We write often of "hitting the home run." I believe that is the case here and in my enthusiastic appreciation of the article and its clarity, I am even thinking of "grand slam." We could use a few of those, eh?
Dylan, thank you for bolstering my hope that SARS Cov2 can be completely eradicated. Yes, seems a remote possibility, but many scientists and media outlets are rushing to say the coronavirus is here for good. Very discouraging, and also ignores its short life span in host, and absence of a known natural host. With enough people vaccinated, we should start seeing some local disappearances, like they have achieved in NZ. String enough of those together, and the virus might just run out of fresh meat (insensitive, yes, but from the coronavirus point of view, that's all that counts).
I very much appreciate the plain talk of this article and the clarity regarding the protections vaccines provide against severe Covid and variants. However, I am hoping for some clarification about the reassurance regarding vaccines and long Covid. I read the twitter thread that was linked to Footnote 2, so I understand the conjecture that mild illness with vaccination prohibits the virus from spreading past the upper respiratory tract. My question is why? Why is a vaccinated response (mild or asymptomatic) different from a natural exposure in predicting post-viral syndrome? Is this an answerable question (at least answerable to those without expertise in the immune system)?
I love essays like this that provide lay intuition to complex expert topics. Thank you Zeynep and Dylan!
Thank you for an amazingly well written article. It answered so many questions.
We write often of "hitting the home run." I believe that is the case here and in my enthusiastic appreciation of the article and its clarity, I am even thinking of "grand slam." We could use a few of those, eh?
Dylan, thank you for bolstering my hope that SARS Cov2 can be completely eradicated. Yes, seems a remote possibility, but many scientists and media outlets are rushing to say the coronavirus is here for good. Very discouraging, and also ignores its short life span in host, and absence of a known natural host. With enough people vaccinated, we should start seeing some local disappearances, like they have achieved in NZ. String enough of those together, and the virus might just run out of fresh meat (insensitive, yes, but from the coronavirus point of view, that's all that counts).
Another homerun!
Nice synthesis, Dylan. This clarified a couple terms and concepts I see all the time but had trouble getting fixed in my mind. Thank you!
I very much appreciate the plain talk of this article and the clarity regarding the protections vaccines provide against severe Covid and variants. However, I am hoping for some clarification about the reassurance regarding vaccines and long Covid. I read the twitter thread that was linked to Footnote 2, so I understand the conjecture that mild illness with vaccination prohibits the virus from spreading past the upper respiratory tract. My question is why? Why is a vaccinated response (mild or asymptomatic) different from a natural exposure in predicting post-viral syndrome? Is this an answerable question (at least answerable to those without expertise in the immune system)?