Category: Brief Messages or Announcements

Reminder: FDA Advisory Committee to Meet in May 2024 to Discuss Updating Covid-19 Vaccine:

Just a reminder: the FDA Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) will meet on May 16, 2024 to make recommendations on Covid-19 strain selections for the fall vaccine of 2024-2025.

Partial Social Eclipse Viewing on the Pentacrest April 8, 2024!

The University of Iowa Dept of Physics and Astronomy and the Sciences Library invites the public to view the partial solar eclipse on April 8, 2024 between 12:30 PM-3:00 PM at the Pentacrest and the Sciences Library courtyard. Solar eclipse glasses free while they last.

Closing the Loop on All Domain Anomaly Resolution Office Search for Extraterrestrials?

Just in case you haven’t already heard, the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) revealed the lack of evidence proving the existence of extraterrestrials from the reports about what we used to call UFOs.

And NASA has said basically the same thing.

So, is there anything left to say about this? Probably not from the official side of the issue. But I don’t think this will be the end of reports of UFOs from the public.

Solar Eclipse in April!

We just found out there’s going to be a total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. We hope to get some solar eclipse glasses before then if they don’t run out of stock everywhere. They’re selling fast.

We’ve seen a couple of lunar eclipses and those were fun. The most recent one was during cold weather in November 2022. I had to wear a winter coat.

In Iowa City, it starts at about 1:00 PM on April 8, 2024 and runs until a little after 3:00 PM. We missed the last one in 2017. The next one visible in the U.S. won’t be until 2044. We think we better see the one next month.

Please Return to Sender

We get a lot of mail meant for somebody else. What’s up with the United States Postal Service (USPS)? It has been happening for years. What we do is identify that the mail is not for us and put it back in the mailbox for the postal delivery person to pick up. We write “Person does not live here” on the envelope.

We’re going to write “Return to Sender” on them. Maybe that’ll work.

FDA Advisory Committee to Meet in May 2024 to Discuss Updating Covid-19 Vaccine

The FDA Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) will meet on May 16, 2024 to make recommendations on Covid-19 strain selections for the fall vaccine of 2024-2025.

Well, The Times They Are A’Changing at the CDC

We just found out that the CDC is, in fact, changing their recommendations on isolation precautions and other guidance for respiratory illness. It turns out the 5 day isolation rule for a positive Covid 19 test is going away. The Respiratory Virus Guidance page has changed as of today.

Sena found out about it from an article in the Wall Street Journal. The rules for health care personnel are not the same as they are for the public. I guess the times theye are a’changing.

Rubber Snake Trick for Pesky Birds So Far

So far, the rubber snakes are not scaring off the birds. We have the telltale evidence for their continued visits to our porch.

It’s only a couple of days. We moved them around to see if that fools the birds into thinking the snakes are real.

CDC ACIP Meeting February 28-29, 2024 to Discuss Covid-19 and Other Vaccines

There are news stories about a pending CDC-ACIP meeting (February 28-29, 2024) which might include information about a CDC recommendation to possibly add a 3rd additional Covid-19 vaccine booster this spring.

The Covid-19 vaccine portion of the meeting is scheduled for February 28, 2024 at 8:30 AM EST. There will be a vote at 1:55 PM EST that day.

Interestingly, also on the agenda is a discussion about the RSV vaccine on February 29, 2024 at 8:30 AM EST. We wonder whether the committee will talk about the current requirement for a shared clinical-decision making discussion with a physician for getting the RSV vaccine.