Discussed in this episode:
- The new subvariant B.2.86 (nicknamed “Pirola”) is drawing concern in public health circles because a large quantity of mutations suggest it could be very effective at evading immunity from vaccination or infection from prior strains. It’s already been detected in multiple countries, including the US.
- A new study in Nature confirms the value of layered COVID defenses: during Omicron, vaccination was enough to reduce infection among prisoners exposed to someone infected on their cellblock, but not enough to protect them from infection by someone sharing their cell, suggesting the vaccines work best in combination with non-pharmaceutical interventions (masks, ventilation, distancing) that reduce total exposure.
Podcast music credit: Now Son by Podington Bear, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License.