CORONAVIRUS INFO PROVIDED BY DR. JIM HARRIS – 09/17/2021

FROM NYT: (J. Harris: Here’s why to wear your mask in unavoidable crowds even if you are vaccinated):

From Hopkins:

1. SARS-CoV-2/INFLUENZA VACCINES With research ongoing into the necessity of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine booster doses, at least 2 pharmaceutical companies are banking on the need for annual shots, similar to influenza vaccinations, and working on combining the 2 vaccines. Moderna on September 9 said it is developing a single shot containing a booster dose for its SARS-CoV-2 vaccine and an experimental flu vaccine. The company said it eventually hopes to add vaccines for other respiratory diseases, including respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), into a single annual shot. On September 8, Novavax announced it has begun a Phase 1/2 clinical trial testing a combination vaccine using the company’s vaccine candidates for seasonal influenza and SARS-CoV-2. Both vaccines have been tested in Phase 3 trials, but neither has received regulatory authorization or approval. Combination vaccines have several potential benefits, including lowering the number of shots needed annually, improving vaccine coverage rates, and reducing costs for healthcare facilities and individuals.

2. Study of Up to 40,000 People Will Probe Mysteries of Long Covid (Science) Weeks or months after their coronavirus infection clears, many people diagnosed with COVID-19 still have debilitating symptoms such as fatigue, foggy thinking, and headaches. Today, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced a nearly $470 million grant to enroll up to 40,000 adults and children newly and previously infected with SARS-CoV-2 in a study that will probe the causes of these postinfection effects, dubbed Long Covid, and look for clues to treatments and prevention.

3. GOOD NEWS: Global COVID-19 Cases Show Substantial Drop (CIDRAP) For the first time in more than 2 months, weekly global COVID-19 cases dropped substantially, as cases decline in recent hot spots, including India and Japan, the World Health Organization (WHO) said yesterday in its latest update.

FROM LANCET

Uncoupling vaccination from politics: a call to action

FROM THE WASHINGTON POST:

Biden Meets With Business Leaders on Vaccine Mandates (Washington Post) President Biden met with business leaders from Disney, Microsoft, Walgreens and other large companies Wednesday to discuss coronavirus vaccine mandates as the private sector grapples with his administration’s efforts to compel medium and large companies to make the shots mandatory for their workers or require weekly testing.

PART OF A NOTE FROM A READER WHOSE EXTENDED FAMILY HAS BEEN INTERSPERSED WITH COVID HESITANCY WHILE PLAGUED WITH COVID INFECTIONS:

”…I do not like dictators and bullies, but if they put me in charge, I would make everybody get vaccinated, unless they had a doctor’s excuse that stated a medical reason for not taking it. . If they are going to act like children who can’t take care of themselves and in addition put the whole family and larger human population at danger, then they need to be treated like children and someone needs to make them behave before they kill themselves and take a lot of us with them. Of course no one wants to put me in charge, not even my own kids. It is really unbelievable what is happening and the society as a whole will continue to suffer physically, emotionally, and economically. We really are messing with mother nature (God Creation) and we are not doing so well right now. I think the virus is mutating faster than we can beg, pay, or force folks to get vaccinated…”

AND HERE’S A WELL-WRITTEN REPLY FROM MY FAVORITE TWIT GOVERNOR THAT MAKES SOME GOOD POINTS THAT ARE NEVERTHELESS IMPOSSIBLE TO JUSTIFY IN A CROWD OF TODAY’S AMERICANS: (SEE ATTACHED BELOW). OF COURSE, SHE WANTS TO BE PRESIDENT OF THE US SOMEDAY.

AND LAST BUT NOT LEASED:

Why does golfer carry an extra pair of Sox? In case he gets a hole in one…(from a former mayor who still loves Marshall)