How to Avoid Being Hospitalized for Covid.

24 Hours in Ukraine by Sen. Chris Murphy

Normally you wonder about the value of overseas junkets by congress people, but this report by CTs Sen. Chris Murphy on the recent trip to the Ukraine is pretty interesting and worth the read:

https://chrismurphyct.medium.com/24-hours-in-ukraine-86cbfcaf51e4

An actual Covid variant: BA.2

I hate to feed the Covid fear beast, but there is an actual Omicron variant out there called BA.2. In the interest of keeping people informed I thought I would put up a post. Not too much is known about it other than what follows. Something to keep an eye on, no need to panic yet. BA.1 is Omicron. BA.2 is a sub-variant:

Should we be worried about BA.2?
There is no evidence on if BA.2 is more or less severe than other variants of COVID-19.

Tom Peacock, a virologist at Imperial College London, said the earliest indications from Denmark and India "suggest there is no dramatic difference in severity compared to BA.1".

Peacock also said: "There is likely to be minimal differences in vaccine effectiveness against BA.1 and BA.2."



He pointed to the fact several nations, including the UK, appear to be past their Omicron peaks and said he thinks it would be surprising if BA.2 caused another surge.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/government-monitoring-new-potentially-more-transmissible-omicron-variant-165522269.html

JFK: 61 years ago today.

JFK by Fredrick Logevall

I'm halfway through this biography of President Kennedy that was published last year. It's the first volume of two that covers his life up to 1956. I think it is truly excellent. The author, a professor at Harvard, makes great use of JFK's letters and diaries. I'm really getting a sense of who the President was as a person. Highly recommended.
I thought Robert Dallek's one volume biography was very good but I think this one, when completed, will be the definitive bio.

Katharine Hepburn's Brownies

Enjoy this simple and sweet treat in honor of Katharine Hepburn and her impressive Oscar legacy. Get Katherine's essential baking tip in a full post on The History Kitchen blog. The recipe comes from a letter to the editor of the New York Times on July 6, 2003.





Ingredients
½ cup cocoa or 2 squares (2 oz.) unsweetened baker's chocolate
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
Pinch of salt
1 cup roughly chopped walnuts or pecans
Directions
Melt butter with the cocoa or chocolate together in a heavy saucepan over medium low, whisking constantly till blended. Remove from heat and stir in the sugar. Whisk in the eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour, salt and walnuts. Mix well. Pour into a well buttered 8-inch square baking pan. Bake at 325 degrees for about 40 minutes till a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely and cut into squares. These brownies are very fudgy and may be somewhat difficult to slice cleanly; use a sharp knife and a spatula to help them loosen from the baking dish.

When We're Alone (Penthouse Serenade) - Bobby Short

Vaccines and long Covid.

IMHO this remains an area with a lack of rigorous definitions and is replete with junk science studies.
This study at least had a control group. I'll put up the tweet for those who are interested:

https://twitter.com/epi_michael/status/1483143937359495172

If anyone is wondering about the one shot bad numbers.I've read that this is an Israeli study and those who were previously infected were given one shot rather than two so they mostly had the infection before the vaccine.

The UK RCPCH on Children and Omicron.

I know there is concern about how Omicron effects children
The Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health is the UK professional organization for pediatricians. They tweeted this out yesterday so I thought it worth posting:

https://twitter.com/RCPCHtweets/status/1481705779279314950

Omicron in New York State has peaked.