Not surprisingly, “pandemic” has been declared the word of the year for 2020; other top searched terms include coronavirus, non-essential, furlough, hydroxychloroquine, and US elections! Of course, toilet paper, sanitizer, and sourdough were top hits this year also.
Some of the greatest TV this month was the live footage on CNN of the first doses of the Moderna vaccine being loaded onto FEDEX trucks for distribution in Olive Branch, Mississippi! This is a testament to "Operation Warp Speed" and as the “cool” saying goes might ...
The precise origins of SARS-CoV-2 largely remains a mystery. There are huge animal reservoirs for viruses including coronaviruses. Given the sequence similarity to bat coronaviruses it is (probably correctly), assumed that SARS-CoV-2 jumped from bats ...
It has been a huge couple of weeks with, firstly the Pfizer/ BioNTech, and more recently the Moderna mRNA-based vaccines being granted emergency use authorization by the US FDA. With ~95% effectiveness following two doses of the vaccine there is much optimism ...
The distribution of safe and effective vaccines, particularly the Pfizer / BioNTech mRNA-based vaccine in the Western World, is a very welcome achievement in the current climate. Following initial doses in the UK last week, distribution in the US and Canada is literally happening as we speak.
Unfortunately, the holiday season starting with Thanksgiving Day (26 November, 2020), in the US was associated with a nationwide surge in COVID-19 cases. The advice the CDC was to avoid travel and large gatherings and there is some evidence that, ...
