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, get a flu shot and stay safe.
Quote of the Day
"The most effective interventions are population-wide risk mitigation measures based on changing the public’s risk profiles. That’s why the United States has failed so abysmally—because very simple behavioral mitigations have become politicized."
(Lawrence Gostin)
Chart of the Day
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine appears to provide protection even after the first dose.
Pfizer
- The FDA has issued a EUA for the Pfizer ($PFE)-BioNTech ($BNTX) coronavirus vaccine. (statnews.com)
- The inside story behind the development of the Pfizer vaccine. (wsj.com)
- People with a history of severe allergic reactions may need to reconsider the Pfizer vaccine. (nytimes.com)
AstraZeneca
- Why the Oxford/AstraZeneca ($AZN) fell behind other vaccine efforts. (nytimes.com)
- A closer look at the AstraZeneca ($AZN) vaccine data. (blogs.sciencemag.org)
- Questions have been raised about AstraZeneca's ($AZN) Chinese vaccine partner. (nytimes.com)
Vaccines
- There are still a lot of unknowns about the coronavirus vaccines. (statnews.com)
- Vaccine makers will now turn to testing it in children. (wsj.com)
- Why we might end up mixing and matching vaccines. (marginalrevolution.com)
- Vaccine recipients need to understand side effects are expected. (washingtonpost.com)
- How Moderna's ($MRNA) vaccine works. (nytimes.com)
- A visual look at where all the vaccine candidates stand. (bloomberg.com)
Delays
- Creative thinking would have allowed the vaccines to get out earlier vs. going through the traditional review process. (finance.yahoo.com)
- Why the mRNA vaccines could have been released even sooner. (nymag.com)
- Operation Warp Speed should have bought capacity, not doses. (marginalrevolution.com)
Vaccine distribution
- Vaccine dose availability estimates are a moving target. (politico.com)
- How hospitals are formulating plans for the distribution of the initial vaccine doses. (wsj.com)
- Getting nursing home workers and residents vaccinated is no small task. (washingtonpost.com)
- Transporting dry ice containers is a potentially hazardous endeavor for airlines. (wsj.com)
- A unique reason why India will have a leg up on other countries in terms of the distribution of a coronavirus vaccine. (qz.com)
Business
- Should companies require employees to get vaccinated? (nytimes.com)
- The definition of an 'essential worker' is now up for debate. (wsj.com)
Vaccine skeptics
- How to build trust in Covid-19 vaccines. (nautil.us)
- How to identify vaccine skeptics and meet them where they are. (nytimes.com)
- If athletes are influencers, should they get early access to the coronavirus vaccine? (wsj.com)
- What's behind coronavirus vaccine hesitancy? (wsj.com)
Cruise ships
- A "Covid-secure" cruise-to-nowhere went off the rails. (thedailybeast.com)
- Cruise ships and hotels are moving to upgrade their air filtration systems. (nytimes.com)
Testing
Data
- Here's the problem with using the test positivity rate as a policy tool. (nymag.com)
- Nursing homes are experiencing another surge in cases. (theatlantic.com)
Long haulers
- We still don't know much about how to treat Covid-19 long haulers. (nytimes.com)
- Autoimmunity is likely part of the long hauler story. (elemental.medium.com)
Immunity
- Some researchers think that prior exposure to another coronavirus may be providing some measure of protection to their populations. (wsj.com)
- Can we please ban the term 'herd immunity' from our collective vocabulary? (slate.com)
Public health
- Many states have quarantine restrictions but few are actually enforced. (theatlantic.com)
- Vaccines won't end mask wearing right away. (nytimes.com)
- In an ideal world, contact tracers would work alongside apps. (scientificamerican.com)
- The pandemic is driving a record number of medical school applications. (npr.org)
Spread
- Universities have detected very little spread of the virus on campus and in classrooms. (washingtonpost.com)
- The risk of eating indoors at a restaurant is just too high. (cnbc.com)
- High def video shows how the coronavirus spreads. (washingtonpost.com)
Behavior
- Consumer behavior matters a lot more then explicit government restrictions. (wsj.com)
- Pandemic shaming is turning into pandemic anger. (nytimes.com)
- What motivates Covid rule breakers. (scientificamerican.com)
Safety
- What the Biden administration is planning to do keep its people safe from Covid. (politico.com)
- A survey of how 700 epidemiologists are living their lives at present. (nytimes.com)
- How to interact over the Winter months safely. (vox.com)
Earlier on Abnormal Returns
- Coronavirus links: remaining safe. (abnormalreturns.com)
- The 'Swiss cheese model' and the importance of avoiding single points of failure in pandemic and life. (abnormalreturns.com)
- Get used to the term 'digital health passport' as the coronavirus vaccine rolls out nationwide. (abnormalreturns.com)
- On the challenge of holding two competing thoughts on the pandemic in your head a the same time. (abnormalreturns.com)
