COVID Transmissions for 12-17-2020
Bonus doses of vaccine?
Good morning! It has been 395 days since the first documented human case of COVID-19.
Headlines today on some interesting topics, including some surprise news about the Pfizer vaccine.
As usual, bolded terms are linked to the running newsletter glossary.
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Now, let’s talk COVID.
Yes, young adults do die of COVID-19
A New York Times opinion piece from Dr. Jeremy Samuel Faust, Dr. Harlan M. Krumholz, and Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky highlights evidence that this has been an unusually deadly year for young adults: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/16/opinion/covid-deaths-young-adults.html
There are some very interesting numbers here, and they suggest that excess deaths among young adults have been much higher this year than other years. The authors mostly attribute this to COVID-19, and I am sure they have good reasons, but I think we should also be aware that the pandemic can kill in other ways, too.
People are alone. They are drinking and taking drugs. There is depression and suicidal behavior on the rise. The famous founder of Zappos died in a fire that may have involved suicidality and substance abuse! Surely some of these factors might also be contributing.
Likewise, people are putting off medical procedures because they don’t want to go to hospitals. That could lead to unexpected deaths as well. Perhaps younger people are just not taking their health as seriously this year.
Now, I think it’s likely that COVID-19 is a big contributor here, but I wanted to take the opportunity to highlight that the pandemic can be deadly in many ways. It’s important to reach out to people and make sure they are staying safe—not just from SARS-CoV-2.
The article is good. Take a look at it.
Extra doses of Pfizer’s vaccine found
Hospitals have reported finding extra doses of Pfizer’s vaccine in the vials that they were shipped. Specifically, vials are supposed to contain 5 doses of vaccine, but may contain 6 or 7. Apoorva Mandavilli of The New York Times referred to this as “a Hanukkah miracle,” referencing the oil that lasted 8 days instead of one. The NYT reports on this here: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/16/health/Covid-Pfizer-vaccine-extra-doses.html
The thing is, I don’t really like surprises. Yes, it’s fantastic that there’s around 12% more vaccine that we didn’t know about, but I don’t understand why there is so much more. Normally, there is some overfilling of vaccine vials to ensure that practitioners don’t end up giving an incomplete dose at some point. It’s not usually a whole dose or two.
If these are really fully potent vaccine doses, that’s great news. We’ll be able to vaccinate more people than expected in this first batch. However, if this is the result of some kind of error, I’m concerned. Does it mean the vaccine is more dilute than intended? Is the dosing correct?
According to the FDA, these are genuine additional doses: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/16/pfizer-vaccine-extra-doses-447117
My questions above are what jumps to my mind on this topic; I imagine that the FDA and Pfizer have watched the manufacturing process closely and that the FDA position on this is an informed one. I ask the questions because I expect that we do know the answers. I just want those answers publicly spoken.
Anyway, this is likely very good news. I know just how detailed quality control in the pharmaceutical industry is, and it would be surprising if they were actually a problem here. Skepticism and questioning is just my natural instinct.
What am I doing to cope with the pandemic? This:
SNOW!
There is a big snowstorm in New York, continuing as I write this. I am inside, watching it come down, and it’s very pretty. It’s even prettier knowing I don’t have to go anywhere.
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No corrections since last issue.
See you all next time.
Always,
JS