A long week
This week has been complicated. I owe a lot of people gratitude – more, I suspect, than I know – for the grace I have been given. You had better things to do than to wait an extra hour in the office/wonder overnight if you’re going to get the medicine you need to feel better/change your plans because I forgot what mine were. So thank you…because you know who you are.
My rural hospital has administered over 3,000 COVID-19 vaccines, and we continue to vaccinate more than 150 people a day. That is a number that makes me smile.
This week has been a very busy week in COVID news! I am going to try to put together some information over the weekend, but here’s what I’ve been hearing about (did I miss anything? Let me know!)
- The B.1.351 COVID-19 variant (South African) appears to be wearing some pretty rockin’ sunglasses and auditioning for the Virus Cheer Team. I’d like to take a look at what we know about the existing (and upcoming) vaccines and their effectiveness against this variant in particular.
- Speaking of upcoming vaccines, Johnson & Johnson have released the next round of their data and it’s pretty interesting. What do we know about the new kid who’s getting ready to move into the vaccine block?
- There’s a lot of talk about wearing two masks these days! What does that mean, why would we do it, and is there any good practical information that doesn’t come in an infographic about covering your nose (cover your nose!)?
- WHO has made a statement about vaccine administration with pregnant people that merits an update to a previous post about vaccines and pregnancy (short version: Definitely talk to your doctor if you are a pregnant person who is eligible for the vaccine).
- We’re having conversations about teachers returning to schools in several major metropolitan areas, as well as smaller ones – some with, some without the vaccine. What does the science say about in-person schooling?
That’s a super busy news week! It’s a pity I’ve been in meetings pretty much all my spare minutes – although some of them were very interesting (I got in on a CDC webinar, and the Indiana Department of Health is still working on a lot of things that aren’t COVID-19 too.)
What did I miss?