Georgia expanding vaccine eligibility

Starting Monday, March 15, people 55 and older, those with disabilities, and those with any of a list of medical conditions will be eligible. (See the DPH site for the list.)

And as you may have heard, everyone will be eligible by May 1.

ICYMI

The good news: Eli Lilly’s antibody combo (bamlanivimab-etesevimab) gives Covid-19 infections a one-two punch — “cutting hospitalizations and deaths by a whopping 87%.”

The bad news: Obesity is perhaps the largest factor in the severity of a Covid-19 infection, and “High Obesity Rates in Southern States Magnify Covid Threat”. (Note that obesity is one of the medical conditions that allow Georgians under 55 to get the vaccine.)

“It’s just math. If the population is more obese and obesity clearly contributes to worse outcomes, then neighborhoods, cities, states and countries that are more obese will have a greater toll from Covid.”

The important news: You know how even one shot of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines conveys a lot of protection? There’s an exception: cancer patients. “[T]he vaccine ‘can clearly bring immense benefit to cancer patients too, but in most cases this is only after boosting’.”

Mosquitos might be useful after all

There’s a little protein called AEG12 that mosquitoes make. It’s got an interesting property: It destabilizes the viral envelope of flaviviruses — the type of viruses that cause dengue, West Nile, yellow fever, and Zika.

“It is as if AEG12 is hungry for the lipids that are in the virus membrane, so it gets rid of some of the lipids it has and exchanges them for the ones it really prefers.”

Well now. That gives AEG12 “great killing power,” and with great killing power comes … never mind. But there’s one big downside: AEG12 also breaks opens red blood cells, which research says we need to, you know, live. But still, it’s an interesting discovery with the potential to fight a whole bunch of nasty viruses.

They’re ready to help

Between Lilly’s antibodies and the vaccine rollout, the biggest vestige of the pandemic might be Long Covid. But don’t you worry — pharmaceutical companies are ready to cash in.

Overall the companies most likely to benefit from COVID-19 are Sanofi, Novartis, AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline who have a range of products that will be in demand as the pandemic recedes.

This may explain why hippies are so chill

Here’s something you probably didn’t expect: Sociologists (!) at the University of Oxford found that long-term use of psychedelics — notably tryptamines — seemed to be connected with lower blood pressure.

… lifetime classic psychedelic use was associated with a 14% lower odds of hypertension in the past year and that lifetime tryptamine use was associated with a 20% lower odds of hypertension in the past year.

The researchers caution that it’s too early to infer causality and, of course, more research is needed.

Sinister news about kids’ blood pressure

Researchers at Australia’s Murdoch Children’s Research Institute made a surprising — and important — discovery. Before treating kids for hypertension (or deciding not to treat them), check their blood pressure in both arms.

At least one in four kids “had an inter-arm difference that could lead to misdiagnosis,” they found, and it’s even higher with those who had aortic surgery as infants.

Half the ketamine

Ketamine is in the news as a possible treatment for major depression, but (as you know) it’s also a painkiller. And it turns out, according to Loyola University researchers, that — when it comes to IV ketamine — you might be able to cut the dose in half.

As they put it, “Our data did not detect a large difference in analgesia or adverse effect profile between 0.15 mg/kg IV ketamine and 0.30 mg/kg in the short-term treatment of acute pain in the ED.”

“Roll up your sleeve and do your part”

All of America’s living* presidents (with one exception) — and their wives — joined in an ad campaign promoting Covid vaccinations.

Left to right… oh, sheesh, you know who they are

* Yes, they specified “living” — although reports said the ghost of Millard Fillmore was hanging around the set grumbling about the decline of the Whig party.

The Long Read: Vaccine secrecy

Fearing accusations of line-cutting, or having to reveal a diagnosis, “People Are Keeping Their Vaccines Secret.”