Covid News

At long last.

www.fda.gov

The FDA issued an EUA for the Novavax COVID-19 Vaccine, Adjuvanted for the prevention of COVID-19 in individuals 18 years of age and older.

Time for an update.

yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com

Driven by Omicron sub-variants, country-level hotspots are now peppered across the globe. Yesterday, the WHO reported cases are on the rise in 110 countries, causing overall global cases to increase by 30% over the past two weeks. Of course, these numbers and country-level comparisons are only as accurate as testing and reporting.

Moderna's bivalent booster - looking good:

www.cnn.com

Moderna said on Wednesday its bivalent Covid-19 vaccine booster that contained a vaccine targeting the Omicron variant showed a stronger immune response against the variant.

The Novavax vaccine - one step closer to approval:

www.science.org

Agency urged to authorize fourth U.S. vaccine despite some concern about rare heart inflammation as a side effect

COVID State of Affairs: May 31

yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com

The global average of reported cases and deaths continue to decline across the world. There are a few exceptions, most notably in Taiwan, Portugal, Australia, and the United States. It’s not entirely clear if we can continue to judge the global situation by comparing per capita case rates across countries. Many countries are winding down systematic testing efforts and enormous country-to-country variability exists regarding at-home antigen testing, like availability, usage, and official reporting. The true story will soon (if not already) be inaccurately reflected in the case graphs that we’ve become so accustomed to following.

There's been a lot of anecdotal chatter to suggest that vaccination after a bout of Covid helps to reduce the severity of Long Covid. A large study has now confirmed this.

Conclusions The likelihood of long covid symptoms was observed to decrease after covid-19 vaccination and evidence suggested sustained improvement after a second dose, at least over the median follow-up of 67 days. Vaccination may contribute to a reduction in the population health burden of long covid, although longer follow-up is needed.

Good grief! I thought Republicans were all for free speech. How dare they!

www.thedailybeast.com

A sneaky provision in a licensure bill would stop pharmacists from consulting with patients about “safe and effective” use of the drug.

Well, now it appears that over 15 million people have died worldwide so far from Covid, far surpassing original figures for it.

www.who.int

A comprehensive view of global deaths directly and indirectly associated with the COVID-19 pandemic with trends for regions and income groups.

My cousin was in hospital for a few weeks on oxygen and a few months later half her hair fell out. Apparently it’s to do with the stress of being in a situation like that. I’ve seen her a few times since she was in hospital and she still seems a bit traumatised when she talks about her experience. I’m not a professional so I couldn’t make a diagnosis, but having suffered with PTSD myself I can see similarities there. Her hair is growing back and should hopefully return to normal. Losing hair may seem trivial to some people when others are losing their lives, but it appears to be yet another after effect of Covid.

Nebraska state Covid-19 dashboard. It doesn't break down by county, due to crap orders from Governor Ricketts.

https://datanexus-dhhs.ne.gov/views/Covid/1_DailyCharts?%3AisGuestRedirectFromVizportal=y&%3Aembed=y

The highest week for infections throughout the pandemic was January 18, 2022.

About 0.2% of the state's people are dead.

This is about the equivalent of the state's sixty-fourth most-populous county.

The latest, Covid's newest variant is spreading rapidly, cases are rising, and if you peak at the very slight increase on the scale of deaths, that's rising as well.

"Does this map make me look sick?"

But notice that Missouri and Nebraska are no longer reporting deaths or cases. Missouri because they don't wanna and Nebraska is in denial, which is not a river in Egypt.

And in Maine:

• An average of 710 cases per day were reported in Maine in the last week. Cases have increased by 144 percent from the average two weeks ago. Deaths have increased by 1125 percent.

• Since the beginning of the pandemic, at least 1 in 5 residents have been infected, a total of 248,099 reported cases. At least 1 in 585 residents have died from the coronavirus, a total of 2,296 deaths.

• February 2022 was the month with the highest average cases and deaths in Maine.

We're one of the most vaccinated states in the country.

An invisible wave would be a good thing. It means the current immunological landscape is holding up well against BA2. If it wasn't, hospitals would be filling up again.

People getting sick, testing at home, and then recovering at home without the need for treatment is a win.

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2022/04/covid-ba2-omicron-invisible-wave/629708/

Over the past month, the number of new COVID cases in my social circle has become impossible to ignore. I brushed off the first few—guests at a wedding I attended in early April—as outliers during the post-Omicron lull. But then came frantic texts from two former colleagues. The next week, a friend at the local café was complaining that she’d lost her sense of smell. My Instagram feed is now surfacing selfies of people in isolation, some for the second or third time......

Tonight on the news: A new "breathalyzer" test for Covid approved for use in the US.Health Canada having a look at it.Results in 3 minutes!

Another one:

www.statnews.com

Nearly 60% of people in the United States, including three in four children, have now been infected with Omicron or another coronavirus variant, data released Tuesday show.

When I read that article this morning, one thing jumped out at me that I had mixed feelings about. Seems like we've seen too many overly empowered patients' family members in these SAV stories.

Excerpt:

"The health care community can take two important steps to help improve the experience of families: Pay attention to their risk factors and make a bigger effort to empower them, Amass said.

"'What the literature really suggests was the more you can get someone involved at the bedside, the more empowered they feel to express their needs and the needs of their loved one,' he said."

Also now agoraphobic. Plus I get triggered when I see people not wearing masks when they are supposed to. Plus PTSD. Plus some marital issues because my wife’s family is about 50/50 AV and every time she visits them she comes back a little more inclined to talk negatively about covid precautions. Etc. Ad nauseum.

And I blame trump and republicans for causing it. I still remember when he dissolved the pandemic council Obama had set up and even joked how the scientists should get real jobs. IIRC that was about a year before covid hit. Maybe less. It was perfect timing.

After two years of Long Covid and now a serious neurological condition that causes constant pain and has most likely screwed my immune system even more than it already was, I'm absolutely agoraphobic by now. I get anxious when I see people without masks in any situation - even in my own building. And I really don't like going anywhere alone. Of course, spending the better part of two years in bed and in pain will probably do that to a person!

Excellent idea! PTSD for sure and I read an article the other day that was telling of a surge in agoraphobia. I think I have both.