Adult vaccine eligibility by April 19: https://news.yahoo.com/biden-all-us-adults-eligible-for-covid-19-vaccination-on-april-19-233403632.html . Biden is doing just what he said: Underpromise and overdeliver. It is the exact opposite of his predecessor. WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-to-say-all-u-s-adults-should-be-eligible-to-receive-covid-19-vaccine-by-april-19-11617711281 .
Should you laminate your vaccination card?: https://www.deseret.com/u-s-world/2021/4/6/22369747/what-you-need-to-know-about-your-coronavirus-vaccine-card-laminate-passport-florida . According to this article, yes.
Nearly half of US cases in 5 states: https://apnews.com/article/nearly-half-us-coronavirus-infections-come-from-5-states-53888dc78894cc76cb1bb50f8300f102 . Interestingly, California and Texas are not on this list. One wonders how the sold-out Texas Rangers’ opener yesterday might affect the list in two weeks.
Latest data indicates US faces a fourth wave: https://www.popsci.com/story/health/coronavirus-stats/ . Michigan is noted as a serious problem.
Michigan gripped by fourth wave: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-michigan-cases/michigan-coronavirus-cases-at-record-tops-daily-tally-among-u-s-states-idUSKBN2BT0N0 . We seem doomed to keep repeating this story. We can only hope that the vaccines are effective against the variants, or that boosters will be rapidly and readily available.
COVID raises risks for mental and neurological disorders: https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/covid-boosts-risks-for-mental-neurological-disorders-in-study/ar-BB1fmKVq?li=BBnb7Kz . Once the pandemic is controlled, we may be left with millions suffering long-term health problems.
Did the White House know of the manufacturing problems at Emergent?: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-and-biden-teams-were-warned-months-ago-about-troubled-vaccine-plant/ar-BB1fmT8r?li=BBnb7Kz . Apparently so. This would explain why Biden so quickly ordered J&J to run the plant.
Moderna vaccine to roll out in the UK: https://thehill.com/policy/international/europe/546830-uk-to-roll-out-moderna-vaccine . AstraZeneca now has competition in Europe. WSJ: Moderna vaccine production to double at subcontractor: https://www.wsj.com/articles/moderna-covid-19-vaccine-production-to-double-at-contract-manufacturer-catalent-11617703203 .
AstraZeneca pauses vaccine trial in children as clotting issues are pursued: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-britain-vaccine/oxford-pauses-dosing-in-trial-of-astrazeneca-covid-19-vaccine-in-children-teenagers-wsj-idUSKBN2BT2GY . WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/oxford-pauses-dosing-in-trial-of-astrazeneca-covid-19-vaccine-in-children-teenagers-11617729303 . There was no choice but to pause. Still, this vaccine has been pummeled by missteps.
WSJ: More on the J&J vaccine: https://www.wsj.com/articles/j-js-covid-19-vaccine-how-effective-is-it-and-when-will-it-be-available-11611940438 .
WSJ: Vaccine developed by Army moves to early trials: https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-vaccine-developed-by-u-s-army-begins-human-testing-11617706803 . How did the Army develop a vaccine? Is this from the biological warfare unit?
CDC urged Walgreens to change its scheduling of Pfizer second dose: https://bestlifeonline.com/news-cdc-walgreens-vaccine/ . This certainly provides a different perspective on yesterday’s story on this matter.
The coffee test for COVID-19: https://sprudge.com/coffee-may-be-able-to-identify-if-you-have-the-coronavirus-176792.html .
WSJ: Synthetic data technology: https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-people-in-this-medical-research-are-fake-the-innovations-are-real-11617717623 . To get real-time data without violating patient privacy, this technology takes real patient data and scrambles certain details to create an artificial data set (with no identifiable patient data) which mimics the real data.
WSJ: Norwegian Cruise Lines pitches vaccinated cruises to CDC: https://www.wsj.com/articles/vaccine-requirements-could-be-a-booster-for-norwegian-cruise-lines-11617705000 .
The variant nightmare is playing out in Canada: https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/06/americas/canada-covid-19-variants-spread/index.html. Our vaccination levels are not yet high enough to prevent a similar result here. Hopefully the vaccination levels of the elderly will reduce the death toll. WSJ: Brazilian variant spreading in British Columbia: https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-variant-from-brazil-has-taken-hold-in-canada-11617729538 .
Toronto suspends in-person classes: https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2021/04/07/984929584/toronto-suspends-in-person-class-as-cases-surge-in-canadas-most-populous-provinc .
EU expects herd immunity by the end of June: https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/public-global-health/546676-eu-expecting-herd-immunity-by-end-of-june-report . Ridiculous. The EU is way behind us in vaccinations. The rollout of AstraZeneca, their main vaccine, is very slow. AstraZeneca offers only 10% protection against the South African variant. Children will not even start vaccination by the end of June. And herd immunity is very difficult to achieve. This report must have been written with an eye to politics rather than science.
WSJ: Chinese travel cranks up: https://www.wsj.com/articles/with-recent-covid-19-wave-under-control-chinese-consumers-spend-on-travel-11617707456 . Somehow I don’t think tomb sweeping will catch on as a holiday here.
WSJ: The Suez Canal blockage stories will never die: https://www.wsj.com/articles/from-beer-to-flat-pack-furniture-suez-blockage-offers-a-global-trade-snapshot-11617739499 .
The coming rift over vaccine passports: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/06/us/politics/vaccine-passports-coronavirus.html (link replaced 5/31/21).
Abbott follows DeMentis in banning vaccine passports: https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2021-04-06/texas-gov-greg-abbott-issues-executive-order-banning-coronavirus-vaccine-passports .
Arkansas lawmakers override governor’s veto and limit transgender healthcare: https://apnews.com/article/arkansas-lawmakers-enact-transgender-youth-treatment-ban-dce1d5ca9450b255caabc18f547f7b9b . Federal courts will strike this down.
The rich get richer: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-forbes-worldsbillionaires/bezos-musk-top-forbes-record-setting-billionaire-list-idUSKBN2BT1A7 . We learn that 2,755 billionaires are worth a combined $13.7 trillion, a number that is roughly 70% of the US GDP. This concentration of wealth is an excess of capitalism that does not serve humanity.
WSJ: Record-low Ivy League acceptance rates: https://www.wsj.com/articles/ivy-league-acceptance-rates-fall-to-record-lows-due-to-covid-19-11617767857 . This reflects both a surge in applications and class slots occupied by those admitted last year who elected to take a gap year.
White House hammers Republican’s portrayal of Georgia voting law: https://www.yahoo.com/news/white-house-pushes-back-on-conservative-argument-over-georgia-colorado-voting-laws-amid-mlb-dispute-204944498.html . And the question was asked by Fox: https://thehill.com/homenews/media/546802-jen-psaki-refutes-fox-news-reporter-on-claim-colorado-and-georgias-voting-laws . Baseball was smart enough to move the All-Star game to a state that encourages voting and has high turnout. Republicans are trying to defend an Edsel they built themselves. Do they think Democrats can’t read? Baseball just no-hit the Republican Party.
McConnell hit by pitch: https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-politics-mlb-baseball-voting-rights-3560226607d89796a8123a2c19da5348 . McConnell has taken the opposite position in the past: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/mitch-mcconnell-reminded-of-citizens-united-backing-after-warning-to-ceos/ar-BB1flj72?li=BBnb7Kz .
McConnell clarifies his threat: don’t stop contributing, just stop talking: https://www.salon.com/2021/04/06/im-not-talking-about-political-contributions-mcconnell-adds-important-caveat-to-corporate-threat/ . HaHaHaHaHa. This is so ridiculous.
WSJ: Suspect in Van Gogh thefts arrested: https://www.wsj.com/articles/dutch-police-arrest-suspect-in-van-gogh-heist-11617735240 . The two paintings have not been located.