“Shared expectations lead to predictability.”
There was no FAQ column last week – vacation schedules limited the ability to publish on Wednesday, July 13.
With this resumption, another change is taking place. The reporting of new findings on the coronavirus is slowly decreasing as a result of lack of interest by the general public in learning more. Everyone is getting bored! Perhaps this is also true with the UUS:E readers of this column! For this week, there is now only one FAQ, followed by a published opinion about where we are now – these can be informative in their own right.
Future columns will also be shorter and more focused on how public health authorities view the evolution of this virus and the public’s response.
578. A preventive drug is now available for patients who can’t be vaccinated.
Q: Can people who can’t be vaccinated find a way to not become infected?
A: The FDA has issued an Emergency Use Authorization for a drug that can be used by adults and children over age 12 who are moderately or severely immunocompromised or severely allergic to COVID-19 vaccines. This therapeutic, tixagevimab plus cilgavimab (Evusheld) consists of 2 monoclonal antibodies provided together to help prevent infection with the virus that causes COVID-19. A healthcare provider gives Evusheld as two separate consecutive intramuscular (IM) injections at a doctor’s office or healthcare facility. Anyone eligible for Evusheld should talk to a healthcare provider to determine if this option is right for you.
Opinion 1: How the public is not accurately seeing the risk of the BA.5 subvariant
Faye Flam is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering science. On July 13, she published an article on the latest Omicron subvariant, BA.5 that is rapidly becoming the dominant strain in the U.S. She identifies this as now being seen as a persistent health hazard that can re-infect people multiple times, each time inflicting cumulative damage and increasing the odds of long-duration symptoms.
The Bloomberg editorial board then published the following:
“One silver lining of the interminable Covid pandemic is that it has revealed just how prepared humanity is for a zombie apocalypse. We’ve proven we can ignore any public-health menace provided it sticks around long enough.
“For example, there’s yet another Covid variant raging in New York, omicron BA.5, which some are calling the “worst variant” yet. But Manhattan lunch spots are at pre-pandemic crowding levels, with few masks in sight. A year from now, the future omega BS.69.420 variant will evolve to form a complex trading society and begin enriching uranium, and we’ll likely pay more attention to whatever Elon Musk is doing.
“The general attitude seems to be:
- For God’s sake, please stop talking about Covid already; and
- If you’ve had Covid already or are up to date on your shots, the worst you can fear from another infection is a really nasty cold, with an outside chance of feeling tired for the rest of your life.
“For God’s sake, please stop talking about Covid already. We may learn to live with the zombies, but we should never forget they want to eat our brains.”
