Webinar: SARS-COV-2 Omicron Variant of Concern

Join us on December 14th at 11 am EST/8 am PST for a webinar featuring VIGILINT Emergency Medicine Physicians Drs Ossmann and Cellini as they discuss the newly discovered omicron variant and the potential impact on holiday travel. You have questions, and we want to hear from you! Please submit your questions you’d like addressed… Continue reading Webinar: SARS-COV-2 Omicron Variant of Concern

COVID-19 Vaccine for Children & The Pandemic’s Impact on Working Parents

COVID-19 Vaccine Approved for Children 5-11 Kids 5 and up can now get their age-appropriate dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, which is the most effective way to protect against the virus—hard stop. After a year that saw parents scrambling to find ways to protect their children from illness and keep their kids educated in a… Continue reading COVID-19 Vaccine for Children & The Pandemic’s Impact on Working Parents

White House Announces “Path out of the Pandemic”

Today, President Biden announced a six-pronged national strategy to expand the federal government’s response to COVID-19. The Department of Labor is developing a rule that will require all employers with 100 or more employees to ensure their workers are fully vaccinated and require unvaccinated workers to be tested on a weekly basis. In addition, employers… Continue reading White House Announces “Path out of the Pandemic”

The Debate: Masks in Schools

As summer draws to a close, fall brings unique challenges. The surge of COVID-19 cases, instigated by the Delta variant, has heavily impacted the beginning of the new school year. In July, the CDC recommended that all students and staff wear masks in schools, regardless of vaccination status. The nature of this statement as a… Continue reading The Debate: Masks in Schools

COVID-19 ONE YEAR LATER, Part II: Testing and Vaccines

In the second part of VIGILINT’s two-part series COVID-19 1 Year Later, VIGILINT Ops Analyst and blogger Colin Schilly dives into the two critical hallmarks of the pandemic. Testing and vaccines. The development and rollout of several effective vaccines in under a year offer great hope for the pandemic’s end. Sadly, that day may still… Continue reading COVID-19 ONE YEAR LATER, Part II: Testing and Vaccines

COVID-19 ONE YEAR LATER, Part I: The Best and Worst Handlings of the COVID-19 Crisis

This chart shows countries/territories ranked by ability to respond to an epidemic/pandemic in 2019. Source: Statista

On January 10, 2020, VIGILINT first reported a new strain of a coronavirus connected to a cluster of pneumonia cases linked to Wuhan, China. No one could have predicted the year that would follow. As of publishing, worldwide cases have reached 104 million with 2.27 million deaths. VIGILINT looks back at the critical events that… Continue reading COVID-19 ONE YEAR LATER, Part I: The Best and Worst Handlings of the COVID-19 Crisis

COVID-19 Transmission: Surfaces

There is some risk of COVID-19 transmission from surfaces, but the primary disease transfer mode is airborne transmission. Several studies have analyzed the detection of COVID-19 on various surfaces. One such study, published by the New England Journal of Medicine in March 2020, largely shaped the discussion around SARS-COV-2 (the virus causing COVID-19 disease) transmissions… Continue reading COVID-19 Transmission: Surfaces

COVID-19 Update: Vaccine Distribution

A woman receives her first vaccine shot at Duke Health.

The Trump administration is reversing its COVID-19 vaccination strategy by authorizing the release of Pfizer-BioNtech and Moderna’s federally stockpiled vaccines. The previous policy withheld half the purchased doses to ensure the supply necessary for second doses, and states could only receive vaccines based on their adult population size. The new distribution strategy unveiled yesterday is intended… Continue reading COVID-19 Update: Vaccine Distribution

COVID-19 Update: On the Single Deadliest Day of the Pandemic – LA County is Hardest Hit

The Situation in Los Angeles Yesterday was the single deadliest day of the pandemic with 4,000 deaths, and nowhere is harder hit than Los Angeles County. Cases have spiked drastically since December, with 809,052 cases and 10,739 deaths. Deaths were occurring every 8 minutes yesterday.  The California Department of Health rates LA county as Tier 1:… Continue reading COVID-19 Update: On the Single Deadliest Day of the Pandemic – LA County is Hardest Hit

COVID-19 Update: Mutated Strain Found in Minks

New SARS-CoV-2 Strain Found in Northern Europe’s Mink Population On November 5, 2020, Denmark reported 12 human cases of COVID-19 caused by a mutated SARS-CoV-2 strain carried by minks. Minks are a semi-aquatic mammal closely related to the weasel, otter, and ferret. Six other countries have reported outbreaks at mink farms including the Netherlands, Spain,… Continue reading COVID-19 Update: Mutated Strain Found in Minks