One thing I have not seen emphasized in current coverage of the new COVID-19 Omicron variant is that this is a developing situation. The new variant was only recently detected and medical personnel across the world will probably need weeks before a clear picture of any changes in infectivity and severity become clear. Drastic actions … Continue reading Quick Post about COVID-19 Variant Omicron
Tag: COVID19
To Boost or Not to Boost?
Headlines over the weekend bickered back and forth over the FDA's decision to only approve COVID-19 vaccine booster shots to the over 65 and immunocompromised populations. Many promises had been made about possible future booster shot availability but only now are we starting to see the data that tells us just how effective booster shots … Continue reading To Boost or Not to Boost?
COVID-19 Vaccination and GBS
Headlines were made today that the drummer in the Offspring, Pete Parada, was dropped from the band due to not having received a COVID-19 vaccine. [link] Parada made his decision not to vaccinate based on two things, 1. he has already had COVID-19 which can offer some small amount of protection and 2. he has … Continue reading COVID-19 Vaccination and GBS
Fauci, Paul, and Gain of Function Research
In a clip steadily gaining views today, Dr. Fauci rebutted claims from Senator Rand Paul that a paper from the Wuhan Institute of Virology constitutes "gain of function" research being done in China that was illegally supported by NIH funding. Even as someone in the know what all parts of that sentence mean, it can … Continue reading Fauci, Paul, and Gain of Function Research
New Vaccine on the Block
A new vaccine is now in use and some parts of the US are seeing up to 10% of the population fully vaccinated. I'll have to admit that the beginning of 2021 is beating my expectations, here's hoping the variants don't crash the party. Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Data With the release of the Johnson … Continue reading New Vaccine on the Block
COVID-19 Updates in the UK
Happy New Year everyone! Even though we've left 2020 behind, COVID-19 is still very much with us and there have been some developments in the UK for the past few weeks that are making headlines. So for the first post of the year, let's dig into the state of the UK. SARS-CoV-2 Variant B.1.1.7 or … Continue reading COVID-19 Updates in the UK
COVID-19 Vaccines, what’s in an mRNA?
Vaccines are coming into their own this month and the data is starting to flow with information pouring out about efficacy, doses, and who is going to get the vaccines first. After working for 6 years in a group that manufactures mRNA for research use, seeing widespread clinical use of the molecule is a dream … Continue reading COVID-19 Vaccines, what’s in an mRNA?
COVID Holidays
It's a week before Thanksgiving and all through the house, every creature is stirring, every dog, cat and mouse. The food was selected and prepared with care, in the hopes that the family would soon be there. The tragedy is that our holidays change, to keep everyone safe we all must refrain. For those who … Continue reading COVID Holidays
COVID Minks
Today's blog post is going to look at what's going on with Minks in Denmark that hit the news this week. While the first cases were reported in June, months of additional tracking and sequence comparison led to the conclusion that a variant of SARS-CoV-2 mutated and is now capable of spreading between minks and … Continue reading COVID Minks
COVID Fall
This will be a tricky week coming up, so let's briefly chat about how to best protect yourself for Halloween, voting, and the coming season of holidays. When making choices about what you will be doing during the holiday season, it is important to recognize when you will be outside of your bubble. Bubbles are … Continue reading COVID Fall
PMP in the Lab 