Dr. Stuart Weiss: COVID-19 Update Friday 22-Jan-2021
By Dr. Stuart Weiss, Intelligent Crowd Solutions
Rapid Test Center of New York
Dr. Stuart Weiss, FACEP, FAAP, CBCP
January 22, 2021
CoViD-19 News and Information you can trust.Welcome new readers from the Rapid Test Center.
Topics: Today at the White House
| Hospitalizations drop In some good news, the number of people being hospitalized now for CoViD-19 has dropped. According to the CoVid-19 Tracking Project, the number of people in the hospital for CoViD-19 treatment is 119,927. According to CIDRAP News and Perspective, this is the lowest number since December 27th. The New York Times today reported that the number of cases has dropped by 21% over the past two weeks and hospitalizations have dropped 3%. The University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation has put out a new model that predicted that we have reached the peak now and that new cases would continue to decline as the weather warms up and the vaccine is released. The unknown part is what the new viral variants will do to the model. Some experts are concerned when they look at the case surge in the UK, Ireland, South Africa and Brazil caused by new variants and worry that the US is just in a lull before the next peak. Dr. Michael Osterholm, a member of President Biden’s pandemic team and director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota worries that the next three months could be the worst part of the pandemic. It really depends on what the variants do. It’s a race between the vaccines and the variants. New Info on B.1.1.7 (UK Variant) Today, health officials in the U.K warned that very preliminary data may indicate that the new B.1.1.7 variant is more lethal than the normal variety of SARS-CoV-2. The UK’s chief science advisor said the possibility of increased mortality is concerning. A paper from a UK advisory group looked at a small group of people and said that there may be some increased severity associated with the new variant. More study is needed. Great Interview with Dr. Anthony Fauci tonight Tonight, on the Rachel Maddow show (yes I watch her most nights and yes, I will gets lots of reader hate email because I wrote that) there was a great interview with America’s Infectious Disease doctor, Anthony Fauci. He was smiling and jovial and spoke freely about what is going on with the pandemic response. He had none of the hesitation and pained facial expressions that he had during the last administration when politics overshadowed science. He spoke freely about science previously being pushed to the background by other priorities and the fact that he was blocked from appearing on various news shows for many months. Dr. Fauci is truly a national treasure and a trusted physician who has devoted the last 40 years of his life to public service. He now represents us (at President Biden’s request) on the World Health Organization’s executive council and I can’t think of a better person to do so. He spoke about a couple of key points: 1. He was at a closed door meeting with President Biden and Vice-President Harris yesterday where the President said to the small group that science will guide the way now and not politics 2. He expects the single dose Johnson and Johnson vaccine to go before the FDA within a few weeks to be reviewed for approval and expects good data to come out of the current clinical trials. 3. We should have much more testing available. Point of care home testing will eventually be available where people can test themselves quickly and accurately at home 4. On the topic of CoViD-19 treatments, he expects several more monoclonal antibody drugs to be out soon which is good news. He also said that there will be a huge effort to develop antiviral medications to fight the SARS-CoV-2 virus to keep people from developing severe disease if they are unprotected by the vaccine (a certain percentage of people will not develop antibodies after the vaccine and some people will not take the vaccine) 5. The government is also focused on research looking at people with persistent symptoms. There are some people who recover from the viral infection and are no longer contagious but still have prolonged fatigue or “brain fog” where it is nearly impossible for them to focus. Overall, it was a great interview to watch. At the end, Rachel said to anyone listening from the current administration (which is probably most of the current administration!) that she hoped they would encourage prominent scientists like Dr. Fauci to be booked on Fox News, One America and other conservative news outlets so that science can shine a light there as well and people who perhaps didn’t get to hear science based thinking would have that opportunity. I wholeheartedly agree. Take care of yourself so we can get through this together. Dr. Stu Weiss |
COVID-19 HEADLINES FOR TODAY
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| Coronavirus update for January 22, 2021 World Wide UpdatesUK coronavirus variant may be linked to “higher degree of mortality,” prime minister says France surpasses 3 million coronavirus cases Spain’s health ministry reports highest weekly rise in Covid-19 deaths since pandemic’s first wave Cuba reports first case of the Covid-19 variant found in South Africa Portugal reports record daily death toll EU to seek clarification from Pfizer on Covid-19 vaccine delays UK infection rate still too high to consider lifting national lockdown, prime minister says Kiev in talks to purchase 1 million Covid-19 vaccine doses Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane tests positive for Covid-19 Germany death toll “depressing” and “inconceivable,” officials say IOC dismisses Olympics cancellation rumors Hungary reaches deal to purchase Russia vaccine Tokyo Governor denies rumors Olympics will be canceled UK government denies plan to pay $683 to people who test positive for Covid-19 Denmark suspends flights from UAE for 5 days due to testing issues UK is considering full border closure to contain new Covid-19 variants, minister says Germany tops 50,000 coronavirus deaths France to require negative Covid test from EU travelers Sri Lanka reopens borders to international travelers India vaccinates more than 1 million healthcare workers in less than a week WHO plans to deliver 600 million Covid-19 vaccine doses to Africa by end of the year Shanghai reports first new Covid-19 cases in 2 months Japan’s prime minister expresses “determination” to hold Olympic Games Total Cases Worldwide: 98,678,540 Total Deaths Worldwide: 2,113,981 Total Recovered: 70,864,038 US Updates Fauci says it probably won’t make a difference if second vaccine doses are delayed by a couple weeks Publix expands vaccinations to nearly 400 locations across three states CDC reports nearly 1.6 million Covid-19 vaccines given on Friday 19 Capitol Police officers test positive for Covid-19 after Jan. 6 riot Louisiana governor asks residents to wear masks as more contagious variant is confirmed in state Severe allergic reactions to the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine are a “rare event,” CDC says Indoor dining at Michigan restaurants can resume next month Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine trial for kids is now fully enrolled Nearly 2,000 Covid-19 vaccines in Massachusetts “compromised” after freezer plug accidentally loosened 7,500 vaccinated healthcare workers will be among the 22,000 fans at this year’s Super Bowl US can do better than Biden’s goal of 100 million vaccines in 100 days, says Fauci CDC still working on goal to double coronavirus sequences to expand hunt for mutation About 6 in 10 Americans don’t know when or where to get a Covid-19 vaccine, study finds Missouri state health department not reporting results of positive antigen tests in Covid-19 case counts Vaccinating over 60s is most important for saving lives from Covid, study finds Johnson & Johnson will have 100 million Covid-19 vaccines for Americans by April, says board member People waited up to 5 hours to get vaccinated at Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles mayor says The US “can and should” vaccinate up to 85% of adults by the end of summer, Fauci says Covid-19 vaccine second doses may be scheduled “up to 6 weeks” later, CDC says Total US cases: 25,361,356 Total US deaths: 423,632 Total Recovered: 15,196,966 Total Tested in US: 286,510,609 Total cases in CA: 3,115,835 Total deaths in CA: 35,978 Total cases in TX: 2,227,610 Total deaths in TX: 34,600 Total cases in FL: 1,627,603 Total deaths in FL: 25,013 Total cases in NY: 1,342,299 Total deaths in NY: 42,063 Total cases in IL: 1,093,375 Total deaths in IL: 20,534 |
