A coronavirus-focused linkfest is a weekly feature here at Abnormal Returns. Please stay safe, get a booster shot at a vaccination site near you. You can read last week’s edition here.
Quote of the Day
"If no one ever went out to a restaurant or threw a party again, we’d slow the spread of COVID as well as that of plenty of other infectious diseases. But that would be a cure worse than the disease."
(Yascha Mounk)
Vaccines
- Pfizer ($PFE) and the FDA have pushed out the time frame for a vaccine for the youngest children. (statnews.com)
- Booster shots had the biggest benefit among older adults. (nytimes.com)
- A universal coronavirus vaccine would be a health and economic boon, but is a ways off. (ft.com)
- Johnson & Johnson ($JNJ) is struggling to produce vaccine doses on schedule. (nytimes.com)
- Pfizer ($PFE) is flush with cash based on its pandemic successes. (bloomberg.com)
BA.2 variant
- It's not clear that the Covid-19 monoclonal antibody sotrovimab works against BA.2. (statnews.com)
- We are still learning about the BA.2 variant. (vox.com)
Treatments
- Paxlovid is game-changer, but getting to people in time is the challenge. (technologyreview.com)
- The FDA has authorized another Covid-19 monoclonal antibody treatment from Eil Lilly ($LLY). (statnews.com)
- How telemedicine is fueling the rise in ivermectin prescriptions. (npr.org)
Care
- Pay for traveling nurses has surged in pandemic. (wsj.com)
- Vaccine hesitancy has come for home health care. (theatlantic.com)
- Add pharmacists, and techs, to the list of burned out workers. (nytimes.com)
Data
- Over the past 4-6 weeks more people have been sick around the world any time since 1918. (wsj.com)
- Why is the U.S. seeing worse Covid outcomes than other parts of the world? (nymag.com)
- Why Delta hit rural America so hard. (sciencedaily.com)
Masking
- Mask mandates are scheduled to come off around the country. (wsj.com)
- Shifting popular opinion is driving the end of mask mandates. (washingtonpost.com)
- Vaccines trump masks, especially the way we did it in the U.S. (bloomberg.com)
- How to decide whether to go maskless. (washingtonpost.com)
- One-way masking can still be protective. (nbcnews.com)
Long Covid
- More clues on those individuals most at-risk of long Covid. (wsj.com)
- How long Covid is playing out in the real world, both good and bad. (statnews.com)
- Long Covid is putting a dent in the workforce. (ft.com)
- A model for thinking about long Covid including 'Long Covid is real, but less common than many worry it is.' (thezvi.substack.com)
Immunity
- More evidence that Vitamin D plays a role in Covid outcomes. (sciencedaily.com)
- Does repeated exposure to Covid without infection help bolster immunity? (wsj.com)
Research
- Why does Covid-19 cause a loss of smell and what does it tell us about the disease? (scientificamerican.com)
- Why Omicron was so contagious. (scientificamerican.com)
- Did Omicron come from mice? (newyorker.com)
Preparation
- The emergency phase of the pandemic is over. It's time to prepare for future shocks. (persuasion.community)
- The best pandemic policy is prevention, i.e. surveillance. (sciencedaily.com)
Moving on
- The 'moving on from Covid' crowd is growing. (washingtonpost.com)
- If you want to go to a bar, you can. (slate.com)
Global
- Can China ever reopen? (theatlantic.com)
- The Canadian truck protest isn't really about Covid any more. (vox.com)
Podcasts
- Scott Barry Kaufmann talks with Dr. Eric Topol about common Covid misconceptions. (scottbarrykaufman.com)
- Andy Slavitt talks with Caitlin Rivers, who is working to establish the new Center for Epidemic Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics at the CDC. (podcasts.apple.com)
