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Omicron Variants, Epidemiology and Vaccines
COVID is not going away easily. Omicron sub-variants BA4 and BA5 are rapidly replacing BA2 and BA 2.12.1 in much of the world.
Epidemiology, Vaccines, Natural Immunity, and Monkeypox
Over the past few weeks, you may have noticed many people having upper respiratory infections. Well, you are not imagining things.
COVID-19 Epidemiology, Treatments, and Monkeypox
One thing that is very clear is that we have lost control of good data on the dynamics of the COVID epidemic.
COVID-19 Epidemiology, New Variants, and Practical Thoughts
Omicron keeps churning out new variants, each being a little more infectious and a little bit further away from the original strains of COVID.
COVID-19 Epidemiology, Therapeutics, and Vaccine Developments
Looking at the dynamics of the epidemic, in North America, cases are up by about 13%, including over 25% in the United States.
COVID-19 Epidemiology, Mitigation, and Omicron Subvariants
Most areas of the world are shifting in mindset, from pandemic to endemic, what does that mean for day-to-day life?
COVID-19 Epidemiology, Travel, and Testing
For at least a few months maybe even into next year, it is very likely that people will continue to catch COVID at reasonably high rates.
Second Booster Shot
This week, the FDA and CDC updated their authorization and guidelines to allow certain individuals to be eligible for another mRNA booster.
COVID-19 Epidemiology, BA2, and Boosters
Last week was the second anniversary of the initial declaration of a national emergency related to COVID on March 13.
Epidemiology, Variants, Boosters, and Long COVID
Over the coming week, we will have the 2-year anniversaries of the first Emergency Declaration by President Trump and the first school closures.
COVID-19 Epidemiology, CDC Risk Ranking, and Treatments
The downward trend in case numbers throughout the Americas has continued, with the 7-day average of cases down 30% in the last week.
COVID-19 Epidemiology, Boosters, and CDC Data
The US CDC acknowledged that they have been withholding various aspects of statistical analysis out of fears that the data could be misinterpreted.
Omicron BA.2, Epidemiology, and Clinical Medicine Developments
Most areas in Europe have seen, or will shortly see, the removal of vaccine passport restrictions in most settings.
COVID-19 Mandates, Vaccines, and Masks
New data has driven new recommendations on when to wear a mask. This will have implications for both businesses and individuals.
Omicron BA.2, Testing, and Epidemiology
Late last week there were several news stories expressing concern that BA.2 should be considered a variant of concern
COVID-19 Epidemiology, Testing, Vaccinations
Cases in North America continue to fall at a fairly rapid pace but are still at levels higher than any other time in the epidemic.
COVID-19 Epidemiology, Omicron, and Vaccines
Last week, it looked like some areas were starting to see the crest of the omicron wave, this week, the peaks have been confirmed.
COVID-19 Epidemiology, Treatments, and Common Questions
Looking at the current epidemiology of omicron, it is responsible for over 98% of cases in the United States.
COVID-19 Treatments, Guidance, and Omicron
Omicron is extremely infectious, maybe even more than we thought, the data supports relative infectiousness compared to Delta at 2 or 3 times.
COVID-19 Testing, Treatments, and Omicron
This week saw the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention own up to a very major error in their assessment of the spread of omicron.
Omicron and Holiday Gatherings
In about 2 weeks omicron has gone from barely showing up in surveillance to being the dominant variant in circulation.
COVID-19 Epidemiology, Omicron, and Vaccines
While there were many data anomalies due to the Thanksgiving holiday, the overall trend has been just very lightly upward.
COVID-19 Epidemiology, Travel, and the Holiday Season
The very first analyses of vaccine efficacy against omicron have started to come in from both Pfizer and Moderna.
COVID-19 Epidemiology, Vaccines, and the Omicron Variant
The news this last week has been dominated by the omicron variant and what we know and don’t know about it.
The Omicron Variant
Late last week, following data from South Africa, a new variant was rapidly displacing Delta as the primary COVID-19 variant in circulation.
COVID-19 Epidemiology, Boosters, and Vaccine Requirements
This week, several major state health departments have made statements encouraging an expansive interpretation of the booster guidance.
COVID-19 Epidemiology, Vaccines, and News
Globally, Europe has once again become the main center of COVID case increases around the world.
COVID-19 Epidemiology and Vaccines
The Director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention signed off on the recommendation for Pfizer COVID vaccination for children ages 5 to 11.
COVID-19 Epidemiology and Booster Shots
In the US, cases are continuing to decrease on a week-over-week basis, but the rate of decrease is shrinking.
COVID-19 Booster Shots, Case Rates, and Holiday Gatherings
In considering how to safely have a holiday gathering, the biggest question is how to hold an event at reasonable risk
COVID-19 Epidemiology, Testing, Vaccines, and Travel
One of our greatest concerns over the past couple of months has been why the COVID rate in the UK has remained stubbornly high.
COVID-19 Epidemiology, Testing, and Treatments
A major alert went out today regarding a high number of false positives from the highly touted Ellume test kits from Australia.
COVID-19 Booster Shots, Treatments, and Epidemiology
The advisory committee on immunization practices and the CDC director weighed in on the final US government recommendations for vaccination.
COVID-19 Case Rates and Booster Shots
It looks like much of the world is emerging from a summer of COVID and is now on the downward side of the epidemic curve.
COVID-19 Epidemiology, Boosters, and Testing
Earlier this week, a formal internal advisory report from the US FDA said that the data did support boosters for the general population.
COVID-19 Epidemiology, Boosters, and New Data
As of the middle of this week, new case rates are down in more than half of the United States and the overall rate is down approximately 5%.
COVID-19 Booster Shots, Statistics, and the Delta Variant
Over the last week, between 5 and 10% of US states have seen a downward trend in the number of cases, but, the overall upward trend in the US has not turned around.
COVID-19 Vaccine Approval and Breakthrough Infections
The big news of the last week is that the first Covid vaccine has been fully approved for full licensure in the United States.
COVID-19 Booster Shots and Vaccine Guidance
The FDA authorized what is not a booster, but guidance that primary immunization for immunocompromised individuals should consist of 3 shots.
COVID-19 Epidemiology, Testing, and Prevention
The major discussion this week is whether Delta is crowding out other variants so rapidly it will run out of susceptible hosts over a 6-8 week period.
COVID-19 Epidemiology, Travel, and CDC Guidance
For the fourth week in a row, COVID cases averaged across the United States have increased by about 50%, at 27 cases per 100,000 per day.
The Effect of the Delta Variant on the COVID-19 Pandemic
The effects of the delta variant have changed both the public and governmental attitudes away from a sense of being nearly over this.
COVID-19 Epidemiology, Vaccinations, and Booster Shots
North American and European Nations appear to have run into a wall on vaccination acceptance at about 50% of the population fully vaccinated.
COVID-19 Epidemiology and Common Questions
In the US, over half of all new COVID cases appear to be due to the Delta variant and that will likely continue to increase.
COVID-19 Epidemiology and the Delta Variant
As of this week, the Delta variant has become the predominant strain in the US, just as it is in the UK and in nearly all of Europe.
COVID-19 Mutations and Risks of the Delta Variant
The Delta variant mutation caused a specific fold in the geometry of the spike protein that causes it to bind to cells more efficiently.
COVID-19 Case Rates, Vaccines, and Treatments
In the United States, COVID-19 case rates have decreased to three cases per hundred thousand per day.
COVID-19 Case Rates, Vaccinations, and the Delta Variant
Over the last few days, estimates are that the delta variant is responsible for 10% of all new cases in the United States.
COVID-19 Case Trends and Vaccinations
In the US, over the last week, the rate of decrease in numbers of cases and deaths has fallen, and 20 states have seen an increase in cases.
COVID-19 Case Rates, Herd Immunity, and Summer Travel
In the United States case levels are down to levels not seen since the “14 days to stop the Virus” in March of last year.
COVID-19 Vaccinations, Booster Shots, and Black Fungus
In most of the world, the steady improvement trends continue. Even India has seen rates fall to roughly half of where they were 3 weeks ago.
COVID-19 Case Rates, CDC Guidance, and Travel
The recent news is the CDC’s statement that in most situations people who are vaccinated do not need to wear a mask either indoors or out.
This Week on COVID-19: Case Rates, Vaccines, and Reopening
In the United States cases dropped over 21% in the last week, now running at about 12 cases per 100,000 per day.
COVID-19 Case Rates, Vaccines, and Common Questions
The US data continues to be going in the right direction with cases decreased by another 10% this past week.
COVID-19 Statistics, Variants, and the Johnson & Johnson Vaccine
Over last weekend, the US FDA and CDC jointly announced lifting the “pause” on the use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.
COVID-19 Case Rates, Vaccines, Testing, and Treatments
After 5 consecutive weeks of a slow upward trend in U.S. cases, we have seen nearly a 12% drop in the case rates over the previous week.
This Week on COVID-19: Epidemiology, Treatments, and the Johnson & Johnson Vaccine
The CDC and FDA recommended an immediate pause in the use of the Johnson & Johnson single dose COVID-19 vaccine.
COVID-19 Case Rates, Epidemiology, and Vaccines
In the United States, the nation is still on track to be able to deliver the vaccine to all willing adults over the next 4 to 6 weeks.
This Week on COVID-19: Herd Immunity and Vaccines
The CDC announced data regarding the efficacy of the major vaccines against infections and infectiousness exceeds 90%.
This Week on COVID-19: Case Rates, Treatments, Prevention, and Vaccines
We have not seen the predicted 4th wave in March, what we have seen is a flattening of what had been a steep decline in the number of cases.
COVID-19 Case Rates, Treatments, and Vaccines
Over the last week, the overall rate of the United States is only down by about 5%, but half of the states are actually ticking upward again.
COVID-19 Statistics, Vaccines, and New Guidance
It now appears that the pace of vaccination and the movement towards herd immunity has blunted the effect of more virulent COVID-19 variants.
COVID-19 Epidemiology, Treatments, and Vaccines
The most important news this week is the approval and release of the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine for COVID-19.
COVID-19 Case Rates, Testing, Treatments, and Vaccines
Real-world studies looking at vaccine effectiveness have confirmed Pfizer’s study findings of 95% efficacy after two doses.
COVID-19 Epidemiology, Vaccine Statistics, and Q&A
In the United States, individual case counts have seen their lowest number over the previous two days since the middle of October 4 months ago.
COVID-19 Case Rates, Therapies, and Vaccines
In the United States, the overall rate of new COVID-19 infections decreased by nearly 1/4 in the last week.
COVID-19 Epidemiology, Testing, Treatment, and Vaccines
In the US, the seven-day average of cases is down by over 46% from the peak during the second week of January.
Current COVID-19 Case Rates, Vaccinations, and Treatments
In the US, cases are down about 20% from their post-New Year peak and similar downward trends are seen in Asia and Australia.
COVID-19 Epidemiology, Testing, and Vaccinations
The United States and the United Kingdom have clearly crested the wave on their latest peaks in terms of new cases.
This Week in COVID-19, New Strains and Vaccinations
We are still in the midst of the biggest wave of COVID-19 cases yet in the US, with rates increasing throughout most of the world.
This Week in COVID-19, Recent News, Vaccinations, and New Strains
News this week has been dominated by vaccine issues. That is understandable, as vaccines are what will bring us out of this epidemic.
COVID-19 Epidemiology, Testing, and Treatment
Two weeks ago, just about every state was seeing rapid increases in case numbers, currently, case numbers are decreasing throughout the US.
COVID-19 Testing, Therapeutics, and Vaccine Distribution
With the first COVID-19 vaccinations being administered, the biggest question on everyone’s mind is “when will I be able to get the vaccine?” and the answer is, “ it depends.”
This Week On COVID-19, Emergency Use Authorizations and Operation Warp Speed
This week marks two of the most important milestones in this entire COVID epidemic. The first person to receive a vaccine and formal independent review by the U.S. FDA.
This Week on COVID-19, Case Rates and Vaccine Progress
Just in time for Thanksgiving, COVID rates have started to come off the highs that we saw through the month of November.
This Week on COVID-19, Increasing Case Rates and Thanksgiving
As of Wednesday, about 11 and a half million Americans are known to have been infected with SARS CoV2.
This Week in COVID-19, Epidemiology, Holidays, and Vaccines
The combined effort of Pfizer and BioNTech announced that their vaccine has a 90% protective efficacy in vaccinated individuals.
This Week in COVID-19, What We’ve Learned Since March
There is very little news to report this week, so instead, we will look back at some of the original reports from March.
Weekly Update & Holiday Travel
Year-end holidays are traditionally times when people travel distances to reunite friends and families, or even have simple parties to celebrate the milestones of another year. What we have learned over the past few months is that these types of events are exactly what fuels COVID-19 outbreaks and even spread as people take infections back with them when they go home.
COVID-19 Prevention, Treatment, and Epidemiology
There was a Large study announced this week from Australia addressing the survival of the virus on various surfaces. The virus can be recovered over a longer duration of time than previously thought.
This Week on COVID-19: Halts on Vaccine and Therapeutic Trials
In the US, current levels are at about 75% of the peak seen in mid-July, but they are still steadily rising…not as fast as of late June and early July, but there is no evidence of a new peak.
This Week on COVID-19: The President’s COVID-19 Infection, and Planning for Holiday Travel
Most of the news of the last week has surrounded President Trump’s diagnosis and apparent rapid recovery from COVID-19. As of right now, we do not know where the infection occurred.
COVID-19 Case Rates, Testing, and Vaccines
COVID-19 cases are once again on the increase in much of the world except for China. Fortunately, these rates do not apply to death rates.
This Week on COVID-19: Vaccine Developments, a Second Wave, and Flu Season
This week Dr. Fauci clarified that he fully expects that anyone who wants to be vaccinated will be fully vaccinated by April of next year or roughly 6-7 months from now.
This Week on COVID-19: Vaccines, Antibody Therapy, and Testing
An independent safety board has reviewed all the available data on the AstraZeneca/Oxford University vaccine. The assessment concluded that there was no evidence that the adverse event was due to the vaccine.
This Week on COVID-19: Vaccine Development, Current Trends, and Surface Transmission
AstraZeneca working in conjunction with the University of Oxford had a single test subject who developed a significant medical issue.
Vaccine News, Recent Trends, and Quick Facts on COVID-19
Emergency Use Authorization for at least one of the vaccines, could be issued as early as late next month or early in November.
COVID-19 Testing, Therapeutics, and the Possibility of Reinfection
Many of us are beginning to get a sense that we have fallen into a COVID-19 rhythm. That is both good and bad.
This Week on COVID-19: Schools, Long Term Effects & Europe Comparison
Countries across Europe are trying to put a lid on the new cases by clamping down on the highest-risk indoor settings that spur infection.
COVID-19 During the Flu Season
As we approach the latter part of the summer, people should be asking the question: “What will this year’s flu season look like?” A bad flu season, as we had 2 years ago, combined with COVID-19 would significantly run the risk of overwhelming the health system.
Recent COVID-19 Statistics
Total new cases throughout the world increased throughout June and July, peaking towards the end of June at slightly over a quarter million new cases per day.
COVID-19 Vaccines, Guidance, and Asymptomatic Transmission
Currently, the World Health Organization estimates that 16% of people infected with COVID 19 are asymptomatic and are still capable of transmission. The data also shows that up to 40% of novel coronavirus transmission comes from these people who are asymptomatic.
COVID-19 Questions Answered
News on vaccines continues to be very promising. Several of these vaccines are going into final stage trials known as stage III.
COVID-19 News and Guidance
The biggest issue of the week continues to be the ongoing disparity in case counts between the United States and the rest of the developed world.
COVID-19 Testing, Travel, and Risk factors
North and south America have become the epicenter of the pandemic. South America and Specifically Brazil appear to be the hardest hit.
Resurgence of COVID-19 Cases in the U.S.
A major concern this week is the resurgence in cases of COVID-19 in many states along the country’s southern tier. Very importantly, as the United States reopens its economy, it does not mean that the county is returning to where it was in March.
Current Trends of COVID-19
This pandemic cannot be looked at as a single international epidemic, but rather as a series of linked regional epidemics.
Future Outlook of COVID-19
This blog post takes a look at what has actually changed about drivers of COVID-19 and clarifies some of the new updates that have been shared over the past couple of weeks.
Reopening, Vaccines, and a Second Wave
This week’s blog post walks you through the latest developments on reopenings in the US and globally, the latest vaccine developments, and the potential for a second wave.
COVID-19 News This Week
There has been a subtle change in guidance from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on how the virus is transmitted. The new guidance specifically says that surface contact does not play a major role in transmitting the virus.