Posts from Those Nerdy Girls

All the posts from our Those Nerdy Girls Facebook page dating back to May 1st, 2020, are currently archived here and can be searched for by category, key words, etc. Be sure to check back often as additional posts are being added each day.

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Why should we get a booster with the existing COVID vaccine when a new one is in the works for Omicron?

COVID Variants Vaccines

A: Boosters with the original Pfizer and Moderna vaccines increase protection against the omicron variant…NOW. A few weeks ago we posted on results from Pfizer showing that: 🔵 A third dose of the original Pfizer vaccine increased neutralizing antibody titers against the omicron variant by 25-fold, compared to levels seen with only two doses 🔵 Read more…

I just got my third vaccine dose, but I tested positive for COVID19…..Now what?

Infection and Spread Testing and Contact Tracing

Positively confusing! I just got my third vaccine dose, but I tested positive for COVID19…..Now what? QUICK ANSWER: ➡️ Tell your healthcare provider you have had a positive test result right away. ➡️ Isolate for 10 days after symptoms appeared or after your positive test if you never had symptoms. ➡️ Make sure you don’t Read more…

POSTCARDS FROM THE UK: Buckle up America (and everywhere else).

COVID Variants Data and Metrics Infection and Spread

And by buckle up, I mean BOOST-UP. And take other sensible precautions, especially leading up to the holidays. Nerdy Girl Jenn (🇺🇸 in 🇬🇧 ) writing from not-so-sunny England, home of the strangest shaped epidemic curve ever seen (Figure 1). Delta has been raging here since June and never went away. Omicron has a significant Read more…

💥 #GoodNewsTues: Clinical Trial Edition! 💥

Treatments

Pfizer’s antiviral regimen appears highly effective at keeping high-risk COVID-19 patients alive and out of the hospital, and demonstrates no safety concerns in the final reporting from its pivotal randomized controlled trial. These findings are especially welcome in the wake of deep disappointment surrounding the lackluster final trial results of Merck’s antiviral. But before we Read more…

How does one variant push out another? Why do two variants not take off at the same time in a country?

COVID Variants

TL;DR: Great question! There are new variants emerging all the time. It’s a normal part of viral evolution. They compete by infecting people and making copies of themselves. Because of exponential math, even a small transmission advantage can quickly add up. This all goes back to evolution and math. Here’s how it works. A virus Read more…

Can our current COVID-19 diagnostics, like PCR tests and rapid antigen tests, detect the Omicron variant?

COVID Variants Testing and Contact Tracing

A: Good news. Standard diagnostic PCR tests can pick up the Omicron variant. As far as we know, most rapid antigen tests can also detect Omicron, but tests are ongoing to determine if any specific brands are less sensitive to Omicron. Stay tuned! WHICH VARIANT DO I HAVE? 🦠 Standard diagnostic tests can’t tell you Read more…