A coronavirus-focused linkfest is 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
"Rather than debate how to end the pandemic, we need to debate how to live with it."
(Katherine Eban)
Chart of the Day

Despite a surge in cases, Covid-19 deaths in the UK have not returned to prior levels.
Children
- The FDA authorizes the use of the Pfizer ($PFE) Covid-19 vaccine in children 5 to 11. (statnews.com)
- What the data show about the use of the vaccine in children. (statnews.com)
- Moderna ($MRNA) says its low-dose Covid vaccine generates antibodies for kids 6 to 11. (biopharmadive.com)
- How schools can better managing quarantines. (emilyoster.substack.com)
Vaccines
- Given time constraints, researchers didn't really get to optimize vaccine dosing and timing. (newatlas.com)
- There is still some unease about how booster shots came to be approved. (nytimes.com)
- Moderna ($MRNA) is planning to build a manufacturing facility in Africa. (statnews.com)
- A simple explanation for Moderna's ($MRNA) apparent better performance - more stuff. (theatlantic.com)
- You will never be 'fully vaccinated.' (washingtonpost.com)
Merck
- Merck ($MRK) is going to license the production of molnupiravir in developed markets. (biopharmadive.com)
- Merck ($MRK) is estimating some $5-7 billion in sales for molnupiravir in 2022. (biopharmadive.com)
Vaccine mandates
- The mandated use of the Covid vaccine in children would allow for a return to normal for schools. (theatlantic.com)
- Up to 12,000 members of the Air Force have failed to comply with the vaccine mandate. (washingtonpost.com)
- 96% of Tyson Foods ($TSN) employees are now vaccinated. (nytimes.com)
Research
- Generic antidepressant fluoxamine is effective in reducing the chances of severe Covid outcomes. (marginalrevolution.com)
- Evidence that the Delta variant easily spreads amidst households. (reuters.com)
- More meatpacking employees got infected and died from Covid than previously estimated. (washingtonpost.com)
- On the type of UV light that is best able to neutralize the SARS-CoV2 virus. (theconversation.com)
- The pandemic highlighted the problem with scientific studies. (theatlantic.com)
States
- Why Puerto Rico leads the nation in Covid vaccine uptake. (npr.org)
- Alaska did a good job with Covid until misinformation took hold. (washingtonpost.com)
- Vaccinated seniors in rural America are struggling to navigate a world where most are unvaccinated. (npr.org)
Global
- Covid is surging through Eastern Europe. (ft.com)
- China has started vaccinating young children. (bloomberg.com)
- Businesses are looking forward to the reopening of the Canadian border. (wsj.com)
- Is ignoring Covid a 'crime against humanity'? (vox.com)
Earlier on Abnormal Returns
- Coronavirus links: risk of transmission. (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)
Podcasts
- Andy Slavitt talks the future of vaccines with Moderna ($MRNA) CEO Stéphane Bancel. (podcasts.apple.com)
- Ezra Klein talks long Covid with Meghan O'Rourke author of “The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness.” (podcasts.apple.com)
Society
- Compassion fatigue is running low in vaccinated red America. (newrepublic.com)
- The pandemic has made running a church ever more challenging. (theatlantic.com)