COVID News & Opinion

Kishore Nath holds a vaccination card provided to residents who have been given the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at Viamonte, a retirement community in Walnut Creek, Calif., on December 30, 2020. Credit: Carlos Avila Gonzalez *Getty Images*

Covid-19 patients who recovered from the disease still have robust immunity from the coronavirus eight months after infection, according to a new study. The result is an encouraging sign that the authors interpret to mean immunity to the virus probably lasts for many years, and it should alleviate fears that the covid-19 vaccine would require repeated booster shots to protect against the disease and finally get the pandemic under control.
Patel, Neel V. MIT Technology Review January 6, 2021

It is encouraging news coming out of the La Jolla Institute for Immunology in California. The study of 185 recovered patients from COVID show after 8 months, they still have immunity. The research led by Dr. Shane Crotty was published January 6, 2021 in the journal Science.

More good news coming from a survey featured in Scientific American that shows that 63% Americans want to take the vaccine. We need to get 60-90% of the population vaccinated to put the pandemic behind us. There are certain groups that are vaccine skeptical, but I would think most of the TIS community would take the vaccine.

I continue to read reports of COVID cases increasing all over the world. In my home country of the USA, there were more than 4,000 deaths on Thursday. Tokyo, Shijiazhuang, United Kingdom, and other cities and countries are on lockdown because of the spike in cases. I am concerned about if/when the next wave will come to Uzbekistan.

Finally, New Yorker contributor and author, Lawrence Wright was interviewed on NPR’s Fresh Air program on Thursday. He discusses his lengthy piece in a January issue of The New Yorker. The TIS library subscribes to The New Yorker. Below are links to articles I refer to in this blog post.