Wednesday, April 28, 2021
I continue to be surprised and cautiously optimistic by the real-world COVID vaccine data. Healthcare is often not like this - therapies and medications often underperform as compared to trials and research. (No is ever as happy as the people in pharma TV ads, right?) Nevertheless, multiple studies continue to affirm the COVID vaccines have low side effect rates, effectiveness in decreasing viral spread, and longer than anticipated protection against a comprehensive array of variants. Even breakthrough infections are mainly asymptomatic. Time will tell if these patterns persist and for how long, but this is all pretty amazing.
Here is a recent observational study of 627,383 vaccinated individuals from the U.K. that spawned the comments above.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(21)00224-3/fulltext
---
CDC National Hospitalization trend data
https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#hospitalizations
Global-View:
https://www.ft.com/content/a2901ce8-5eb7-4633-b89c-cbdf5b386938
Nationally:
https://ig.ft.com/coronavirus-chart/?areas=usa&areas=gbr&areasRegional=usny&areasRegional=usca&areasRegional=usfl&areasRegional=ustx&areasRegional=usco&cumulative=0&logScale=0&perMillion=1&values=casesf
The U.S. Regionally - N.Y. Times:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html
Vaccine Tracker
https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccination-trends
-----
Despite the good news on vaccines, vaccinated immunosuppressed patients (think chronic illness, transplant, cancers) are less likely to achieve complete protection. There is some data that this is true in subsets of dialysis patients. Eric Topol highlights this Lancet study on the more variable immune response in cancer patients. Adam's takeaway - immunosuppressed patients still need to be thoughtful about distance, masking, and large groups.
https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1387215227901472768
and
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/PIIS1470-2045(21)00213-8/fulltext
and from elsewhere
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-04-covid-jab-myeloma-blood-cancer.html
The Medical Letter has once again updated their fantastic PDF vaccine table
http://www.mmsend96.com/link.cfm?r=2FEduWe9i7ZvcbwXgjLrzA~~&pe=gk12PryQchDfRWTL0BFKWQtJUINVrRefxVolVX10BwvOh5a-Kwt-FlhKCjN_Kx3V64cjKgPB5bHnLZkbnFBE7Q~~&t=St-fxvfnD0OXXSzmUzui-Q~~
The CDC revised its recommendations on outdoor mask use for vaccinated individuals.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/27/health/cdc-new-mask-guidance.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimes
and they provide a handy infographic
https://twitter.com/DrLeanaWen/status/1387081791723409410/photo/1
And India is still in the thick of the pandemic. Here is a thread on whether the slower rate of rising cases is due to actual trends in infection rates or simply not enough tests. The answer appears to depend on the Indian state reporting the data.
https://twitter.com/florian_krammer/status/1387327930435620865
COVID vaccine documentation continues to be a source of controversy.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/26/travel/vaccine-passport-cards-apps.html
Infographic of the day: More periodic tables of things
I still do not understand using the periodic table as a framework for information not related to elements. But here is yet one more: The Periodic Table of the Figures of Speech:
https://thevisualcommunicationguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Infographic_PeriodicTableFiguresOfSpeech-1024x662.jpg
(Perhaps I need to try formating my emails as a periodic table since it seems to be a popular but inappropriately utilized tool to convey ideas).
---Bonus Round: The Double-Edged Sword of Liberal Arts Education
My favorite part of college was learning to connect two or more dissimilar ideas and sound rational. The appeal of this has amplified as I've gotten older - looking for intellectually satisfying justifications for things I've bought or activities I like. In light of the hours I spent filling planters this weekend, I was thrilled to find this very erudite article on gardening as a political act. Retrospectively, I feel much better about the statement I made by covering myself in potting soil and water on Sunday afternoon. Comrades, raise your hand trowels in solidarity‽
https://www.brainpickings.org/2021/04/23/gardening-art-resistance/
Clean hands and sharp minds, team
Adam
I continue to be surprised and cautiously optimistic by the real-world COVID vaccine data. Healthcare is often not like this - therapies and medications often underperform as compared to trials and research. (No is ever as happy as the people in pharma TV ads, right?) Nevertheless, multiple studies continue to affirm the COVID vaccines have low side effect rates, effectiveness in decreasing viral spread, and longer than anticipated protection against a comprehensive array of variants. Even breakthrough infections are mainly asymptomatic. Time will tell if these patterns persist and for how long, but this is all pretty amazing.
Here is a recent observational study of 627,383 vaccinated individuals from the U.K. that spawned the comments above.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(21)00224-3/fulltext
---
CDC National Hospitalization trend data
https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#hospitalizations
Global-View:
https://www.ft.com/content/a2901ce8-5eb7-4633-b89c-cbdf5b386938
Nationally:
https://ig.ft.com/coronavirus-chart/?areas=usa&areas=gbr&areasRegional=usny&areasRegional=usca&areasRegional=usfl&areasRegional=ustx&areasRegional=usco&cumulative=0&logScale=0&perMillion=1&values=casesf
The U.S. Regionally - N.Y. Times:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html
Vaccine Tracker
https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccination-trends
-----
Despite the good news on vaccines, vaccinated immunosuppressed patients (think chronic illness, transplant, cancers) are less likely to achieve complete protection. There is some data that this is true in subsets of dialysis patients. Eric Topol highlights this Lancet study on the more variable immune response in cancer patients. Adam's takeaway - immunosuppressed patients still need to be thoughtful about distance, masking, and large groups.
https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1387215227901472768
and
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/PIIS1470-2045(21)00213-8/fulltext
and from elsewhere
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-04-covid-jab-myeloma-blood-cancer.html
The Medical Letter has once again updated their fantastic PDF vaccine table
http://www.mmsend96.com/link.cfm?r=2FEduWe9i7ZvcbwXgjLrzA~~&pe=gk12PryQchDfRWTL0BFKWQtJUINVrRefxVolVX10BwvOh5a-Kwt-FlhKCjN_Kx3V64cjKgPB5bHnLZkbnFBE7Q~~&t=St-fxvfnD0OXXSzmUzui-Q~~
The CDC revised its recommendations on outdoor mask use for vaccinated individuals.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/27/health/cdc-new-mask-guidance.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimes
and they provide a handy infographic
https://twitter.com/DrLeanaWen/status/1387081791723409410/photo/1
And India is still in the thick of the pandemic. Here is a thread on whether the slower rate of rising cases is due to actual trends in infection rates or simply not enough tests. The answer appears to depend on the Indian state reporting the data.
https://twitter.com/florian_krammer/status/1387327930435620865
COVID vaccine documentation continues to be a source of controversy.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/26/travel/vaccine-passport-cards-apps.html
Infographic of the day: More periodic tables of things
I still do not understand using the periodic table as a framework for information not related to elements. But here is yet one more: The Periodic Table of the Figures of Speech:
https://thevisualcommunicationguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Infographic_PeriodicTableFiguresOfSpeech-1024x662.jpg
(Perhaps I need to try formating my emails as a periodic table since it seems to be a popular but inappropriately utilized tool to convey ideas).
---Bonus Round: The Double-Edged Sword of Liberal Arts Education
My favorite part of college was learning to connect two or more dissimilar ideas and sound rational. The appeal of this has amplified as I've gotten older - looking for intellectually satisfying justifications for things I've bought or activities I like. In light of the hours I spent filling planters this weekend, I was thrilled to find this very erudite article on gardening as a political act. Retrospectively, I feel much better about the statement I made by covering myself in potting soil and water on Sunday afternoon. Comrades, raise your hand trowels in solidarity‽
https://www.brainpickings.org/2021/04/23/gardening-art-resistance/
Clean hands and sharp minds, team
Adam
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