WSJ: Vaccine distribution hurdles: https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-covid-19-vaccine-when-will-it-be-available-for-you-11606339361 . Vaccine distribution’s last-mile challenge: https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-vaccines-face-last-mile-challenge-to-reach-most-vulnerable-11607633456 .
FDA panel approves Pfizer vaccine: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/pfizer-s-covid-19-vaccine-receives-key-fda-panel-recommendation-n1250692 . It is disappointing that the vote was 17-4-1, and we don’t know the reasons for the 4 “no” votes. Apparently it has to do with recommending vaccination now for 16 and 17-year-olds. The allergy warning may also be involved. This lack of transparency will only encourage vaccine skepticism. WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/fda-advisory-panel-takes-up-pfizer-biontech-covid-19-vaccine-11607596201 .
FDA report on Pfizer vaccine: https://www.vice.com/en/article/93w3j8/pfizers-covid-vaccine-just-got-an-a-from-the-fda . Here is the 53-page report: https://www.fda.gov/media/144245/download .
Moderna begins vaccine trials for adolescents: https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2020-12-10/moderna-begins-trials-of-coronavirus-vaccine-in-adolescents .
“Rank has its privileges” in COVID care: https://www.yahoo.com/now/trump-promised-covid-19-drug-free-for-all-americans-his-friends-got-it-first-224543124.html . At least we’re not wasting the drugs on the nobodies identified as priorities through medical protocol.
CDC Director: Daily COVID-19 deaths likely to exceed 9/11 or Pearl Harbor deaths for the next 60 days: https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/529709-cdc-director-us-covid-19-deaths-likely-to-exceed-9-11-toll-for-60-days . 2,900 people died on 9/11; 2,400 died at Pearl Harbor. Meanwhile, another scandal touches the Director: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/10/cdc-redfield-email-house-watchdog-444238 . WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-many-people-have-had-covid-19-across-the-u-s-11607623862 .
1/3 of US hospitals near full ICU’s: https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/10/health/us-coronavirus-thursday/index.html . Things are the worst they’ve been and unfortunately will continue to worsen.
WSJ: Australia scraps a vaccine candidate: https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-vaccine-candidate-scrapped-after-false-positives-on-hiv-tests-11607646446 . The vaccine created false positives on certain HIV tests.
WSJ: Sputnik V failing to achieve orbit: https://www.wsj.com/articles/russia-struggles-to-make-promised-doses-of-its-sputnik-v-vaccine-11607601609 . Production capabilities should be considered early on in the vaccine development process.
COVID-19 mortality double among Native Americans: https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2020-12-10/covid-mortality-twice-as-high-among-native-americans-than-whites .
US COVID deaths pass WWII combat fatalities: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2020/12/10/covid-news-pfizer-vaccine-review-california-texas/3870677001/ . Total US WWII fatalities were 405,000. Unfortunately, we are likely to pass that milestone by Inauguration Day (January 20, 41 days from now).
WSJ: We literally don’t know anything about COVID: https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-many-people-have-had-covid-19-across-the-u-s-11607623862 . NO!!! WSJ used cases. Infections are 5 to 10 times cases. The most-used multiplier recently is 8.
Will Birx be back?: https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-donald-trump-politics-pandemics-public-health-a1ba8edc7da9bef0c08df15c099ecf8c . This article seems to indirectly answer the question. Apparently she is a long-term civil servant and therefore has some protections. The question then becomes what her role looks like. Reduced public visibility seems certain. The question is whether she keeps her AIDS role.
In consulting we are often faced with giving the client uncomfortable news. Dr. Birx unfortunately chose to compromise her integrity. Whether or not that kept her in place with Trump, she failed the public. This is not a Biden issue, it is a Birx issue. This is also why civil servants should have some protection. But if I were Biden, I would likely move her out of visible roles. She probably understands that, which is why allowing this maneuvering to become public is another mistake.
Bloomberg vaccine tracker: https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/covid-vaccine-tracker-global-distribution/ . Nice graphics, and some information I haven’t seen presented in this manner before.
USA Today’s COVID journal: https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/2020/12/10/how-u-s-failed-meet-coronavirus-pandemic-challenge/3507121001/ . This is well-done, in-depth and thoughtful. It is also heartbreaking. The personal stories bring home the pain the pandemic has caused so many.
What Rudy is spreading is not cheer: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/michigan-house-says-almost-30-members-staffers-tested-positive-covid-n1250610 . Lock him up, save lives.
Animal susceptibility to COVID: https://scitechdaily.com/ferrets-cats-civets-and-dogs-most-susceptible-to-sars-cov-2-coronavirus-infection-after-humans/ . Minks seem highly susceptible.
COVID-19 began in late autumn in Europe: https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3113444/coronavirus-italian-scientists-find-perfect-match-wuhan-strain . One expects the Chinese will now argue that it’s the Milan virus.
Weekly jobless claims jump to 853,000: https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-economy/wrapup-2-us-weekly-jobless-claims-surge-as-covid-19-infections-spiral-idUSL1N2IP2DJ . Where the hell is the stimulus/relief/whatever package? We do not need more evidence of how much people are hurting. More: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/jobless-claims-surge-to-3-month-high-coronavirus-trigging-more-layoffs-11607607903 . A good discussion of the data issues we face.
Up … down … up … down: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/chances-covid-19-relief-compromise-grow-dimmer/story?id=74662087 . Why do the people’s business when election lies are so much easier? WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-aid-bill-negotiators-seek-compromise-on-liability-shield-11607627924 .
WSJ: Recovery sags: https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-recovery-will-cool-further-before-getting-vaccine-boost-wsj-survey-shows-11607612401 .
Consumer sentiment plummets: https://www.usnews.com/news/economy/articles/2020-12-10/consumer-sentiment-takes-a-dive-as-congress-bickers-over-covid-19-relief .
WSJ: Facebook antitrust focus on acquisitions: https://www.wsj.com/articles/zuckerbergs-deal-making-for-facebook-is-central-to-antitrust-cases-11607596201 . This legal theory would seem to require demonstration of an ongoing pattern designed to choke out competition. This is a high bar against an extremely well-funded opponent.
The knives are out for Bill Barr: https://www.wsj.com/articles/barr-worked-to-keep-hunter-biden-probes-from-public-view-during-election-11607653188 . This is traditional policy, although violated by Jim Comey last time around. But it’s a useful scapegoating technique to punish Barr for not finding election fraud.
McConnell breaks with Trump to urge passage of defence(sp) act: https://toronto.citynews.ca/2020/12/10/in-break-with-trump-mcconnell-urges-passage-of-defence-bill/ (link replaced 3/16/21). Wait, here’s the original from AP: https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-bills-mitch-mcconnell-defense-policy-1dc4c15111e050d6fb0818de538bcfc6 . These Canucks took correct American and converted it to some unintelligible European gobbledygook. They must be Commies – no wonder their flag is red!
WSJ: Boris fiddles as UK’s relevance burns: https://www.wsj.com/articles/as-brexit-deadline-looms-eu-offers-plan-to-reduce-border-disruption-11607618325 .
WSJ: A billion Americans?: https://www.wsj.com/articles/one-billion-americans-review-more-people-fewer-problems-11607295232 . I haven’t read the book and don’t intend to. The thinking as described is pretty shallow, as is the review. But there is considerable value in thinking about the big picture, and I encourage you to do so. Here are a few thoughts on the matter.
Tripling the population makes no sense – it’s right up there with dying for the economy during COVID. Also, world population is expected to level off and start declining later this century. This idea thus involves us taking on a significantly increased percentage of the world’s population.
We already struggle mightily with population influx in Oregon. As I have previously pointed out, population density is a misleading measure in the West, where so much property is owned by the government. However, I can say unequivocally that tripling the population here would destroy both our quality of life and the very nature of our outdoors.
The US is going to have immigration from the south for some time to come, legal and illegal. We do need secure borders, just not the irrational physical wall concept. A “smart” wall is preferable to a physical wall in every way – more effective, much cheaper, less destructive to the environment and land rights. We should also police our northern border with Canada – again, electronically rather than through physical construction. (This was written before the “defence” note above, just FYI.)
We need rational immigration policy – which means a path to citizenship not only for the dreamers but for all undocumented residents. Future policy should have a significant merit-based component. Much of America’s economic health has come from industrious and/or well-educated immigrants. Free perspective, and a quicker read than the book or the review.
Growth by birth: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-55226098 . Population growth (or contraction) by “individual action”.
Mo Brooks wants to force vote on electors: https://www.politico.com/newsletters/huddle/2020/12/02/the-gops-electoral-mischief-491033 . Is this guy posturing to run for Shelby’s Alabama Senate seat if Shelby retires? Brooks is 66, so a little younger than I am. Even still, this fruitcake is well past the pull date.
A little research catches Republicans’ vote fraud evidence as a fraud: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/heres-what-happened-when-a-georgia-lawmaker-scrutinized-the-trump-campaigns-list-of-allegedly-illegal-votes/ar-BB1bPtnW?li=BBnb7Kz . Again, the incompetence of these Trump loyalists is just stunning. The only explanation is, “Any publicity is good publicity when the test is blind loyalty”.
George Conway is back: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/george-conway-writes-op-ed-calling-trumps-effort-to-overturn-the-election-the-true-big-fraud-of-2020/ar-BB1bPbLh?li=BBnb7Kz . The Lincoln Project lives on.
The “infodemic”: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/democrats-urge-biden-to-address-infodemic-of-covid-19-disinformation-misinformation/ar-BB1bP5SO?li=BBnb7Kz . It is my view that Trump is not just a threat to democracy. More centrally, he is a threat to civilization. Actuaries are not needed if facts don’t matter. https://www.courant.com/politics/hc-pol-q-poll-republicans-believe-fraud-20201210-pcie3uqqvrhyvnt7geohhsyepe-story.html . The existential question: is this representative democracy when a huge percentage of voters are unable to tell truth from fiction?
Here is a (non-actuarial) rebuttal of this lunacy: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/12/10/fact-check-ludicrous-statistical-analysis-supporting-pro-trump-case/3877743001/ . There is a less than a 1 in a quadrillion chance that Dr. Cicchetti is honest. Should his PhD be revoked?
Media in China: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/china-wuhan-zhang-zhan-chinese-citizen-journalist-detained-may-not-survive/ . What we inherited from the founders, with all its imperfections, has been the hope of the world for almost 250 years.