Q&A: Any COVID Vaccine Won’t be a Magic Cure-All
Jack Regan, PhD: “We’ve never developed a vaccine against coronavirus. And because of that, the question is how efficacious is this vaccine going to be? How long is the immunity going to last?”
Jack Regan, PhD, wants to stress that he would like to see a vaccine for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) as much as anybody. And even though Regan is the CEO and founder of LexaGene, a company that manufactures COVID-19 tests, he thinks that testing will be a huge part of trying to contain the coronavirus, vaccine or no vaccine. However, as with everything COVID, the science is in flux. He cites recent studies of some COVID patients whose antibodies against peak at a certain point, and then wane. If the COVID antibodies don’t stay sustained for a long period of time, someone “could literally get either exposed or vaccinated and get sick again, literally two or three months later, which is very, very troubling. We should not be looking at this winter with the vaccine coming as the end of the pandemic.”
Healing With Algorithms: AI's Impact on Epidemiology and Infection Control
April 2nd 2024Media in the US presents AI as both beneficial and risky. Positive coverage shows AI's potential through virtual assistants like Siri, while cautionary tales warn of misuse like misinformation and deepfakes. How does all this work in health care?
Four Years After COVID-19: What Has the Infection Prevention Community Learned?
March 15th 2024Four years ago today, March 15, 2020, the COVID-19 lockdown began, and since then, the world has undergone significant changes. It has been a terrifying experience for everyone, especially for the infection prevention community, both within and outside of the health care sector. However, a crucial question remains unanswered: What has the infection prevention community learned from this pandemic, and where does it go from here?
COVID-19 Harmonization: Balancing Risks and Benefits of CDC's Latest Move
March 11th 2024The CDC's recent decision to align recommendations for respiratory viruses, particularly COVID-19, has garnered support from the public and infectious disease societies. However, as the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) lends its backing to the CDC's harmonization efforts, concerns persist regarding the implications of this shift, especially considering the Omicron variant's unique characteristics and the ongoing challenges posed by COVID-19's multi-system impacts.
