A coronavirus-focused linkfest is still a weekly feature here at Abnormal Returns. Please stay safe and find a vaccination site near you. You can read last week’s edition here.
Quote of the Day
"For me, the fact that people are 300 times more likely to die if they’re unvaccinated is all I need to know...It's about saving lives."
(United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby)
Chart of the Day
A fascinating visualization of how Covid cases have spread across the U.S. the past (almost) two years.
Vaccines
- The Pfizer ($PFE)-BioNTech ($BTNX) Covid vaccine has received full FDA approval. (statnews.com)
- Why it took so long for the FDA to approve the Pfizer ($PFE)-BioNTech ($BTNX) Covid vaccine. (theatlantic.com)
- Valneva has filed for approval of its Covid vaccine in the UK. (fortune.com)
- Booster shot side effects are similar to that of the second shot. (slate.com)
- A booster of the J&J ($JNJ) creates a robust immune response. (nytimes.com)
- Why the mRNA vaccines aren't dangerous. (newyorker.com)
- There's no evidence that Covid vaccines are harming fertility or sexual function. (scientificamerican.com)
Vaccine mandates
- U.S. military troops are now required to get a Covid vaccine. (politico.com)
- Unvaccinated police are putting the public, and themselves, at-risk. (theatlantic.com)
- If you get fired for refusing vaccination, you can't claim unemployment. (washingtonpost.com)
Children
- More children are hospitalized for Covid than at any prior time. (wsj.com)
- 'Masks, testing, ventilation, vaccination for students over 12' are the ways for schools to stay open. (theatlantic.com)
- Pediatricians are urging the FDA to approve vaccines for younger children. (statnews.com)
- Pediatricians are in no rush to offer vaccines off-label to younger children. (statnews.com)
- School districts are trying to be flexible around case management this Fall. (wsj.com)
- Why are children better protected against Covid than adults? (scientificamerican.com)
Research
- More evidence that the vaccines are effective at preventing hospitalizaitons. (cdc.gov)
- Vaccinations help prevent reinfection. (cdc.gov)
- Virus shedding in breakthrough cases is much lower than in the unvaccinated. (medrxiv.org)
- People who had SARS years ago and get vaccinated have very robust immune responses. (sciencemag.org)
- The incidence of blood clots is much higher with Covid than the vaccines. (bloomberg.com)
- Some people are naturally resistant to the novel coronavirus. Researchers want to know why. (statnews.com)
Global
- How often should we expect a major, global pandemic? (sciencedaily.com)
- Germany is dropping the incidence rate as a key measure now that vaccinations have ramped up. (reuters.com)
- Australia's restrictions continue to look overbearing to the rest of the world. (marginalrevolution.com)
- The problem with New Zealand's Covid policy: an exit strategy. (unherd.com)
Data
- Nearly a third of Americans may have been infected with the novel coronavirus in 2020. (newatlas.com)
- The UK's vaccination program likely prevented up to 100,000 deaths from Covid. (ft.com)
- The biggest increases in vaccinations are happening in states with the highest rates of the Delta variant. (nytimes.com)
- Pregnant women are increasingly ending up in the hospital with Covid. (fortune.com)
- Nearly 600 police officers in the U.S. have died of Covid. (theatlantic.com)
- How many cases did the Sturgis, SD bike rally kick off? (washingtonpost.com)
Treatments
- How fluvoxamine became the best hope for a cheap, easy to administer Covid treatment. (vox.com)
- Why do so-called Covid 'cures' keep popping up? (nbcnews.com)
Testing
- How regular at-home testing would change the course of the pandemic. (washingtonpost.com)
- Why doesn't the U.S. have cheap, abundant at-home Covid tests? (marginalrevolution.com)
- Demand for at-home Covid tests is on the rise but supplies are scarce. (wsj.com)
- What at-home tests can, and cannot tell you. (washingtonpost.com)
- When should you take an at-home Covid test? (wsj.com)
Health care workers
- Health care workers are fed up with the unvaccinated. (statnews.com)
- How hospital administrators are dealing with nursing shortages. (bloomberg.com)
Public health
- The FDA wasn't built operate at the speed of a pandemic. (theatlantic.com)
- Why Hawaii doesn't want tourists during the current surge. (washingtonpost.com)
Lab leak hypothesis
- U.S. intelligence agencies don't have a definitive conclusion about the origins of the virus. (wsj.com)
- Lab leak or not, more pandemics are likely to occur. (vox.com)
Earlier on Abnormal Returns
- Coronavirus links: a better alternative. (abnormalreturns.com)
- There's only one way through the pandemic tunnel. (abnormalreturns.com)
- Why we are eventually going to need digital health passes, i.e. vaccine passports. (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)
Mixed media
- Why SARS-Cov-2 will likely become like other currently circulating coronaviruses. (cspicenter.org)
- How political leadership short-circuited our societal desire to come together in the face of a challenge. (behavioralscientist.org)
- Pandemic battles often come from an unwillingness to sacrifice for the greater good. (theatlantic.com)
- What to do about doctors that deliberately disseminate vaccine misinformation? (nytimes.com)
