The short, short version DO use a rapid test to tell if the symptoms you have are covid use a rapid test to tell if you are or are not contagious RIGHT NOW (but that can change in as little as 6 hours) Use a PCR test to tell you whether or not you had… Continue reading On COVID Testing
Vaccine Efficacy in Massachusetts
MA doesn’t really report data in a way that is easy to calculate vaccine efficacy. It’s *at least* 32%, but the booster is quite likely higher.
COVID Rises again in MA
In Massachusetts, COVID has been rising and the current stall might not be real. Stay away from big crowds (> about 30 people).
An article on the future of Covid
Here is an excellent article on the future of SARS-CoV-2. TL;DR: we can expect it to get more contagious, and we don’t really know where the wall will be on that, but there is one. We can expect it to continue to evade prior immunity (which is a different thing), and the wall on that… Continue reading An article on the future of Covid
Omicron and Vaccination: data from Scotland
TL;DR According to recent data from Scotland, unvaccinated people are 7.2 times MORE likely to be hospitalized because of covid than people with all 3 shots. Why I looked at this. This morning, I ran into this article, in which an excellent writer with a lot of passion argues against vaccinations. She also cites her… Continue reading Omicron and Vaccination: data from Scotland
Omicron: when will it peak?
TL;DR: It hasn’t, yet. Expect Omicron to peak some time mid to late January. Severity looks lower, but we don’t know how much. South Africa is probably not a good predictor for the US, but the UK probably is. Here is an article by Dr. Jeffrey Shaman, an epidemiologist at Columbia University. Basically: what he… Continue reading Omicron: when will it peak?
How I’m looking at Omicron
Omicron: here’s the data I’m looking at. I’m posting this just so everyone can see how I’m looking at cases and hospitalizations and trying to figure out how bad Omicron is. When checking hospitalizations, the important thing is not how COVID is spreading *today*, but how it was spreading about 10 days ago.10 is a… Continue reading How I’m looking at Omicron