4 years ago today: COVID-19 is officially declared a pandemic pic.twitter.com/oH2woWDA5e — BNO News (@BNOFeed) March 12, 2024 For better or worse, I’m finding less and less information to aggregate, as endemic Covid-19 becomes just another cost of doing business… Last night's update: 146,588 new cases, 1,658 new deaths https://t.co/vLpOPkrlwf — BNO News (@BNOFeed) March …
COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: March 13, 2024Post + Comments (74)
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Good news, if true:
China prepares for Disease X
'China will firmly maintain a worst-scenario thinking, .. enhance its multi-channel monitoring and early warning system, and promote .. research on infectious diseases to strengthen preparedness for future pandemics.'https://t.co/iC5lPniCgY
— CoronaHeadsUp (@CoronaHeadsUp) March 9, 2024
India: Covid spiking in Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh https://t.co/OWoN7rrNc3
— CoronaHeadsUp (@CoronaHeadsUp) March 9, 2024
Greece: Covid-19 self-testing program had a major impact on disease spread, hospitalizations and deaths
"Conservative estimates show that the [self-testing] program reduced the reproduction number by 4%, hospitalizations by 25%, and deaths by 20%"https://t.co/HwTEoGbylj
— CoronaHeadsUp (@CoronaHeadsUp) March 10, 2024
Historical pandemic revision is already well under way. Britain:
Left: Conservative MP David Davies, "We did not run out of PPE.. There was no running out of PPE"
Right: Metro, "Three nurses forced to wear bin bags because of PPE shortage 'test positive for coronavirus' #BBCQT
— silvianili (@silvianili) March 8, 2024
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Study finds #Covid had a greater impact on life expectancy than previously thought. New study reveals never-before-seen details about staggeringly high mortality within & across countries. Mexico City, Peru & Bolivia had big life expectancy declines https://t.co/b7LUuxapLg pic.twitter.com/hIGHp50JKq
— delthia ricks 🔬 (@DelthiaRicks) March 12, 2024
"The COVID-19 pandemic caused the most severe drops in life expectancy seen in 50+ years."https://t.co/IhjkbvL0mD @IHME_UW https://t.co/gjyRZU8EdN @TheLancet pic.twitter.com/gSSFk17n34
— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) March 12, 2024
It's not "*just* about the ~30 million excess deaths now attributable to Covid. It's also about the reduced life expectancy in survivors.https://t.co/IFKr9P1MqG pic.twitter.com/rU9fhOiwoR
— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) March 12, 2024
In the 4 years since their imposition, non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), from masks to school closures, have been vehemently declared to be ineffective. This study estimates that they combined to prevent over 800,000 COVID deaths. https://t.co/r6D4ffbVOe
— Bob Morris, MD, PhD (@rdmorris) March 7, 2024
Everybody's memory-holed the period when they actually helped a ton. https://t.co/SecKTRWdkh
— Clean Observer (@Hammbear2024) March 7, 2024
Reinfection with COVID-19 led to a greater risk of developing asthma, COPD, lung diseases, and lung cancer compared to those with a single infection. https://t.co/6SVo8BstDt
— CoronaHeadsUp (@CoronaHeadsUp) March 9, 2024
Vaccine monitoring is crucial due to #SARSCoV2's constant change. New study compares latest #mRNA vax, which targets only XBB, to older vaccines targeting a variant mix. The latest & older mRNA's work against emerging BA.2.86, but SARS2 is still mutating https://t.co/g93qBPU8mP pic.twitter.com/61v6b5JSHW
— delthia ricks 🔬 (@DelthiaRicks) March 12, 2024
The blood holds clues to understanding long COVID https://t.co/MderKFUDqZ
— Global Health Observ (@GlobalPHObserv) March 11, 2024
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"Ultimately, variant-proof COVID-19 treatments and ..
vaccines that aim to halt transmission through highly effective mucosal neutralisation will be required."
Analysis of 2023 Fall UK booster campaignhttps://t.co/shcBavXapu @dremmacbw @TheCrick @shawetaylormj @TheLancet pic.twitter.com/ZaiDDwUYYs— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) March 12, 2024
On some of the mysteries of Covidhttps://t.co/UxwD8amRFN
by @KnvulS w/ @zalaly @VirusesImmunity @linseymarr pic.twitter.com/Crfaf1VdbX— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) March 10, 2024
Covid-19 and the human brain
A great recap of the latest research showing how SARS-CoV-2 can affect the human brain.
Mounting research shows that COVID-19 leaves its mark on the brain, including with significant drops in IQ scores.https://t.co/b0XknwJFPz
— CoronaHeadsUp (@CoronaHeadsUp) March 9, 2024
We have the tools! We're just choosing not to use them, further risking the health of our population. About one-third of people can transmit covid 5d after symptoms by CDCs own data. Enough to detect is enough to infect! Testing out of isolation/masks should be in the guidelines. https://t.co/oTlYGDK0gk
— Noha Aboelata, MD (@NohaAboelataMD) March 9, 2024
Mathematicians use AI to identify emerging #SARSCoV2 variants. The research underway in Britain is a new way to get a jump on new circulating strains https://t.co/wFrggCgWzs via @medical_xpress
— delthia ricks 🔬 (@DelthiaRicks) March 12, 2024
Minor blessing: As vaccines emerge for endemic diseases like malaria, the pandemic has left a legacy of manufacturing facilities to produce them…
The world's biggest vaccine maker, Serum Institute of India, will bolster its manufacturing ahead of launches over the next few years of shots against diseases like #malaria & #dengue by repurposing facilities used to make #COVID19 vaccineshttps://t.co/loB11HAqxE
— MicrobesInfect (@MicrobesInfect) March 11, 2024
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4 years ago today: CNN becomes the first major news channel to call COVID-19 a pandemic pic.twitter.com/Ih2taWw7fR
— BNO News (@BNOFeed) March 9, 2024
A well-informed pharmacist can be the difference between free Paxlovid and a $1,600 bill. @ArthurAllen202 reports for KFF Health News & @ABC https://t.co/YizsNBXzgW
— KFF Health News (@KFFHealthNews) March 11, 2024
World’s best healthcare, if you can afford it…
… A recent JAMA Network study found that sick people 85 and older were less likely than younger Medicare patients to get COVID therapies like Paxlovid. The drug might have prevented up to 27,000 deaths in 2022 if it had been allocated based on which patients were at highest risk from COVID-19. Nursing home patients, who account for around one in six U.S. COVID-19 deaths, were about two-thirds as likely as other older adults to get the drug.
Shrunken confidence in government health programs is one reason the drug isn’t reaching those who need it. In senior living facilities, “a lack of clear information and misinformation” are “causing residents and their families to be reluctant to take the necessary steps to reduce COVID risks,” said Dr. David Gifford, chief medical officer for an association representing 14,000 health care providers, many in senior care…
“Proactive and health-literate people get the drug. Those who are receiving information more passively have no idea whether it’s important or harmful,” said Dr. Michael Barnett, a primary care physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and an associate professor at Harvard, who led the JAMA Network study.
In fact, the drug is still free for those who are uninsured or enrolled in Medicare, Medicaid, or other federal health programs, including those for veterans…
Pfizer sold the U.S. government 23.7 million five-day courses of Paxlovid, produced under an FDA emergency authorization, in 2021 and 2022, at a price of around $530 each.
Under the new agreement, Pfizer commits to provide the drug for the beneficiaries of the government insurance programs. Meanwhile, Pfizer bills insurers for some portion of the $1,390 list price. Some patients say pharmacies have quoted them prices of $1,600 or more.
How exactly Pfizer arrived at that price isn’t clear. Pfizer won’t say. A Harvard study last year estimated the cost of producing generic Paxlovid at about $15 per treatment course, including manufacturing expenses, a 10% profit markup, and 27% in taxes…
The other problem is getting the drug where it is needed. “We negotiated really hard with Pfizer to make sure that Paxlovid would be available to Americans the way they were accustomed to,” Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra told reporters in February. “If you have private insurance, it should not cost you much money, certainly not more than $100.”…
4 years ago, Donald Trump said:
"We have [Covid] totally under control. It's one person coming in from China, and we have it under control. It's going to be just fine."
"It's going to disappear. One day — it's like a miracle — it will disappear."
"The risk is very, very low."
— Tristan Snell (@TristanSnell) March 6, 2024