HBO Doc ‘The Last Cruise’ Gives Insight Into Nightmarish Covid-19 Outbreak
In the first few minutes of The Last Cruise, a new HBO documentary directed by Hannah Olson, the skies are clear, the waters blue, and aboard the Diamond Princess, aerobics classes involving hundreds are in full swing. The date is January 20, 2020, and …
Pfizer’s New Oral Protease Inhibitor Could Possibly Treat And Prevent Covid-19
Currently, we are pinning all our hopes on vaccines for return to normalcy, which in the case of new data from Moderna and Pfizer have been found not just to protect against severe disease and death but also infection. This is a positive development …
Despite Progress, Protecting The Population Against Covid-19 Variants Remains Complex
More positive news comes from Pfizer and BioNTech this week as the latest results from their clinical trial data suggest that their vaccine protects against the more contagious B.1.351 variant initially detected in South Africa. The vaccine showed 100 percent efficacy in …
Pfizer’s Successful Covid-19 Vaccine Trial in Adolescents Brings New Hope For Population Immunity And Safe School Re-Openings
Positive news comes from Pfizer this week as they announced the Phase 3 study of their Covid-19 vaccine prevented symptomatic disease and was well-tolerated by adolescents ages 12 to 15. The BNT162b2 vaccine demonstrated 100% efficacy and robust antibody responses. Trials have …
Why Was CDC Director Rochelle Walensky Fighting Back Tears?
All public health officials agree, the United States is at a critical stage if we want to control the pandemic. All of them express deep fears that ignoring the Covid-19 pandemic at this stage is foolhardy. Especially dispensing with masks, social distancing, …
Moderna And Pfizer Vaccines Prevent Infection As Well As Disease: Key Questions Remain
Ever since the US vaccine rollout officially commenced in December, a question that has been top of mind is whether the messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines created by Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech would perform as well under real-world conditions as they did in the …
Persistence Of Covid-19 Antibodies Varies Widely From Person To Person
One of the greatest unsolved mysteries of Covid-19 is why the neutralizing antibodies our bodies generate in response to the virus tend to dwindle in number so quickly. A small minority of studies, including one completed in Iceland last summer, have observed …
Covid-19 Has Exacerbated Child Poverty, Forcing A Long Overdue Policy Focus
Before Covid-19, the poverty rate in America had been on a slow decline, but the pandemic has stalled—if not reversed—that progress. Among the hardest hit are children from low-income families, where school closures and the high cost of childcare forced previously employed …
Spring Break Could Trigger A National Surge In Cases Fueled By Variants
Spring break is upon us as and despite the CDC’s non-essential travel warning, thousands of students and families are still traveling across the country. More than a million passengers have traveled through US airports daily for at least 11 days in a row, according …
From Cats And Dogs To Minks And Mice, Covid-19 Variants Are Infecting The Ecosystem
To witness a dog come down with Covid-19 is a curious thing. Though mine have been spared, I have a friend whose two dogs got sick in addition to the rest of their family. In videos my friend sent me, I could …