We’re all tired of social distancing, masks, and an overabundance of sanitation. Unfortunately, a new wave of COVID-19 mutations appear to be far more transmissible, and it is possible that variants will emerge for which existing antibodies or vaccines may not give the same protection they do against the currently prevalent strains. Many people have been asking us if they need to do anything differently because of these new mutations. The short answer: not really, although the health expert
Monday morning brought the sweet, sweet news that Pfizer’s RNA-based COVID-19 vaccine has turned out to be extremely effective in its Phase 3 trial. While the news itself has been all over social media and has resulted in an instant 5% jump in the stock market, much of the press coverage has actually been not enthusiastic enough on just how great this news is. This vaccine not only works, it works so well that it may allow a return to normal life for vaccinated people before herd immunity i
For months now, Americans have waited anxiously for the first wave of coronavirus vaccines to be approved in the US. Most of us are watching the FDA's vaccine approval timeline because we take that approval to be the critical first step in answering the number one question on everyone's mind: when will life get back to normal? But this is wrong. The exact day or even month of the first few vaccine approvals actually has no bearing on the question of when we'll all be free to permanently move
I’m fortunate enough to have full-time work-from-home privileges, a comfortable house, and other factors that make me more able to quarantine than most people. And I'm very concerned about the pandemic and very conscious of the medical benefits of social distancing (see my State of the Pandemic series). As a result, I've been following a very strict lockdown for six months without interruption. Staying home and leaving only for essential errands is still the safest option, but this can't g
Coronavirus cases at colleges might be exploding, but in the United States as a whole, the COVID case counts are actually falling. That's right. We bring you (tentatively) good news for perhaps the first time since this pandemic began. After a massive resurgence in June and July, the majority of American states and the United States as a whole have shown a sustained downward trend in COVID-19 cases and deaths for over thirty days now, with no firm sign of letting up. This is great news. Here