Tag Archives: coronavirus

Covid XBB.1.5 (the Kraken Wakes*)

Posted on February 16, 2023 by colinmathers

A new and highly transmissible subvariant of the Omicron Covid18 variant, XBB.1.5, also nicknamed the Kraken, was first identified in the USA in late October 2022. At the beginning of December, Omicron sub variant XBB.1.5 made up just 1.3 per … Continue reading →

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Is the Covid-19 bivalent booster worthwhile?

Posted on February 3, 2023 by colinmathers

Omicron and subvariants have become the dominant form of Covid-19 circulating in most parts of the world. So-called bivalent mRNA vaccines became available from both Pfizer and Moderna in August or September 2022. Intended for booster vaccination, they contain mRNA … Continue reading →

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Australia now has one of the highest Covid new case rates in the world

Posted on December 31, 2021 by colinmathers

In the last two weeks, Australia has gone from having one of the lowest rates of new Covid cases per million population in the world to one of the highest. Most of these new cases are in NSW and according … Continue reading →

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The current COVID Delta wave

Posted on August 20, 2021 by colinmathers

The graph below summarizes the COVID-19 situation as of yesterday (19 August 2021) for a selection of countries of interest to me. Confirmed case numbers have been rising in all these countries except the Netherlands (where case numbers have dropped … Continue reading →

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Vaccination and the COVID Delta variant

Posted on June 30, 2021 by colinmathers

The COVID Delta variant (B.1.617.2), which started spreading widely in India last October, is highly transmissible and might cause more severe illness and hence death. It has spread to many countries and is now the dominant strain in the UK. … Continue reading →

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New estimates of total global COVID-19 deaths from IHME

Posted on May 10, 2021 by colinmathers

A few days ago, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) released estimates of total COVID-19 deaths for countries based on comparisons of total deaths from all causes during the pandemic period with the expected total deaths based on … Continue reading →

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Switzerland: COVID-19 situation and vaccine rollout

Posted on April 14, 2021 by colinmathers

Switzerland has fully vaccinated 8% of the population, somewhat ahead of France and Germany and some other EU countries (see first figure). For some reason, the percent of people who have received at least one vaccine is no higher than … Continue reading →

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What are the risks of the AstraZeneca vaccine?

Posted on April 11, 2021 by colinmathers

Currently, several EU countries are suspending use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, or recommending it not be used in various younger age groups, due to reports of blood clot risks. Australia has decided to delay rollout of vaccination for younger adults … Continue reading →

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A Covid Performance Index for countries

Posted on January 29, 2021 by colinmathers

An Australian think-tank, the Lowy Institute has produced a Covid Performance Index and used it to examine the impact of geography, political systems, economic development and population size on the Covid-19 outcomes around the world. The COVID Performance Index compiled … Continue reading →

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The second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic

Posted on August 28, 2020 by colinmathers

Today, I took another look at the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic using data on confirmed cases downloaded from the Johns Hopkins University CCSE data repository. This post focuses mostly on western European countries, with a few others like … Continue reading →

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