COVID-19 update: Thursday, January 21st

Epidemiological review, vaccines and variants, vaccine shortages, WHO, presidential orders, and a mobile app.

1. Let's do a quick review of where we stand epidemiologically. COVID is caused by the Sars-Cov2 virus and can be spread by those who are presymptomatic, symptomatic, and asymptomatic. From the time of exposure to the onset of illness is typically 5 days (but you can already be spreading it during that time). Some people take longer to develop symptoms although 95% of people who will develop symptoms have by 11 days post-exposure. Fever, dry cough, and shortness of breath are the most common symptoms. False negatives can occur from 20% of the time to 67% of the time depending on which strain of the virus you have, which day of infection you are on, and which test you use. Day 3 of symptoms is considered the most reliable day for testing. (generally speaking). Some people will be carriers (asymptomatic - meaning they have the disease but never develop symptoms). About 5% of people will develop severe enough symptoms to require medical intervention/hospitalization. 20% of those hospitalized will need the ICU. Dexamethasone therapy reduces mortality and remdesivir speeds recovery among hospitalized patients. The case fatality rate varies significantly by age but for the 20% who are hospitalized, it is 40%. You can read more here: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2768391?guestAccessKey=994443aa-3e29-43a8-a47b-f153d8bbe1d1&utm_source=silverchair&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=article_alert-jama&utm_term=mostread&utm_content=olf-widget_01202021

2. A new study (that has not yet been peer-reviewed) suggests that both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines will be effective against the UK and SA variant with this important caveat - they probably won't work as well. This means you may still get the virus but you are not likely to get severely ill. Some vaccines work that way - with a focus on the prevention of major illness over the prevention of getting the disease. Recommendations are made to begin thinking about updating the vaccines but in the short term, those who are vaccinated should be protected. Remember, this hasn't been peer-reviewed or published yet so we have to keep that in mind. There are currently 19 vaccines in stage 3 clinical trials. You can read the pre-print study here: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.01.18.426984v1.full.pdf and here: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.01.15.426911v1

3. Some states are running out of the vaccine and are having to cancel appointments. It would seem they overestimated the number of doses they would receive. There is an AP report here: https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-vaccine-update-f1b8967b6a077d89d21134f4eac069f6 You can also find a list of the who, what, when, where and how of vaccines for your state here: https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/covid19/90791?xid=nl_covidupdate_2021-01-21&eun=g1689689d0r&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DailyUpdate_012121&utm_term=NL_Gen_Int_Daily_News_Update

4. While we seem to be running a little low, some countries have received virtually no vaccine doses, such as Guinea who has only received 25 doses nationwide. That is only enough to vaccinate 12 people.

5. The US has indicated it will rejoin the WHO. Technically we never truly left - we just indicated we were going to. Withdrawal takes a year and we hadn't quite made it a year from the time we declared withdrawal intentions. (May 2020)

6. The President has issued an executive order asking Americans to mask for the next 100 days.

7. Two new positions are being created to manage the pandemic, Coordinator of the COVID-19 Response ... and Deputy Coordinator of the COVID-19 Response.

8. The CDC has created a mobile app for those who get vaccinated. The app allows them to send you a text to check on you and make sure you are feeling ok - as well as providing the vaccinated person with quick access to the CDC should anything go wrong. It is a way of tracking any adverse events.

FINAL THOUGHTS: My son's final semester in college just started and it is largely online. He is not loving it. Each day he bemoans this mode of learning and grieves what has been lost. And I completely understand those feelings. I too enjoy a good grumble. A groan from deep in my soul is sometimes precisely what I need. I vent (my poor poor husband is the recipient of those tirades). I get frustrated. But I had to encourage my son to just embrace what is happening. He doesn't like it. He doesn't have to. But groaning does little to change it. In fact, he can't really change it. Mentally it will be much easier for him if he just embraces it. I have to remind myself of this same truth often. I take time to grumble and then I have to face the facts and move forward. If you are actively working on any aspect of this pandemic you know there are days you wonder why you got out of bed. You feel frustrated to the nines. Every one of us has something to grieve. No one loves this. Grumble, groan and vent. But then we all have to realize that this is where we are and need to accept that and keep moving forward. When it is over, oh what a celebration we will have.