Evidence is accumulating to suggest that preoccupation with Covid-19 is resulting in collateral damage to persons with other health conditions. What has been the impact of Covid-19 on pregnancy? This question was examined by Khalil et al (2020) at St George’s University Hospital, London, UK. These authors extracted data for pregnancy outcomes during 2 periods: […]

When the Covid-19 vaccine is ready, it would be interesting to see how it is distributed. One expects that the vaccine would reach citizens in the country of development first, in the rich countries next, and in the poorest countries last. Within a country, political and administrative leaders, the ultra rich, healthcare workers, and the […]

Vaccine freeloaders are persons who do not get vaccinated but who nevertheless reap the benefits of vaccination. The benefits of freeloading arise when the rest of the population is vaccinated and immune; then, the disease does not spread, and so the freeloaders do not contract the disease (Rashid et al, 2012). The desire to reap […]

TAKE-HOME MESSAGE This article corrects two misconceptions: that herd immunity can be represented by a single number, and that achieving herd immunity assures safety. ======================== THE SYNERGY TIMES ======================== Jul 30, 2020: Vol 20 No 90 It is popularly believed that herd immunity is a fixed number for a disease. It is also believed that […]

Jul 21, 2020: Vol 20 No 88 Every other day, somebody, somewhere in the world, presents a new mathematical model of how much worse the pandemic is going to get, or perhaps when the pandemic will end. Nobody can see into the future. So why should we believe these models any more than we believe […]

Jul 31, 2020: Vol 20 No 91 For how long does immunity against Covid-19 last in a person who has suffered and recovered from the disease? Experts say that nobody knows. This is actually untrue because it is now possible to make an educated guess. Consider: The disease originated in China in December 2019. It […]