PhD in Astrophysics. STEM Educator. Quantum Technology advocate. Red Dwarf, Expanse & Doctor Who fan. Sports tragic (cricket, AFL, F1, NFL, …)
Adelaide, South Australia
Joined July 2011
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Australia’s future 🤷♂️
Preprint: Limiting COVID vaccines to 65+ could raise hospitalizations 23–27% across all ages.
➡️Modelling (Illinois data) shows vaccinating younger adults & children cuts transmission enough to meaningfully protect higher-risk older adults.
Restricting eligibility to 65+ only increases infections (especially in kids) and hospitalizations (especially in the elderly) over multi-year horizons!
➡️Those indirect effects matter!
➡️The authors note that serious vaccine side effects are rare. Therefore, any reduction in side effects from limiting eligibility would not outweigh the resulting increase in COVID hospitalizations.
medrxiv.org/content/10.64898…
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David Bird retweeted
Bird flu puts one in five Australian bird & mammal species at risk "“..the sheer scale of disaster, even the pelican & ibis are at very high risk, all but one species of penguin is at high risk. Even the cassowary. It is hard to grasp the scale of this tragedy...This will hit all over the continent.” #H5N1 smh.com.au/environment/conse…
David Bird retweeted
From 1 Oct, COVID vaccination in Australia moves onto the NIP and free access narrows.
Medicare-eligible people in four groups only - 75+, 65–74, 18–64 with severe immunocompromise, First Nations adults 50–74 get free access. Everyone else pays. This information comes from the Australian Pharmacist.
David Bird retweeted
Worth remembering that healthcare-associated COVID is still a patient safety issue. Victorian data found at least 6,212 patients acquired COVID in hospital during 2022–23, with 586 subsequent deaths. Infection prevention shouldn't be something we only think about during pandemics.
"Hundreds of patients died after catching COVID in Victorian hospitals, new data shows"
6 May 2024
At least 6,212 patients caught COVID in hospital in 24 months (2022-2023) and 586 died — that's about 60 infections and 6 deaths per week, on average.
abc.net.au/news/2024-05-06/h…
38 years ago this month, I got to drive “The Dish” for a week, when it was only known as the Parkes Radiotelescope. We never observed emissions from SN1987A, but did find the first radio Einstein Ring!
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Went to SA Pathology for some routine blood tests.
Samsung Air Purifier in middle of waiting area ✅
It’s turned off ❌
I turn it on ✅
Had to explain to staff why I did 🤷♂️
Filter needs to be replaced warning came up ❌
Staff switched it off 🤷♂️
We’re doomed ☠️
Saw this on a train yesterday. No mention of the number one method to stop the spread (none of the methods described are as nearly effective). It was outside peak and not very crowded but I was the only one wearing a mask 🤷♂️
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Worth listening to before taking the plunge into a home battery.
A podcast about the home battery issue nobody warned you about when you bought one … podcasts.apple.com/au/podcas…
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If it’s good enough for our athletes …
Olympic athletes from Australia are boarding buses in high-quality masks to prevent airborne viruses from harming their performance 👏🏼
Buses have some of the worst air quality as confined spaces
These precautions shouldn't just be
for the elite. We deserve the same
ALT Photo from this month of Australia Olympic athletes in brightly blue winter coats and neon yellow toques and matching earloop N95 masks
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Kudos to the English cricket team. Guard of Honour for Khawaja as he comes out to bat for Australia for the last time in Test cricket.
Respect
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A more accurate headline reads “ Yesterday’s leaders had a once-in-a-generation opportunity to rise to the greatest moral challenge humanity will ever face”. And they failed.
"Today’s leaders have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to rise to the greatest moral challenge humanity will ever face," writes Joëlle Gergis. "Without a stable climate, we can forget about a thriving society, environment or economy." satpa.pe/KBNueyh
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“Tradition”
Interesting that the Sydney and Melbourne Test Matches are untouchable in their scheduling, but Adelaide is changed year to year at the whim of Cricket Australia with no apparent rhyme or reason.
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David Bird retweeted
In 1951, Adelbert Ames created the mind-boggling ‘Ames Window’. It’s so effective that even when you know how it works you can’t break the illusion
[📹 The Curiosity Show]
