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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Is there any research or guidance regarding the vaccines for those of us who already had it?

Vaccines

A: Those who have had COVID19 are recommended to receive the vaccine. Data from the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine trials demonstrated safety in participants that have had COVID19 previously. Scientists are hopeful that the vaccine will offer a higher level of protection than immunity to natural infection. Although the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine excluded participants Read more…

In vaccine trial data we trust?!

Data and Metrics Data Literacy Uncertainty and Misinformation Vaccines

A: Like a healthy democracy, a healthy data system relies on a sophisticated set of checks and balances. The FDA’s system is highly protective against data hanky-panky.* Today an FDA advisory panel meets to discuss Moderna’s vaccine data – with an eye towards recommending emergency use authorization. Your Nerdy Girls look forward to watching all Read more…

What’s up with the new CDC guidelines for shorter quarantine periods?

Testing and Contact Tracing

A: The guidelines represent a “most bang for your buck” approach to preventing transmission of COVID-19 at the population level–but quarantining for 14 days is still the recommended and safest approach. While our scientific understanding of how long it takes to develop COVID-19 symptoms after being exposed (science term: incubation period) still says up to Read more…

What can I do to “improve ventilation” in my house or my office? What does that even mean?

Staying Safe

A: We recently talked to environmental strategist and air quality expert Dr. Tim McAuley, founder and CEO of CHANGE Environmental, LLC. Dr. McAuley told us that the best thing we can do to protect ourselves is to create cleaner indoor air *in general*. Ventilation–exchanging indoor air for outdoor air–is just one part of cleaner indoor Read more…

Meet Those Nerdy Girls – Dr. Malia Jones

Uncategorized

In this week’s edition of our “Meet those nerdy girls” series, we are introducing co-founder and Editor-in-Chief at Dear Pandemic, Dr. Malia Jones. It all started early in the morning on Thursday, March 5th, when Dr. Jones sat down at her computer and wrote a lengthy message to her friends and family about the pandemic. Read more…

It has been a BIG day in vaccine news!

Vaccines

Today, the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended the first COVID-19 vaccine! The ACIP met to review and make recommendations on the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, which was given emergency use authorization by the FDA last night. You can read all the information presented at the ACIP meeting (see the link at the bottom). Read more…

The numbers on the COVID dashboards just keep going up and up.😬 📈 When will cases, deaths, and hospitalizations peak and start heading back down? 📉

Data and Metrics

A: Buckle up and hunker down: We have a couple more months to get through before we see steep and sustained drops in the numbers. Most experts say we won’t turn the corner until February at the earliest. Several records were broken this week in the US: Number of new cases per day (232,105 on Read more…

Dear Pandemic COVID Q&A

School Videos

For this week’s Live Q&A, we are so excited welcome a special guest whose expertise is COVID and K12 schools for our live Q&A! Dr. Chloe Gibbs is an education policy scholar at the University of Notre Dame and writes a weekly review of the emerging science on COVID and K12 schools. This event is Read more…

How many days do I need to quarantine if I plan to see family and friends for Christmas?

Socializing Travel

A: A 14-day quarantine prior to visiting family and friends continues to offer the greatest risk reduction. TODAY IS THE DAY TO START YOUR QUARANTINE! The CDC recently revised guidelines offering alternatives to a 14-day quarantine for people exposed to someone with Covid-19 who remain asymptomatic. (Look for an in-depth post on this change next Read more…

What do we know about racial/ethnic differences in COVID-19 mortality and the reasons for this?

Data and Metrics Social and Racial Justice

A. Recent data across U.S. states show that Black Americans and other people of color experience much higher mortality from COVID-19 than whites. Studies also point to structural barriers, and not biological susceptibility, that contribute to worse disease progression and higher mortality in these groups of Americans. We’ve previously posted on the U.S. death toll Read more…

“I’ve read that the Pfizer vaccine causes female infertility by blocking a protein that is key in the formation of the placenta in mammals. Is there any shred of truth to this?”

Families/Kids Uncertainty and Misinformation Vaccines

A: No. There is no truth to this rumor. There is nothing in the human genome that is similar to the spike protein that each of the vaccines are targeting to prevent COVID-19. 💉First of all, rumors about similarity between the placenta proteins and spike protein just do not pass the sniff test. Remember: extraordinary Read more…

The FDA is meeting TODAY about the Pfizer Covid19 vaccine. How does a vaccine get from the lab to my doctor’s office?

Vaccines

A: It’s a big process with lots of steps and players! These include clinical development and testing, review by the FDA, review by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, distribution to communities, and finally, vaccination. Let’s run down the process. The Covid vaccine is on the horizon! Hooray! The FDA is meeting TODAY (watch it Read more…