Saturday, November 19, 2022

End Of An Era: My Last Post Here And On To New Digs


Difficult to believe that I started posting on this blog 17 years ago. 3,614 blog posts later and I think it's time to get some new digs.

This platform, the Blogger platform, has been great, but it's not being updated, it's clunky, and I think it's time to move to the new pasture over at Substack where I may also try adding in some podcasting and getting back to writing. The thing about writing right now - truthfully I find it challenging to consider in the context of the pandemic. It feels unimportant in comparison which is why I've been using this platform to provide you with what I feel is some of the best and most useful articles on COVID. I'll likely keep doing that, but realize that we're likely never going back to 2019 and so I need to find a way to do more than just curate links.

Those of you who are email subscribers here, there's no need to do anything, assuming I clicked all the buttons the right way, you should be receiving the Weighty Matters Substack at 7am EST this morning.

Thank you for spending your time with me here. 

[Also, it’s that time of year again, this Movember I’m trying to channel my best Steven Ogg from the Walking Dead as that seems somehow apropos to the times.

To be honest, I wasn’t sure I was going to do Movember this year, and then I watched a video where they discussed their funding of a first responder led program for first responders with PTSD and that got me back in line quickly. I’ve raised just over a third of my goal and would certainly welcome and appreciate your donations which you can give by clicking here.]

Saturday, November 12, 2022

Saturday Stories: Must Read Open Letter


Too many medical organizations to list pen an open letter to President Biden illustrating what care is like in hospitals that are beyond capacity. Same issues here in Canada, and if you're not in healthcare, you should absolutely take the time to read to understand what your care might be like if you need it.


Finally, I may start a slow transition over to Substack. Blogger (this plaftorm) is very clunky and I'd be surprised if there was much if any work being done to maintain or improve upon it. You can find me on substack at Going great! Let's do nothing!  For the next little bit, I'll mirror on both, and if I find it's easier to maintain over there, I'll let you know. 

Saturday, November 05, 2022

Saturday Stories: Milder COVID?, and COVID consensus


Mun-Keat Looi,  Elisabeth Mahase, in the BMJ, ask is COVID is getting milder (spoiler, no) 

A collection of scientists from around the world, in Nature, publish a multinational Delphi consensus to end the COVID-19 public health threat (spoiler, we know what we need to do, we're just not doing it)

Also, it's that time of year again. If you find my posts (here or on social media) in any way helpful, please consider donating to my Movember efforts (this year I'm trying to channel my inner Simon from The Walking Dead as that seems apropos)

Saturday, October 29, 2022

Saturday Stories: The Subvariants and Racial Inequity


Steven Novella, in Science Based Medicine, on the coming subvariants

Marina Del Rios, Nathan T. Chomilo and Neil A. Lewis, Jr., in STAT, on the racial inequities of our COVID response.


Saturday, October 01, 2022

Saturday, September 17, 2022

Friday, August 26, 2022

Saturday, August 13, 2022

Saturday, July 16, 2022

Saturday Stories: Variant Proof Vaccines, Whose Breath Are You Breathing, and BA.5


Hilda Bastien, in Absolutely Maybe, gives us a hopeful update on the state of variant proof Coronavirus vaccines

Farah Hancock, in RNZ, with a terrific read on how to determine how much of whose breath are you breathing?

Ed Yong, in The Atlantic, with essential reading on BA.5 and what it means.

By Image by Rama - Own work, CeCILL, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=43759

Saturday, July 02, 2022

Saturday, May 28, 2022

Saturday Stories: Monkeypox Messaging, Nasal Vaccines, and Long COVID Messaging


Helen Branswell, in STAT, on Monkeypox messaging amidst stigma and unknowns.

Akiko Iwasaki, in The New York Times, on the promise of nasal COVID vaccines.

Danielle Wenner and Gabriela Arguedas Ramírez, in STAT, on the danger and folly of omitting long COVID from public health messaging. 

Photo by Matthias - Imported from 500px (archived version) by the Archive Team. (detail page), CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=74166714

Saturday, May 21, 2022

Saturday, May 14, 2022

Saturday Stories: Correlations, Trolling, And School Ventilation


Nans Florens, Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz, Jérôme Barriere, Eric Billy, Fabrice Frank, Véronique Saada, Alexander Samuel, Barbara Seitz-Polski, Kyle Sheldrick, and Lonni Besançon, in OCF Preprints ask should we publish every correlation during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Lisa Palmer and Silvia Waisbord, in Undark, on the toll trolls are taking on science journalism. 

Saturday, May 07, 2022

Saturday, February 19, 2022

Saturday, February 12, 2022

Saturday, January 29, 2022

Saturday Stories: Endemicity and Japan


Aris Katzourakis, in Nature, on what the word endemic actually means

Hitoshi Oshitani, in the New York Times, on what Japan got right in its approach to the pandemic.

Photo By https://www.flickr.com/photos/reggiepen/ - https://www.flickr.com/photos/reggiepen/17025277650/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=67128875 

Saturday, January 22, 2022

Saturday Stories: Treating the Unvaccinated, Will Omicron Hasten Immunity, And Airborne COVID


Ed Yong, in The Atlantic, on why it's a terrible idea not to treat the unvaccinated.



Infographic By Colin D. Funk, Craig Laferrière, and Ali Ardakani - Funk CD, Laferrière C y Ardakani A (2020) Una instantánea de la carrera mundial de vacunas dirigidas contra el SARS-CoV-2 y la pandemia COVID-19. Parte delantera. Pharmacol. 11:937.Funk CD, Laferrière C and Ardakani A (2020) A Snapshot of the Global Race for Vaccines Targeting SARS-CoV-2 and the COVID-19 Pandemic. Front. Pharmacol. 11:937.https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2020.00937, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=99473789

Saturday, January 08, 2022

Saturday, January 01, 2022

Saturday Stories: Omicron's Teaching, COVID's Teaching, And Teaching LeBron


Andrew Joseph and Helen Branswell, in STAT, on the lessons we're learning from Omicron.

More Helen Branswell, in STAT, on 10 lessons she's learned covering the pandemic.


Photo By Keith Allison - https://www.flickr.com/photos/keithallison/31915296404/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=70713991