A linkfest dedicated to the coronavirus pandemic is unfortunately now a weekly feature here on Abnormal Returns. You can read last week’s edition here. Please be careful, don’t travel for Thanksgiving, get a flu shot and stay safe.
Quote of the Day
"Back in March, every epidemiologist would have agreed that if we got a coronavirus spillover into humans, this is about what would have happened. But no one could have predicted such incompetence in the government of the United States of America."
(Larry Brilliant)
Masks
- Major health care groups are urging people to wear masks. (nytimes.com)
- Public health officials have had urge people to wear masks, despite a single ambiguous study out of the Netherlands. (washingtonpost.com)
- Confused about mask science? Here's what scientists know. (nytimes.com)
- The trade in N95 masks is still not back to normal. (nytimes.com)
- Face masks do not impede the flow of oxygen into the body during exercise. (sciencedaily.com)
Vaccine reluctance
- Another survey showing a big percentage of the population being reluctant to get the coronavirus vaccine. (wsj.com)
- On social media, vaccine misinformation is wide and deep. (popular.info)
- Anti-vaxxers are not a uniquely American issue - France has a problem as well. (unherd.com)
Vaccine distribution
- Tracing how vaccines go from the bench to a semi-tractor trailer. (washingtonpost.com)
- How hundreds of millions of vaccine doses will travel into the field. (scientificamerican.com)
- Keeping vaccines cold is only challenge in distributing vaccines globally. (vox.com)
- Getting the vaccine to the emerging markets is going to be a challenge. (ft.com)
Vaccines
- An out of control pandemic is making it easier to test vaccines. (nytimes.com)
- We are going to need more than one vaccine to combat the pandemic. (wired.com)
- Phase 2 data for the Oxford vaccine shows a robust immune response among the elderly. (ft.com)
- Corning ($GLW) has designed a new glass to make for a better vaccine container. (wsj.com)
- What does the math say about who should get the vaccine first. (scientificamerican.com)
- As the vaccines roll out, tracking adverse events is going to be important to maintaining public trust. (bloomberg.com)
- A firsthand account of being a volunteer in the Moderna clinical trial. (statnews.com)
mRNA technology
- Why Pfizer ($PFE) and Moderna ($MRNA) have reached the finish line first. (reuters.com)
- Covid-19 is just the first target for mRNA technology. (wsj.com)
- Early government work laid the groundwork for today's mRNA success. (scientificamerican.com)
- mRNA vaccines are not easy to manufacture. (nytimes.com)
Immunity
- More evidence that Vitamin D deficiencies are associated with severe Covid cases. (nature.com)
- Preliminary data show a long-lasting immune response in Covid-19 patients. (nytimes.com)
- Researchers are not sure how many reinfections are real or simply testing-related. (sciencemag.org)
Treatment
- WHO has recommended against the use of remdesivir to treat Covid-19. (nytimes.com)
- Prior to this wave of cases, hospitals have gotten better at treating severe Covid-19 cases. (wsj.com)
- Stretched hospital resources could make for less ideal patient outcomes. (statnews.com)
- Staffing shortages are becoming more acute. (statnews.com)
- Monoclonal antibodies along with a vaccine is a great way forward. (theconversation.com)
Research
- We are going to look back at 2020 as a great leap forward for medical research. (awealthofcommonsense.com)
- The pandemic should reinvigorate our efforts to develop new antibiotics. (project-syndicate.org)
- Some insights into why Covid-19 patients often lose the sense of smell. (scientificamerican.com)
Testing
- The FDA has given an EUA to the first at-home coronavirus test, but don't expect availability until 2021. (washingtonpost.com)
- Why don't we have cheap, in-house coronavirus tests? (theatlantic.com)
Schools
- Why are bars open and schools closed? (vox.com)
- Closed schools only serve to exacerbate class and racial inequities. (nytimes.com)
Safety
- The only Covid safety rule you need: "Don’t spend time indoors with people outside your household." (theatlantic.com)
- If the coronavirus is airborne, why are we still focused on scrubbing surfaces? (nytimes.com)
- How to deal with people who ignore public health advice. (nytimes.com)
- A positive antibody test is not a free pass to go about your business. (scientificamerican.com)
- Why most Americans are not using contact tracing apps. (washingtonpost.com)
Sports
- What we've learned from the sports leagues about coronavirus. (theathletic.com)
- Indoor sports in a raging pandemic are a problem. (nytimes.com)
Earlier on Abnormal Returns
- Get used to the term 'digital health passport' as the coronavirus vaccine rolls out nationwide. (abnormalreturns.com)
- Coronavirus links: exhausted health care workers (abnormalreturns.com)
- On the challenge of holding two competing thoughts on the pandemic in your head a the same time. (abnormalreturns.com)