The vaccine-variant race: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/09/top-international-health-officials-worry-about-new-covid-variants-that-may-be-able-to-evade-vaccines.html . Note that we were estimating herd immunity at 90% before emergence of the Indian (Delta) variant. That estimate should be raised to 92% to 95%. It appears that the US will have slow vaccination growth beyond 70%.
As such, we remain at considerable risk of ongoing outbreaks, particularly in areas with low vaccination rates. Those areas are predominantly rural, with a concentration in the Deep South. Note also that our genomic sequencing rate for new infections is an absurdly low 1.6%.
WSJ: More on the Delta variant’s spread: https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-variant-first-found-in-india-is-quickly-spreading-across-globe-11623257849 .
COVID vaccinations and myocarditis: https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/09/health/myocarditis-covid-vaccination-link-clearer/index.html .
COVID antibody therapy effective for organ transplant recipients: https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/newsmd/coronavirus/7066090-Mayo-study-finds-COVID-19-antibody-therapy-safe-effective-for-organ-transplant-recipients .
WSJ: The status of the J&J vaccine: https://www.wsj.com/articles/j-j-ceo-says-covid-19-vaccine-will-be-important-tool-to-contain-pandemic-11623254844 .
US heart disease and diabetes deaths climbed in 2020: https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-diabetes-science-heart-disease-health-213fe132f33c9428ea39274ffb96aa01 . “Excess deaths” continues to be our best measure of deaths from COVID. However, there are important limitations on this statistic.
Latest news from CDC on Pfizer, Moderna vaccine efficacy: https://www.deseret.com/coronavirus/2021/6/9/22525848/mrna-pfizer-moderna-covid-19-vaccines-effectiveness .
US buying 500 million Pfizer vaccine doses to donate to 92 poorer countries through COVAX: https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-coronavirus-pandemic-g-7-summit-health-government-and-politics-7009b0d0e8df4897d1827909611c2155 . WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-to-donate-500-million-covid-19-vaccine-doses-to-lower-income-countries-11623263573 .
The cost of having COVID is going up: https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2021-06-09/why-a-covid-diagnosis-could-cost-you-way-more-money-in-2021 . As anyone can tell you, insurers constantly look for ways to pay less in claims. That worldview is now coming to COVID.
Scientist returns to a scientific approach to the origins of COVID: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/09/leading-biologist-dampens-his-smoking-gun-covid-lab-leak-theory .
Twenty-four states scale back COVID data reporting: https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/09/health/us-coronavirus-wednesday/index.html . It would help to have a list of these states. All of the states mentioned as scaling back data have Republican governors. WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/reduced-u-s-covid-19-data-reporting-worries-some-health-experts-11623255799 . This article suggests Johns Hopkins may have created the list.
Pharmacist who spoiled vaccines sentenced to prison: https://abcnews.go.com/US/pharmacist-sentenced-prison-tampering-covid-19-vaccines/story?id=78149528 . It turns out he’s tampered with vaccines multiple times in the past. He is properly an ex-pharmacist.
Data scientist not running against Matt Gaetz: https://www.wfla.com/news/politics/florida-covid-whistleblower-rebekah-jones-says-she-plans-to-run-against-rep-matt-gaetz/ . Jones has her own problems with veracity: https://news.yahoo.com/twitter-suspends-fraudulent-covid-whistleblower-172804851.html .
Washington’s “Joints for Jabs” suffering failure to launch: https://apnews.com/article/washington-lifestyle-coronavirus-pandemic-business-government-and-politics-5b24a89f691f1760a4b16576ed22cb27 . This seemed poorly thought out, and that is proving to be true.
Be careful out there: https://news.yahoo.com/airline-travel-horror-stories-mount-as-americans-pack-the-not-so-friendly-skies-212428365.html . Another mess is the rental car system: https://www.consumerreports.org/car-rentals/rental-car-shortage-workarounds-a4170490640/ .
Record job openings: https://news.yahoo.com/job-openings-hit-record-high-in-april-152700137.html . The more interesting statistic is that voluntary quits also reached an all-time record high. This latter statistic is a harder statistic (it counts an actual quit) than posted openings, which may or may not result in a job. Also, some portion of the record openings is being driven by the record quits. Again, my view is that we are undergoing an historic dislocation. Wages are under market, and it is the employers who must adjust.
The eviction cliff is 3 weeks away: https://money.yahoo.com/no-solution-in-sight-as-renters-landlords-face-eviction-cliff-on-june-30-163036876.html . Even waving the magic wand of another deferral will not solve this problem, it will just defer it. And the size of the problem has grown with each deferral.
WSJ: The JBS ransomware ransom was $11 million: https://www.wsj.com/articles/jbs-paid-11-million-to-resolve-ransomware-attack-11623280781 .
Keystone Pipeline officially dead: https://sg.news.yahoo.com/blocked-biden-canadian-company-drops-000544541.html . The activists won. Kind of inspiring … More: https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/big-oil-never-lost-a-fight-like-this-mckibben-on-the-death-of-the-keystone-xl-pipeline-114579525735 . WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-is-the-keystone-xl-pipeline-and-why-did-president-biden-issue-an-executive-order-to-block-it-11611240342 .
GOP brain waves officially dead: https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/2021/06/09/doctor-sherri-tenpenny-testimony-ohio-lawmakers-vaccines-magnetized-5-g/7616027002/ . Even in the land of screwball conspiracy theories, this is bizarre.
Salon: Orange Julius is not delusional: https://www.salon.com/2021/06/09/no-trumps-not-delusional–its-actually-much-worse-than-that/ . The argument here is that Orange Julius is a megalomaniac trying to hang onto power in the face of massive legal jeopardy. It is a very convincing analysis.
Ken Paxton, Texas AG, is in even more trouble, if that’s possible: https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-joe-biden-us-supreme-court-texas-election-2020-071cd81a1447f17bfd115edffc4ff456 .
WSJ: Unwinding the TikTok stupidities: https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-revokes-trump-actions-targeting-tiktok-wechat-11623247225 .
WSJ: The politics of the global corporate minimum tax deal: https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-g-7s-global-tax-deal-faces-a-china-test-11623241054 .
Should COVID-positive athletes just play through?: https://sports.yahoo.com/could-sports-leagues-soon-let-athletes-play-through-covid-19-222013859.html . No. Hell no. No one would give this a second thought if the player involved was not leading the tournament. Rahm was foolish not to get vaccinated, or in the alternative to self-isolate. So, the result was he got infected, and under the rules had to withdraw. There is nothing here that calls for adjustment.
Golf fans know that Roberto De Vicenzo, the famous Argentine golfer, signed an incorrect scorecard at the 1968 Masters. At the time, he had completed the tournament tied with Bob Goalby and was headed to a playoff: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_Masters_Tournament . The Masters is a bigger deal than the Memorial, and we’re talking the fourth round, not the third. The writer doesn’t understand COVID, but he also doesn’t know golf. No sale.
Bill Nye the Science Guy: The world is on fire: https://news.yahoo.com/bill-nye-to-congress-im-scared-too-about-climate-change-205114192.html . Global warming is also implicated in the pandemic: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/c-change/subtopics/coronavirus-and-climate-change/ .
WSJ: James Harden was traded for a sixth-grader: https://www.wsj.com/articles/james-harden-nets-bucks-nba-playoffs-11623203513 . This is a hilarious headline. It does point out that some teams mortgage their future to be competitive now.