Cases are down 77 percent in the past six weeks, and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine professor Marty Makary notes in the WSJ, “If a medication slashed cases by 77%, we’d call it a miracle pill.” Dr. Makary boldly predicts we’ll have herd immunity about April. That’s only six weeks away. About 15 percent of Americans have already been vaccinated. But he warns that (yet again) the experts may hide the truth from us for our own supposed good:
Some medical experts privately agreed with my prediction that there may be very little Covid-19 by April but suggested that I not to talk publicly about herd immunity because people might become complacent and fail to take precautions or might decline the vaccine. But scientists shouldn’t try to manipulate the public by hiding the truth. As we encourage everyone to get a vaccine, we also need to reopen schools and society to limit the damage of closures and prolonged isolation.
Meanwhile, studies of both the Pfizer and Moderna jabs are saying the vaccines are working significantly better than expected, so much so that they’re suggesting ditching the two-dose regimen in order to get more people vaccinated faster. Pfizer, for instance, says the vaccine is 93 percent effective in one dose but only 94 percent effective if taken twice. If this holds up, it’s a massive game-changer that effectively doubles vaccine availability. Also, the J&J vaccine is expected to be approved shortly after a February 26 FDA meeting to discuss the data it has generated.
We’re breaking the back of this thing.