Something extremely odd happened this afternoon. The press, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Axios, reported that the CDC had announced that 73% of US COVID-19 cases were now being caused by the Omicron variant, and major public health gurus like Ashish Jha, Eric Topol,
Since my previous post about Omicron just eleven days ago when the news first broke of its existence, we’ve learned what the deal is, thanks to amazing feats of rapid research on a number of fronts by scientists coordinating around the globe and working around the clock. Although much remains to be learned, the broad
A new COVID-19 variant has been identified with some very concerning features. Dubbed Omicron, it’s rapidly spreading in the southern region of Africa and an increasing number of countries around the world, and the news has rocked government policy and financial markets over the last two days. Despite the drama, however, we don’t yet know
Update, 08/23/2021, 3 PM Eastern: In the hours since the publication of this piece, both the FDA and the American Academy of Pediatrics have come out strongly against off-label dosing of children below 12 years old with the Pfizer vaccine. Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock described it as a matter of “great concern.” The AAP’s
Like many of you, we’ve been enjoying a summer with small slices of normality. But, as we predicted, things are quickly getting worse again — some areas are already at the worst levels they’ve been in the entire pandemic — as the Delta variant and bad actors within our society continue to do damage. This
Mask mandates are making a comeback, even for the vaccinated, as the Delta variant rips its way through the US population. And as mask mandates return, the federal government has raised the bar on which masks are acceptable and which ones are not. The Prepared’s recommendations have stood the test of time (going back to
Whether the United States will attain herd immunity against COVID-19 is a hot-button issue right now. Vaccine administration in the United States has fallen by almost 30%, from a peak of about 3.5 million doses a day to about 2.5 million, largely due to flagging demand. The New York Times surveyed experts and found a
Over a year ago, we told you how to disinfect packages from COVID-19. In the interim, some doctors and scientists became aghast that people were doing this. The CDC offered conflicted and confusing advice, which we happily fact checked, and the CDC withdrew. Many of you are still following our package disinfection advice. Now the
Covid has caused tremendous pain. But it could’ve been so much worse, and it’s frankly dumb luck that things weren’t 100-1,000 times more painful. The (potential) silver lining is that things were juuust bad enough to catalyze meaningful change in the future — such as treating essential workers better and building more local slack in
The ever-shifting official recommendations about masks over the past year have been frustrating because it seems that science takes a back seat to politics and incompetence. The Prepared said way back in January 2020 that you should get masks for COVID because it was simple science that respirators/masks will protect you and others against respiratory
We’re all tired of social distancing, masks, and an overabundance of sanitation. Unfortunately, a new wave of COVID-19 mutations appear to be far more transmissible, and it is possible that variants will emerge for which existing antibodies or vaccines may not give the same protection they do against the currently prevalent strains. Many people have
The massive US cyber breach may have started long before last spring. Russia still denies involvement. Wichita, Kansas had a little temblor. It was enough to knock some stuff off shelves, but not enough to damage structures. Although it’s a small earthquake, comparatively, it’s worth mentioning because in preparing a household for an earthquake, you’ll
California water futures are being traded on Wall Street. Because of scarcity. Iran’s making good on its promise to ramp up its nuclear program as more centrifuges are added: A small to moderate CME is going to hit the US tomorrow during the later half of the day. Although northernmost states might get an aurora,
Iran plans on ramping up its nuclear program in the wake of the assassination of the program’s leader: Bird flu is causing grotesque presentations in swan in the UK. It’s not just the UK that’s affected with bird flu, it’s throughout Northwestern Europe. Let’s hope the spinning, bleeding swans are limited to the UK… There
Tension is rising between the US and Iran. The US Government pulled out of a nuclear deal with Iran that limited Iran’s production of enriched uranium in 2018. Trump reportedly queried senior advisors last week about targeting Iran’s main nuclear site. There is some speculation that the lame duck Administration will plan a strike against
