PLEASE NOTE: The Omicron variant story is playing out at warp speed. Things written earlier in the week could already be out-of-date. Just keep that in mind while going through this week’s reads.
A coronavirus-focused linkfest is a weekly feature here at Abnormal Returns. Please stay safe, get a booster at a vaccination site near you. You can read last week’s edition here.
Quote of the Day
"We are in yet another strange moment of the virus, where everything feels like a repeat of some other period in the virus, and yet things are, once again, distinctly different."
(Shannon Palus)
Chart of the Day
The current risk of someone in a 30 person event having Covid. (HT: @pkedrosky)
Vaccines
- Walter Reed Army Institute of Research has developed a pan-coronavirus vaccine that is moving through the testing process. (defenseone.com)
- Moderna ($MRNA) says that their booster is effective in blunting Omicron. (washingtonpost.com)
- Why boosting should be four months, not six. (erictopol.substack.com)
- The unvaccinated see a new variant as another reason in support of their views. (nytimes.com)
Children
- The case for vaccinating your children. (unchartedterritories.tomaspueyo.com)
- The safety data for 5-11 year olds should give parents confidence. (emilyoster.substack.com)
- How to get your college-age kids to take Omicron seriously. (npr.org)
Symptoms
- Omicron is presenting like a cold in most people. (businessinsider.com)
- A review of Omicron symptoms. (nytimes.com)
Transmission
- The science behind Omicron's rapid spread. (wsj.com)
- Omicron is likely more transmissible on commercial airplanes. (bloomberg.com)
Omicron
- We really have no idea how widespread Omicron is right now. (theatlantic.com)
- Per Adam Silver, 90% of positive cases in the NBA are Omicron. (nba.com)
- Only the mRNA vaccines seem to show effectiveness against Omicron. (nytimes.com)
- How long does it take for Omicron to get a person sick? (theatlantic.com)
- Omicron could break the link between case counts and hospitalizations. (npr.org)
- A round-up of recent research on Omicron severity. (theatlantic.com)
- How Omicron is showing up in web search data. (businessofbusiness.com)
Testing
- Major retailers are throttling the purchase of rapid tests. (nytimes.com)
- Why a negative antigen test despite symptoms could be a good thing. (slate.com)
- Another example of how the FDA throttled the introduction of rapid Covid tests. (propublica.org)
- Why wastewater testing provides earlier data than traditional tests. (wsj.com)
- PCR, rapid antigen and antibody tests provide very different information. (thelancet.com)
Antivirals
- The FDA has gave the Merck pill an EUA but for only in cases where other FDA-authorized Covid treatments are not accessible or clinically appropriate. (statnews.com)
- Why molnupiravir’s mutagenic mode of action could accelerate the chance of new variants. (newatlas.com)
- How Merck's ($MRK) new Covid antiviral pill came into being. (wsj.com)
- The UK is rolling out access to antivirals for those most at-risk. (newscientist.com)
Care
- The CDC has shortened shortened the isolation periods for health care workers who contract Covid-19. (nytimes.com)
- Ohio hospitals are begging people to get vaccinated. (washingtonpost.com)
- ERs are not ready for a further influx of Covid-19 patients. (theatlantic.com)
Work
- Airlines have been forced to cancel flights this holiday due to staff shortages. (cnn.com)
- Restaurants are once again closing due to staff being sick. (washingtonpost.com)
- Employers are having a hard time keeping up with changing mandates. (nytimes.com)
Immunity
- How killer T-cells keep us safe it antibodies don't do the job initially. (theatlantic.com)
- What is it about Delta that made it dominate the year? (sciencenews.org)
Podcasts
- Pablo Torre talks with ESPN’s Stephania Bell and Dr. Joseph Allen about how Omicron is coursing through pro sports. (podcasts.apple.com)
- Michael Covel talks with Gregory Zuckerman author of the new book "A Shot to Save the World: The Inside Story of the Life-or-Death Race for a COVID-19 Vaccine." (podcasts.apple.com)
Global
- China is sticking with a zero-Covid strategy. (economist.com)
- Can China lockdown its way past Omicron? (vox.com)
- Vaccine hesitancy is universal - the case of northern Italy. (nytimes.com)
- How Japan is avoiding the Omicron wave, for now. (washingtonpost.com)
- Covid anxiety is a global phenomenon. (nytimes.com)
