it is staring down the worst health-care crisis in its history
“Things are so desperate,” Dr. Ilan Schwartz, an infectious disease doctor in Edmonton, said in an interview with TSN. “In all of Alberta we have 340 ICU beds. We are literally 10 patients away from having to start choosing who gets treatment and who does not.”
Alberta hospitals have cancelled thousands of surgeries to deal with the flood of COVID-19 patients, most of whom were unvaccinated."
Source: https://www.tsn.ca/doctors-condemn-plans-for-packed-arenas-in-reeling-alberta-1.1696894
Commentary: This is preventable tragedy, all of it. So sad that people - and their governments - are so resistant to the simple steps needed to contain the pandemic.
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If you've had COVID-19, get a patch test before getting hair dye. "Different types of post-COVID-19 syndromes in recovered patients have now become common. One such is having new allergic reactions like rashes and burns to hair dye after contracting coronavirus. Many hairdressers in the United Kingdom have reported their clients getting allergic reactions.
Last year too similar cases came into the forefront. Patients who suffered from prolonged COVID-19 believe an increase in allergies after overcoming the virus may be another symptom. Although there is no concrete scientific evidence yet to back this theory.
Research shows in around 15% of people battling any serious infection, the immune system remains 'over-simulated' after the virus is no longer a threat. Looking at the increasing number of such cases, scientists at Imperial College London are now researching how COVID-19 could be reprogramming our immune system, just the way it does to other illnesses.
The new development has made the hairdressers and beauticians in the UK more alert and their governing body is warning professionals to carry out additional patch tests to avoid facing legal action. The National Hair and Beauty Federation (NHBF) has urged salon owners to adhere to safety guidelines, saying there can be a 'heightened reaction' to the chemicals in hair colour after a serious illness."
Source: https://www.dnaindia.com/world/report-scientists-researching-link-between-covid-19-and-new-allergies-in-wake-of-reactions-to-hair-dyes-2912525
Commentary: COIVD-19 rewires a lot of things in the body. Be sure you're safe - get things like patch tests and possibly even an allergen test if you've had COVID-19.
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Air filtration works. "The COVID-19 pandemic has overwhelmed the respiratory isolation capacity in hospitals; many wards lacking high-frequency air changes have been repurposed for managing patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 requiring either standard or intensive care. Hospital-acquired COVID-19 is a recognised problem amongst both patients and staff, with growing evidence for the relevance of airborne transmission. This study examined the effect of air filtration and ultra-violet (UV) light sterilisation on detectable airborne SARS-CoV-2 and other microbial bioaerosols.
Methods
We conducted a crossover study of portable air filtration and sterilisation devices in a repurposed ‘surge’ COVID ward and ‘surge’ ICU. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) cyclonic aerosol samplers and PCR assays were used to detect the presence of airborne SARS-CoV-2 and other microbial bioaerosol with and without air/UV filtration.
Results
Airborne SARS-CoV-2 was detected in the ward on all five days before activation of air/UV filtration, but on none of the five days when the air/UV filter was operational; SARS-CoV-2 was again detected on four out of five days when the filter was off. Airborne SARS-CoV-2 was infrequently detected in the ICU. Filtration significantly reduced the burden of other microbial bioaerosols in both the ward (48 pathogens detected before filtration, two after, p=0.05) and the ICU (45 pathogens detected before filtration, five after p=0.05).
Conclusions
These data demonstrate the feasibility of removing SARS-CoV-2 from the air of repurposed ‘surge’ wards and suggest that air filtration devices may help reduce the risk of hospital-acquired SARSCoV-2. "
Source: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.09.16.21263684v1.full.pdf
Commentary: If you can clean COVID-19 out of the air in a hospital surge ward, you can clean it out of the air anywhere. There's no excuse for schools, conference centers, workplaces, sports arenas, etc. not to have high powered air filtration. It will reduce spread AND provide secondary benefits like reduced allergens, mold, and other pathogens.
Make it a point to do business with those places which put customers' health first.
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A reminder of the simple daily habits we should all be taking.
1. Wear the best mask available to you when you'll be around people you don't live with, even after you've been vaccinated. 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. Verify your mask's NIOSH certification here: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/usernotices/counterfeitResp.html
3. Get vaccinated as soon as you're able to, and fulfill the full vaccine regimen. Remember that you are not vaccinated until everyone you live with is vaccinated. If you received an adenovirus vaccine (J&J/AstraZeneca), consider getting an mRNA single shot booster (Pfizer/Moderna) if permitted.
4. Wash/sanitize your hands every time you are in or out of your home.
5. Stay out of indoor spaces that aren't your home and away from people you don't live with as much as practical. Minimize your contact with others and avoid indoor places as much as you can; indoor spaces spread the disease through aerosols and distance is less effective at mitigating your risks.
6. Aim to have 3-6 months of living expenses on hand in case the pandemic gives another crazy plot twist to the economy.
7. Replenish your supplies as you use them. Avoid reducing your stores to pre-pandemic levels in case an outbreak causes unexpected supply chain disruptions.
8. 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).
9. Masks must fit properly to work. Here's how to properly fit a mask:
10. If you think you may have been exposed to COVID-19, purchase a rapid antigen test. This will detect COVID-19 only when you're contagious, so follow the directions clearly. https://amzn.to/3fLAoor
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Common misinformation debunked!
There is no basis in fact that COVID-19 vaccines can shed or otherwise harm people around you.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-covid19vaccine-reproductivepro-idUSL1N2MG256
There is no mercury or other heavy metals in the Pfizer mRNA vaccine.
Source: https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/12/09/1013538/what-are-the-ingredients-of-pfizers-covid-19-vaccine/
There is no basis in fact that COVID-19 vaccines pose additional risks to pregnant women.
Source: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2104983
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/
Source: https://www.smh.com.au/national/are-we-ignoring-the-hard-truths-about-the-most-likely-cause-of-covid-19-20210601-p57x4r.html
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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Disclosures and Disclaimers
I declare no competing interests on anything I share related to COVID-19. I am employed by and am a co-owner in TrustInsights.ai, an analytics and management consulting firm. I have no clients and no business interests in anything related to COVID-19, nor do I financially benefit in any way from sharing information about COVID-19.
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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.