1/ We can't underestimate SARS-CoV-2.
We've been wrong time and again. science.sciencemag.org/content/371/65…
- Viruses evolve through mutation PLUS natural selection
- When the virus replicates, it mutates.
- The more people the virus infects, the more it replicates, the more it mutates.
2/ Natural selection favors traits that allow the virus to
- replicate better
- transmit better
- and evade our immune systems better.
3/ So it makes sense that the mutant COVID variants are more infectious (e.g. B.1.1.7, B.1.526), more virulent (B.1.1.7), or evade immune responses to natural infection (e.g. B.1.351, P.1).
4/ As SARS-CoV-2 continues to spread, it will continue to mutate. What's concerning is that the S protein can mutate fairly significantly without significant loss of viral fitness... and that means the virus can mutate a lot.
5/ It is essential that we slow the spread of SARS-CoV-2 to prevent it from evolving further. We cannot allow it to evolve to where it could evade vaccine-induced immunity.
6/ It's like parking a car.
You don't take your foot off the brake (masking, ventilation, avoiding crowds)
until you shift your car into park (get enough people vaccinated).
7/ Right now, we're taking our foot off the brake and slamming on the gas (not masking, gathering in crowds, reopening indoor businesses, traveling) before the car's in park.
8/ If we slow SARS-CoV-2 transmission, we can prevent the emergence of more mutant variants and the selection of immune escape variants. But we've each got to do our part: wear a mask, avoid crowds, and get vaccinated when it's your turn.

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More from @celinegounder

25 Mar
1/ Pregnant and breastfeeding women have a robust responses to the Pfizer & Moderna COVID vaccines and pass the immunity on to their babies:
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33758889/
2/ Importantly vaccinated women pass on much higher levels of protective antibodies to their fetus or newborn than do women who've had COVID.
3/ As with influenza, pregnant women are at higher risk for severe disease when they get COVID. Women are also at higher risk for pre-term birthif they get COVID while pregnant.
Read 6 tweets
18 Mar
1/ On February 15th, Drs. @RickABright @brosseau_lisa @drlynngoldman @jljcolorado Yoshihiro Kawaoka @linseymarr @drdavidmichaels @Don_Milton @mtosterholm @kprather88 Chip Schooley and Peg Seminario sent this letter to the WH/CDC/NIH:
cidrap.umn.edu/sites/default/…
2/ The CDC has yet to follow the science and fully recognize that SARS-CoV-2 is an airborne virus.
The CDC has yet to recommend appropriate protections to limit the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in high-risk workplaces.
Note that airborne DOES NOT EQUAL freak out.
3/ Airborne means we focus on preventing spread through the air. This means that masks and ventilation are crucial in preventing the spread of COVID.
Read 16 tweets
24 Feb
1/ “The Great Recession of 2008 hit all sectors of local government hard, but whereas other sectors were able to bounce back, funding for public health did not recover."
-- Jennifer Kertanis, Director of Health at the Farmington Valley Health District, testifying before Congress
2/ "...average local health department expenditures per capita decreased 30%, from $80 in 2008, to $56 in 2019.”
"Local public health budget cuts show themselves most clearly in workforce reductions that have made the current pandemic response even more challenging…"
3/ "local health departments have actually lost 21% of their workforce capacity since 2008, with the number of full-time equivalent employees dropping from 5.2 per 10,000 people in 2008 to 4.1 per 10,000 people in 2019.”
Read 4 tweets
24 Feb
1/ When will the pandemic be over? I talked to @alexismadrigal about it.
2/ The emergency won't be over until most of the elderly and those with chronic medical conditions--who are at the highest risk for severe disease, hospitalization, and death--have been vaccinated.
3/ The elderly population skews whiter. It's essential that we also get people with chronic medical conditions vaccinated, too, as this will capture most of the high-risk persons of color, who've been hit so hard by this pandemic.
Read 36 tweets
17 Feb
1/ Former Biden-Harris Transition COVID-19 Advisory Board members @ZekeEmanuel @RickABright @llborio @Atul_Gawande @mtosterholm @drdavidmichaels & Jill Jim in the @nytimes today.
nytimes.com/2021/02/17/opi… We're in for a tough spring if we don't act now.
2/ We all want a break from the pandemic, but now is not the time to let up. By late March, the more transmissible B.1.1.7 UK variant will be the dominant strain in the U.S. This variant spreads more easily from person-to-person and is more virulent. justhumanproductions.org/podcasts/s1e61…
3/ What can we do?
- Every American needs to wear a high-quality mask, and wear it correctly. Snugly, over your nose & mouth. No air leak on the sides.
- Stay in your household bubble.
- Get vaccinated. usatoday.com/story/opinion/…
Read 6 tweets

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