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Dick Zoutman @dickzoutman.bsky.social · 6h

COVID is with us continuously. It is not seasonal.
Vaccination is protective of ED visits, hospital admission and death.
The COVID vaccine has been shown to be very safe.
Vaccine+N95 Respirator+Clean indoor air = far less COVID and other respiratory infections.

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Dick Zoutman @dickzoutman.bsky.social · 6h

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2510226#f3

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Dick Zoutman @dickzoutman.bsky.social · 7h

Full study in NEJM:

www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....

Association of 2024–2025 Covid-19 Vaccine with Covid-19 Outcomes in U.S. Veterans | NEJM

Amid the declining clinical severity of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and diminishing public uptake of annual coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccines, ...

www.nejm.org

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Dick Zoutman @dickzoutman.bsky.social · 7h

www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-...

Annual COVID Vaccines Save Lives, New Study Shows

A new study shows that receiving an updated COVID vaccine reduced people’s risk of severe disease and death in all age groups, regardless of immunity from prior infection or vaccination

www.scientificamerican.com

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Dick Zoutman @dickzoutman.bsky.social · 8h

Another very good reason for Canadians to fight like hell to keep our publicly funded healthcare system!

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Dick Zoutman @dickzoutman.bsky.social · 8h

www.newsweek.com/health-insur...

Health insurance premiums could rise more than 80% next year

The imminent expiration of COVID-era health care subsidies could see the insurance premium costs soar for millions of Americans.

www.newsweek.com

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Dick Zoutman @dickzoutman.bsky.social · 9h

Just imagine powering Canada from geothermal energy that is clean and virtually limitless. Why are we not doing this in high gear?? We do not need the trans mountain pipeline.

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Dick Zoutman @dickzoutman.bsky.social · 9h

www.nationalobserver.com/2025/10/09/a...

Can new tech finally wake Canada’s sleeping geothermal giant?

Canada’s geothermal resources could meet the nation’s power demand “one million times over”, but not a single commercial well has been drilled. That’s about to change as new technologies bolster the b...

www.nationalobserver.com

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Dick Zoutman @dickzoutman.bsky.social · 9h

Bizarro

🇨🇦Joe Vipond🇨🇦 @jvipondmd.bsky.social · 1d

depressing morning reading about all the pretzel logic and out and out lies going into supporting expansion of Canada's oil and gas industry.
www.nationalobserver.com/2025/10/10/n...

Head of Carney’s Major Projects Office thinks Trans Mountain is good for climate

Dawn Farrell, the former CEO of Trans Mountain who now leads the federal government's Major Projects Office told the House of Commons environment committee that the oil pipeline helps fight climate ch...

www.nationalobserver.com

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Dick Zoutman @dickzoutman.bsky.social · 2d

Oh yes, and COVID is year round!

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Dick Zoutman @dickzoutman.bsky.social · 2d

Experienced clinicians have appreciated that post influenza complications are common albeit true this has not been as well studied as for post COVID sequelae.
COVID and Influenza are bad for you.
Don’t get COVID or Influenza.
Get vaccinated.
Wear an N95 respirator.
Clean the air we all breathe.

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Dick Zoutman @dickzoutman.bsky.social · 2d

“Our findings challenge assumptions about the uniqueness of post-acute COVID-19 morbidity and suggest the long-term burden of influenza may be underrecognized.”

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Dick Zoutman @dickzoutman.bsky.social · 2d

“However, COVID-19 cases hospitalized for their initial illness experienced greater risk of severe PAS necessitating inpatient care, and this difference persisted through 180 days of follow-up.

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Dick Zoutman @dickzoutman.bsky.social · 2d

“In this large, real-world cohort, individuals with non-severe acute respiratory illness caused by SARS-CoV-2 experienced only modestly greater risk of PAS in comparison to those whose illness was caused by influenza.

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Dick Zoutman @dickzoutman.bsky.social · 2d

journals.plos.org/plosmedicine...

Comparative risk of post-acute sequelae among adults following SARS-CoV-2 or influenza virus infection: A retrospective cohort study among United States adults

Author summary Why was this study done? It is known that people may suffer medical complications long after COVID-19, which are called post-acute sequelae (PAS). Similar sequelae are also known to h...

journals.plos.org

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Dick Zoutman @dickzoutman.bsky.social · 2d

Inclined to agree. Need that research ASAP.

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Dick Zoutman @dickzoutman.bsky.social · 3d

Plunking air purifiers in schools in random locations given the complexity of air movement in these complicated buildings with lots of human movement was never likely to do that much. Proper air cleaning requires expert analysis of air movements compared with human activities in the spaces.

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Dick Zoutman @dickzoutman.bsky.social · 3d

“In this secondary analysis, HEPA purifiers were not associated with a reduction in high viral exposure but were associated with a modest decrease in viral diversity. Multicomponent interventions may be needed to mitigate respiratory viral exposures in schools.”

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Dick Zoutman @dickzoutman.bsky.social · 3d

Air Purifier Intervention for Respiratory Viral Exposure in Elementary Schools url: jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Air Purifier Intervention for Respiratory Viral Exposure in Elementary Schools

This secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial examines the association of HEPA (high-efficiency particulate air) filters with respiratory viral exposure in elementary school classrooms.

jamanetwork.com

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Dick Zoutman @dickzoutman.bsky.social · 3d

So thanks to COVID being uncontrolled and still spreading and re-re-re- infecting people, we see a very large number of workers off sick or simply dropping out of the workforce.
COVID is bad for all workers.
Don’t get COVID.
Get vaccinated.
Wear an N95 respirator.
Clean the air we all breathe.

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Dick Zoutman @dickzoutman.bsky.social · 3d

“Labor force exits after a health-related absence also continued to be elevated, with 13.1% more exits in the postpandemic period compared with before the pandemic (13 500 monthly exits).”

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Dick Zoutman @dickzoutman.bsky.social · 3d

“Specifically, absences were 8.1% higher for workers in low work-from-home occupations and 12.5% higher for workers in high physical proximity occupations compared with prepandemic values.

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Dick Zoutman @dickzoutman.bsky.social · 3d

“Workers in occupations at greater risk of exposure and some demographic groups continued to experience elevated levels of absences in the postpandemic period.

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Dick Zoutman @dickzoutman.bsky.social · 3d

“Health-related absences from work continued to track COVID-19 circulation and were 12.9% higher in the postpandemic period compared with before the pandemic (140 000 monthly absences).

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Dick Zoutman @dickzoutman.bsky.social · 3d

“In this cohort study of employed workers in the US, the new year-round baseline for work absences appeared to be on par with the levels formerly confined to prepandemic influenza season conditions.“

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