Some of my talking points for this week (Sept 27-Oct 3):
1. Autumn-Winter surge may be starting now in the US, possibly we're already seeing this in upper Midwest, WI, ND, SD, IA
2/3 Thread:
2. The cold states may be especially susceptible this fall, reasons of "double indemnity" (idea from @PolicyLabCHOP):
People indoors more + Higher virus inoculum, virus does better in the cold...
3/3 Thread:
3. Take whichever vaccine you can as they become available in 2021. My reason: Priority to get some virus neutralizing antibodies into your system. Even if it's not the best vaccine, it's likely you can get boosted with better vaccines later in the year or in 2022.
Only exception might be live virus vaccine from Merck & Co. If you already had a previous vaccine giving you VNA it may prevent live virus in the Merck vaccine from replicating? I have no evidence for this, just guessing. But for now, take whatever vaccine you can get in 2021
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1/n I’m seeing on social media and popular podcasts, awful nonsense and false claims about Covid immunizations in pregnancy causing autism in newborns. This is dangerous health disinformation at multiple levels. Here is the real story.
2/n First the adverse health impact of Covid on both pregnant mother and new baby is undisputed, it’s devastating for both, especially high maternal morbidity and mortality journals.plos.org/plosone/articl…
3/n moreover the health benefits of Covid vaccinations for both mother and newborn are also indisputable and life saving. This from @LancetDigitalH thelancet.com/journals/landi…
1/n Latest from @IHME_UW and their new Global Burden of Disease 2021 data for COVID19 excess mortality in 2021. A few things: First, it helps dispel the myth that LMIC nations on the African Continent were spared the ravages of Covid. A reason…
2/n a reason is low vaccination rates. My view: the overemphasis on speed or new technologies and innovations, there were insufficient mRNA and particle vaccine doses made in 2020-21, and these were bought up quickly by high income countries.
3/n I believe if our @TexasChildrens vaccine group received more international assistance we could have moved faster to help LMICs in Africa. As it is even without that help (or very modest help), at least 100 million doses of our low-cost, patent-free Covid vaccine administered
1/n Nuremberg 2.0 is a QAnon far-right fantasy that the Covid vaccine scientists & virologists will be tried at some sort of military tribunal similar to those following WWII. It’s an excuse to invoke Nazi imagery, designed to intimidate scientists, portray us as public enemies
@JHUPress 3/n the use of Nazi imagery to intimidate scientists has a historical basis, which I wrote about in a paper last year @ProjectMUSE muse.jhu.edu/article/902035…
1/n Our @TexasChildrens laboratory is rapidly accelerating a new human hookworm anemia vaccine for LMICs.
Fyi hookworm, malaria, yellow fever, dengue once common in East Texas (and in some cases returning). Here’s a hookworm map from early 1900s. Even Harris County,
1/n There have been several papers out in the last few months examining or reviewing the PEDIATRIC disease burden of Covid + the benefits of vaccination, will summarize some of the key interesting ones from 2023-24 here in this thread, in some cases also a popular article on it