⚠️OMICRON “EVADES” NEUTRALIZATION—1st ever #Omicron variant study of blood from Moderna, Oxford-AstraZeneca, Pfizer vaccinated, vs survivors of Alpha, Beta, Delta variants. Omicron #B11529 evasive—but 2x Pfizer/mixed stronger>> convalescent; 3x hit best.🧵 medrxiv.org/content/10.110…
2) “We found that sera from vaccinated individuals neutralized the B.1.1.529 variant to a much lesser extent than any other variant analyzed. Neutralization capacity against #Omicron was maintained best against sera of “infected + 2x vaccinated” or “2x vaccinated + infected”
3) it’s clear vaccine neutralization of #Omicron is much harder than any other variants tested - Alpha, Beta, or Delta. Though 2 doses of Pfizer or Pfizer+AstraZeneca mixed vaccination had somewhat better performance against #Omicron. But 2x AstraZeneca not good enough.
4) I’m kind of surprised that 2x doses of Pfizer showed stronger benefit than 2x doses of Moderna. Moderna is a >3 times the dose. But the author says it might be due to interval difference. Will want to see more duration data.
5) I think it’s clear we need boosters. But also maybe variant-adapted newly #Omicron-tailored vaccines in the near future.
6) This above Innsbruck neutralization study matches the drop in vaccine effectiveness seen in the UK — where 2x shots of Oxford-AstraZeneca has little benefit without a booster, and 2 shots of Pfizer slightly better but still only in the low to mid 30% VE without a booster.
7) So how bad is the VE data for 2 AZ doses? Well let’s walk through it… the table tells more about the efficacy against #Omicron beyond the figures above. 2 shots of Oxford-AstraZeneca don’t even have enough data for those <25 weeks. But for 25+ weeks, the 5.9% VE stood out.
8) Another study found that those infected with the original strain much sharper drop off in ability to neutralize #Omicron. ➡️Bottomline: DO NOT RELY ON PAST INFECTION TO PROTECT YOU from Omicron! Get vaccinated / boosted!
9) Semi-good/bad news with 2 shots of Pfizer, the VE starts at 88% between 2-9 weeks after the 2nd shot. Good, but it quickly drops to 48.5% by weeks 10-14. Then drops to 31% by 15-19 weeks. Then it hovers at 36.6% at 20-24 weeks. Then 34.2% at 25+ weeks. But 75.5% w/ booster!👀
10) By now, i hope everyone understands how much worse #Omicron is in evading vaccines and past infection immunity —by leaps and bounds worse by old strain and worse than Delta. We need some radical realism, not delusional dismissive ness that Omicron won’t hit hard. Booster now!
⚠️BREAKING—ICU Hospitalized human bird flu case in Canada now officially confirmed as H5N1. Worse, it is the same 2.3.4.4b virus clade (variant group) as the one found in BC🇨🇦 poultry and in Washington state🇺🇸! The hospitalized teenager (with no pre existing conditions) had no animal contact, does not live on farm, had “deterioration quite rapid” and now critical in ICU with ARDS. Canada officials says infectious period is 2 days **prior to symptoms** (ie asymptomatic transmission) and infectious up to 10 days.
2) Public Health Agency of Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) in Winnipeg confirmed that the individual has avian influenza H5N1 canada.ca/en/public-heal…
3) details…
⚠️BAD UPDATE—BIRD FLU HOSPITALIZATION IN CANADIAN TEEN
Summary 🧵 of the live press conference with Canada’s British Columbia health officer.
📌The teen is in intensive care.
📌Condition is ARDS
📌Teen was healthy prior; no underlying conditions
My god—Google Search for “what is a tariff” sudden spikes the DAY AFTER ELECTION DAY. 🤦🏻♂️
2) many folks simply don’t understand what a tariff is — unless you explain it several times to them with analogies. Even then, it’s hard for many to grasp. Eg 👇
📍HARRIS IS STILL AHEAD IN PA—in terms of votes yet to be counted. She’s still +2 of what is needed to win PA, given the outstanding votes still remaining in PA cities, according to @CBSNews @NorahODonnell
Plastic cookware should not be used. Period. Especially BLACK PLASTIC cookware, that often mixes in toxic recycled electronic waste materials. DISPOSE OF ALL PLASTIC COOKWARE, especially if black colored plastic ones. Pass it on to your family.
2) Because optical sensors in recycling facilities can’t detect them, black-colored plastics are largely rejected from domestic-waste streams, resulting in a shortage of black base material for recycled plastic. So the demand for black plastic appears to be met “in no insignificant part” via recycled e-waste, according to Turner’s research. TV and computer casings, like the majority of the world’s plastic waste, tend to be recycled in informal waste economies with few regulations and end up remolded into consumer products, including ones, such as spatulas and slotted spoons, that come into contact with food.
3) You simply do not want flame retardants anywhere near your stir-fry. Flame retardants are typically not bound to the polymers to which they are added, making them a particular flight risk: They dislodge easily and make their way into the surrounding environment. And, indeed, another paper from 2018 found that flame retardants in black kitchen utensils readily migrate into hot cooking oil. The health concerns associated with those chemicals are well established: Some flame retardants are endocrine disruptors, which can interfere with the body’s hormonal system, and scientific literature suggests that they may be associated with a range of ailments, including thyroid disease, diabetes, and cancer. People with the highest blood levels of PBDEs, a class of flame retardants found in black plastic, had about a 300 percent increase in their risk of dying from cancer compared with people who had the lowest levels, according to a study released this year. In a separate study, published in a peer-reviewed journal this month, researchers from the advocacy group Toxic-Free Future and from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam found that, out of all of the consumer products they tested, kitchen utensils had some of the highest levels of flame retardants.
⚠️MASK MANDATE RETURNING TO ALL NIH PATIENT CLINICS—Effective November 4, 2024, masking will be required in all patient care & waiting rooms. Furthermore, testing for COVID, flu A, flu B, and RSV will be required for all inpatients & rooming-in visitors. cc.nih.gov/patient-servic…
2) This means wearing a mask will be REQUIRED in all patient care areas, including waiting rooms. ➡️This change is due to an anticipated increase in COVID-19 and other respiratory virus activity in the community. 😷
3) I think people should stock up on COVID tests again. The Cheapest COVID test on the U.S. market is now as low as $1.50 with special promo code “COV20”… expiring Jan or March 2025.