Category: Covid-19

  • FDA Advisory Committee Meeting on Covid Vaccine Boosters Scheduled for April 6, 2022

    FDA Advisory Committee Meeting on Covid Vaccine Boosters Scheduled for April 6, 2022

    The FDA Advisory Committee on Vaccines and Related Biological Products has scheduled a meeting on April 6, 2022 “to discuss considerations for use of COVID-19 vaccine booster doses and the process for COVID-19 vaccine strain selection to address current and emerging variants.” The meeting will run from 8:30 AM-5:00 PM ET.

  • CDC Updates Covid Mask Guidance

    CDC Updates Covid Mask Guidance

    As of February 25, 2022, The CDC has updated Covid-19 mask guidance. It’s keyed to the level of transmission in your area and to what specific risk factors you might have.

  • Who Let The Puns Out?

    Who Let The Puns Out?

    Well, we were out for a walk around Terry Trueblood Trail yesterday and a woman stopped us and excitedly asked, “Do you want to hear a joke about Covid?” Believe it or not, we didn’t know anybody made jokes about Covid—but we said “Yeah, go ahead.” And then she said it was about dogs, and…

  • FDA Postpones Meeting to Discuss Pfizer Covid-19 Vaccine for Children Less Than 5 years Old

    FDA Postpones Meeting to Discuss Pfizer Covid-19 Vaccine for Children Less Than 5 years Old

    The FDA announced today that the meeting to discuss Pfizer’s request for authorization of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine for children 6 months through 4 years of age, originally scheduled February 15, 2022, will be postponed. This will give Pfizer time to evaluate a third dose of the vaccine in this age group.

  • FDA Advisory Meeting on Covid-19 Vaccine for Children Less than 5 years Old

    FDA Advisory Meeting on Covid-19 Vaccine for Children Less than 5 years Old

    The FDA Advisory Committee will meet February 15, 2022 between 8:30 AM-5:00 PM ET to discuss Pfizer’s proposal to amend the Emergency Use Authorization for administration of the Covid-19 vaccine to children between 6 months through 4 years of age.

  • Brief Reflections on N95 Masks

    Brief Reflections on N95 Masks

    The free N95 masks are here. It’s 3M Model Aura 9205+and they’re available in many stores, including Hy-Vee and Walgreens. I occasionally failed the fit test using this type of mask when I was working at the hospital; however, you can still get a pretty effective seal to make it protective in the community (see…

  • Free N95 Masks Available

    Free N95 Masks Available

    Sena picked up 3 of the free N95 masks today at Hy-Vee. It turns out that it’s the same one I always used to fail the quantitative fit test for at Employee Health. I could never get a decent seal with it. I would get an alternative cup-shaped mask which worked pretty well. Fit testing…

  • Slip Knot and Tuck Mask Fit

    Slip Knot and Tuck Mask Fit

    I saw the video the CDC suggested for getting a closer fit using a surgical mask. I had a tough time following how to tie the knot in the loops. Either the demonstrator went too fast or I was too slow (probably the latter.) I found a couple of videos on slip knots and crochet…

  • UIHC Covid-19 Q&A: Omicron and Vaccines

    UIHC Covid-19 Q&A: Omicron and Vaccines

    Here’s a recently published YouTube by University of Iowa Health Care on the Covid-19 virus, the Omicron variant, and vaccines (actually there are two, see update below). Points that grabbed our attention were: Omicron is more transmissible, but overall seems to cause less severe disease. Current vaccines, especially with the booster, protect against getting severe…

  • Take a Cup of Kindness and Say Goodbye to 2021

    Take a Cup of Kindness and Say Goodbye to 2021

    It’s been a quiet day around here. It’s New Year’s Eve. I got a great message from a former resident who has started his own Psychiatry Consultation Fellowship training program in Bangkok, Thailand. Dr. Paul Thisayakorn and his wife are welcoming 2022 with their 2 lovely children and hoping 2022 will be a better year,…