Year 3 with COVID

Angie SzumlinskiNews

If you had told me in February of 2020 that in January of 2022 we would still be soldiering through the COVID pandemic I would have laughed at you. Well, not laughing now, are you? It seems totally crazy to me that we are fighting an invisible threat that is similar to the video games my grandsons play. When we …

Not out of the Woods Yet!

Angie SzumlinskiAnnouncements, Studies

According to a research letter published in The Lancet, the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) UCLH Biomedical Research Centre states that levels of antibodies in the blood of vaccinated people, able to recognize and fight the new SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant are lower than those against previously circulating variants. Additionally, the level of antibodies is lower with increasing age and …

Vaccine Data – Indian Variant

Angie SzumlinskiHealth, Studies

The B.1.617.2 COVID-19 variant has contributed to the surge in cases in India and has now been detected across the globe, including a notable increase in cases in the UK. A preprint study published by medrxiv noted the following: Overall, we found high levels of vaccine effectiveness against symptomatic disease after two doses. These estimates were only modestly lower than …

Winter 2021 – Another Surge?

Angie SzumlinskiFeatured, News

The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), an independent global health research center at the University of Washington, made predictions about the future of the pandemic, including that April would be a turning point for COVID-19 vaccines. That said, predicting future cases and deaths has been made even more difficult due to mutating variants of the virus, including the …

Variants and Vaccines

Angie SzumlinskiHealth

So how well do the COVID-19 vaccines protect against novel coronavirus spinoffs? “This virus is telling us it’s going to throw out a lot of mutations”, “even if we don’t have a critical situation right at the moment, there’s a real possibility that variants will continue to evolve that have the potential to avoid vaccine immunity”, said infectious disease specialist …

Emergence of Novel SARS-CoV-2 Variant

Angie SzumlinskiNews

Out of a random selection of 185 virus samples collected from patients between November 22 and December 28, in a genomic sequencing study, none matched B.1.1.7, the so-called UK variant. The smaller 2 main clusters was the predominant SARS-CoV-2 strain. But the larger cluster, making up 36% of the samples, was something different, “a new variant that is homegrown California,” …

Airborne Pollen – COVID Risk

Angie SzumlinskiHealth, Studies

The outbreak of coronavirus pandemic appears to coincide with the tree pollen season in the northern hemisphere as it occurred in the spring of 2020. In a study conducted by an international team headed by researchers at the Technical University of Much (TUM) and the Helmholtz Zentrum München, it was determined that members of high-risk groups can protect themselves by …

Variants – Challenges and Opportunities

Angie SzumlinskiAnnouncements, News

SARS-CoV-2, like other RNA viruses, constantly changes through mutation, with new variants occurring over time. Generally, when new variants become more common, they do so because of some selective advantage to the virus. Among the numerous SARS-CoV-2 variants that have been detected, only a very small proportion are of public health concern because they are more transmissible, cause more severe …

Virus Variants Spread

Angie SzumlinskiAnnouncements, News

On January 9, 2021, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) announced the identification of the SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern (VOC) B.1.1.7, also referred to as 20I/501Y.V1 and VOC 2020/01, in specimens from five persons; on January 25, MDH announced the identification of this variant in specimens from three additional persons. The people identified with variant B.1.1.7 in Minnesota had exposure …

CDC COVID Data Tracker

Angie SzumlinskiAnnouncements, Featured

Effective Friday, February 12, 2021, COVIDView has been replaced with this new COVID Data Tracker Weekly Review. This new webpage and newsletter include visuals from the week and narrative interpretations using data from CDC’s COVID Data Tracker. Additional priority data will be added in future weeks, including race and ethnicity. Stop Variants by Stopping the Spread Viruses change (or mutate) …