What’s the next target?

Now that we’ve got this mRNA vaccine thing down, it’s time to start looking at what else we might use it for. How about, oh, every coronavirus? When the next pandemic starts, let’s be ready. And we’re not talking years:

Now researchers are starting to develop prototypes of a so-called pancoronavirus vaccine, with some promising, if early, results from experiments on animals. Dr. Eric Topol, a professor of molecular medicine at the Scripps Research Institute in San Diego, thinks scientists should join together in another large-scale vaccine-creation project immediately. “We have to get a real work force to accelerate this, so we can have it this year,” he said.

Dem bones, dem bones

How old are your bones? Aussie researchers have figured out a way to calculate their age (oddly, it’s not necessarily the same as the rest of you).

The idea is that each time you fracture a bone, your skeletal “age” increases, which can help predict if you’re likely to break another … and also how long you might live. And it’s a bit scary:

“[W]e for instance estimated that a typical 70 year old man who had sustained a fracture had a skeletal age of 75 years. But when the man had a second fracture his skeletal age rose to 87 years. This means the individual now has the same fracture risk profile as an 87 year old man who has a healthy risk profile.”

All together now

A whole lot of healthcare groups including the American Medical Association, American Hospital Association, BCBS — and now the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (!) — are now all calling for Obamacare to be expanded “to reach the long elusive goal of universal coverage” that the rest of the developed world enjoys.

Here we go again

Inflation may be only two percent or so. People are out of work. The government is spending trillions to fight the pandemic and help Americans stay afloat. But don’t you worry, drug makers are raising their prices again — an average of 4.6 percent in January (more than double the annual rate of inflation), with some companies raising them by more than 30 percent.

Yes, these are list prices, which are the equivalent of the hotel price on the back of the room door. They may not be what individuals pay, but they are what those prices are based on.

This isn’t scary at all

Researchers at Geisinger — who clearly know how to ruin a family gathering — have developed a computer algorithm that can look at an EKG and tell you if you’ll die within a year.

A different kind of shortage

So you know how pharmacists discovered you can get an extra dose of vaccine from the Pfizer vials? Great news — except that now there’s a shortage of the “low dead-space” syringes needed to get it. (They’re a niche product, “used when dealing with drugs like fertility treatments, where medication waste can be especially costly.”)

Right now, according to the White House, “about 80% of Pfizer kits contain low-dead space syringes, while the rest contain other syringe types that could be used to extract the sixth dose.”

Double Dawg dare

Let’s say you know a teen who’s totally into the pharmacy vibe, but is more interested in the “build it” side of things. UGA is offering a nifty program: a combined B.S. in biochemical engineering and M.S. in pharmacy dual degree “[that] will prepare them for a career as a biopharmaceutical engineer.” They call it … “the Double Dawg program.”

It’s a five-year (+one summer) program that could land them a job at a pharmaceutical company, in researcher, or, in theory, working for a supervillain looking to conquer the world.

The Triple Dawg program still has some kinks to work out.

The pharmacy hiring spree

Chain pharmacies are hiring like mad, thanks to the Covid-19 vaccination push.

Phones are ringing with plentiful job opportunities. Prospective employers are dangling five-figure signing bonuses. Businesses are hounding universities for potential recruits.

Sounds great, right? Of course, what happens when These Trying Times end, hopefully later this year?

The Long-ish Read: Antibody tests

“Leave Your Antibodies Alone” — sure, they’re great for getting a broad picture of what you’ve been exposed to, but they aren’t a crystal-clear crystal ball.