Surviving Yucatan

Feb 14, 2022:
Yucatan State offers us all a special Valentine.

All adults are now invited to come in and get vaccinated or boosted, regardless of whether we have previously not been or have been vaccinated.

Because study after study are showing that people with prior COVID infections, and previously vaccinated people are showing low (insufficient) COVID antibody levels, they are offering to vaccinate any adult who comes in, with “no questions asked” … important because we are still experiencing an unnecessary 78 COVID deaths a week here … as we are still experiencing the 4’th worst COVID week ever.**

=> Keep wearing your tight-fitting N95 or better masks … Throw away your 40% – 70% leaky cloth masks … Keep Socially Distancing by 8 feet when indoors with masks off to eat or drink …


How to Get Your Latest COVID Vaccine Jab:
If you already have a CURP number, register ahead of time on the Mex. Government’s vaccination website.
https://mivacuna.salud.gob.mx/index.php


Here’s the most recent (Nov) Yucatan State Gob. posting of the 3 “permanent vaccination sites” that are open for people to come get vaccinated or boosted:

COVID Cases, Hospitalizations: & Deaths in Yucatan:
**As of last week, we are still in the Yucatan’s 4’th worst week of COVID, which is a blessing, because we just previously had the 3 worst prior weeks of COVID.

3,285 confirmed COVID cases, 117 COVID public-hospitalizations, and 78 COVID deaths last week is still very troubling** … yet these numbers also show we are likely coming off COVID’s worst peak ever in Yucatan . … Still, COVID is causing almost 60% of all Yucatan public hospitalizations (58%) , which is the same as the previous week, and 34% of the public hospital ICU beds were COVID-19 patients, slightly down from 38% from the previous week … Yet COVID death rates were basically the same this past week at 78 compared to the previous week’s COVID 77 deaths.

For historical context, Yucatan’s COVID death rates are still below previous COVID-outbreaks’ 100+ peaks, likely due to less Delta COVID and more Omicron COVID. … Omicron is killing people here … yet it appears to be killing 23% fewer people than the Delta version. If Omicron were as deadly as Delta, we would normally expect over 100 deaths last week, if the infections were all Delta. Next, note that this is very likely NOT a “testing-effect”, because we are still seeing consistent COVID-positive results rates at 78% this week versus 79% the previous week.

Finally, like hospitalizations, the deaths were again excessively coming from UNVACCINATED people, which proves the wisdom of Yucatan State opening up vaccinations & boosting to all adults.

Previous COVID infections supposedly giving protections from Omicron exposed as a myth – anti-vaxxers hoax:
Finally, it has become clear that having a prior COVID infection IS NOT GIVING PROTECTION from Omicron infections, as people who recently had Delta infections ARE GETTING OMICRON infections, too many with NASTY lung thrombosis, hospitalized due to coughing up blood … along with other Omicron patients getting nasty brain, liver, & kidney thrombosis => which are PRIMARY CAUSES of COVID deaths.

So … The whole set of some people’s claims that somehow “COVID ~magically~ might not kill people“, continues to be exposed as a big anti-vaxxer’s, anti-COVID hoax … along with unvaccinated people being the vast majorities of serious injury, hospitalizations and deaths.

Vaccinations & boosting give good protection from Omicron hospitalization & death, even though Omicron is still infecting vaccinated people … Finally, because COVID infects both vaccinated & people who have had prior COVID infections …

Keep wearing tight-fitting medical grade masks & Socially Distancing by 8 ft when masks are off for eating & drinking indoors.

Stay informed … Stay healthy … Stay safe …

Dr. Steven M. Fry
Ph.D. in Chemistry, Public Health, & Laboratory Measurement Science.

Read-on, MacDuff …



Read On … MacDuff !

Feb 20, 2022 Update:
Yucatan’s COVID numbers still tell quite a troubling story, currently ending with a too high 2,052 confirmed COVID cases this past week … This is improved from the awful 3,283 the previous week, but last weeks 2,052 cases was still the 6’th worst week ever for Yucatan … where our previous baseline for quiet months was between just 100 – 400 cases a week in Yucatan.

Here’s the latest trend, falling from our wicked-high (worst ever) peak 4 weeks ago:
7,526 … 6,398 … 3,283 … 2,052 …

The last 2 month’s two strings of numbers of COVID cases in Yucatan tells two stories:
first rising since Dec 15’s 84 cases … then Dec 22 @ 481 … 1,463 … 2,952 … 5,425 … 7,526

… peaking at 7256 case level 4 weeks ago, then falling: 7,526 … 6,398 … 3,283 … 2,052

Notice that this past week,we are no where even close to our lower previous baseline months of just 100 – 400 cases per week.

Because 2,052 COVID Cases were reported this past week for Yucatan, we are still experiencing SIGNIFICANT COVID RISKS, with our 6’th worst week of COVID ever, despite the rather odd Federal reports this week that Yucatan was somehow magically “Green” ???. Yet, this was the second consecutive significant decrease in weekly cases, which gives significant hope that we are past the peak.


COVID Hospitalizations:
By the numbers …. 178 … 156 … 117 … and now just 66 COVID hospitalizations (in public hospitals) also shows we officially past the peak. … Still, COVID is causing almost 35% of all Yucatan public hospitalizations, which is improved, but still troubling


COVID Deaths:
Death rates for COVID-19 have consistently lagged as much as 3-4 weeks behind COVID cases and COVID hospitalizations, so it is no surprise that death rates were still quite high at 70 deaths, versus the previous 2 weeks at 78 & 77 COVID deaths 77.

For historical context, Yucatan’s last 3 weeks of COVID deaths are still below previous COVID-outbreaks’ 100+ peaks, likely due to less Delta COVID and more Omicron COVID. … Omicron is killing people here … yet it appears to be killing 23% fewer people than the Delta version. If Omicron were as deadly as Delta, we would normally expect over 100 deaths last week, if the infections were all Delta. Next, note that this is very likely NOT a “testing-effect”, because we are still seeing consistent COVID-positive results rates at 78% this week versus 79% the previous week.

Finally, like hospitalizations, the deaths were again excessively coming from UNVACCINATED people.

Previous COVID infections supposedly giving protections from Omicron exposed as a myth – anti-vaxxers hoax:
Finally, it has become clear that having a prior COVID infection IS NOT GIVING PROTECTION from Omicron infections, as people who recently had Delta infections ARE GETTING OMICRON infections, too many with NASTY lung thrombosis, hospitalized due to coughing up blood … along with other Omicron patients getting nasty brain, liver, & kidney thrombosis => which are PRIMARY CAUSES of COVID deaths.

So … The whole set of some people’s claims that somehow “COVID ~magically~ might not kill people“, continues to be exposed as a big anti-vaxxer’s, anti-COVID hoax … along with unvaccinated people being the vast majorities of serious injury, hospitalizations and deaths.

Vaccinations & boosting give good protection from Omicron hospitalization & death, even though Omicron is still infecting vaccinated people … Finally, because COVID infects both vaccinated & people who have had prior COVID infections …

Feb 13, 2022 Update:
Yucatan’s COVID numbers tell a story, currently ending with 3,283 this week.

84 … 481 … 1,463 … 2,952 … 5,425 … 7,526

then
7,526 … 6,398 … 3,283

These two strings of numbers of confirmed COVID cases in Yucatan tell two stories:
first rising since Dec 15, and then falling to yesterday Feb 12, 2022’s … “3,283”.

3,283 COVID Cases were reported this past week for Yucatan, so we are still experiencing the 4’th worst week of COVID ever. Yet, this was the second consecutive significant decrease in weekly cases, which gives significant hope that we are past the peak.

COVID Hospitalizations:
By the numbers …. 178, 156, and now 117 COVID hospitalizations also shows we are likely past the peak. … Still, COVID is causing almost 60% of all Yucatan public hospitalizations (58%) , which is the same as the previous week. … There is a little more good news in Yucatan’s Hospital reports:
34% of the public hospital ICU beds were COVID-19 patients, slightly down from 38% from last week.

COVID Deaths:
Death rates for COVID-19 have consistently lagged as much as 3-4 weeks behind COVID cases and COVID hospitalizations, so it is no surprise that death rates were basically the same this past week at 78 compared to the previous week’s COVID 77 deaths.

For historical context, Yucatan’s COVID death rates are still below previous COVID-outbreaks’ 100+ peaks, likely due to less Delta COVID and more Omicron COVID. … Omicron is killing people here … yet it appears to be killing 23% fewer people than the Delta version. If Omicron were as deadly as Delta, we would normally expect over 100 deaths last week, if the infections were all Delta. Next, note that this is very likely NOT a “testing-effect”, because we are still seeing consistent COVID-positive results rates at 78% this week versus 79% the previous week.

Finally, like hospitalizations, the deaths were again excessively coming from UNVACCINATED people.

Keep wearing tight-fitting medical grade masks & Socially Distancing by 8 ft when masks are off for eating & drinking indoors.

Stay informed … Stay healthy … Stay safe …

Dr. Steven M. Fry
Ph.D. in Chemistry, Public Health, & Laboratory Measurement Science.

Read-on, MacDuff …



Read On … MacDuff !

Feb. 1, 2022
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Stay informed … Stay healthy … Stay safe …

Dr. Steven M. Fry
Ph.D. in Chemistry, Public Health, & Laboratory Measurement Science.

Read On … MacDuff !

Feb 6, 2022 Update:
6,398 COVID Cases reported this past week in Yucatan, so we are still experiencing the 2’nd worst week of COVID ever. Fortunately, this was the first decrease in weekly cases for the past 6 previous weeks of increases (with a 15% drop), which gives a little hope that we may be past the peak(?).

Hospitalizations also dropped slightly from 178 ICU patients last week, decreasing 12% to 156 Yucatecans hospitalized in public hospital ICUs.

Death rates are also a bit lower, as the COVID infections are shifting to more Omicron & less Delta variants, with 77 COVID deaths this week. Omicron is killing people here, yet it appears to be killing 23% fewer people than the Delta version, where we would normally expect 100 deaths last week, if the infections were all Delta. This is very likely NOT a “testing-effect”, because we are still seeing COVID-positive results rates at 79% last week, as compared to 83% positive tests the previous Jan 30 ending week.

Predictably & hospitalizations, the deaths were excessively coming from UNVACCINATED people.

Previous COVID infections supposedly giving protections from Omicron exposed as a myth –
anti-vaxxers hoax:
Finally, it has become clear that having a prior COVID infection IS NOT GIVING PROTECTION from Omicron infections, as people who recently had Delta infections ARE GETTING OMICRON infections, with NASTY lung thrombosis, hospitalized due to coughing up blood … along with other Omicron patients getting nasty brain, liver, & kidney thrombosis => which are PRIMARY CAUSES of COVID deaths.

So … The whole set of some people’s claims that somehow “COVID magically might not kill people”, continues to be exposed as a big anti-vaxxer’s, anti-COVID hoax … along with unvaccinated people being the vast majorities of serious injury, hospitalizations and deaths.

Because vaccinations & boosting give good protection from Omicron hospitalization & death, Omicron is still infecting vaccinated people … so keep wearing tight-fitting medical grade masks & Socially Distancing by 8 ft (when masks are off for eating & drinking indoors),

Stay informed … Stay healthy … Stay safe …

Dr. Steven M. Fry
Ph.D. in Chemistry, Public Health, & Laboratory Measurement Science.




Jan 30, 2022

The latest facts say it’s time to continue to be vigilant across Yucatan. We had a troubling 38% increase in COVID cases this past week (Sunday 1/23 – Sat 1/29), as COVID hospitalizations are also peaking to record levels this past Wednesday.

Because most people who get COVID do not get tested & their cases are not reported to the Government, there were likely just over 90,000 COVID cases across Yucatan this past week. This means that 1 in every 25 Yucatecans you meet in a week have an active COVID infection => a very troubling number.

Conclusions? … We must continue to be diligent in wearing tight-fitting masks**, continue Socially Distancing of 8 ft indoors with masks-off (to eat & drink), and maintain 6 ft of distancing when there are breezes or a fan … diluting out the highly-infectious invisible fine aerosols from people talking.

**We must also THROW AWAY all cloth masks right now, because they leak a disastrous 40% – 70%, which puts both the wearer and other people at risk.

Progress of the latest COVID wave of cases:
According to official Yucatan reports of weekly COVID cases going back to Dec 15’th, beginning with a low low 84 cases, then 481 , then 1,463, then 2,952, … 5,425, and now 7,526 cases this past week.

COVID hospitalizations are overwhelming our hospitals, with record-breaking hospitalizations this past week, peaking at 202 ICU hospitalizations in our public hospitals on Wednesday … And sadly, COVID deaths for Yucatan now total 6603, with 57 newly reported deaths for this past week.

Delta variant is still our dominant strain:
Over the past weeks, the Omicron variant has produced 18% just of the official COVID-19 variants, with Delta still being the dominant strain.

The increase in the COVID wave is slowing:
The weekly percentage increases in this recent big continuing wave of COVID cases have been: 345%, 204%, 101%, 84%, and now 38% => so the rate of increase is not as wicked, but a 38% INCREASE is still troubling

Location of COVID cases:
Merida has the largest total cumulative number of weekly cases in Yucatan with 60,422 total official COVID cases. Within Merida, the largest number of cases have been in Zona Norte at 14,798. On a colonia basis, Colonia Centro has the most with 5,558 cases.

The Yucatan Beach (Gulf Coast of Yucatan from Chuburna to Telchac Puerto) had 208 new COVID-19 cases this week, down from 302 last week. This was the third highest number of cases for any week of the pandemic.

So … BE VIGILANT … COVID cases are still rising substantially here (38% more this week) …

Keep wearing only tight-fitting medical grade masks (KF94 or KN95, or N95) … Keep Socially distancing by 8 ft with masks off indoors …. and THROW AWAY your cloth masks, because they leak a disastrous 40%-70%.

Stay informed … Stay healthy … Stay safe …

Dr. Steven M. Fry
Ph.D. in Chemistry, Public Health, & Laboratory Measurement Science.

Read On … MacDuff !

Jan 23, 2022

84, then 481, then 1,463, then 2,952, and now 5,478 …*

Next: 1 out of 31**

… Finally, What to do about the worst spike ever.***

*That’s the sequence of WEEKLY official Yucatan Govt. confirmed COVID cases, starting with 84 for the week ending Dec. 15, then 481, then 1,463, then 2,952, and now 5,478 for the week ending Jan 22, 2022.

This sequence of “official” confirmed weekly COVID cases for Yucatan is a bit intimidating … because it says we have not yet seen the peak of Yucatan cases.

Next, sadly … according to Yucatan’s Dept of Health test reports, the big majority of the new cases this past month have been DELTA … not Omicron – as Yucatan’s hospitals are overflowing with COVID patients, as even Clinica de Merida is turning sick patients away.

Now consider the number of COVID cases that are not ever tested & not reported. Using scientifically accepted methods, (see link below), the latest data indicates that Yucatan is under-reporting COVID cases by an artificial factor of 12X overall fewer “reported” COVID cases, than the actual number of COVID cases.

This means that instead of Yucatan’s 6,000 “official” new COVID cases last week, there were likely just over 70,000 actual Yucatan COVID cases … which has overwhelmed the hospitals.


**1 out of 31 Yucatecans with COVID:
70,000 likely actual COVID cases last week means that out of a population of 2.2 million Yucatecans … 1 out of every 31 Yucatecans you meet … likely have COVID.


***Yucatan is going through it’s worst COVID spike ever.
This shocking reality reinforces the last 2 yrs of top scientist’s advice that we must throw away all the cloth masks now … and continue instead to wear only tight-fitting medical grade N95 or better masks when outside our homes … and keep at least 8 feet of Social distancing around others when you have your masks off for drinking or eating.

We GOT THIS ! … BEAT COVID NOW !

Get vaccinated … Get Boosted … Wear your masks, every time

… and Socially Distance by 8 ft when indoors with masks off.

** “Fully Vaccinated” means:

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2021/01/study-us-covid-cases-deaths-far-higher-reported?fbclid=IwAR2VkC1yzn0BfbVvjGcYLQT4a3pcMZ5vhmm0piPJIcmnwAaHgURo6iv16Ng

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/covid-cases.html

Get educated, Stay informed, Stay healthy, Stay safe,

Dr. Steven M. Fry

Ph.D. Analytical Chemistry, Aerosol Science, Measurement Science, Public Health & Environment

Read On … MacDuff !

Jan 2, 2022

I’m writing this morning’s report with a bit of sadness, because COVID cases are spiking up again in Merida & Yucatan, as a result of all the snow-birds returning and the recent Christmas season …  +plus a sprinking (13) of Omicron cases.

The COVID case data is in for the most recent Friday (Dec 25’th) – Saturday (Jan 2)  period … and the trends look bad. …  Overall … Delta COVID cases increased a shocking 345% increase this past week … hitting 481 cases for the week for the State of Yucatan, with the vast majority of cases happening in Merida.

For comparison … Just two weeks ago we had the lowest-ever 83 cases for the entire week.
In contrast, yesterday (Saturday) alone we had same number of 176 cases as the previous 2 weeks total combined. Overall, Yucatan’s case numbers are STILL RELATIVELY LOW … for now .., which means you would have to encounter 4800 Yucatecans in a week, to find one with an active COVID infection.

Still, this past weeks’ increases of 78% more hospital COVID treatments and over 4X more positive case rates (35% of Yucatecans tested had COVID) – makes it time to re-evaluate going out & about without masks to eat in public.** For everyone’s benefit, the big increases in the 3 big data points (345% more cases, 4X more positives, & 78% more COVID hospital treatments) are very strong proofs that there is a huge surge of COVID cases looming for January & February. The COVID case numbers are still CURRENTLY VERY LOW – at safe levels.

Specifically, because 97% of COVID cases are infectious for 7 days, the weekly case reports are significant:
There were 481 new cases for this past week … yet each day brought significantly larger numbers than the previous day, giving us the largest weekly % increase for for the entire pandemic. Only two weeks ago we had only 83 cases for the entire week, yet, yesterday, Saturday alone had 176 new cases.

Conclusions:
~ This current previous week’s case TOTAL numbers were still relatively VERY LOW – 481 cases per week – where 400 cases a week have been our typical low-levels here in Yucatan.

~ The current rate of 1 Yucatecan COVID case per 4,800 Yucatecans is still stunningly low compared to the USA & Canada . .

~ In addition to the near 400% increase in new COVID-19 cases this past week, COVID hospital treatments of patients spiked by 78% in public hospitals.

~ COVID hospitalizations (overnight stays) in public hospitals increased 48% from 23 cases on Saturday Jan 25’th…. to 34 cases on Saturday (Jan 1).

~ COVID-19 testing showed quite low 8.1% rates of positive tests just two weeks ago. Yet, this week’s percentage of positive cases spiked over 4X to 35%.

Again … These last 5 big data points are very strong indicators that there is a huge surge looming for January – even without Omicron –

Stay informed … Stay healthy … Stay safe …

Best Wishes for Better New Year,
Dr. Steven M. Fry
Ph.D. in Chemistry, Public Health and Laboratory Measurement Science


Readers interested in scientific Omicron COVID specifics are encouraged to see:
https://yucalandia.com/2021/12/15/omicron-covid-updates/

Read On … MacDuff !

Dec 12, 2021

With all the breaking COVID news that’s been announced this past week, it’s been challenging to keep track of how to best keep ourselves, families & friends safe from COVID, especially as the Omicron variant is exploding in a number of countries, so we offer about 7 different pieces of significant COVID news below:

First: The latest COVID news out of Oxford University is slightly troubling, but it has 2 silver-linings
~ Oxford University scientists (creators of the Astrazeneca vaccine) have recently announced that neither Pfizer nor Astrazeneca are performing well against Omicron transmissions. This means that the COVID-antibodies that vaccinated people’s immunes systems created due to Moderna, Pfizer & Astrazeneca vaccinations, are NOT working well against preventing Omicron infections, yet, people who have been recently boosted are showing much lower numbers of hospitalizations, much lower death rates, and much shorter, less-intense bouts of Omicron (typically just 3 – 5 days of symptoms for vaccinated & boosted patients).

https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2021-12-13-vaccines-shown-induce-lower-levels-neutralising-antibodies-against-omicron-0

~ The Omicron variant has more mutations than any other previous COVID-causing virus, with 50 total overall mutations, and more troubling, 32 mutations in the Coronavirus’s Spike protein. This is significant, because Omicron’s the mutations in the Coronavirus Spike protein have apparently made Omicron somewhat invisible to the m-RNA based vaccines (Moderna & Pfizer), because the m-RNA vaccines have a built-in Achilles Heel that they only target a tiny tiny slivers of the Coronavirus that causes COVID.

Background Scientific Context:
The m-RNA molecule vehicle of the Moderna & Pfizer vaccines, is so small that the m-RNA vaccines (Moderna & Pfizer) can only deliver a tiny viral payload delivered to our bodies – making them like a Vespa … versus a big Mac truck. The tiny viral payload limits of m-RNA vaccines mean they can deliver only tiny snippets of just tiny parts of the Coronavirus … 17 snipppets for Pfizer, and a different 11 snippets for Moderna … versus Astrazeneca’s & Sinovac’s HUGE viral payload that carried by AZ’s & Sinovac’s big robust Adenovirus vaccine vehicles that can deliver either BIG CHUNKS of the Coronavirus Spike protein (Astrazeneca’s approach), and big enough to deliver the WHOLE VIRUS (Sinovac’s approach) for our body to make lots of different COVID-antibodies to the various parts of the Coronavirus.

Next … Notice that none of the non-scientist Medical Doctor ‘experts’ we see on TV, talk about the differences between all the different kinds of different antibodies our bodies make to each of the different COVID vaccines => differing levels of protection depending on which vaccine you get, because the AS SEEN ON TV Medical Doctor ”experts’ are not scientists, so Medical Doctors simply do not have enough scientific training to understand what’s going on.

Keeping it simple: There is NOT just one flavor of COVID antibodies. Out in the human population, there are a huge variety of COVID antibodies that can be made by our bodies’ immune systems. … Example: There is one suite of COVID-antibodies that our bodies make when we get a natural COVID infection – a very broad suite that depends on which COVID variant (strain) we get. … Then, there’s a whole different highly-targeted yet very-small suite of COVID-antibodies our bodies can make if we get an m-RNA vaccine (like Pfizer or Moderna) … Next, there’s yet a different slighly broader suite of COVID-antibodies that our bodies make to the slightly larger pieces of Spike protein in the Astrazeneca vaccine … Finally, there’s an even bigger broader suite of COVID antibodies our bodies make to the Sinovac vaccine – including COVID antibodies to the Spike protein and the N-Capsid proteins of Coronaviruses.

Notice that the extremely narrow range of highly-targeted COVID antibodies our bodies make when we get an m-RNA vaccine (Pfizer or Moderna) is simultaneously a benefit when the Pfizer or Moderna antibodies actually fit-match the Coronavirus you are exposed to …. but that same highly-targeted group of a tiny number of antibodies then can be a HUGE problem when the Coronavirus mutates at any of the very few tiny viral segments that Moderna chose & that Pfizer chose (all corporate secrets) … When the Omicron variant’s 32 new mutations make it INVISIBLE to the m-RNA vaccine’s extremely narrow range of COVID-antibodies – or invisible to Astrazeneca’s smaller number of antibodies, then Moderna & Pfizer & Astrazeneca just do not work well to stop Omicron transmission.

Specifically, Moderna’s vaccine only has 11 tiny slivers (tiny snippets) of the very large Spike protein, and Pfizer has only 17 tiny slivers (tiny snippets) of the very large Spike protein. … Because Omicron has 32 different mutations of the Spike protein, the CEO of Moderna openly said that they expect the Moderna vaccine to “underperform significantly” … Where (as reported above) it is now proven that Moderna, Pfizer & Astrazeneca are NOT working to stop Omicron’s transmission.

What does this all mean?
It means getting a 3’rd shot boosters of the Moderna or the Pfizer vaccines work well against Delta variant … but… the 3’rd shot booster of Moderna for patients who had 2 prior Moderna shots, and the 3’rd shot booster of Pfizer for patients who had 2 prior Pfizer doses are not working against Omicron.


Fortunately, there is some good news in all of this:
People who have had prior natural COVID infections, or a recent Sinovac dose are showing lower transmission rates for the Omicron variant – because our bodies make a broader suite of COVID-antibodies when exposed to the whole virus, and people who have been both vaccinated & boosted are showing far lower rates of serious COVID disease from Omicron, and far lower rates of hospitalization & death.

This is why Sinovac chose adenovirus vehicles for their vaccines, because the adenovirus vehicles carry & deliver HUGE viral payloads. By delivering a BIG payload of a WIDE range of Coronavirus proteins, Sinovac patients & patients who get natural COVID infections produce MUCH BROADER immune system protections, because our bodies make a much much bigger variety of COVID antibodies, because the adenovirus-vehicle vaccines bring in so much more viral material to train our immune systems.

More Good News:
Oxford University scientists (creators of the Astrazeneca vaccine) have recently announced that people’s normal (ordinary – typical) immune system’s Killer T-Cell response to Omicron is doing very well at preventing serious Omicron infections – which means we still get Omicron infections …. but we likely are NOT hospitalized, because whether vaccinated or not, our immune systems Killer T-Cell systems are working well against Omicron for most patients. … Yet, as always, immuno-comprimised people need to be careful.


Even More Good News:
If you don’t want to catch Omicron COVID, or Delta COVID, it is well proven that wearing a tight-fitting medical grade mask (N95, N97 or N99) stops COVID transmissions, because COVID is transmitted by us inhaling the invisible infectious fine aerosols from people talking or singing.

Next, if you take your mask off in public to eat or drink, it still works to be at least 8 feet from other people, especially when out of doors, where even gentle breezes disperse to safe levels the fine invisible aerosols from people talking. If indoors with masks off, as little as 6 ft can work IF you have strategically-place fans blowing fresh air between people, to disperse the talking-generated invisible fine COVID aerosols to safe levels.


Even MORE SUPERB News:
Ironically, when Omicron rapidly infects so many people who have not had vaccinations – (hopefully) causing only minimal harm to people … it gives those people broad natural immunity to new future COVID infections. Yet, remember that getting vaccinated has greatly helped people from getting the more-harmful previous strains of COVID – even if their vaccinations do not protec them now.

Finally, notice that the possibility of a Pfizer or Moderna patient then getting an Omicron infection might be a SUPERB thing. The best studies of people who previously got the combination of a natural COVID infection (creating one suite of COVID antibodies), paired with then getting an m-RNA vaccine (creating a DIFFERENT suite of COVID antibodies) … has been giving those people near “super immunity” to future COVID infections.

Why? The combinations of our broad range of COVID-antibodies from the natural infection +plus the m-RNA vaccine’s triggering us to produce highly-targeted COVID-antibodies, together creates such a WIDE VARIETY of COVID-antibodies in these individuals – that they have incredibly better overall protection from any future new COVID variant infections than either a natural infection or a vaccination can give alone.

So, inspite of the recent news of our vaccines poor performance at stopping Omicron, the overall picture looks surprisingly good – unless you are seriously immuno-compromised.

Final 3’rd Booster Update for People in Mexico:
Every announcement we have heard is that the 3’rd shot boosters are planned to be Astrazeneca in Mexico … and even better: Yucatan has a plan to start vaccinating people over age 60 with the 3’rd booster starting Dec. 16 – Dec. 21’st. If you want a COVID booster sign up with your CURP at the vaccination registration-compliance website:
https://mivacuna.salud.gob.mx/index.php

See the schedule below

FINALLY: The Latest COVID News for Yucatan:
For all the people doing holiday travel or coming to Yucatan, let’s help keep Yucatan & Yucatecans safe!

Here’s the progression of COVID cases here across Yucatan (per week) since Sept 11, 2021

2012 Cases for the week of Sept 11 … 1958 Cases (Sept 18) … then 1901 … 1819 … 1615 … 1457 … 862 … 710 … 398 … 339 … 287 … 267 … 187 … and just 146 cases this past week …

Notice the trend?
You would have to encounter roughly 15,700 Yucatecans in a week to meet one with COVID right now.
Notice how it actually works when almost all people wear masks and socially distance?😉

Be a part of the solution:Snowbirds …. PLEASE … ISOLATE YOURSELVES .. when you arrive.

Self-Quarantine for at least SIX (6) DAYS after you arrive … to not bring COVID here.
and double mask when going through the very-contaminated USA & British airports … and double-mask during the entire flight(s).

Yes … Come enjoy life here in Yucatan, but … Stay safe …

Happy Travels!

Get educated, Stay informed, Stay healthy, Stay safe,

Dr. Steven M. Fry

Ph.D. Analytical Chemistry, Aerosol Science, Measurement Science, Public Health & Environment

Read On … MacDuff !

Nov 8, 2021

Hopefully all people flying into the USA are both fully vaccinated** and carrying US approved proof of COVID vaccinations.

If not, know that the rules have changed for people unable to prove COVID vaccinations, shortening the time for COVID testing to no more than just 1 day before entering the USA.

“The viral test must be conducted on a sample taken no more than 1 day before the flight’s departure from a foreign country if you do not show proof of being fully vaccinated against COVID-19.“

per the current CDC rules

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/testing-international-air-travelers.html

• ” Fully vaccinated**: The viral test must be conducted on a sample taken no more than 3 days before the flight’s departure from a foreign country if you show proof of being fully vaccinated against COVID-19. “
  
  Finally:
• ” If you recently recovered from COVID-19, you may instead travel with documentation of recovery from COVID-19 (i.e., your positive COVID-19 viral test result on a sample taken no more than 90 days before the flight’s departure from a foreign country and a letter from a licensed healthcare provider or a public health official stating that you were cleared to travel).

** “Fully Vaccinated” means:

” Individuals are considered fully vaccinated:

~ 2 weeks (14 days) after your dose of an accepted single-dose COVID-19 vaccine;

~ 2 weeks (14 days) after your second dose of an accepted 2-dose series COVID-19 vaccine;

~ 2 weeks (14 days) after you received the full series of an “active” (not placebo) COVID-19 vaccine in the U.S.-based AstraZeneca or Novavax COVID-19 vaccine trials; or

~ 2 weeks (14 days) after you received 2 doses of any “mix-and-match” combination of accepted COVID-19 vaccines administered at least 17 days apart. “

https://www.dhs.gov/news/2021/10/29/frequently-asked-questions-guidance-travelers-enter-us?fbclid=IwAR0VF9UnremZ8ZmjimC3-tdAL-jl7kNNdW51dODFEDyptqxKovUIK2Tk-AI

Get educated, Stay informed, Stay healthy, Stay safe,

Dr. Steven M. Fry

Ph.D. Analytical Chemistry, Aerosol Science, Measurement Science, Public Health & Environment

Read On … MacDuff !

Oct. 27, 2021
” CURP Certificada”
There’s a new document (shown below) for pretty much everyone in Mexico, (except tourists). This new CURP is also for foreigners who have interactions & activities with our Mexican govt, including INM. This new Certified CURP document is designed to clean up any “corrupted” personal data in Mex. Gob records, and hence is now being required** for many activities we have with the Mexican govt., including the INM, Registro Civil offices, and SAT-Hacienda tax activities.

Why a new “CURP Certificate”?
The old CURP numbers & records have been plagued with a combination of errors in the personal data, and too many individuals having 2 or more CURP numbers assigned to them. As a result, our National Population Registry (RENAPO) is unifying all of the personal data they have on each of us under a single Certified CURP.

How do you get your Certified CURP?
1. Go to gob.mx/curp
2. Select the option “CURP”
or fill in your personal data.
3. Click on the “search” button.
Your CURP data will appear on the screen.
4. On this screen, click the option to “Print Official Document”

This automatically issues your new Certified CURP – aka CURP Certificate, including your new QR code …

What if you choose to not get your Certified CURP?
**The normal CURPs will continue to be an accepted official document, but choosing to not get a Certified CURP document, means that many government processes will take you longer, because our government’s new internal procedures require a Certified CURP – meaning delays while they pull up & generate one, that’s good for just that one action.

*      *      *      *

Feel free to copy while giving proper attribution: YucaLandia/Surviving Yucatan.
© Steven M. Fry

Read on, MacDuff…

Oct 1, 2021
The Mexican Government has always required foreigners to carry their Residente visa cards (Residente Temporal or Residente Permanente cards) when traveling around Mexico, while foreign visitor-tourists carry both their passports and their Visitante Visa (the half of the FMM form), when travelling inside Mexico. In the past these rules have only been sporadically enforced, but all that has changed as a part of Mexico’s efforts to stop illegal immigrants from crossing Mexico to enter the USA.

As a result of the new enforcement program, many bus travelers this past week have been required to show their passports & Mexican-issued visas as they get off the bus inside Mexico.

= = = = = = =
Oct. 25 Update: Now some police are checking IDs of USA-nians riding in Mexican’s cars – including calling in to INM to check the foreigner’s INM records & status:
” Just got out of immigration jail. I was caught Ina police checkpoint while traveling in a Mexican plated car with 2 other Mexicans. Didn’t have my documents on me but they called my information in and saw I overstayed by 2 months. I spent 4 days in the detention center and it sucked no running water for bathrooms or showers only when they feel like turning it on so it reeked of shit. Lots of people I was the only American though. 2 4 minute phone calls twice a week. And being locked in a jail cell. I was lucky to avoid deportation by getting the option to buy my ticket home and I will have no penalties for return. But be careful if you are overstaying lots of people in there from the ado bus in merida and even taxis. They can hold you for up to 16 days and it really sucks there. I was a few weeks away from paying for my temp residency but they wouldn’t let me do it there I have to leave and come back. The immigration lfficals in the street also would not take a bribe tried bribing up to 10 mil and it was turned down. Stay safe guys and play by the rules if you can cause the jail sucks and they treat you like you murdered somebody. “

= = = = = = =
ADO offers this specific warning – advice:
“To all our travelers:
Based on the request of the various state and federal authorities and the National Institute of Migration (INM), in the face of this extraordinary situation of migratory flow that the country is currently going through, we want to inform you that as of October 1, In 2021, the protocol for the presentation of official identification will be implemented in the sale and boarding of the trip. As well as a document that proves the immigration status in the country, for those of foreign nationality. In advance, we offer an apology to all our travelers for the inconvenience that this may cause, recognizing our commitment to always comply with what is requested by the Mexican authorities. In case of any doubt about the immigration documents authorized for foreigners, we recommend contacting the National Migration Institute.”

For doubters … Yes, the threat of jail time is real, as one of Mexico News Daily’s reporters has recently spent 4 nights in jail (Oct 3 – Oct7, 2021) for not carrying his passport as he travelled around Mexico. It appears that the MND writer is not here on a Resident Visa – so he should carry both the 1/2 of the FMM form plus his passport, while Residente Temporal or Residente Permanente visa holders supposedly need to carry only their RT card (no passport needcd). Sadly, MND does not report this key detail.


Travel safe, Travel well, and Keep following our laws …

Read On … MacDuff !

Sept. 30, 2021

Eligible applicants resident in Mexico now may apply to renew their U.S. passport book by mail.

Note that renewing passport cards requires scheduling an appointment or using walk-in service where available.

https://mx.usembassy.gov/passports/u-s-passport-renewal-by-mail/?fbclid=IwAR2O9cJIHswFY9eXjhVGX_EOLaa99pMdGkasvqS_scYeQwOWctlKRPBvFX4

~

” 1. Application

Complete this form: DS-82 form.   

The Form Filler will select the correct form for you based on the information you input. It may generate a different form from what you expect.

You must provide a Social Security number, if you have been issued one, in accordance with 22 U.S.C. 2714a    and 22 C.F.R 51.60(f).   

If you do not have a Social Security number, you must submit a statement , signed and dated.  Click here for more information.

You must complete all pages of the form and sign and date it.

You must print your form single-sided. We do not accept double-sided forms.

2. Most Recent U.S. Passport and Photocopy of Bio Page

You must submit your most recent passport with your application along with a photocopy of the biographic page containing your photo.  Your old passport book will be returned to you. 

3. Name Change Documents (if applicable)

If the name you are currently using is different from the name on your most recent U.S. passport, you must provide the original certified copy of the legal name change document, plus one photocopy.  Examples include: marriage certificate, divorce decree, court-ordered name change document.  Your name change document will be returned to you. 

4. Photo

Photo requirements .   Provide one  photograph with the application. 

5. Payment

Pay the passport renewal fee online  and include a printed a copy of your payment confirmation receipt with your documents.

6. Mail Your Documents

Please mail to one of our locations listed below (choose the location nearest you) your completed and signed DS-82 form (single-sided only), passport, name change document (if applicable), passport photo, payment confirmation, and return shipping envelope as indicated in the corresponding shipping instructions.

U.S. Consulate Ciudad Juarez — CDJ – DHL shipping instructions 

U.S. Consulate General Guadalajara — GDL FedEx Shipping Instructions 

U.S. Embassy Mexico City — MEX – DHL shipping instructions 

U.S. Consulate General Monterrey — MTR – Pakmail Shipping Instructions (1) 

U.S. Consulate General Tijuana — TIJ – DHL shipping instructions  “

*      *      *      *

Feel free to copy while giving proper attribution: YucaLandia/Surviving Yucatan.
© Steven M. Fry

Read on, MacDuff…

August 5, 2021

The latest COVID vaccine results out of the UK are striking:

~ Young people (13 – 24 yrs) now have 9X times higher rates of getting COVID than people over age 75, based on PCR testing of 98,233 patients.

Why? … Young people’s much 9X higher rates of COVID are most likely due to young people’s risky behaviors versus older people who take more precautions. … This means that the argument

“I’m young & healthy, so I don’t need a vaccine.”

… is wrong, by 9X fold …
Which means we need to keep wearing tight-fitting medical grade masks & socially distancing, even when vaccinated.

~ COVID’s highest infection rates are now found in young people aged 13 to 24 years (1.56% with positive PCR tests), while the lowest were in people aged above 75 years… down at 0.17% with positive PCR tests for old people.

~ An unvaccinated person is now 3X times more likely to get COVID than a person getting the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine:   Only 0.40% of those fully vaccinated by AZ were found to be COVID-positive, compared to 1.21% of unvaccinated people.

~ AstraZeneca** fully-vaccinated people were just half as likely to test positive ( 3.84% ) after coming into contact with someone who had COVID-19 than unvaccinated people ( 7.23% )…

3.84% per cent of 98,233 PCR tests, compared to 7.23% is pretty striking … but these results are for the more-poorly performing Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. … AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccine gives just 56% protection from COVID when the 2 vaccine doses are given 30 days apart.**

~ Finally, fully vaccinated people’s results show that they are much less likely to transmit COVID to others, because vaccinated people having a smaller viral load (on average) and therefore vaccinated people are likely shedding less virus.

**AstraZeneca announced in February, 2021 that AZ jabbed patients need to wait at least 84 days between injections, to get the 76% protection. … and yes, the 56% protection by normal AZ doses given just 30 days apart, is far far lower than Pfizer, Sinovac, or Moderna – whose protection has been measured up at roughly 93%.

So, YES, get vaccinated … because even the lowest-performing vaccines are giving 3X better protection, than no vaccine … and … getting a superb Pfizer or Moderna vaccine gives 5X better protection than being unvaccinated.

https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/227713/coronavirus-infections-three-times-lower-double/

*      *      *      *

Feel free to copy while giving proper attribution: YucaLandia/Surviving Yucatan.
© Steven M. Fry

Read on, MacDuff…

September 10, 2021

While non-scientist Medical doctors and so many AS SEEN ON TV doctors keep talking about finding finding some magical breakthrough “new vaccine” or new COVID treatment that will stop COVID in the future, it turns out the answer has already happened, right under non-scientist Medical doctor’s noses.

“Super Immunity” … Now:
Top virologists have recently reported that when a person is infected first by the whole COVID coronavirus, followed by getting a highly-targeted m-RNA vaccine (only Pfizer or Modernavac), then those patients are showing super immunity to ALL forms of SARS viruses – and ALL COVID-19 strains due to hybrid immunity that creates a broad spectrum of very powerful antibodies, suites of different antibodies that are not possible with just Pfizer, Moderna vac**, not from JnJ (Janssen), or Oxford-Astra Zeneca vaccines.

Based on the science behind antibody production, smart scientists have already been using this approach since last March, 2021 – by first taking a vaccine that has the whole – entire Coronavirus COVID-19 virus in the vaccine (an adenovirus-based vaccine like Sinovac) given first, which gives the patient one big group of general antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, followed by getting a second set of Pfizer or Modernavac m-RNA’s highly targeted little tiny pieces of Spike protein of the Coronavirus, creates a special combination of “very powerful” hybrid immunity that currently kills off all ALL variants of COVID.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03696-9

Plus this special hybrid immunity from combining the our immune response from being exposed to the whole SARS virus, followed by the targeted immunity triggered by a Pfizer vac or Moderna vac pair of injections, gives a broad “impressively potent”  – “bullet-proof” immune protection to all forms of SARS, including even the old SARS-CoV-1 from 2003 – which points to strong future immunity to even new variants of COVID-19.

https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.abj2258

Specific comments by top scientists:
“One could reasonably predict that these people will be quite well protected against most — and perhaps all of — the SARS-CoV-2 variants that we are likely to see in the foreseeable future,” says Paul Bieniasz, a virologist at Rockefeller University who helped lead several of the studies.

In a study published online last month, Bieniasz and his colleagues found antibodies in these individuals that can strongly neutralize the six variants of concern tested, including delta and beta, as well as several other viruses related to SARS-CoV-2, including one in bats, two in pangolins and the one that caused the first coronavirus pandemic, SARS-CoV-1.

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2021/09/07/1033677208/new-studies-find-evidence-of-superhuman-immunity-to-covid-19-in-some-individuals
https://cvcovid.salud.gob.mx/?fbclid=IwAR1IOrOBG-dTfksetdZMGfGFeqfbm61ZfdU6dvSt-Vez1efSr51YwqYuHfg


**Final Notes:
1. Neither the background science nor real world scientific testing results show any indication that getting a third “booster” dose of the vaccines give the “super immunity” very strong hybrid-antibody protection created by being exposed to the combination of the entire SARS virus followed by two doses of Moderna vac or Pfizer vac doses.

2. Neither the background science nor real world scientific testing results show any indication that getting the Oxford-Astra Zeneca nor JnJ vaccines (that have low 56% – 65% efficacy), give any special protection, because the AstraZeneca & JnJ vaccines are limited, and do not have the broad range of proteins that Sinovac or a natural COVID infection offer.

3. Because the Oxford – Astra Zeneca vaccine & JnJ (Janssen) vaccines deliver only big blocks of the entire Coronavirus Spike protein – they give only lower much-less effective protection (relatively low 56% – 65% efficacy) versus the Moderna vac & Pfizer vaccine’s 93% protection.

Specifically:
” Among current COVID-19 vaccines in use, ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (AstraZeneca) vaccine efficacy against symptomatic cases dropped from 75% to 11% against B.1.351 (9). By contrast, BNT162b2 (Pfizer/BioNTech) vaccine efficacy against symptomatic cases dropped from ∼95% to 75% against B.1.351, and protection against severe disease remained at 97% (10). ”

Which says that because of it’s limitations, the Oxford-Astra Zeneca is not-surprisingly poor against newer COVID-19 variants (down at just 11% protection) … versus Pfizer up at 75% protection against a new recent COVID-19 variant.


These dramatic chemical differences between Pfizer- Moderna m-RNA vaccines versus Oxford-Astra Zeneca and JnJ are very important, because Moderna vac contains just 11 tiny highly-targeted carefully-selected snippets of Spike protein, and Pfizer vac contains just 17 tiny highly-targeted carefully-selected snippets of Spike protein, while the Oxford-Astra Zeneca and the JnJ vaccine are neither highly targeted like Pfizer & Moderna, nor are Oxford-Astra Zeneca and JnJ broad coverage vaccines like Sinovac. Sadly, Astra Zeneca & JnJ are sort of in-the-middle … middle-of-the-road … somewhate limited … much less effective than either the very broad Sinovac (the whole Coronavirus) or the highly targeted Pfizer & Moderna vacs.

The scientific evidence of super-immunity to COVID-19 by using a hybrid approach of challenging our immune systems using the entire SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, only works (currently) when followed by getting 2 doses of a highly-targeted good m-RNA based vaccine, like Pfizer or Moderna vac (93% efficacy), because of the special properties of the highly targeted special tiny snippets of Spike protein found in the Moderna & Pfizer m-RNA vaccines.

In Layman’s Terms:
Getting a natural COVID infection (or Sinovac – that has the whole COVID-19 virus) is like getting a “shot-gun” scatter-blast of a broad range of antibodies …. combined with the “sniper-rifle” highly-targeted, highly-specific approaches of Moderna & Pfizer vacs that trigger our bodies to make special, highly-selective antibodies to COVID-19 virus variants.


4. Finally, it can be important to recognize that Medical doctors (non-scientists) and AS SEEN ON TV Medical ‘expert’ almost always talk only about antibodies, while they ignore B-cells, ignore memory T-cells and they ignore killer T-Cells. It is critical to realize that the “super immunity” – “hybrid-immunity” comes from a combination of protections from ALL THREE groups of immune responses: killer T-Cells, memory T-cells, and B-Cells … aka “CD4⁺ T cells, CD8⁺ T cells, memory B cells.

Example: Studies of elderly patients vaccinated with just Pfizer vac are showing 22% of elderly patients with NO MEMORY T-Cells at 8 months after the 2’nd Pfizer jab – while those over age 80 elderlies do have reasonable B-Cell antibody levels for some protection – but NONE of the key memory T-Cells.

This is why getting just a 3’rd ‘booster’ dose of Pfizer or Moderna is no where near as effective as the combination hybrid immunity from getting a dose of the entire COVID-19 virus, followed by 2 doses of Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.


Get educated, Stay informed, Stay healthy, Stay safe

Dr. Steven M. Fry
Ph.D. Chemistry, Public Health and Laboratory Measurement Science

Readers should feel free to copy this information, while giving attribution to Yucalandia.com .

Read On … MacDuff !

July 7, 2021

• Here’s a link to the Health Department’s site for printing out your proof of vaccination in Mexico. Be sure to print your certification-proof when the website provides it, because the link expires within 30 min. Note that like other government websites, this site can run very slowly, so less patient users might consider using it in the middle of the night.
  
  https://cvcovid.salud.gob.mx/?fbclid=IwAR1IOrOBG-dTfksetdZMGfGFeqfbm61ZfdU6dvSt-Vez1efSr51YwqYuHfg
  
  Happy Trails,
  Steve
  
  

Overall Conclusions:
YES … Get VACCINATED… It helps.

Vaccinations give solid-but-partial protection.

In spite of Medical Doctors last 18 months of factually incorrect advice:

In spite of the CDC’s ongoing (unscientific) advice that we don’t need masks when indoors … If you want to stay safe, instead follow science … follow the scientifically proven advice that works … advice that has not changed since March 2020 … everyone who is vaccinated should:

~ Keep wearing ONLY a tight-fiting medical grade masks …


~ Keep Socially Distancing of at least 8 feet when indoors
or use fans when indoors or when out of doors whene there are no breezes.

Get educated, Stay informed, Stay healthy, Stay safe,

Dr. Steven M. Fry

Ph.D. Analytical Chemistry, Aerosol Science, Measurement Science, Public Health & Environment

Read On … MacDuff !

June 30, 2021

• Top Scientists have been calling for vaccinated people to continue wearing tight-fitting medical grade masks and Socially Distancing (8ft when indoors without fans), and now, a few Medical Doctors & a few hospitals are finally realizing that all of COVID vaccinations give only partial protection – with protection gaps ranging from 12% failure rates for Pfizer, 35% for JnJ and up to 44% for Oxford-AstraZenica vaccinated patients.
  
  https://wordpress.com/read/blogs/13302179/posts/9774
  
  Fortunately, for both patient health & hospital personnel’s health, some medical professionals are finally realizing the continuing need for ONLY tight-fitting medical grade masks & Social Distancing … and a select few medical professionals are finally taking the long proven measures to finally stop COVID’s spread among their staff & patients:
  
  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/29/cambridge-hospitals-mask-upgrade-appears-to-eliminate-covid-19-risk-to-staff
  
  All of this is particularly important when we consider on-going strategies how to stay safe. As described in a previous report here, while we have decent partial-protection for 8 – 12 months after our second COVID vaccine injection … we will need additional protection – booster shots, or getting vaccinated with a different vaccine sometime after 8 – 12 months post vaccination (depending on our age – over 80? – and our personal health)… as we now have proofs of both how long & how strong our immune system protections remain for us from 1 to 8 months after vaccinations.
  
  https://wordpress.com/post/yucalandia.com/9793

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/371/6529/eabf4063?fbclid=IwAR0sYfYKnv-WHnxWU9v48TR-pmqVQ1gzsyUd1yzo8ASLIr1-nFxkt5ZyWdg

Overall Conclusions:
Per the Guardian’s latest June 29 report: The highly-regarded Cambridge Hospital healthcare workers caring for Covid-19 patients were found to be at greater risk of infection than staff on non-Covid wards, even when using the previously Medical Doctor recommended changing to only tight-fitting, high efficiency medical grade masks.


In response to finding that vaccinations & ordinary masks were not adequately protecting their staff, Cambridge hospital’s infection control committee upgraded the type of masks used by staff on Covid-19 wards. Once tight fitting medical-grade FFFP3 masks were introduced, the number of cases attributed to exposure on Covid-19 wards dropped dramatically – “in fact, (the preliminary results) suggest that FFP3 respirators may have cut ward-based infection to zero” for even the Delta variant that’s currently ravaging even vaccinated British medical doctors.

https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-637724/v1

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-57636360

Notice the kinds of masks that actually work:
Sadly … for over year, MANY local gringo ‘experts’ here in Yucatan, who have “OSHA experience” and are “OSHA experts” have been falsely claiming that masks do not work, even though Aerosol Science & Public Health Scientist experts have pointed to over 20 yrs of reports that prove they DO work to protect us at 99% levels from COVID’s invisible infectious fine aerosols from infected people talking or singing.

Note that the Cambridge Medical Doctors are finally also acknowledging that a proper tight-fitting medical grade mask (see the image above) … simple N95 – N99 masks … work 47 TIMES BETTER than their ordinary masks … which means all the cloth masks that most people wear are little more than fashion accessories … because they leak at between 45% – 70%.

Notice how the masks shown above (N95 – N99 masks that we have been recommending as NECESSARY since March 2020) typically give 99.9% protection, when paired with appropriate social distancing … while even the vaunted the Pfizer vaccine gives just 88% protection from incidental contact exposures to COVID.

Overall Conclusions:
YES … Get VACCINATED… It helps.

Vaccinations give solid-but-partial protection.

and … In spite of Medical Doctors last 18 months of factually incorrect advice:

In spite of the CDC’s ongoing (unscientific) advice that we don’t need masks when indoors … If you want to stay safe, instead follow science … follow the scientifically proven advice that works … advice that has not changed since March 2020 … everyone who is vaccinated should:

~ Keep wearing ONLY a tight-fiting medical grade masks …


~ Keep Socially Distancing of at least 8 feet when indoors
or use fans when indoors or when out of doors whene there are no breezes.

Unfortunately… Yet more of the latest scientific reports continue to expose how Medical Doctors … esp. the CDC Medical Doctors who are mistakenly telling vaccinated people that we magically do not need to wear masks when indoors … the CDC Medical Doctors, and many other unscientific Medical Doctors are (sadly broadly generally) behind the scientific facts curve … again.

which means we need to continue to rely on talented Scientists,  not Medical Doctors, for the best information on how to stay safe from COVID.

Get educated, Stay informed, Stay healthy, Stay safe,

Dr. Steven M. Fry

Ph.D. Analytical Chemistry, Aerosol Science, Measurement Science, Public Health & Environment

Read On … MacDuff !

June 27, 2021

Latest fun fun encouraging news on COVID vaccines !The soon to be released-approved “Novavax” appears to be the best current COVID vaccine on the planet … especially in protecting us from all the different new variants of COVID:

With Oxford-AstraZenica vaccine down at just 56% protection for people getting their doses just 30 days apart (vs. the manufacturer’s recommended 84 – 90 days) … and with JnJ vaccine down at just 66% protection … and with even the vaunted Pfizer vaccine failing to protect us up to 12% of the time … from just incidental contact with COVID … there is NOW some good news.

” the fascination with the newest, shiniest (COVID vaccine) options obscured some basic facts. These two particular (Pfizer & Moderna) mRNA vaccines may have been the first to get results from Phase 3 clinical trials, but that’s because of superior trial management … “

“… not (due to some) secret vaccine sauce. … “

“For now, (Pfizer & Moderna) are harder and more expensive to manufacture and distribute than traditional types of vaccines, and their side effects are more common and more severe. “
INSTEAD: “The latest Novavax data confirm that it’s possible to achieve the same efficacy against COVID-19 with a more familiar technology that more people may be inclined to trust. (The mRNA vaccines delivered efficacy rates of 95 and 94 percent against the original coronavirus strain in Phase 3 trials, as compared with 96 percent for Novavax in its first trial,

and now (Novavax offers a very special) 90 percent protection against a mixture of variants ” !!!


This last item on Novavax’s 90% protection rates against all the different COVID variants is STUNNINGLY better than even Pfizer or Moderna.

Groundbreaking Stuff !!

Finally notice that Novavax may become the vaccine of choice for people needing a booster next year !

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2021/06/novavax-now-best-covid-19-vaccine/619276/

~ Stay well, stay informed, stay safe. ~


Dr. Steven M. Fry
Ph.D. Laboratory Science, Public Health & Environment, and Chemistry

Read On … MacDuff !

June 27, 2021

How to keep your airconditioner running in peak condition … a Do It Yourself (DIY) job ???

People across social media are now asking what they can do to keep their air conditioners running fine during these hot hot times. Generally, most homeowners can either clean the small air filters up in the evaporator head of a mini-split unit … or replace the filters in their whole house air conditioner units & vent, but there’s much much more involved in doing the whole job, properly.

Before going further-deeper into the cleaning process, maybe it’s time to realize some of what’s involved in doing just the simplest basic parts of the job properly:

~ Remember there’s a bunch of different sized screws in the plastic clamshell cover of the evaporators of mini-split units – and many of those screws can be hidden behind little plugs or behind covers.

~ We know almost no ordinary homeowner who can dissassemble the plastic clamshell tight covers of the evaporator to get at the “turbina” – 3 ft long squirrel-cage fan to clean it properly

… and even fewer ordinary homeowners who can safely clean the accumulated dust & mold & fungus out of the evaporator coils, without damaging the fragile coils …
plus once you get that tricky clamshell plastic cover off the evaporator, it’s a bunch of work to wipe out all the accumulated dust, mold and fungus.

~ and then you have to clean & disinfect the drip tray in evaporator – to eliminate mold, fungus & dust…

~ and …. you have to clean and inspect the drain hose that drains out the condensate water from the drip tray … because the hoses are generally buried deep behind other parts of the evaporator.

~ and then … you have to pull out all the mini-split’s circuit boards, and get all the accumulated dust off them – to stop electronic component overheating… requiring even unplugging some of the cables & connectors from up to 4 different circuit boards … and then successfully reassemble & reinstall all boards without damaging either the boards, cables & connectors.

~Finally, you have to get the mini-split’s clamshell plastic cover back onto the evaporator, because you have to flex, bend, contort & twist most of the covers to get them back on .. – then matching all the different sizes of screws to all their specific holes.


~ AND THEN… especially if at the beach, you have to go up on the roof and safely clean accumulated dust, salt, salitre etc from the compressor’s fragile coils fins – without damaging any of the little fins … and then using a specialized matching fin-comb to straighten out any bent fins – to maintain good air flow. … Completing this operation properly can require some special detergents & a even a gentle pressure washer if you have a accumulated dust, or “cotton” from cottonwood trees or “cotton” from ceiba – k-pock trees

There are reasons that the best techs charge $1500 pesos to do it well, here in Mexico … and still … many of them strip out the screw mounts. 😉

~ Stay well, stay informed, stay safe. ~


The Good Doctor Fry
aka Steve

Read On … MacDuff !

June 21, 2021

• While surveying over 130 COVID, SARS & vaccine scientific reports, we found some interesting results that describe our COVID post-vaccine & post-infection protection levels, including how long & how strong our immune system protections remain from 1 month to 8 months later.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/371/6529/eabf4063?fbclid=IwAR0sYfYKnv-WHnxWU9v48TR-pmqVQ1gzsyUd1yzo8ASLIr1-nFxkt5ZyWdg

The study was not large … but they analyzed a decent number of patient samples for the 4 general key long-term protective immune system components-reactions … to determine what COVID protections we maintain for 1 month, 4 months, 6 months and 8 months after vaccination and natural infections. … Because some of the results are reported for patients who only had natural COVID infections, we are left to extrapolate the expected protections we get from vaccinations.**   

Researchers monitored 4 groups of our key immune system responses to COVID infections & COVID vaccinations – for up to 8 months after vaccination/infection.  Their goals were:

~ to see what specific protective responses our bodies had

~ to see how strong (effective) those protective responses were … and

~ to see how long each of those 4 different kinds of protective responses lasted.


Overall Conclusions … The researchers  found that after COVID vaccinations & infections:
Roughly 95% of subjects retained good levels of immune memory at ~6 months after infection or vaccination.

Blood samples showed good levels of circulating COVID antibody titers in lab tests, (where COVID antibody titers are the typical lab test used by Medical Doctors to monitor our COVID protection  … Yet, those laboratory test results used by Medical doctors    did NOT reflect,   did NOT represent  our T cell memory cell levels.   … Fortunately, our key protective memory T-cell levels were generally higher than the Antibody test results …  Still, one memory cell component levels were lower than predicted~reflected by Antibody test results after 8 months.

This means that the current simple serological tests for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies DO NOT REFLECT the richness and durability of our protective, immune memory reactions to SARS-CoV-2.

Scientific Conclusions:
1.  Antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins and receptor binding domain (RBD) declined moderately over 8 months.

This points to some patients (esp older people) possibly needing a booster shot 8 months after the 2’nd vaccination shot.

All of these results compared very well with the findings of several other reports. … Example, Pfizer found good levels of antibody protection after 6 months …. yet 22% of elderlies over age 80 had NO memory B-cells and NO memory T-cells left after the Pfizer vaccine after just 6 month… but those elderlies still had modest levels of neutralizing antibodies after 6 months … giving the elderlies some remaining protection.

2.   Memory B cells against SARS-CoV-2 spike actually increased between 1 month and 8 months after infection.
YAY !

3.   Memory CD8+ T cells and memory CD4+ T cells declined with an initial half-life of 3 to 5 months.

Half Life means half is gone after the reported time period…  50% lower after 4 months … 25% remaining after 8 months … 12% remaining after 12 months.

This is GOOD news, because the vaccines typically cause our bodies to make 10X to 1000X more of the protective components than a natural COVID infection …

which means when vaccinated … most of us still likely have decent protection after a year.

4.  Immunoglobulin G (IgG), RBD IgG, and neutralizing antibody titers  to COVID-spike-proteins
 … exhibited similar changes over time.

5. Specifically…. Spike IgA was still present in the large majority of subjects at 6 to 8 months after infection.
YAY

6.  IgG was the dominant isotype of our memory B cell responses … as IgM memory B cells appeared to be short-lived.

7.  They found a minor population of IgA memory B cells.

7.a. CD8+ T cell and CD4+ T cell memory were measured for all SARS-CoV-2 proteins.

7.b.  70% of individuals possessed detectable CD8+ T cell memory at 1 month after infection, that declined to ~50% by 6 to 8 months after infection.
YAY

7.c.  CD4+ T cell memory had 93% of subjects wutg detectable SARS-CoV-2 memory at 1 month after infection.

7.d.  92% of patients had high levels of CD4+ T cells (92%) remained high at 6 to 8 months after infection.

YAY

We would expect vaccinated patients to perform similarly – or better than natural COVID infected patients based on other COVID study results.

7.e.   SARS-CoV-2 spike-specific memory CD4+ T cells with the specialized capacity to help B cells [T follicular helper (TFH) cells] were also maintained.

The BIG Over-Arching Conclusions:
  Roughly 95% of subjects retained good levels of immune memory at ~6 months after infection or vaccination.

Blood samples showed good levels of circulating COVID antibody titers in lab tests, (where COVID antibody titers are the typical lab test used by Medical Doctors to monitor our COVID protection  … and those laboratory test results used by Medical doctors    did NOT reflect,   did NOT represent  our T cell memory cell levels.   … Our key protective memory T-cell levels were generally higher than the Antibody test results …  yet one memory cell component was lower than predicted~reflected by Antibody test results after 8 months.

This means that the current simple serological tests for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies DO NOT REFLECT the richness and durability of our protective, immune memory reactions to SARS-CoV-2.

Unfortunately… The scientific report also shows that Medical Doctors are (sadly broadly generally) behind the scientific facts curve … again. … because Medical Doctors are AGAIN relying on  too narrow of lab test results   that do not represent    our actual immune system protections.

which means we need to continue to rely on talented Scientists,  not Medical Doctors, for the best information on how to stay safe from COVID.

Dr. Steve 

= = = = = = = = = = =
  **Numerous studies have consistently shown vaccines cause our bodies to make between 10X to 100X and up to 10,000X higher levels of neutralizing antibodies & T-cells against SARS-CoV-2, to protect us against COVID … so it is reasonable to expect that our long term immune system protections from vaccinations are    better   than the results presented below for patients who had natural infections.

~ Stay well, stay informed, stay safe. ~


The Good Doctor Fry
Steven Michael Fry

Ph.D. Analytical Chemistry, Aerosol Science, Measurement Science, Public Health & Environment

Read On … MacDuff !

June 20, 2021

We’ve currently hit the worst COVID outbreak COVID numbers for COVID, with 3051 new confirmed COVID cases here last week, and over 2,000 Yucatecans hospitalized as of yesterday (Saturday).*

Because even the best vaccines provide only partial protection from COVID**, the best protection is still keeping 8 ft or more of Social Distancing, plus wear a good tight-fitting medical grade mask when around others, especially when indoors where COVID infected people’s invisible aerosols from talking … keep floating around infectious for 4 – 6 hours after the person talks without a tight-fitting medical grade mask.

Note that two different statistics show that because Yucatan has such low rates of COVID testing, there are likely 10 un-reported COVID cases, for every official “confirmed” reported case. That means this past week, there were likely over 30,000 people walking around, infectious, contagious with COVID – potentially infecting another 30,000 Yucatecans by talking inside without a tight-fitting mdeical grade mask.

That translates to 1 in every 66 Yucatecans you meet, potentially are contagious, infectious, able to infect anyone within 8 ft indoors, who is not wearing a tight-fitting medical grade mask – and unfortunately, months of very large million patient studies show your vaccine may not protect you.

**To stay safe, we must realize that the manufacturer’s January studies prove that the Oxford-AstraZenica vaccine gives just 56% protection … up to a 44% failure rate … when the patient gets both vaccine shots within 30 days. That same manufacturer’s report published in the Lancet in February, 2021, shows that each patient must wait at least 84 days between the first dose and second injection to get just 76% efficacy protection. …

In contrast, even the vaunted Pfizer vaccine showed up to a 12% failure rate at protecting people from just incidental contact with COVID infected people – as proven by the world’s biggest COVID study of 1.2 million Israelis, published by the highly respected New England Journal of Medicine. ( https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2101765 )

The Oxford-AstraZenica manufacturer even announced in the Lancet (Feb 2021) that AstraZenica vaccinated patients getting the jabs just 30 days apart had a 50:50 chance of getting COVID from incidental contact …. And even if you wait 84 days between vaccine jabs, the patients still have a 1 in 4 chance of getting COVID from just incidental contact with COVID infected people talking indoors. ( https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)00432-3/fulltext )

Delta Variant of COVID Coming to Mexico:
Note that the most recent studies show that even the vaunted Pfizer vaccine is just 76% effective against the Delta variant of COVID.
https://www.elfinanciero.com.mx/salud/2021/06/14/mala-noticia-variante-india-del-covid-presente-en-mexico-duplica-riesgo-de-hospitalizacion-senala-estudio/

The best studies show that the Delta variant is 60% more transmissable than the other COVID variants circulating in Mexico, as proven by the Delta variant becoming the dominant strain, now causing more than 90% of the new COVID cases in Great Britain’s latest outbreak.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/the-delta-variant-is-serious-heres-why-its-on-the-rise.

Fortunately, despite some local Facebook gringo-forum posts …
THERE ARE STILL NO CONFIRMED DELTA VARIANT CASES, yet, in Mexico: https://www.gisaid.org/hcov19-variants/

It is also worth noting that the Delta variant of COVID has distinctive symptoms of
runny noses … sore throats … and headaches as the primary symptoms – which makes it very different from the other common COVID variants.

As of today, there are NOT any reports from Merida’s Medical doctors of this past week’s COVID patients coming in with runny noses, sore throats & headaches as their major symptoms, so just as we expect, poor Yucatecans who do not travel internationally are NOT spreading the Delta virus like the 10% of US COVID cases from USA people have contact with international travellers.

Why are so many Yucatecans getting COVID now?
Most likely, COVID fatigue … with people gathering indoors without maintaining 8 ft of Social Distancing … is aggravating the other problem of so many Yucatecans wearing cloth masks that leak 70% & do not protect us from COVID. … Plus, a number of COVID-vaccinated Yucatecans now feel bullet-proof, when even the best vaccines have significant gaps in protection … giving much lower protection than social distancing +plus a tight fitting medical-grade mask.

As local cases of new COVID infections have more than tripled, it’s important to realize why COVID vaccies have significant gaps in their protection … as low as 50% protection for Oxford-AstraZenica … and as low as no protection for some 22% of elderly people just 6 months after their 2’nd Pfizer dose … (for vaccinated patients over age 80)

… To know why we older folks need to keep wearing tight-fitting masks & socially distancing when indoors with other people, even after getting vaccinated.

In spite of vaccinations, COVID Hospitalizations are also way up as of this Saturday, increasing from under 600 for several weeks ago … now rocketing up from 1500 two weeks ago, to over 2000 as of this past Saturday.


Estimates of Under-Reporting of COVID cases in Yucatan State:
**Yucatan’s ongoing 10% death rates from COVID are roughly 10X higher than other countries,. This strongly indicates that Yucatan’s COVID testing rates are so unusually low, (just 1 COVID test run on roughly every COVID infected people) that there are most-likely at least 10X more COVID cases than reported by the Government. Further evidence that just 1 COVID infected Yucatecan out of 10 total infected Yucatecans is: Yucatan State just reported 63% of people tested here this past week had COVID, versus the rest of the world’s typical 5% positive testing rates … This means our current 3,055 official cases translates to likely over 30,000 COVID infected Yucatecans this past week => The highest rates ever seen here.

The rest of the story?
With 27% of COVID infected patients living with awful long-term health problems … and with significant numbers of vaccinated patients getting COVID infections (up to 12%) from just incidental contacts, we must continue wear tight-fitting medical grade masks & socially distancing. 😉

Consider the consequences of rolling the dice on 1 in 8 odds of getting COVID after both Pfizer vaccination jabs … and 1 in 3 JnJ vaccinated people still get COVID from incidental contacts … and up to 1 in 2 Oxford-AstraZenica vaccinated patients are at risk of getting COVID if they did not wait 84 days between injections ….

Conclusions:
~ Over 1 in 4 COVID sufferors get nasty long term illnesses & permanent damage, including

… Brain damage, nervous system damage, lung damage, kidney damage, liver damage, and cardiovascular damage.


~ Up to 22% of COVID infected Pfizer vaccinated people get “Serious COVID Disease” … from incidental exposure to COVID.


~ Up to 44% of Pfizer vaccinated people with “Serious COVID Disease” are hospitalized.
AND THEN:~ 6 months after Pfizer vaccinations, 23% – 1 in 4 elderly vaccinated patients HAVE NO MEMORY T-Cells against COVID… and NO KILLER-T Cells against COVID…

This means roughly 1 in 4 elderly people vaccinated with Pfizer … show antibodies to COVID … but have almost no immune system protection against actual COVID infections just 6 months after their 2’nd Pfizer doses.

All these significant gaps & serious risks get even worse for JnJ vaccine, and even worse for Oxford-AstraZenica vaccine => Vaccination is NOT a magic bullet.

Vaccination is very helpful, but it is not the final answer if you care about your health … especially if you are over age 60.

~ Stay well, stay informed, stay safe. ~


The Good Doctor Fry
Steven Michael Fry

Ph.D. Analytical Chemistry, Aerosol Science, Measurement Science, Public Health & Environment

Read On … MacDuff !

April 5, 2021

Tick – tock … Tick – tock … Tick – tock …

or … ~ Swirling flow ~ … ??

A good friend shared this … which I am stealing … and adding my own Coda, at the end.

= = = = = = = = = = =

A friend posted this morning:
” … I suppose the Taoist approach here would be to try to understand one’s place in the betterness/fuckedness order of things, to appreciate the delicate balance amidst — perhaps even the flow between — these forces.

(In the context of) … Today Peru will find out whether it is fucked or whether…an even more fucked country is possible. “

Guy Howard 6/8/21

= = = = = = = = = = =
Tick tock … Tick tock … Tick tock

or ~ Swirling flow ~ … ??

Our minds love to arbitrarily force things to conform to simple pairs of Good-Bad, On-Off, Right-Left, Light-Dark, Fat-Thin, Awake-Asleep, Smart-Dumb, Tall-Short etc … while even the simplest reality check reveals that the smartest people do such dumb things, and the dumbest people can be so incredibly bright …

which leaves me amazed & stilled at how we move through space & time … endlessly elliptically spiraling forward.

Spinning on our Earth’s axis … Revolving around our sun …. Propelled forward as our solar system moves forward perpendicularly to our whirling solar systems planets movements … Swirling yet-further outward as a tiny part of an arm in our pin-wheel Milky Way galaxy … which it also screams-along through space …

7 billion or so humans, all blissfully unaware of our very real

~ constantly spinning at 11,000 miles per hour

~ constantly revolving at 67,000 mph around the sun

~ constantly hurtling forward at 514,000 mph as our solar system barrels-along in the Milky Way …

~ constantly screaming-along at 1.3 million miles per hour on the crazy carousel we call our Milky Way galaxy …

as I sit … “motionless” … on my couch.

Ever Sanguine,
Still Steve


and yes …. Even our grand Milky Way galaxy is just a tiny speck … on a beautiful Laniakea super cluster …

out of a million or so other super clusters …