Friesein Profile picture
Clean air is a human right. SARS2 is a severe pathogen disabling millions. Let's use scientific modeling and engineering to solve both. Listen to patients.
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Nov 16 5 tweets 2 min read
One reason things are so chaotic right now is that there are competing fantasies about what happened with COVID.

Liberals are under the impression that Biden solved COVID and saved the economy.

MAGA is convinced that COVID was a nothingburger, and are acting vindicated. The Gauntlet  How COVID Helped Trump Win  Biden never ended the pandemic, but he did end government efforts to mitigate its worst impacts  JULIA DOUBLEDAY AND WALKER BRAGMAN NOV 15, 2024 They're both wrong, of course.

COVID is still spreading rampantly and shutting down hospital departments.

And people aren't making the connection between new onset cardiovascular damage, walking pneumonia, various other conditions and their past COVID infections. CityNews  Overflowing pediatric hospitals in Montreal: parents asked to cooperate  Montreal Children's Hospital Montreal Children's Hospital on June 14, 2024. (Johanie Bouffard, CityNews Image)     By Katrine Desautels, The Canadian Press  Posted November 15, 2024 12:35 pm. Last Updated November 15, 2024 12:43 pm.  As Montreal’s two pediatric hospitals experience overflow in their emergency departments, parents are being asked to keep their children home if they don’t require immediate care.
Nov 14 9 tweets 3 min read
Mass exodus from this site would be a tactical mistake & cause irreparable harm to left-leaning/COVID-informed communities.

When vital information is isolated between platforms, it limits our overall safety and effectiveness.

Right now we desperately need interconnectedness.🧵 Join or Die cartoon, inspired by Benjamin Franklin  Copyright Libby Bush  https://www.reddit.com/r/Art/comments/ircdci/join_or_die_2020_edition_after_ben_franklin_me/ To create accountability via public pressure, we need a lot of reach.

For example: under Biden's FDA, without any reason provided, Novavax access was limited to those who hadn't had mRNA.

We rallied against that here. The net result? FDA changed course.

Oct 23 7 tweets 3 min read
COVID increases the risk of secondary infections by impairing mucosal clearance.

"Our results demonstrate profound ciliary loss in the nasal epithelium even in subjects with mild disease and shed light on mechanisms that... probably predispose patients to secondary infections." Scatter plots of pCC (percent ciliary coverage), CBF (ciliary beat frequency), PCL (periciliary layer depth), and MCT (mucociliary transport rate) measurements of healthy control subjects (blue) compared with subjects with COVID-19 (red) are shown.  Scatter plots consistently demonstrate a reduction in each of the above while infected with COVID. This study has a small sample size, but similar results have been replicated elsewhere.

We should be looking further into these effects at the population level in relation to opportunistic infections (especially Mycoplasma pneumoniae).

Link to study: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10…
Sep 27 7 tweets 3 min read
"The Novavax vaccine has this unique adjuvant, a chemical that actually enhances the immune response to the vaccine...

It may be the ideal vaccine to get to boost your previous immunity from prior infection or previous mRNA vaccine.

Personally, that's the vaccine for me."
What are some potential advantages to using a vaccine with an adjuvant?

Durability, for one.

Sep 15 5 tweets 3 min read
In 2020, the original Novavax formulation was able to protect against upper and lower respiratory tract infection in animals.

Since then, more evidence has emerged supporting this finding.

In human trials, Moderna reduced nasal viral load by 100x. Novavax decreased it by 600x.



Panel comparing viral load reduction between vaccination products in human clinical trials. Novavax viral reduction is the most significant vs Moderna, AstraZeneca, Janssen.  See study 3 in last post in thread.
Panel showing viral load reduction in a non-human primate study. See study 1 in final post below.
Following intranasal and intratracheal challenge with SARS-CoV-2, immunized macaques were protected against upper and lower infection and pulmonary disease. See study 1 in final post below.
A panel comparing viral load reduction in non-human primates infected with Omicron. Novavax shows a lower amount of nasal viral load than mRNA (Moderna). See study 2 in final post below.
Of course, there are caveats to the above evidence.

Some studies were done early in the pandemic. Strains have changed. More doses were given. Animals can have a different response than humans, etc.

Also, vaccination is the last line of defense (vs respirators), not the first.
Sep 13 8 tweets 7 min read
Novavax Availability Update 📢

CVS Stock - September 13, 2024

First of all, if you're in AL, FL, GA, NC, SC, TN, or VA, use Publix instead of CVS. CVS does not deserve your business. CVS has made the Novavax rollout incredibly difficult with their untrained staff, poor inventory management, and lackluster customer support. This may seem odd to say on a post listing out CVS stock, but I'm here to support breathing people, not corporations. Publix now has their vaccine finder online on Novavax's site (see reply to this post).

If you must use CVS, first try to get a real person on the phone. Use my cheat code posts below. If that doesn't work, then leave a voicemail. Failing that, go in person, and if they don't have stock, ask them to check their inventory at other local stores (which they can do within a limited radius).

CVS corporate is monitoring stores closely to see which ones need more stock ordered. By sending me your CVS addresses where you got Novavax, we can feed into that demand signal and make it available to more people. This may seem like a contradictory message on a post denouncing CVS as a chain, but I'd rather get more vaccines in arms.

If you don't see your state or city listed here, that doesn't mean there's no Novavax at your local CVS, it just means that nobody reported it to me.

NOTE: From early reports, the CVS phone tree does not necessarily give out accurate Novavax stock information. However, I do know that in some cases stores had Novavax sitting in a refrigerator and didn't even make it into inventory, so ask staff to check their refrigerator even if their computer says no.

Someone reported that there's a GoodRx coupon to save money on CVS vaccines, so I'll include it below.

If you know of any locations (regardless of pharmacy chain) offering Novavax JN.1 in these states, please let me know! If you're feeling bored, antsy, and want to help other people find Novavax, cold call pharmacies and let me know what you find! And please, send me the full address of the locations you're finding. If you send me incomplete info that's a google search per location. And I get hundreds of locations.

Here are states I'm especially looking for availability data from: AK, AL, AR, CT, DE, GA, HI, ID, IN, KS, LA, ME, MO, MS, MT, ND, NE, NM, NV, OH, OK, RI, SC, SD, TN, VT, WV, WY, MI, HI

Tweets preferred but DMs are also fine. I want to make sure I'm respecting everyone's privacy. I get so many DMs that I can't respond to everyone; so thank you for all the reports you've been sending!

And if CVS bothers you with their approach this season, please use the feedback form I'll include in a reply to this thread. Tell them what they're doing wrong. Channel your rage!

---

These are the CVS pharmacies people sent me in the last 24 hours that had Novavax JN.1 stock. Call to confirm:

Arizona (AZ):
522 Finney Flat Suite a Camp Verde, AZ
2601 S. Houghton Rd. Tucson, AZ (Houghton and Golf Links)

California (CA):
17170 Camino Del Sur San Diego, CA (Target)
5501 Ball Rd 90630, Cypress, CA
8008 Firestone Blvd, Downey, CA
670 El Cerrito Plz El Cerrito, CA (on San Pablo)
1675 Hollenbeck Ave Sunnyvale, CA
511 N. Hollywood Way Burbank, CA (LA)
2462 Foothill Blvd, La Verne, CA (Target)
Los Angeles, CA (Unspecified location)
1570 Rosecrans Ave, Manhattan Beach, CA
580 Moraga Rd in Moraga, CA
50 Moraga Way Orinda, CA
13021 Victory Blvd, North Hollywood, CA
Pasadena, CA (Unspecified location)
1324 San Carlos Ave San Carlos, CA
2314 Santa Clara Ave Alameda, CA (3 doses left)
2505 Santa Monica Boulevard Santa Monica, CA
12940 Saratoga Sunnyvale Rd Saratoga, CA
1451 Shattuck Ave Berkeley, CA (or maybe 2187 Shattuck location?)
929 Sierra St Kingsburg, CA
Studio City, CA (Unspecified location)
1730 Sweetwater Rd National City, CA
12143 Ventura Blvd Studio City, CA

Colorado (CO):
2800 Pearl Street, Boulder, CO
Unspecified location, CO
14451 Orchard Pkwy, Westminster, CO
Westminster, Colorado (Unspecified location)

Connecticut (CT):
Waterford, CT (out of doses, see if they'll reorder)

District of Columbia (DC):
4555 Wisconsin Avenue, Nw Washington, DC (not minute clinic)

Florida (FL):
294 37th Ave N, Saint Petersburg, FL

Georgia (GA):
Unspecified location, GA

Hawaii (HI):
377 Keahole St, Honolulu, HI (Long's Drugs, owned by CVS)
5156 Kalaniana'ole Hwy, Honolulu, HI (Long's Drugs, owned by CVS)
1130 Kuala St. Pearl City, HI (O'ahu)

Illinois (IL):
1725 W Boughton Rd, Bolingbrook, IL (Helpful staff)
3951 W. 103rd St. Chicago, IL
500 Dundee Ave. Elgin, IL

Kentucky (KY):
2000 Harrodsburg Rd Lexington, KY

Maine (ME):
51 Market St. South Portland, ME
Unspecified location, Portland Area, Maine

Maryland (MD):
5700 Bou Ave Rockville, MD
5700 Bou Ave in Rockville, MD (inside Target)
1301 Lamberton Drive Silver Spring, MD
10233 Old Georgetown Road Bethesda, MD (Wildwood Shopping Center)
8501 Fort Smallwood Rd, Pasadena, MD

Massachusetts (MA):
264 Trapelo Rd. Belmont, MA (4 doses left)
Somerville, MA (Assembly Row)
399 Main St, Southbridge, MA
10 Main St, Tewksbury, MA
1735 Massachusetts Ave., Lexington MA
36 White Street Cambridge, MA

Michigan (MI):
2506 Niles Ave, St Joseph, MI (if not this location, somewhere else near Benton Harbor)
57090 Ten Mile Road South Lyon, MI

Minnesota (MN):
1515 County Road B W, Roseville, MN
Twin Cities, MN (Unspecified location)

Mississippi (MS):
305 Meadowbrook Rd. Jackson, MS

New Hampshire (NH):
4 Plaistow Rd, Plaistow, NH
250 Plainfield Rd. West Lebanon, NH (No stock yet but expecting soon)

New Jersey (NJ):
200 Promenade Blvd, Bridgewater, NJ (Target)
18-35 River Road, Fair Lawn, NJ (Very helpful staff, apparently)
400 Kings Hwy, Haddon Heights, NJ
4 White Horse Pike, Oaklyn, NJ

New York (NY):
255 Greenwich St New York, NY (Target)
685 Park Avenue Rochester, NY 14607
61-15 Metropolitan Ave. Ridgewood, NY (Queens)
807 White Plains Rd, Scarsdale, NY (Skeptical pharmacist. Does not anticipate restock or demand. Can we prove them wrong?)

North Carolina (NC):
1718 N Fordham Blvd., Chapel Hill, NC
Durham area, NC (Unspecified location)

Oklahoma (OK):
10101 S. Memorial Dr. Tulsa, OK

Oregon (OR):
345 SW Harrison St, Portland, OR
640 SW Broadway, Portland, OR

Pennsylvania (PA):
101 Reeceville Rd., Coatesville, PA
1206 N. Gravel Pike Zieglersville, PA
1218 E. Lancaster Ave Bryn Mawr, PA
1201 5th Street, Perkasie, PA
6701 Ridge Ave, Philadelphia, PA

Rhode Island (RI):
481 Angell Street in Providence, RI
799 Hope Street Providence, RI

Tennessee (TN):
9137 Middlebrook Pike, Knoxville, TN
2398 New Salem Hwy. Murfreesboro, TN
Unspecified location, Nashville, TN (multiple locations)

Texas (TX):
7203 Skillman St, Dallas, TX 75231 (Very helpful staff)
4885 Eldorado, Frisco, TX

Utah (UT):
11525 S Parkway Plaza Dr South Jordan, UT
11506 S 4000 W South Jordan, UT
7777 S. Redwood Rd. West Jordan, UT

Virginia (VA):
7859 Heritage Dr, Annandale, VA
Poquoson, Virginia (Unspecified location)
811 Town Center Dr, Waynesboro, VA

Washington (WA):
Kennewick, WA (Unspecified location)
19507 Highway 99 Lynnwood, WA
1106 N Columbia Center Blvd Kennewick, WA

Wisconsin (WI):
2 South Bedford St., Madison, WI
6701 Mineral Point Rd, Madison, WI
N83 W15550 Appleton Ave, Menomonee Falls, WI 53051
1650 N Farwell Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53202
2135 Silvernail, Pewaukee, WI 53072
1130 W Sunset Dr, Waukesha, WI 53186

Wyoming (WY):
1708 Dell Range Blvd. Cheyenne, WY (Target) Publix vaccine finder update:

Sep 12 4 tweets 5 min read
Novavax Availability Update 📢

CVS Stock - September 12, 2024 (scroll to end of post for list of stores). 108 stores today. 85 the day before.

It seems that people liked the format of the last post so I'll continue using it. It seems that this first batch of stock is limited to 10 doses per store in many cases. Hopefully the demand signals are permeating through the system and making their way up the chain to corporate office.

In light of the small quantities shipped, for each roll-up post like this one, I'll only include reports from the last 24 hours to keep the data fresh. You can always browse my previous posts by using Twitter advanced search (something like from:friesein NY for example, and then sorting by latest).

I found out that took a step backward in usability and removed the ability to search for a specific vaccine type. This is pretty disappointing, because I was naively thinking that everything would work itself out this year and I wouldn't need to take as active a role in connecting the dots for Novavax stock. But all the same, I'm happy to do what I can to help people in my limited time, at least until it's available in most places. This is too important to ignore.

By this time next week, I'm expecting most Costco stores to be stocked which should relieve a lot of pressure on the system. Rite Aid should be not too long after that. Publix is coming online now, and I'm seeing Meijer and Kroger stores pop up. Indie pharmacies are popping up occasionally (keep sending me them). Hang in there, you will find what you're looking for.

To contact a CVS store and speak to a person, try the instructions I'll be including in a reply to this post.

I'm adding some fresh insurance billing tips to the end of the thread, both for private insurance and Medicare.

One last note: If you send me pharmacy availability updates, it helps a lot if you send a full address including state abbreviation, and include the pharmacy brand. I have to search up each location to ensure its valid otherwise. This will become important as other stores beyond CVS come online. When people give me a wider area, I include that instead of the address.

---

Arizona (AZ):
Tucson AZ

California (CA):
990 Avenida Vista Hermosa San Clemente, CA
380 E H St, Chula Vista, CA
650 San Ramon Valley Blvd, Danville, CA
1871 El Camino Real Burlingame, CA
8585 Elk Grove Blvd, Elk Grove CA
7030 Hollister Avenue Goleta, CA
336 N. Milpas St Santa Barbara, CA
855 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, CA
Paso Robles, CA
12358 Poway Rd, Poway, CA
1059 Hyde St. San Francisco, CA
499 Haight St. San Francisco, CA
2314 Santa Clara Ave Alameda, CA
14735 Ventura Blvd, Sherman Oaks, CA
3939 State St Santa Barbara, CA
8915 Towne Centre Dr San Diego, CA
12100 Ventura Blvd Studio City, CA
2630 W El Camino Real Mountain View, CA
4110 N. 1st Street San Jose, CA

Colorado (CO):
7930 Northfield Blvd, Denver, CO
460 S Vance St, Lakewood, CO
10445 Reed St Westminster, CO
7899 Wadsworth Blvd Arvada, CO

Florida (FL):
Estero, FL
Fort Myers, FL
4292 N Atlantic Ave Cocoa Beach, FL
3102 W. Gandy Blvd. Tampa, FL

Illinois (IL):
1701 E. Empire St. Bloomington, IL (inside Schnucks)
800 Broadview Village Sq Broadview, IL (I'm told the staff are "incredibly friendly")
1700 E Rand Rd Arlington Heights, IL
Indianapolis, IL
200 N. Vine St. Urbana, IL

Indiana (IN):
Bloomington IN

Iowa (IA):
104 E. First St. Ankeny, IA

Kentucky (KY):
Florence, KY
Owensboro, KY
1157 Ridgeway Avenue Falmouth, KY

Maryland (MD):
15600 Columbia Pike Burtonsville, MD
1503 Potomac Ave. Hagerstown, MD
9920 Key West Ave Rockville, MD
7955 Tuckerman Lane, Rockville, MD

Massachusetts (MA):
16 Boston Road Chelmsford, MA
1341 Boylston St Boston, MA
21 Austin St., Bunker Hill Mall Charlestown, MA
481 Pittsfield Rd. Lenox, MA
999 Watertown Street West Newton, MA
36 White Street Cambridge, MA
539 Main St #545, Winchester, MA

Michigan (MI):
5529 Sashabaw Rd. Clarkston, MI
5529 Sashabaw Rd., Clarkston, MI
525 East 4th Street Royal Oak, MI

Minnesota (MN):
8225 Flying Cloud Dr Eden Prairie, MN
900 Nicollet Mall Minneapolis, MN
6540 Penn Avenue South Richfield, MN
4152 Lakeland Av N, Robbinsdale, MN
Twin Cities MN

Nevada (NV):
100 S. Nevada Hwy 160, Pahrump, NV

New Hampshire (NH):
One West Road Stratham, NH
125 Dublin Rd. Peterborough, NH

New Jersey (NJ):
600 Kings Hwy N, Cherry Hill, NJ
1 Route 70 East Cherry Hill, NJ
Egg Harbor Twp, NJ
360 RTE 73 South, Marlton, NJ
387 Pompton Ave, Cedar Grove NJ
175 Rock Road Glen Rock, NJ
CVS in Union NJ
Lawrenceville NJ

New York (NY):
1276 Upper Front St, Binghamton, NY
1 Columbus Place New York, NY
259 Saratoga Rd. Glenville, NY
Ithaca, 625 W Clinton St, Ithaca, NY 14850 (Had it, ran out of stock, will get more soon)
241 West 57th St., New York, NY
39 Park St, Owego, NY
38 Warren Street New York, NY 10007

North Carolina (NC):
4810 Hope Valley Rd, Durham, NC
Durham, NC
8101 Kensington Dr. Waxhaw, NC

Ohio (OH):
8000 Oak Point Rd Amherst, OH

Oklahoma (OK):
15103 N MacArthur Blvd, Edmond, OK

Oregon (OR):
Portland, OR
14th Ave Se Albany, OR

Pennsylvania (PA):
1826-30 Chestnut Street Philadelphia, PA
2320-26 Fairmount Avenue Philadelphia, PA
159 N MacDade Blvd, Glenolden, PA
835 Old York Rd. Jenkintown, PA
1101 Moosic St. Scranton, PA
316 E Lancaster Ave, Wayne, PA

Texas (TX):
5195 Lake Ridge Pkwy. Grand Prairie, TX
4755 Westheimer Rd. Houston, TX (next to the Grotto)

Utah (UT):
5305 South 1900 West Roy, UT

Virginia (VA):
Ashburn, VA
415 E Monroe Avenue Alexandria, VA
208 East Main Street Charlottesville, VA
15250 Washington St. Haymarket, VA
3053 Nutley Street Fairfax, VA
Central VA

Washington (WA):
30 Bellis Fair Pkwy Bellingham, WA
Everett, WA
Renton, WA
Seattle, WA
9400 192nd Ave E Bonney Lake, WA
1401 2nd Ave Seattle, WA
26301 104th Ave Se Kent, WA

Wisconsin (WI):
2200 Brackett Ave, Eau Claire, WI
7520 W Blue Mound Rd Wauwatosa, WIvaccines.gov Medicare billing guidance from a former pharmacy tech:

Sep 9 4 tweets 2 min read
I'm hearing numerous reports of insurance declining Novavax coverage at pharmacies like CVS.

I would recommend that you call your insurance provider first and have them confirm insurance coverage for Novavax (80631-107-01) under your policy number and group number.

If insurance confirms coverage, ask for something in writing, and confirm if it can be directly billed at the pharmacy. If so, ask them exactly how. Some carriers require pay-and-submit on vaccines.

Once the insurance carrier confirms coverage, call the pharmacy and ask them to submit the insurance over the phone with you, before you go in for your appointment. This will avoid waiting for billing etc-in office, and allow them to work out any issues beforehand.

If I'm missing anything in these instructions let me know and I will re-post.Image By the way, if you're having trouble getting through to a live person at CVS, try this trick to leave a voicemail.

Some have succeeded at getting callbacks this way.

Sep 3 4 tweets 2 min read
If you're trying to get vaccine availability info from CVS, call your local pharmacy line:

1. Once you get the automated menu, say "COVID vaccine availability".
2. Then say "details" or press 2.
3. Listen for the phrase "Novavax vaccines are available at this store".
Aug 26 17 tweets 6 min read
"There is outrage. My phone was blowing up."
—FDA Call Center Agent

For the next few days, until FDA approves Novavax, I'm going to share some personal accounts explaining why people are so angry about the approval delay.

Journalists: please take note.

Thread 1: Tolerability🧵 One of the most common reasons people ask for Novavax is that they can't tolerate mRNA.

mRNA is safe for many, but there will always be some people who have adverse reactions. This can also include long COVID patients.

These people deserve a COVID vaccine too if they want one.
Aug 22 8 tweets 3 min read
Potentially bad news on Novavax approval.

Take this with a grain of salt, as this is an unconfirmed rumor from a message board, but it looks like Novavax approval will likely be delayed.

This is in line with reporting from WP and NPR, which I will share later in the thread. See next post for text Full text from above image for accessibility (wouldn't fit in ALT text):

"Unfortunately it appears at the moment that Novavax will lag behind the green light that will be given to Moderna and Pfizer this weekend. This is the decision of Peter Marks. Though Marks himself didn't personally mention it in his interview with NPR, the NPR interviewer made the statement in his opening remarks.

Obviously Mark's didn't want to actually say it and have to give a verbal reason as to why. And it's NPR so the interviewer didn't bother to question him. Marks does have an email and I know of two people that have written him and he actually responded.... Not on this subject but on his "cold and warm" milk philosophy.

There can be no legit reasoning behind it other than Marks wants to exit the FDA and be hired by either Pfizer or Moderna. Former FDA head Stephen Hahn who held up Novavax was hired by Flagship Pioneering the venture capitalist firm that created Moderna... Noubar Afeyan is Founder of Flagship and Co-Founder and Board chairman of Moderna.....

Scott Gottlieb FDA head before Hahn is on the board of Pfizer.... He had nothing to do with Covid. ... Point is all these people in charge leave the government for that big paycheck in the Pharma Industry."
Aug 18 6 tweets 4 min read
Parents: The FDA is putting you in an extraordinarily unfair position on COVID vaccine selection.

Right as school is starting, they're going to force you to choose between vaccinating your child with mRNA now or waiting an unspecified amount of time for Novavax.

The mRNA option offered is a bit too specific, and should have been targeted to JN.1 instead of KP.2 (the mutational trunk, not a branch). The WHO presented reasoning in favor of selecting JN.1 instead of a KP sub-lineage since it was broader and more likely to be a common denominator with future variants. The VRBPAC committee agreed with this rationale and voted accordingly.

During the meeting, Dr. Peter Marks (director of the CBER) had tried and failed to propose selection of KP.2, knowing that only the mRNA providers would be able to meet that goal. The committee didn't agree with his reasoning.

Instead of adopting the WHO guidance and committee vote, the committee was circumvented and a press release was issued after the committee vote to select JN.1, announcing that providers would be able to target KP.2 instead at their discretion.

Then after doing all of this, as they have done before, they delayed approval of Novavax for an unknown reason, right as school starts.

To add to the frustration, Novavax's JN.1 vaccine has shown to be more efficient at neutralizing KP.3.1.1 (the dominant strain that is fueling the current wave) than other outdated KP lineages, but it is sitting in a warehouse unused. The fact that we do not already have access to this vaccine, and the fact that FDA will likely not make it available for at least another month (after school has started) is, frankly, negligence at best.

No parent should have to choose between a potentially more effective vaccine and a less effective one because the less effective one happens to be available. We are on the third formulation of Novavax's COVID vaccine, and every single time the FDA has tipped the scale so that mRNA comes out before Novavax. This needs to stop.

We need access to the best remedies and prevention for COVID as soon as possible. Novavax would have been ready to provide the updated vaccine in July if FDA were able to meet that deadline. Safety is not the driving factor in these delays. The clinical characteristics and safety profile of Novavax remains the same in spite of an altered strain selection.

If you are angry, just as I am, I am asking you to write and call the FDA to express your frustration. I will provide contact details on the following tweets. Let's put them in the hot seat. Make them explain why they're playing games with our kids' safety and limiting our choices.

If we do not get a satisfactory answer, then other options should be pursued.Slide Title: "Novavax JN.1 vaccine induces broad cross neutralization to variants including KP.3 and KP.3.1.1." Bar graphs demonstrating that KP.3.1.1 has a pseudovirus neutralization GMT value of 4106. Neutralization of all other variants is within the same order of magnitude, ranging between 1875 and 5081). Here is the latest data showing that Novavax is even more effective at neutralizing KP.3.1.1 (the dominant strain driving the current COVID outbreak) than other outdated KP lineages, which is pretty incredible.

Aug 16 11 tweets 3 min read
I have a sinking feeling that we're going to ignore obvious signs of mpox airborne transmission all over again.

They'll say "but there's no peer reviewed-studies" and ignore any contradictory evidence.

It terrifies me. The stakes are much higher this time. This is not a game. "MPXV was previously detected in the air of health centre consulting rooms,4 and we showed high virus levels in the air of indoor public spaces, presumably exhaled from people who were infected with MPXV. This finding suggests that MPXV exposure occurs beyond skin or sexual contact..."  Sanchiz et al. (2023) "MPXV and SARS-CoV-2 in the air of nightclubs in Spain" People, we are seeing mpox high viral loads in air samples. How much more evidence do you need?

Jul 27 5 tweets 2 min read
2 years after being infected with COVID-19, one study showed that 17.8% of infected patients studied had lung damage and 23.9% had kidney damage.

Most of the patients were classified as having had "non-severe" infections. They also excluded patients with pre-existing conditions. Graphical abstract titled "Long COVID at One- and Two-year revisits". See study link in next tweet for textual abstract. Here's the study, for anyone interested: cell.com/iscience/fullt…
Jul 20 11 tweets 3 min read
People don't want to shatter the fragile coping they've set up for themselves.

Pushing past it would force them to acknowledge that they're harming themselves/their children with every reinfection. The mental burden is too heavy.

So they hide behind a thin veil of ignorance. 🧵 As a parent, I'll openly admit that accepting the reality of COVID's long term effects is extremely difficult.

Working from there, if you're being responsible, you can either seek to reduce or remove the risk. Removing the risk is not an option for many.

So they ignore it.
Jul 4 5 tweets 2 min read
A neurologist reports that they're being inundated with patients showing signs of rapid onset late-stage neurological disease.

Their caseload almost doubled since COVID mitigations were dropped. Now they're seeing stage 3 Parkinson's patients in their 20s.

This is not normal.
No mask, no entry sign with prohibition symbol This shouldn't come as a surprise though.

We've removed all policies aimed at reducing transmission and shifted to actively encouraging infection.

One study showed that Lewy bodies developed in the brains of every animal infected with COVID-19.

Jul 2 6 tweets 2 min read
Studies show that up to 70% of people who get infected from COVID-19 suffer from organ damage—especially adolescents and children.

This takes a while to find; they may not notice symptoms until a year or more later.

And that's just the damage that studies have captured so far. Image Here's the literature review I'm referencing.

degruyter.com/document/doi/1…
Jun 22 14 tweets 5 min read
I must stress this as clearly as possible:

Long COVID is a COVID infection, extended. Just like the acute phase, the chronic phase is defined by the strength of your interferon response.

Therefore, improved interferon response is expected to treat it.🧵

cell.com/cell-reports-m… The interferon response is a defining aspect of the acute phase of COVID.

In the upper respiratory tract, without enough interferon response, the acute phase will be longer.

Not mounting a sufficient viral defense early will likely predispose you to LC.

Mar 9 9 tweets 4 min read
There will come a day where the dangers of COVID are as widely-recognized as the toxicity of asbestos or lead.

By then, there will be layers of plausible deniability in place for the people who sacrificed the health of our children in exchange for short-term economic interests.
Reinfection is problematic  “It can be problematic if you are reinfected,” Dr. Rouhbakhsh said. “We know from a pretty elegant study that was recently published in Nature Medicine that each subsequent COVID infection will increase your risk of developing chronic health issues like diabetes, kidney disease, organ failure and even mental health problems.”  Such evidence “dispels the myth that repeated brushes with the virus are mild and you don’t have to worry about it,” he added, noting that “it is akin to playing Russian roulette.”  That is why “you want to try to avoid reinfection if possi... If you're curious about what the authorities know, and why they're not saying a thing about long COVID, this thread is a good place to start. And it's just scratching the surface.

It all comes down to evading liability for severe health deterioration.

Mar 4 5 tweets 2 min read
Do you realize that every single person who gets COVID gets damaged by it?

In this study, every single non-human primate infected with COVID was found to have Lewy bodies in their brains.

The average remaining lifespan of a person with Lewy body dementia is 5-8 years.
We observed Lewy bodies in brains of all rhesus macaques. "We observed Lewy bodies in brains of all rhesus macaques. These data emphasize the virus’ capability to induce neuropathology in this nonhuman primate model for SARS-CoV-2 infection."
Mar 4 6 tweets 3 min read
The Centers for Disease Circulation has decided that you must sacrifice your future health to prop up the economy temporarily.

Here's the problem: exposing everyone to COVID while they're contagious is guaranteed to devastate both our bodies and the economy in one fell swoop. 🧵 A cartoon panel depicting a machine bearing the CDC logo (Centers for Disease Circulation) - A man with a maniacal grin in a lab coat says "YOU DON'T NEED TO ISOLATE... WE'RE FLIPPING THE SWITCH". The man's hand hovers over an on/off switch labeled "ECONOMY". Removing the minimum 5 day isolation period is just adding fuel to the fire of an already bad situation.

It sends the wrong message to employers, and employees are guaranteed to suffer lifelong consequences as a result.

It's the last thing we need. Image