A coronavirus pandemic linkfest 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 please stay safe.
Quote of the Day
"The perfect is the enemy of the good, and “good enough” is much better than letting vaccines go bad, as is currently happening."
(Vivek Wadhwa and Alex Salkever)
Chart of the Day

Covid is once again the leading cause of death in the U.S.
Variants
- Viruses mutate. So does the novel coronavirus. (theatlantic.com)
- The new variants increase the urgency to get people vaccinated. (statnews.com)
- We don't really know if delaying second vaccinations would allow for greater virus mutation over time. (sciencemag.org)
- We need new diagnostic tests to identify the new variants. (statnews.com)
- Why you need to step up your vigilance with the new variants about. (vox.com)
Vaccines
- J&J ($JNJ) is nearing results of its Phase 3 vaccine trial and could make 1 billion doses. (barrons.com)
- Pfizer ($PFE) says its vaccine works against the new variants. (nytimes.com)
- The efficacy of just the first dose was not a focus of clinical trials. (wired.com)
- The Sinovac vaccine is less efficacious than previously thought. (cnbc.com)
- How much vaccine you can extract from the vial depends on the type of syringe. (marginalrevolution.com)
- Do Americans care which Covid vaccine they receive? (theconversation.com)
Vaccine distribution
- Operation Warp Speed did not operate at 'warp speed' when it came to formulating a vaccine distribution plan. (wsj.com)
- How Alaska is distributing vaccines across the remote state. (reasonstobecheerful.world)
- Florida is vaccinating some non-residents. (wsj.com)
- Vaccination sites are often rushing to find patients when they find additional vaccine doses. (wsj.com)
- Why so many health care workers are balking at getting the vaccine. (nytimes.com)
Immunity
- You can think about immunity based on vaccinations in three stages. (vox.com)
- Natural infections seems to provide as much protection to Covid as the vaccine. (ft.com)
- How long does natural immunity to Covid last? At least 5 months... (vox.com)
- Just because you are vaccinated doesn't mean you can just go about your business. (wsj.com)
States
- States that forged ahead with their own vaccination plans are leading the way. (bloomberg.com)
- The state of Minnesota has done a great job scaling up Covid testing but has been swamped by the spread of the coronavirus. (bloomberg.com)
- Arizona is in the midst of a huge second wave. (wsj.com)
Data
- The CDC says that in-person classes are not a major cause of infection. (msn.com)
- How a lack of ICU beds will likely increase fatality rates. (vox.com)
- Data from smartwatches, specificially heart rate variability, could be used to identify coronavirus infections early. (cbsnews.com)
- We could use better vaccination data. (theatlantic.com)
- The same goes for the results from rapid antigen tests. (theatlantic.com)
Global
- The global death count due to Covid is higher than the official numbers. (wsj.com)
- Why Mexico's case counts are likely too low. (wsj.com)
- How the U.S. Covid death toll compares to similar countries. (vox.com)
- Ireland did well against the coronavirus, until it didn't. (washingtonpost.com)
- WHO researchers are traveling to China to study the origins of the coronavirus outbreak. (fortune.com)
Earlier on Abnormal Returns
- Coronavirus links: fragility revealed. (abnormalreturns.com)
- There's only one way through the pandemic tunnel. (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)