COVID-19 stats and research news - until Nov. 15, 2021

[MarzNC]

Happened to notice that the Nevada public university systems recently decided to require employees to be vaccinated. Had already required students to be vaccinated by Nov. 1, 2021 in order to register for the spring semester. The deadline for employees is Dec. 1, 2021. About 85% are already vaccinated. About half of Nevada's 17 counties have first dose vax rates under 45%, state population is about 3 million.

September 30, 2021

Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccine Requirement for NSHE Employees | President's Messages

The Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents met earlier today and voted to approve an emergency amendment to the NSHE Code that sets forth policies and procedures enacting a mandatory COVID-19 vaccine requirement for all NSHE employees, effective Dec. 1.

www.unr.edu

 

[MarzNC]

Maine colleges have had vaccination requirements for a while. The final deadline seems to be Oct. 15. Combined with masking, and regular testing of unvaccinated people, community spread of Delta has been very low on the campuses.

October 1, 2021

As COVID-19 surge continues, Maine college campuses remain virtually immune

Schools say a combination of vaccine mandates, indoor masking in public spaces and regular testing have kept case numbers low.

www.pressherald.com

In general, Maine is a typical story for a mostly rural state. Only difference is that it's in New England where overall vax rates by state are generally fairly high. While the vaccination rate is reasonably high around the cities in southeastern Maine, it's under 70% (total pop) in the northern, relatively unpopulated counties. Those counties also don't have much ICU capacity. The peak for detected cases may have happened in Sept.

October 2, 2021

COVID-19 hospitalizations are down in Bangor

The decline could be a sign of things to come for the rest of the state.

bangordailynews.com

 

[jasonwx]

Maine colleges have had vaccination requirements for a while. The final deadline seems to be Oct. 15. Combined with masking, and regular testing of unvaccinated people, community spread of Delta has been very low on the campuses.

October 1, 2021

As COVID-19 surge continues, Maine college campuses remain virtually immune

Schools say a combination of vaccine mandates, indoor masking in public spaces and regular testing have kept case numbers low.

www.pressherald.com

In general, Maine is a typical story for a mostly rural state. Only difference is that it's in New England where overall vax rates by state are generally fairly high. While the vaccination rate is reasonably high around the cities in southeastern Maine, it's under 70% (total pop) in the northern, relatively unpopulated counties. Those counties also don't have much ICU capacity. The peak for detected cases may have happened in Sept.

October 2, 2021

COVID-19 hospitalizations are down in Bangor

The decline could be a sign of things to come for the rest of the state.

bangordailynews.com

Got my 3 rd dose this past thurs
I sure hope that’s it

 

[MarzNC]

Got my 3 rd dose this past thurs
I sure hope that’s it

I expect it will be for this current version of the Pfizer vaccine. Seems fairly likely that a COVID-19 vaccination will be more like a flu shot than a measles vaccination. There has even been a little talk about coming up with a combined annual shot that would cover both. Too soon to know what will happen before the 2022-23 flu season.

 

[jasonwx]

I expect it will be for this current version of the Pfizer vaccine. Seems fairly likely that a COVID-19 vaccination will be more like a flu shot than a measles vaccination. There has even been a little talk about coming up with a combined annual shot that would cover both. Too soon to know what will happen before the 2022-23 flu season.

Yep

 

[tirolski]

NIH director Collins is resigning.
This adds to the two FDA’s top dogs leaving lately.
Was it due to his oldie Tweetie tune or something else?

https://twitter.com/x/status/1294300486984581120

 

[MarzNC]

NIH director Collins is resigning.

12 years is a long time for that level position. He's 71. Still going to head up his research lab.

 

[tirolski]

12 years is a long time for that level position. He's 71.

Collins is the boss of the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (Fauci) who has held that position for ~37 years and will turn 82 Christmas Eve.

 

[tirolski]

Aspirin article.

In summary, our analysis suggests that aspirin use may have beneficial effects in patients with COVID-19. Mechanistically, these findings are plausible given aspirin’s irreversible antiplatelet effect and the frequent hypercoagulability observed in COVID-19 patients. The results of our study are intriguing, especially because aspirin has been thoroughly studied in chronic cardiovascular disease, has a well-described safety profile, and is readily available throughout the world. The preliminary, hypothesis-generating nature of our study provides the basis for a larger study, which will be needed to confirm our findings and assess the extent to which the relationships observed in our study are causal. Until a randomized controlled trial of aspirin is performed, it is imperative to exercise cautious optimism and deliberately balance aspirin’s known risks against its potential benefits in patients afflicted by COVID-19.

Aspirin Use Is Associated With Decreased Mechanical... : Anesthesia & Analgesia

dmission, and in-hospital mortality. METHODS: A retrospective, observational cohort study of adult patients admitted with COVID-19 to multiple hospitals in the United States between March 2020 and July 2020 was performed. The primary outcome was the need for mechanical ventilation. Secondary...

journals.lww.com

 

[sibhusky]

And yet today in the news it was all about not taking low dose aspirin as a heart disease preventative.

What to do? What to do?