A coronavirus-focused linkfest is for now a weekly feature here on Abnormal Returns. Please stay safe and find a vaccination site near you. You can read last week’s edition here.
Quote of the Day
"Hospitalizations and deaths are rising in some areas not because someone didn’t wear a mask at the ballgame. They’re occurring because too many people are not immunized."
(Dr. Aaron E. Carroll)
Vaccines
- The FDA now says it has fast tracked full approval of the Pfizer ($PFE)-BioNTech ($BTNX) vaccine. (statnews.com)
- What is the hold up at the FDA? (marginalrevolution.com)
- The NIH wants to prototype vaccines for new viruses. (scientificamerican.com)
- Some hints on how much the efficacy of the vaccine wanes over time. (statnews.com)
- Andy Slavitt talks with Pfizer ($PFE) CEO Albert Bourla about vaccines and Delta. (podcasts.apple.com)
Vaccine mandates
- The dam has broken for vaccine mandates. (wired.com)
- Delta has caused an uptick in initial vaccination rates. (cnbc.com)
- Mandatory vaccinations are coming for health care workers. (nytimes.com)
- The VA is going to mandate vaccinations for employees. (slate.com)
- We should mandate vaccines, not masks. (vox.com)
- New restrictions on vaccinated Americans won't solve anything. (washingtonpost.com)
Vaccine hesitancy
- How virus hesitancy works. (econbrowser.com)
- It's not just politics that is driving hesitancy. (vox.com)
- In some states, people are getting vaccinated on the down low. (cnn.com)
- Vaccine resisters want 'freedom without repercussions.' (theatlantic.com)
- Vaccine lotteries are cost-effective. (marginalrevolution.com)
- There is no shortage of stories of Covid patients who now regret not getting the vaccine. (nytimes.com)
Children
- The CDC is urging everyone in schools to mask up this Fall. (washingtonpost.com)
- Reluctant parents are now holding off getting their children vaccinated. (wsj.com)
- School districts face a swirl of competing demands when it comes to vaccination mandates. (marketwatch.com)
- Outbreaks at summer camps are a preview of the return to school. (time.com)
Data
- What Delta has changed, and more important what it hasn't. (statnews.com)
- Texas Covid deaths have now passed New York. (houstonchronicle.com)
- Comparing the current surge in Covid cases to the prior waves. (statnews.com)
- The rate of new infections is about twice as high in red counties as blue counties. (washingtonpost.com)
- How Covid forecasts from a year ago played out. (econbrowser.com)
Testing
- Regular testing is still a part of an sensible reopening plan. (axios.com)
- Wastewater testing is providing officials with an early heads up on cases. (wsj.com)
Treatments
- Three companies are in trials for pills to treat Covid. (wsj.com)
- Why an at-home Covid anti-viral would be a big deal. (newatlas.com)
Research
- Megan Scudellari, "The scientific community is still scratching the surface of its understanding of SARS-CoV-2." (nature.com)
- How a vaccinated immune system differs from an unvaccinated one. (theatlantic.com)
- Getting Covid is not great for the male reproductive system. (theconversation.com)
- Another reason not to get Covid: a drop in intelligence. (psypost.org)
Global
- Delta seems to have peaked in the UK. (yahoo.com)
- Europe initially lagged the U.S. in vaccinations. It has now caught up and passed the U.S. (nytimes.com)
- Russia is pressing harder than many nations to tie the vaccine to getting a paycheck. (washingtonpost.com)
- Sweden is experimenting with cash payments to get people vaccinated. (marginalrevolution.com)
- Why is Japan lagging on vaccinations. (washingtonpost.com)
- Bhutan vaccinated 90% of its population in a week. (edition.cnn.com)
- Australia is sitting on 3 million unused AstraZeneca ($AZN) vaccines. (smh.com.au)
- How Taiwan held off the virus, for the most part. (kottke.org)
Misinformation
- Lawrence Yeo, "If you deliver the truth as if your dissenters are ignorant or stupid, then it won’t matter how accurate your views are. People listen only when good faith is presumed." (moretothat.com)
- Anti-vaccine advocates have been around since their inception. (daily.jstor.org)
- Meet one of the biggest spreaders of online Covid misinformation. (nytimes.com)
- A hostility to science is not just deadly for the coronavirus. (washingtonpost.com)
Earlier on Abnormal Returns
- Coronavirus links: fallen off a cliff. (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)
- On the challenge of holding two competing thoughts on the pandemic in your head a the same time. (abnormalreturns.com)