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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Build a wall. "There's a group of pesky unvaccinated ruffians I want to discuss
You know -- no lottery tickets will get them vaccinated
They are recalcitrant
I have one of them in my house
Yes, the under 12
How best to protect them?
Empirical data can show us the way
Short thread
Despite stark differences in vaccinations by state,
In Louisiana, 0% of kids under 12 vaccinated
In Florida, 0% of kids under 12 vaccinated
Even in high vax Massachusetts
0% of kids under 12 vaccinated
So if we're in a pandemic of the unvaccinated, are these kids in trouble?
Actually, while vaccination rates for kids under 12 are identical (0%) across states,
Infection numbers are not
In Massachusetts, about 250 kids under 10 years of age infected last week
In Florida, it was about 9,000
In Louisiana, it was about 1600
3/5
Adjusted for population
Florida had 12X as many kids infected as Massachusetts last week
And Louisiana? About 10X
So what's going on?
None of these kids are vaccinated!
So why are infection rates so much lower in MA?
Right, because kids are protected by adults
4/5
Kid infection numbers driven largely by infection numbers in adults
In Israel, we saw that as adults got vaccinated
Infection numbers in kids plummeted
So how do I best protect my 9 year-old unvaccinated kid?
By making sure all adults around him are vaxxed
5/6
So when you hear we have a pandemic of the unvaccinated
Yes that includes kids
But largely only in unvaccinated communities
Very few kids in highly vaccinated places are getting sick
So if you want to protect unvaccinated kids
Make sure everyone around them has the shot
Fin"
Source:
Commentary: The safest way to protect someone unvaccinated is for every person around them to be vaccinated, and for everyone who doesn't live under the same household to wear masks when in contact with each other.
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Breaking records in Florida. "The number of people hospitalized for COVID-19 in Florida rose to an all-time high of 11,515 patients in one day, according to data the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released Tuesday.
The data is used by the Florida Hospital Association to track admissions and staffing shortages. The figures also show 2,400 of those patients are in ICU beds.
The previous day, the data showed there were 10,389 COVID-hospitalizations in the state.
The new number breaks a previous record for current hospitalizations set more than a year ago before vaccines were available. Last year, Florida hit its previous peak on July 23, with 10,170 hospitalizations.
Hospitals around the state report having to put emergency room visitors in beds in hallways and others document a noticeable drop in the age of patients."
Source: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/florida-again-breaks-record-for-covid-19-hospitalizations
Commentary: That this is happening, that hospitals are overflowing and ICUs are full again in a nation where the vaccine is literally sitting around waiting to be used is criminal. I hope that the citizens of these states remember how badly their leaders failed them when it's election time.
Every death of someone otherwise healthy over the age of 12 in the United States from COVID-19 is now a needless one, because every person 12 and up who is otherwise healthy could have been vaccinated against the disease.
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Progress on a pan-coronavirus vaccine. "The spillovers of β-coronaviruses in humans and the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants highlight the need for broad coronavirus countermeasures. We describe five monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) cross-reacting with the stem helix of multiple β-coronavirus spike glycoproteins isolated from COVID-19 convalescent individuals. Using structural and functional studies we show that the mAb with the greatest breadth (S2P6) neutralizes pseudotyped viruses from three different subgenera through inhibition of membrane fusion and delineate the molecular basis for its cross-reactivity. S2P6 reduces viral burden in hamsters challenged with SARS-CoV-2 through viral neutralization and Fc-mediated effector functions. Stem helix antibodies are rare, oftentimes of narrow specificity and can acquire neutralization breadth through somatic mutations. These data provide a framework for structure-guided design of pan-β-coronavirus vaccines eliciting broad protection."
Source: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2021/08/03/science.abj3321
Commentary: this is an exciting development. Coronaviruses are being targeted by their very structure, which should mean that even with substantial mutation, a pan-coronavirus vaccine would hold up, eliminating COVID-19 as well as a couple of common colds.
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The BTS army strikes again. "The Indonesian BTS Army — the term used for the fanbase of K-pop boyband BTS — organised a COVID-19 vaccination programme for over 10,000 citizens
As reported by CNN Indonesia, the BTS Army in Indonesia — dubbed as 'Senyum Army' — held the vaccination programme on Saturday, 31 July, at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC).
The vaccination programme was free for all Indonesians aged 12 and above, irrespective of their interest in BTS. They only had to produce their national identification cards or family identification cards to be vaccinated.
The initiative made use of 10,000 Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine doses obtained from the Indonesian government.
CNN Indonesia quoted Senyum Army spokesperson, Selly Wilson, as saying the Army fully supports the vaccination effort by the Indonesian government
"We will help to make the vaccination drive be more accessible to all citizens so that all BTS Army alongside their families and friends can be protected during this pandemic," she said.
"We hope that the vaccination drive can quickly break the COVID-19 chain of spread so that we can all return to our normal activities."
Senyum Army had also installed an art show called 'Stay Gold is for the Vaccinated' at JCC, inspired by the BTS music video titled Stay Gold
This was set up so that those getting their COVID-19 vaccine may enjoy the art exhibition while getting their jabs.
Not only that, Senyum Army had also played a full BTS concert video at the JCC Hall for everyone to enjoy while getting vaccinated."
Source: https://says.com/my/news/indonesian-bts-army-organises-vaccination-programme-for-over-10-000-people
Commentary: It's a wonderful thing when the followers of a movement can be put to good use advancing initiatives that help everyone. Props to BTS and its many fans around the world for helping to make the world a better place.
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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 other people, 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 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. Get your personal finances in order now. Cut all unnecessary costs.
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:
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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.