Week of August 23, 2021
Road trip complete. Notable vacation events included Massachusetts reinstituting mask mandates mid-vacation, hurricane Henri moving up the east coast (which we avoided), and some lovely (outdoor) brunches with seldom-seen friends. And we fit right in toting our bikes everywhere. Between the pandemic Peletonians moving to real bikes and the desire for safe outdoor activities, bike trails had traffic patterns like L.A. or D.C. at rush hour.
We also had a quintessentially 21st-century event. The Breakers, Cornelius Vanderbilt's 1890 Newport, RI vacation home, offers a self-guided audio tour via phone app. It was a bit surreal. There were dozens of bemasked and be-earbudded visitors (including me, my wife, and kids) silently gazing at the gilded-age opulence. We experienced a collision of technology, isolation in a crowd, and extravagant wealth wandering amongst marble columns and gold ornamentation. Of course, the audio track ended by requesting donations to keep the house running. Though The Breakers is run by a non-profit, I was amused that the Vanderbilts need my support.
All told, it was good to be out of the house (and the home office).
------
The hot spots are more clearly spilling into other states. The virus anywhere makes the virus everywhere.
U.S. Hotspot Map via N.Y. Times.
Regional variation, but case rate rising everywhere https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/covid-cases.html
CDC Weekly Review of Data and Variant Tracking
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/covidview/index.html
-----
Dr. Bob Wachter shared a long thread of observations, thoughts, and strategies about the Delta variant. Check out tweets 21-25 - what's a vaccinated person to do?
https://twitter.com/Bob_Wachter/status/1422759844650504197
Quick infographic: https://twitter.com/Bob_Wachter/status/1422759849671024642/photo/1
Eric Topol shared updated data about vaccine effectiveness against the Delta variant, based on country-level reports.
https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1428346743846887425
and sparked a discussion about data on Delta's household transmission rates while highlighting some of the mechanisms that make the Delta variant more infectious.
https://twitter.com/Ed_Strauss/status/1427999992426414083
Article referenced:
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.08.17.456689v1
A loyal reader shared a FiveThirtyEight article describing the latest data on unvaccinated Americans from a Kaiser Family Foundation poll.
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/unvaccinated-america-in-5-charts/
KFF survey:
https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/poll-finding/kff-covid-19-vaccine-monitor-july-2021/
The Kaiser Family Foundation offers some fascinating polling data about vaccine uptake in the U.S.
https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/dashboard/kff-covid-19-vaccine-monitor-dashboard/
An August 17 Science article highlights more discussion on the origin of SARS-CoV-2. Civets, foxes, minks, and raccoon dogs are possible intermediary vectors to humans from genetically similar SARS-CoV infected horseshoe bats.
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2021/08/16/science.abh0117
But this is one more discussion of the data in a much larger, angrier debate that may never resolve.
https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1427638422915670020
For a deeper dive, you can read this July 12 editorial by Alina Chan, a post-doctoral fellow writing a book on COVID's origins
https://ayjchan.medium.com/a-response-to-the-origins-of-sars-cov-2-a-critical-review-5d4a644d9777
Here are some reasonable (and time-consuming) tension-reducing tactics for discussing vaccines with those unwilling to be vaccinated.
https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2021/08/try-this-new-technique-when-talking-to-vaccine-skeptics.html
Zoo animals throughout the U.S. are now getting vaccinated. Zookeepers use reward-based training to get animal buy-in and to mitigate aggression and fear. Kind of like offering money to get vaccinated, right?
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/oakland-zoo-animal-covid-vaccine/
And, here is a detailed inventory of ingredients in both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines with comments by a virologist.
https://twitter.com/liebermannicole/status/1426284154736439298?s=10
You will note that there is no apple flavoring like the farm animal-grade Ivermectin some of our fellow citizens are using (instead of just getting vaccinated). DO NOT DO THIS.
https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=582717d5-7ab0-4fcd-932b-f46499435778
https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/why-you-should-not-use-ivermectin-treat-or-prevent-covid-19
Infographics!
Virginian Commonwealth University School of Medicine alumni magazine's 2014 infographic on functional hospital fashion is more accurate than ever. Bare elbows, no white coats, and say yes to the vest.
https://twitter.com/laxswamy/status/1428190918419619846/photo/1
And you can learn about the chemistry of electric guitars.
https://twitter.com/compoundchem/status/1425918482344988675/photo/1
Things I learned this week:
Gallium is fun‽
https://twitter.com/compoundchem/status/1428427432143564802
Moderna is launching trials of an mRNA-based HIV vaccine.
https://twitter.com/sailorrooscout/status/1426914391509905409?s=10
Frances Thompson was a formerly enslaved transgender woman born in the 1840s. She testified in front of Congress in 1866 following racially motivated, post-Civil War violence in Memphis, T.N. Her testimony (the first known trans person to testify in front of Congress) was crucial in the passage of the 14th and 15th constitutional amendments. Though her life was marked by violence and hatred, she publically advocated for herself in the very hostile 19th-century South.
https://www.hrc.org/news/hrc-honors-frances-thompson-a-black-transgender-hero
and
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/11/17/1996254/-Transgender-Awareness-Week-Day-2-Frances-Thompson#comment_79356015
We listened to the audiobook biography of Siggi Zilwig, a holocaust survivor with a huge personality, a quick-wit, and who lived a remarkable life. I strongly recommend the book, Unstoppable.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siggi_Wilzig
the book
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/54396808-unstoppable
Clean hands and sharp minds, team
Adam
Road trip complete. Notable vacation events included Massachusetts reinstituting mask mandates mid-vacation, hurricane Henri moving up the east coast (which we avoided), and some lovely (outdoor) brunches with seldom-seen friends. And we fit right in toting our bikes everywhere. Between the pandemic Peletonians moving to real bikes and the desire for safe outdoor activities, bike trails had traffic patterns like L.A. or D.C. at rush hour.
We also had a quintessentially 21st-century event. The Breakers, Cornelius Vanderbilt's 1890 Newport, RI vacation home, offers a self-guided audio tour via phone app. It was a bit surreal. There were dozens of bemasked and be-earbudded visitors (including me, my wife, and kids) silently gazing at the gilded-age opulence. We experienced a collision of technology, isolation in a crowd, and extravagant wealth wandering amongst marble columns and gold ornamentation. Of course, the audio track ended by requesting donations to keep the house running. Though The Breakers is run by a non-profit, I was amused that the Vanderbilts need my support.
All told, it was good to be out of the house (and the home office).
------
The hot spots are more clearly spilling into other states. The virus anywhere makes the virus everywhere.
U.S. Hotspot Map via N.Y. Times.
Regional variation, but case rate rising everywhere https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/covid-cases.html
CDC Weekly Review of Data and Variant Tracking
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/covidview/index.html
-----
Dr. Bob Wachter shared a long thread of observations, thoughts, and strategies about the Delta variant. Check out tweets 21-25 - what's a vaccinated person to do?
https://twitter.com/Bob_Wachter/status/1422759844650504197
Quick infographic: https://twitter.com/Bob_Wachter/status/1422759849671024642/photo/1
Eric Topol shared updated data about vaccine effectiveness against the Delta variant, based on country-level reports.
https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1428346743846887425
and sparked a discussion about data on Delta's household transmission rates while highlighting some of the mechanisms that make the Delta variant more infectious.
https://twitter.com/Ed_Strauss/status/1427999992426414083
Article referenced:
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.08.17.456689v1
A loyal reader shared a FiveThirtyEight article describing the latest data on unvaccinated Americans from a Kaiser Family Foundation poll.
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/unvaccinated-america-in-5-charts/
KFF survey:
https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/poll-finding/kff-covid-19-vaccine-monitor-july-2021/
The Kaiser Family Foundation offers some fascinating polling data about vaccine uptake in the U.S.
https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/dashboard/kff-covid-19-vaccine-monitor-dashboard/
An August 17 Science article highlights more discussion on the origin of SARS-CoV-2. Civets, foxes, minks, and raccoon dogs are possible intermediary vectors to humans from genetically similar SARS-CoV infected horseshoe bats.
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2021/08/16/science.abh0117
But this is one more discussion of the data in a much larger, angrier debate that may never resolve.
https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1427638422915670020
For a deeper dive, you can read this July 12 editorial by Alina Chan, a post-doctoral fellow writing a book on COVID's origins
https://ayjchan.medium.com/a-response-to-the-origins-of-sars-cov-2-a-critical-review-5d4a644d9777
Here are some reasonable (and time-consuming) tension-reducing tactics for discussing vaccines with those unwilling to be vaccinated.
https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2021/08/try-this-new-technique-when-talking-to-vaccine-skeptics.html
Zoo animals throughout the U.S. are now getting vaccinated. Zookeepers use reward-based training to get animal buy-in and to mitigate aggression and fear. Kind of like offering money to get vaccinated, right?
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/oakland-zoo-animal-covid-vaccine/
And, here is a detailed inventory of ingredients in both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines with comments by a virologist.
https://twitter.com/liebermannicole/status/1426284154736439298?s=10
You will note that there is no apple flavoring like the farm animal-grade Ivermectin some of our fellow citizens are using (instead of just getting vaccinated). DO NOT DO THIS.
https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=582717d5-7ab0-4fcd-932b-f46499435778
https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/why-you-should-not-use-ivermectin-treat-or-prevent-covid-19
Infographics!
Virginian Commonwealth University School of Medicine alumni magazine's 2014 infographic on functional hospital fashion is more accurate than ever. Bare elbows, no white coats, and say yes to the vest.
https://twitter.com/laxswamy/status/1428190918419619846/photo/1
And you can learn about the chemistry of electric guitars.
https://twitter.com/compoundchem/status/1425918482344988675/photo/1
Things I learned this week:
Gallium is fun‽
https://twitter.com/compoundchem/status/1428427432143564802
Moderna is launching trials of an mRNA-based HIV vaccine.
https://twitter.com/sailorrooscout/status/1426914391509905409?s=10
Frances Thompson was a formerly enslaved transgender woman born in the 1840s. She testified in front of Congress in 1866 following racially motivated, post-Civil War violence in Memphis, T.N. Her testimony (the first known trans person to testify in front of Congress) was crucial in the passage of the 14th and 15th constitutional amendments. Though her life was marked by violence and hatred, she publically advocated for herself in the very hostile 19th-century South.
https://www.hrc.org/news/hrc-honors-frances-thompson-a-black-transgender-hero
and
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/11/17/1996254/-Transgender-Awareness-Week-Day-2-Frances-Thompson#comment_79356015
We listened to the audiobook biography of Siggi Zilwig, a holocaust survivor with a huge personality, a quick-wit, and who lived a remarkable life. I strongly recommend the book, Unstoppable.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siggi_Wilzig
the book
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/54396808-unstoppable
Clean hands and sharp minds, team
Adam
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