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COVID-19 evolves — but scientists, health care professionals keep up with it

COVID-19 immunizations saved 235,000 American lives during the first nine months that those vaccines were available, from December 2020 to September 2021 (JAMA Network Open, July 6, 2022). Now, a year later, they have spared additional tens of thousands of us from premature death and long COVID. Recent commentary (The Lancet Infectious Diseases, August 22, 2022) about Massachusetts is also encouraging. That state met the spring Omicron surge with its population 80% fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and had no excess deaths, even among infected older people, for the first time since the ...

After COVID-19, every mile counts

COVID-19 is most known as a virus that causes respiratory disease. It has had varying effects on people infected by it, with symptoms as basic as a headache to the inability to breathe or extreme fatigue. Currently, there have been more than 3 million cases with 46,494 deaths directly due to complications resulting from contracting COVID-19 just within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It has been just over a year since I got COVID and had a double lung transplant to save my life. The recovery process has been anything but easy. It has also been a fast-paced crash course in ...

Families need a rein on inflation, not shortsighted spending gimmicks

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) hit a 40-year high in June, with an increase of 9.1% over last year before holding steady in July. According to one analysis, inflation is costing American families about $500 per month in higher prices. Americans are feeling the pain, with a recent Quinnipiac poll finding that 34% of voters list inflation as the most urgent issue facing the country. We know how we got here. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress passed multiple stimulus bills. Combined, these legislative actions increased the federal deficit by an estimated $5.23 ...

‘Witch hunt’ or seeking truth?

There has been much ado about Old Lycoming Township Police and Tiadaghton Valley Regional Police conducting speed timing without having the authorization to do so. Let’s clear the smoke and mirrors and ditch the red herring. What happened during the speed timing by both departments on March 21, 23, and 30 in Old Lycoming Township and March 30 and April 6 in Piatt Township.” Chief DeRemer is quoted in the Aug. 12 Sun-Gazette, “Every attempt was made to be in compliance once I received the correspondence from the district judge.” That correspondence was from District Judge ...

To promote the general welfare

If you are a regular reader of this column, you have read some powerful stories of your neighbors’ COVID experiences. You can read any you’ve missed at www.letsendcovid.net/articles—about—covid/ Real people; true stories. Real loss and pain. And many didn’t have to happen. The United States surpassed one million COVID deaths in May. That’s a million empty chairs at dinner tables, as our current President so poignantly said. Studies estimate that between a quarter and a third of these deaths could have been prevented — by vaccination. Why didn’t these people get ...

Is the electric car — and only the electric car — the future?

Electric cars are nothing new. The first horseless carriages were either steam powered or utilized the services of batteries. Those batteries were the familiar acid-filled lead plate monsters that have now largely been replaced by glass mat (AGM), lithium or other types of batteries. The battery revolution did not last. Reason? The government did not support the use of battery power; the public did not like the fact that the batteries did not last very long; there were no recharging facilities and the batteries were dangerous to dispose of. This should sound familiar. Steam seemed ...