The Road goes ever on and on ... Day 322 (822)

Dr. Fauci has tested positive for covid. This does not worry me as much as it would have, say, in June 2020. He is fully vaccinated and has had both recommended boosters. He is said to be experiencing "mild" symptoms and will work from home until he tests negative. He has not been in close contact with POTUS or other government officials recently. Still, I worry somewhat that I don't feel more worried about this. While most people are recovering just fine, people do still die from covid. 

And people do still develop long covid. It's been reported that six months after infection, some long covid sufferers experience neurocognitive deficits of the same magnitude as being intoxicated, i.e., drunk. Neurocognitive deficits equivalent to aging 10 years have also been reported. We still don't know how long the "long" in long covid lasts. It would not surprise me if we never know.

The FDA advisory panel unanimously authorized the Moderna vaccine for children under age six, and the Pfizer vaccine for children under age five. There is worry, though, that the clinical trial data may already be outdated. The trials were done before the original Omicron variant, BA.1, mutated to its more transmissible subvariants. The Pfizer vaccination regime is three injections which some experts worry parents will not finish. Many adults have skipped the final dose(s) of the adult vaccine; will they skip the same for their young children? One of the 50 states has not yet pre-ordered any childhood vaccines. You might not be surprised--at least I was not surprised--to hear that it's Florida. 

An article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences claims that the US could have saved over 338,000 lives and over $105 billion in health costs if it had a universal healthcare system. The US had the highest death rate among the large wealthy countries of the world and is the only one without universal healthcare. One outcome of this that was especially bad here is people going to work when sick so as not to lose a job that provides health insurance. 

It seems that the Chinese government is using the national covid app for political purposes. Thousands of people heading to a protest in one city suddenly had their health apps turn red, indicating they were infected and could not enter the city. After they started home, their apps switched back to green, or negative for covid. Saudi Arabia is relaxing some covid rules before the hajj. The one million pilgrims expected will still need to show proof of vaccination, something that will no longer be required of people in their daily lives. Italy has dropped the mask mandate for theaters, sports centers, and entertainment venues. Passengers on Italian public transit must stay masked. Masks are encouraged but not required on airplanes. The deputy health minister explains, "The goal is to live with the virus, and this means returning to social life."

I can't say I'm on board with that for now. Getting there is likely to take, for me, a lot more information on long covid--its causes, outcomes, and any treatments.