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
"In the eyes of vaccine skeptics, the experts’ disdain for ivermectin, paradoxically, is the best demonstration that it’s actually valuable."
(James Surowiecki)
Vaccines
- In this study the Moderna ($MRNA) vaccine generated more antibodies. (marketwatch.com)
- Why Johnson & Johnson ($JNJ) vaccine recipients should be eligible for booster shots. (nytimes.com)
- Vaccines were never meant to prevent all infections. (theatlantic.com)
- Why third shots are not really 'booster shots.' (surowiecki.medium.com)
- The U.S. has wasted some 15 million vaccine doses to-date. (nbcnews.com)
- Katherine Wu, "Immune responses don’t last forever. They’re supposed to wane, and the fact that they do works to our advantage." (theatlantic.com)
Vaccine hesitancy
- The tide has turned against vaccine holdouts. (theatlantic.com)
- Vaccine hesitancy is slowly declining in the U.S. (washingtonpost.com)
- Why Oregon, despite a high vaccination rate, is struggling. (wsj.com)
- The media is doing a bad job in conveying the relative risks of Covid for the vaccinated vs. unvaccinated. (dicktofel.substack.com)
Ivermectin
- Demand for ivermectin isn't slowing down. (nytimes.com)
- Health authorities continue to warn against the use of ivermectin. (wsj.com)
- Ivermectin overdoses are on the rise. (npr.org)
Monoclonal antibodies
- Monoclonal antibody treatments are a band aid, not a solution. (slate.com)
- The U.S. is once again shipping Eli Lilly's combination antibody treatment. (news.yahoo.com)
Testing
- How to best use at-home Covid tests. (theatlantic.com)
- At-home Covid tests are in short supply. (aarp.org)
Masking
- A randomized trial that shows the use of masks, especially surgical masks, reduce virus transmisison. (poverty-action.org)
- Does masking really work to reduce transmission among school-aged children? (theatlantic.com)
- Cloth masks don't cut it any more. (fastcompany.com)
- Will masking ever end? A guide to masking today. (wired.com)
Long haulers
- On the parallels between long Covid and chronic fatigue syndrome. (newatlas.com)
- Vaccination reduces the risk of long Covid. (sciencedaily.com)
- Long haulers are banding together to work for solutions. (theatlantic.com)
Florida
- Florida hospitals are struggling to keep up with Covid cases. (thedailybeast.com)
- The state of Florida changed the way it reported Covid deaths as the Delta variant took hold. (miamiherald.com)
- Why surging Covid cases are causing oxygen shortages. (wired.com)
Global
- China is still relying on mass lockdowns to thwart Covid. (npr.org)
- Australia kept Covid at-bay, but at what cost? (theatlantic.com)
Children
- The number of children hospitalized for Covid has surged. (nytimes.com)
- Unvaccinated adolescents were hospitalized with Covid-19 at 10 times the rate of fully vaccinated adolescents. (washingtonpost.com)
- Good news for kids who experienced severe Covid cases. (wsj.com)
Research
- Immune system disregulation plays a role in many Covid deaths. (nature.com)
- How Pfizer ($PFE) is researching variants to stay ahead of the game. (statnews.com)
- The Biden administration wants to fund an 'Apollo-style' pandemic preparedness program. (statnews.com)
Data
- Children are making up a larger percentage of diagnosed Covid cases. (wired.com)
- Those infected with the Delta variant are more than twice as likely to be hospitalized. (newatlas.com)
- Many states are not reporting Covid data to the CDC. (npr.org)
Earlier on Abnormal Returns
- Coronavirus links: saving lives. (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)
Origins
- Why most scientists believe the zoonotic origin of SARS-CoV2 is more likely than a lab leak. (science.org)
- How to check out Frontline's "China's Covid Secrets" (pbs.org)
Podcasts
- Andy Slavitt talks with pediatric infectious disease specialist Dr. David Kimberlin about the Delta variant. (overcast.fm)
- Tyler Cowen talks with Zeynep Tufekci about lessons learned from the pandemic. (conversationswithtyler.com)
Mixed media
- Covid is no joke even for the vaccinated: a first-hand account. (awealthofcommonsense.com)
- The Delta outbreak feels all the worse because of our high expectations going into the Summer. (nytimes.com)
- This is what happens when nurses buy into vaccine conspiracy theories. (slate.com)
- There's no justification in mocking Covid deaths. (theatlantic.com)
