Dr. Stuart Weiss: COVID-19 Update Monday 29-Mar-2021
By Dr. Stuart Weiss, Intelligent Crowd Solutions – Rapid Test Center of NY
| Rapid Test Center of New York Dr. Stuart Weiss, FACEP, FAAP, CBCP |
| March 29, 2021 CoViD-19 News and Information you can trust. Welcome new readers from the Rapid Test Center. Topics: A couple of important points from today and some questions I was asked |
| A couple of important items from today and some questions I was asked New cases are rising as is the death rate. The New York Times is reporting a 15% increase in the number of new CoViD-19 cases over the past two weeks. The Washington Post reported a 8.8% rise over the past week. It also reported a 10.5% increase in deaths. Today, we saw a visibly emotional director of the CDC talk about the U.S. entering another wave. Dr. Walensky said that after weeks of decreases or remaining stable, new cases have jumped again. This happened twice before in the past year right before a major surge in virus activity. She went on to say that these jumps are fueled by states relaxing restrictions too soon and the heightened transmission of the variants especially the B.1.1.7 (UK) variant which now makes up around 26% of cases in the US and is modeled to be the dominant variant in the next few weeks. The good news is that we are vaccinating more and more folks. We are averaging 2.7 million doses per day over the past week. 72% of Americans over 65 years have received at least one shot. In a study of healthcare workers, they had 80% protection after one shot. This protection drops off after a while which is why a second shot in the Pfizer or Moderna series is important. Drs. Walensky and Fauci both said today that a next wave is not inevitable if we can just hold on a little longer. I am not as optimistic as I see Governors continue to relax restrictions even as new case numbers are rising. I think we are heading towards a next wave. What is not clear is how high this next wave will be. If we follow Europe and the UK, then as the B.1.1.7 becomes dominant and has a 30%-50% higher contagiousness, we will see a big surge in cases. In news out of Brazil, where the P.1 variant is circulating widely and causing huge case numbers, they have seen big increases in severe illness and death in young and middle-aged adults since P.1 began widely circulating. It seems that their variant is attacking younger people. In other news today, the long awaited WHO report on the origins of the virus was leaked today. They came to the same conclusion that they came to in the preliminary report released on Feb 9th. The virus jumped from bats or other animals to humans, possibly through an intermediary animal. They said that leak from a lab was unlikely. When the preliminary report came out in February, there was some concern that the Chinese might not have been as transparent with the WHO inspectors as we would have liked. While I am not one to subscribe to conspiracy theories, I have some friends who used to work on viral containment for our government and they say that this virus has all of the hallmarks of an accidental release from a researcher working on the virus. So I’m not sure I buy the conclusion in the 123-page report that suggests further research into all of the possible causes should be done, except for the lab leak theory. Just saying… Two questions I was asked today 1. If I catch CoViD-19 between my first shot and my second shot, what should I do? You are not fully protected until two weeks after your second shot in the Pfizer or Moderna series so there is a chance you could turn positive in between. If you do turn positive, you need to isolate for ten days. Once that is over and you feel well, without symptoms, you can schedule your second shot. It is okay if your second shot is delayed a few weeks. It won’t effect your protection. 2. I am afraid to get the vaccine because I heard that the vaccine may affect my fertility. According to STATNEWS.Com (a good site for medical news), this is a false rumor that was started by two European anti-vax’er propagandists. They erroneously claim that the “vaccine contains a spike protein called syncytin-1 that is vital for the human placenta in women”. They are correct that syncytin-1 is vital to the normal formation of a placenta in pregnancy and disruption of this would cause infertility or miscarriages but the claim that the vaccines contain it or transmit a message to make antibodies against it is just plain false. In fact, the risk to pregnant women from getting a CoViD-19 infection is much worse than the risk of the vaccine. The vaccines are very safe and there are ongoing studies right now of vaccination in pregnant women. Pregnant women were excluded from the initial studies out of an abundance of caution. When you are eligible, get your self vaccinated so we can get through this together. Dr. Stu Weiss Sign Up For Our Newsletter |
| Coronavirus update for March 29, 2021 World Wide Updates Covid-19 cases on the rise among Brazil’s younger age groups, report says Johnson & Johnson will supply 200 million Covid-19 vaccines to Europe in April Italian prime minister hopeful EU will achieve herd immunity by end of July Mexico reveals Covid-19 death toll nearly 60% higher than officially reported Balkan countries flock to Serbia for Covid-19 vaccinations WHO draft report on coronavirus origin sticks with theory it came from an animal Cuba begins to mass vaccinate with its homegrown vaccines GlaxoSmithKline will manufacture Novavax Covid-19 vaccines for use in UK Germany urges countries to step up funding for global vaccination effort Upcoming WHO report will deem Covid-19 lab leak extremely unlikely, source says Moderna has shipped 100 million doses of vaccine to the US government WHO plans to release report on Covid-19’s origins tomorrow Slovenia to go into another lockdown in April Mexico receives first shipment of AstraZeneca vaccines from the US England takes its first cautious step out of lockdown Merkel says she is considering new restrictions to bring coronavirus under control India sees 6th day of record-high case numbers since last year Taiwan and Palau to launch “travel bubble” this week 30 million people across the UK have received their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine Canadian panel is recommending a pause on AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccinations for people under 55 for safety reasons Facebook freezes page of Venezuela’s Maduro for 30 days over claims that ‘miracle drops’ could cure COVID Turkey imposes tighter weekend lockdown during Ramadan German lockdown row deepens as state leaders pushes back against Merkel Number of patients in French ICU close to levels reached in last autumn’s second wave Hong Kong to ease some restrictions, including international arrival quarantine Philippines records over 10,000 new Covid cases in a day for first time Total Cases Worldwide: 128,184,043 Total Deaths Worldwide: 2,802,872 Total Recovered: 103,336,361 US Updates Biden announces funding to provide seniors and people with disabilities transport to get Covid-19 vaccine MLB is strongly encouraging players to get vaccinated Florida governor signs Covid-19 liability protection bill into law Only 1 US state hasn’t shared when it plans to start vaccinating everyone 16 and older Thousands more vaccination sites coming within 3 weeks, Biden says Biden calls on state and local officials to “please” reinstate the mask mandate “Private sector” will oversee Covid-19 vaccine passports in US, White House adviser says More than 80% of Chicagoans now eligible for Covid-19 vaccine More than one in five US adults are fully vaccinated, CDC data shows CDC adds substance abuse disorders to list of conditions that may increase risk of severe Covid-19 American Airlines is preparing almost all the planes it put in storage in the pandemic US will wait for government review of WHO Covid-19 report before taking next steps, White House says Colorado will open vaccines to all adults on April 2 Biden will announce 90% of adults will be vaccine eligible in three weeks New York state will open vaccine eligibility to people 16 and older on April 6 CDC director will speak to governors to “buckle down” on reopening too fast Pfizer and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines work in real-world conditions, CDC says CDC extends US pandemic eviction moratorium through June 30 US airline travel just hit the highest point of the pandemic About 143 million Covid-19 vaccine doses have been administered in the US, according to CDC data Covid-19 variants aren’t the only reason for a spike in US cases, expert says Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis threatens to sue federal government over cruise ship ban Total US cases: 31,021,897 Total US deaths: 563,000 Total Recovered: 23,496,609 Total Tested in US: 388,603,313 Total cases in CA: 3,662,659 Total deaths in CA: 58,661 Total cases in TX: 2,784,983 Total deaths in TX: 48,338 Total cases in FL: 2,047,379 Total deaths in FL: 33,270 Total cases in NY: 1,898,489 Total deaths in NY: 50,331 Total cases in IL: 1,239,589 Total deaths in IL: 23,527 Total cases in GA: 1,056,421 Total death in GA: 18,962 Total Vaccines Administered in US: 145,812,835 Contact us iCrowd.com website |
