What COVID-19 Reinfection Means For Vaccines
We now know repeat infections are possible; understanding them will shape the fight against the pandemic The question of whether we can be reinfected with COVID-19 has been resolved. In August, genome sequencing confirmed that a 33-year-old man in Hong Kong had …
Covid-19 Vaccine Protocols Reveal That Trials Are Designed To Succeed
Moderna, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson are leading candidates for the completion of a Covid-19 vaccine likely to be released in the coming months. These companies have published their vaccine trial protocols. This unusually transparent action during a major drug trial …
Beware Of COVID-19 VaccineTrials Designed To Succeed From The Start
In response to widespread demand for more transparency, pharmaceutical companies Moderna and Pfizer have released clinical study protocols for their covid-19 vaccine trials. The goal is to reassure the public that the trials are being conducted responsibly and that any approved vaccine …
Lessons From AIDS For The COVID-19 Pandemic: We Can Learn From Parallels Between The Coronavirus And HIV Crises
We are engaged in another deadly episode in the historic battle of man versus microbe. These battles have shaped the course of human evolution and of history. We have seen the face of our adversary, in this case a tiny virus.” I …
Why We Can’t Rely On Natural Immunity To Protect Us From Covid-19
There is a question that has crossed all our minds at some point, yet has no satisfactory answer: If I’m infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, how long am I immune? A more technical way of asking the same question …
Paused AstraZeneca Trials Emphasize Need For Vaccine Transparency
Astrazeneca, and all the other companies under Food and Drug Administration purview, are developing vaccines for COVID-19. In the midst of current trials across the globe, they paused operation when a participant in the United Kingdom developed symptoms of a spinal inflammatory …
The University Of Illinois’s COVID-19 Control Shows That Mass Testing Is The Answer
The University of Illinois implemented an aggressive testing campaign to reign in the spread of COVID-19. The operation involves testing the entire student body and faculty twice per week—around fifteen thousand tests each day. Students tested positive are alerted and quarantined while …
A Defense of Self-Testing and Supported Self-Isolation
In a recent CNN article, I proposed a new way of containing COVID-19. The strategy would be a self test and supported self isolation approach, but some are skeptical. Rapid antigen testing at home for COVID-19 on a daily basis increases the …
The Case For Safer Emergency Use Authorizations
In emergency situations such as Covid-19, emergency use authorizations (EUA) are vital and necessary. There needs to be effective treatments and vaccines available to stop the spread of this virus. The failures like hydroxychloroquine show that the EUA process must be robust …
Why Suspension Of The AstraZeneca Vaccine Trial Matters
The clinical hold placed on the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine trial highlights serious issues with the rush to approve a new Covid vaccine, and the safety of vaccines already green lit for limited use in China and Russia. AstraZeneca’s vaccine, developed by a team at …