California COVID deaths top 70,000: https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2021-10-11/california-coronavirus-death-count-tops-70-000-as-cases-fall . Sigh. It is not helpful to have a statistics-laden article written by someone who does not understand statistics. Here is the bottom line: California has 11.8% of the US population (39 million/331 million). It has 9.5% of the US COVID deaths (70,000/734,611). Texas and Florida together have 15.3% of the US population (50.7 million/331 million). They have 16.9% of the US COVID deaths (124,000/734,611). Who is doing worse? And those results directly reflect the insane policies of Abbott and Costello-DeMentis. They’re mass murderers, you idiot.
The article itself contains most of the statistics pointing to the obvious answer. So the writer literally has no idea what he is talking about.
Meanwhile, Abbott tattoos an “L” on his forehead: https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2021-10-11/texas-governor-orders-ban-on-private-company-vaccine-mandate . No, this does not set off a big legal battle. Abbott loses. As this newsletter has pointed out previously, Biden cleverly has promulgated these regulations through the Department of Labor, which we know has regulatory authority over work conditions (OSHA). The Texas governor cannot contravene a federal regulation by executive order, or even by action of the state legislature. Texas is toast under the federal supremacy clause (US Constitution, Article 6, Paragraph 2). WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/texas-governor-bans-covid-19-vaccine-mandates-for-employees-11633998245 .
School re-openings generate quarantines: https://news.yahoo.com/poll-nearly-a-quarter-of-us-parents-say-covid-has-forced-their-kids-to-quarantine-this-school-year-204700278.html . So this was entirely foreseeable. It has to be incredibly disruptive for family life.
WSJ: The Medicare drug pricing debate continues: https://www.wsj.com/articles/medicare-drug-pricing-debate-pits-savings-against-innovation-11633953600 . Remember, the US government has funded a lot of COVID research. So price the drugs appropriately. Then have the US government fund drug research as requested. There currently is no obvious tie between the prices Medicare pays for drugs and the drug companies’ research budgets.
Merck requests EUA for Molnupiravir COVID use: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-19-pill-merck-fda-molnupiravir/ . Here is the company’s release: https://www.merck.com/news/merck-and-ridgebacks-investigational-oral-antiviral-molnupiravir-reduced-the-risk-of-hospitalization-or-death-by-approximately-50-percent-compared-to-placebo-for-patients-with-mild-or-moderat/ . See also recent pricing concerns here. WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/merck-asks-fda-to-authorize-promising-covid-19-pill-11633946402 .
AstraZeneca touts its COVID antibody drug: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/10/11/astrazeneca-drug-reduces-risk-of-severe-symptoms-or-death-by-50 .
Moderna won’t share its vaccine recipe: https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-technology-business-united-nations-europe-d4aff7ddb273194b312354a57c244ce6 . This is the natural response from a corporation, and completely justified if they can in fact rapidly scale their production.
WSJ: Pfizer is world’s preferred vaccine: https://www.wsj.com/articles/pfizer-biontech-covid-19-vaccine-is-worlds-preferred-shot-11633950181 . Probably not. The statistics consistently indicate that the Moderna vaccine is more effective than Pfizer. However, the US has consistently approved Pfizer requests before Moderna’s.
I believe it is more accurate to say that Pfizer and Moderna will be the preferred vaccines post-pandemic, with Johnson & Johnson maintaining its niche as a one-shot vaccine. However, AstraZeneca has had a number of missteps that has left it lagging in this race. As to China, Russia, India, and all the other competitors, after the pandemic fuhgeddaboudit post-pandemic outside of their home countries.
Declining vaccine effectiveness over time: https://www.abc.net.au/news/health/2021-10-12/covid-vaccine-immunity-waning-but-by-how-much/100019844 . The Australian view is promulgated to an audience in a country that emphasized lockdowns over vaccination. As we’ve stated countless times, vaccine efficacy is a complicated topic. While preventing severe illness is important, increasing infection rates obviously lead to the spread of this very infectious disease. Get vaccinated, get the booster when recommended, and have a nice warm cup of shut the hell up.
WSJ: Do vaccines help fight long COVID?: https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-clues-emerge-about-whether-vaccines-can-help-fight-long-covid-11633957200 . The information in this article is pretty tentative. However, the comment about a placebo effect for an autoimmune disease seems off-base. Long COVID is not a psychosomatic illness.
Russia’s COVID surge continues: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/russias-new-covid-19-infections-deaths-near-all-time-highs . This article gives confirming details of Russia’s underreporting of COVID deaths.
Voter registration misbehavior in Georgia’s Fulton County: https://apnews.com/article/atlanta-georgia-voter-registration-elections-b3f140bcadaf8eaf4b82ec7bbfb94554 . As we note frequently, stupidity knows no bounds. Given the checks that are in place in the handling of voter registrations, how did these two expect to destroy applications undetected? And the county is already under investigation. This story does not add up. I will watch for updates.
Self-described “rational Republicans” encourage other Republicans to vote Democratic: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/some-gop-officials-are-urging-republican-voters-to-back-democrats-in-2022-to-save-the-party-from-pro-trump-extremists/ar-AAPoNYw?li=BBnb7Kz . Here is yet another sign of how the GOP has been replaced by the party of Orange Julius. And while I can appreciate their defense of Liz Cheney, she’s got a snowball’s chance in hell – I mean, Wyoming.
AP wanders into sensationalized content: https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-joe-biden-us-supreme-court-congress-capitol-siege-13803c23a094992233df3b6880d2808b . So Biden’s waiver of executive privilege relating to the January 6 insurrection is not that risky. At least the authors had the decency to quote a law professor who says as much. But the precedent will only apply to the next time a president foments an insurrection against Congress. Seriously, it is well past time to lock Orange Julius up.
WSJ: KKR founders step down: https://www.wsj.com/articles/kkr-co-ceos-henry-kravis-and-george-roberts-step-down-11633950001 . Kravis and Roberts are cousins who went through Claremont McKenna College together in the mid 1960’s. Their pioneering approach to leveraged buyouts made them incredibly wealthy. They in turn made CMC the mostly highly endowed college per capita in the US (and probably the world).
Southwest cancellation saga continues: https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-business-travel-airlines-2a099f47993c0833c8a7104e1e46af0d . WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/southwest-airlines-cancels-hundreds-more-flights-following-weekend-disruption-11633961221 . So is their new slogan “We’ll fly if we can get a crew there?” This really is a remarkable and ongoing misstep for a previously reliable airline.
WSJ: China property developer contagion spreads: https://www.wsj.com/articles/chinese-developer-modern-land-asks-to-delay-bond-repayment-11633929338 . And meanwhile, the silence on Evergrande continues.
WSJ: Nobel Prize in Economics goes to three Americans for labor market theories: https://www.wsj.com/articles/nobel-economics-prize-awarded-to-david-card-joshua-d-angrist-and-guido-w-imbens-11633947212 . Um, this work is not too impressive. We didn’t need a study to tell us those who were drafted into Vietnam earned less over time than those who didn’t go. The draft was a massive incentive for young men to stay in college and retain their student deferment.