Getting covid-19 for the first time slightly increased the risk of heart inflammation, blood clots and bleeding disorders among children, whereas being vaccinated against the virus was much safer and sometimes protective

Secretary Kennedy’s unscientific and misguided vilification of mRNA technology and cancellation of grants is the epitome of cutting off your nose to spite your face.

Genetic testing on samples collected during the earliest days of the covid-19 outbreak suggests it is likely that the virus spread from animals to humans at the Huanan seafood market

“There is little doubt about the origins of SARS-CoV-2 coming from the wet market now,” says Edwards. “The authors discuss humans causing the infection in the market, but any other origin story has to explain how it was only the market that was the source of so many outbreaks.”

The first countries to set national mandates amid the coronavirus crisis were Vietnam and the Czech Republic, in mid-March

In fact, there is strong evidence that masks do work to prevent the spread of respiratory illness. It just doesn't come from RCTs. It comes from Kansas. In July 2020 the governor of Kansas issued an executive order requiring masks in public places. Just a few weeks earlier, however, the legislature had passed a bill authorizing counties to opt out of any statewide provision. In the months that followed, COVID rates decreased in all 24 counties with mask mandates and continued to increase in 81 other counties that opted out of them.

So it goes with the animal-spillover theory. The evidence in favor has always been highly esoteric, knotted with data and interpretation. Scientific points are made—a particular run of viral nucleotides is a “smoking gun” for genetic engineering, one famous scholar said in 2021—and then they are re-argued and occasionally walked back. Long-hidden sample data from the market suddenly appear, and their meaning is subjected to vituperative, technical debate. If the evidence for a lab leak tends to come from messy human stuff, the evidence for animal spillover emerges from messy data. Simple-seeming claims are draped across a sprawl of numbers.

The three scientists were engaged in “gain-of-function” research on SARS-like coronaviruses when they fell ill

why did the Supreme Court strike down the vaccine mandate? not due to efficacy

"These cases are not about the efficacy or importance of COVID–19 vaccines. They are only about whether CMS has the statutory authority to force healthcare workers, by coercing their employers, to undergo a medical procedure they do not want and cannot undo," Thomas wrote in his dissent.

you can use a scarf. a lot of people have scarves. and you can use a scarf. a scarf would be very good. use a scarf instead of going out and getting a mask. you can use something else over your face. it doesn't have to be a mask.

Large studies in the U.S., Mexico and Britain found two doses of the Novavax vaccine were safe and about 90% effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19. When the delta variant emerged last summer, Novavax reported a booster dose revved up virus-fighting antibodies that could tackle that mutant.

SinoVac 58%
AstraZeneca 62%
Jansen, Johnson & Johnson 67%

A very early genomic sequence of SARS-CoV-2 was posted by Chinese researchers, then removed (probably because of Chinese government pressure). However, a few western researchers grabbed the sequence before it was removed and analyzed it. As well as viral sequence, the sample had raccoon dog DNA sequences associated with it (as contaminants), implying that this extremely early virus sample came from raccoon dogs. It’s known that raccoon dogs were kept in the wet market that’s been implicated in very early COVID19 transmission, and raccoon dogs are highly susceptible to infection with SARS-CoV-2, so it’s a consistent story.

"A pattern was evident whereby the larger associations were for more complex tasks requiring reasoning, planning and problem solving such as verbal analogies, Blocks and Tower of London as opposed to more basic working memory functions such as Digit Span and S"