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News for January 26 — Global Cases Top 100 Million

Global cases top 100 million: https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/26/world/coronavirus-100-million-cases-intl/index.html . The US, with 4% of the world’s population, still has over 25% of the global cases one year in. WSJ: Vaccine supply boosted: https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-administration-officials-told-governors-they-will-increase-weekly-vaccine-allocations-to-states-11611693766 . The obvious benefits of a federal plan over no plan have been seen in the first week. Sea squirt chemical powerful COVID antiviral: …

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News for January 25 — Special Report: McConnell’s One-Man Filibuster

Merck halts vaccine development: https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2021/01/25/960294852/merck-stops-developing-both-of-its-covid-19-vaccine-candidates . Merck says the two vaccines were well-tolerated but do not produce an adequate immune response relative to other vaccines. WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/merck-scraps-covid-19-vaccine-candidates-11611575103 . WSJ: Vaccine delays in Europe: https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-vaccine-setbacks-damp-europes-prospects-for-normal-summer-11611597792 . Don’t plan your summer trip just yet. Brazilian variant found in Minnesota: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/25/minnesota-confirms-first-known-us-case-of-more-contagious-covid-variant-originally-found-in-brazil.html . Not a surprise, not good …

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News for January 24 — More ICUs Near Capacity

More ICUs near capacity: https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2021-01-24/virus-today-more-hospital-icus-edge-nearer-a-breaking-point . And 40% of Americans live near these ICUs: https://apnews.com/article/us-news-coronavirus-pandemic-faf144ff9442077a9f2bb292614e1342 . WSJ: California probes death hours after vaccination: https://www.wsj.com/articles/california-authorities-probe-death-of-person-who-received-covid-19-vaccine-hours-earlier-11611518487 . This sort of thing revs up the anti-vaxxers, regardless of what actually happened here. CDC reviews data indicating UK variant is deadlier: https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/23/health/uk-variant-cdc-review/index.html . The news media has been quoting …

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News for January 23 — Blockchain Technology Tracks Vaccines

Blockchain technology tracks vaccines in Britain: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-blockchain/british-hospitals-use-blockchain-to-track-covid-19-vaccines-idUSKBN29O0RJ?il=0 . This blockchain technology was built in part by a US firm: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/19/uk-hospitals-use-blockchain-to-track-coronavirus-vaccine-temperature.html . Vaccine centers across the US have run out of vaccine: https://abc7ny.com/how-to-get-covid-vaccinations-vaccine-shortage-aqueduct-race-track-queens-vaccination-site/9897578/ . To repeat, the Biden administration is starting from scratch in building a COVID plan. Alex Azar is a lying jerk. How many …

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News for January 22 — UK Variant Appears 30% Deadlier

UK variant appears 30% deadlier: https://news.yahoo.com/new-covid-strain-from-uk-appears-deadlier-as-well-as-more-contagious-boris-johnson-warns-222335556.html . As the UK variant is also estimated to be 70% more transmissible, this is particularly bad news. It thus becomes more urgent to vaccinate as many people as possible as soon as possible, in order to try to reduce the transmission rate. WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-u-k-covid-19-variant-could-be-more-deadly-british-officials-say-11611338370 . While a …

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News for January 21 — Biden’s New COVID Fight Plan

Biden’s new COVID fight plan: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-21/biden-ramps-up-covid-fight-with-orders-reversing-trump-policies . This is replacing no plan with a plan. It is targeted and thought out. It is federal action replacing bleach injection. Here is the National Strategy: https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/National-Strategy-for-the-COVID-19-Response-and-Pandemic-Preparedness.pdf . While the document has 200 pages, the strategy itself is 117 pages. The remainder is appendices. WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/bidens-covid-19-plan-more-gear-funding-testing-and-data-11611249250 . …

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News for January 20 — Vaccine Shortages; COVID-19 Registries

States report vaccine shortages: https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-vaccine-update-f1b8967b6a077d89d21134f4eac069f6 . Hawaii is one example: https://www.staradvertiser.com/2021/01/20/hawaii-news/isle-vaccine-shortage-stymies-mass-rollout/ . South African variant unaffected by monoclonal antibody treatments: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-safrica-variant/new-covid-19-variant-defeats-plasma-treatment-may-reduce-vaccine-efficacy-idUSKBN29P2HJ . This is not good, obviously. COVID-19 registries: https://www.heart.org/en/news/2021/01/20/covid-19-registries-offer-lessons-beyond-the-coronavirus . COVID has stimulated medical research in a variety of ways. Virus mutations may dampen vaccine effectiveness: https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-coronavirus-vaccine-845ef3fed4125ab271f6b5de641aae1a . Virus mutations worry experts: https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/new-versions-of-the-coronavirus-worry-experts/5743738.html . …

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News for January 19 — US COVID Deaths Exceed 400,000

US COVID death toll tops 400,000 as Trump leaves office: https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-public-health-tulsa-oklahoma-florida-56b56d4848bbe5b41060e7b3a5e459bb . This and the Capitol insurrection will be Orange Julius’ legacy, which will continue to decline as his incompetence and corruption becomes clearer to his followers. When the COVID death toll passes the WWII total in the next few days, this pandemic will be …

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News for January 18 — Strain Catalog; Origin of COVID-19

Strain catalog – UK variant – B.1.1.7; South African strain – 501.V2; South American/Brazilian strain – P.1 . Here is reporting on P.1: https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/01/new-coronavirus-variants-could-cause-more-reinfections-require-updated-vaccines . Fourth new strain identified in California – L452R – originally detected in Denmark: https://deadline.com/2021/01/another-new-covid-19-variant-in-l-a-vaccine-resistant-denmark-1234675834/ . This Denmark strain also shows mutations in the virus spike. This raises concerns that this …

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News for January 17 — Vaccination Logistics; Wuhan Timeline

WSJ: The basics of vaccination logistics: https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-vaccine-what-you-need-to-know-when-you-get-the-shot-11610895600 . This is a primer for a citizen getting their two-dose vaccine. Doctors second-guess COVID drugs: https://www.statnews.com/2021/01/15/are-more-people-surviving-covid-19-because-doctors-are-doing-less/ . Steroids may be the only effective drug. WSJ: The mutations challenge monoclonal antibody drugs: https://www.wsj.com/articles/companies-race-to-develop-drugs-that-stay-ahead-of-coronavirus-mutations-11610892001 . Sigh. The comments about increased viral load increasing the chance of viable mutations are …

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