Moderna’s new bivalent COVID vaccine: https://www.audacy.com/knxnews/news/national/moderna-says-it-has-a-new-better-bivalent-covid-vaccine . “Bivalent” means the vaccine stimulates an immune response against two different antigens. An antigen is a molecular structure which stimulates the body’s immune system to respond. So, while the article does not say so, you’d think this means two different snippets of coronavirus mRNA. That would explain the comment about combining the current Moderna COVID vaccine with its Omicron-specific vaccine.
COVID medications underutilized: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/effective-treatments-for-covid-are-now-available-why-are-they-not-being-used/ar-AAWoEwc?li=BBnb7Kz .
DOJ appeals judge’s travel mask mandate ban: https://apnews.com/article/health-travel-florida-public-centers-for-disease-control-and-prevention-918c37c5fc5e250f84f4f6cbf77bbcec . So the question is, what’s the law? Plane travel is interstate commerce and clearly within federal authority. The judge involved lacks both experience and ability. OJ nominated her after he LOST the election. She was rated “not qualified” by the ABA, obviously for good reason. Florida is in the Eleventh Circuit, so we’ll see how they rule on this appeal. And putting unqualified partisans on the federal bench is really disgraceful.
Most Americans still want the mask mandate for travelers: https://apnews.com/article/covid-business-health-travel-lifestyle-df8d9d7e46db0b9a85e29ac762a41a51 . Will stupid policy and ideas ever dent the GOP faithful?
COVID increased US wealth inequality: https://www.usnews.com/news/economy/articles/2022-04-20/pew-covid-19-hurt-lower-and-middle-income-americans-the-most-as-middle-class-shrinks-over-past-50-years . And we were one of the most unequal nations in the world before the pandemic.
DOJ charges 21 people nationwide with $150 million in COVID fraud: https://apnews.com/article/covid-health-theft-medicare-e70c300a492ede5859b3f127a3f8ed97 . So this is a huge average of $7 million in fraud per case. However, 1 California case involves $144 million in false Medicare billings, meaning the other 20 are charged with $6 million in fraud, or a $300,000 average per case. So almost all of these cases are small time, which you don’t learn from the headline. WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/alleged-covid-19-fraud-schemes-totaling-150-million-draw-criminal-charges-11650468618 .
While COVID cases increase in North America, they are declining in South America: https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2022-04-20/covid-cases-down-in-the-americas-even-as-north-america-faces-increase-paho . Remember that US data grossly understates cases due to the non-reporting of at-home test results.
Masks mandatory again in India’s capital: https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2022-04-20/delhi-makes-masks-mandatory-again-after-covid-cases-rise .
China’s COVID numbers raise more questions: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/shanghais-low-covid-death-toll-revives-questions-about-chinas-numbers/ar-AAWoJcx?li=BBnb7Kz . More: https://apnews.com/article/covid-science-business-health-shanghai-76bb35f8313f60258baa83460efdc14c . Still more: https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220421-shanghai-official-covid-death-toll-rises-to-25 . Translation: The Chinese are lying about the numbers. They lie nationally to save face, and they lie locally to keep their jobs.
China’s economists say China still on track for 5.5% GDP growth: https://www.reuters.com/article/china-boao-economy-target/china-on-track-for-2022-gdp-target-despite-covid-shock-govt-economists-idUSKCN2MC0M5 . Obvious BS. Note the comment in the preceding paragraph.
Are large numbers of Russian troops refusing to fight?: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/4/20/russia-launches-new-offensive-to-take-ukraines-east . Even among all the surprising reports in this war, this is astounding. Yes, terrible morale among Russian troops has been widely reported. But 60% to 70% of troops refusing to fight is hard to believe. This alone would grind advances to a halt if true.
China and India financing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: https://www.businessinsider.in/policy/economy/news/china-and-india-are-saving-russia-from-economic-collapse/articleshow/90943747.cms . India’s purchases are trivial in relation to China’s, so the headline could have focused solely on China. Still, if China continues to not execute new contracts with Russia, the question is when the existing contracts run out. If they are long-term contracts, then China is financing the war, period.
Army stunt at Nats game causes evacuation of the Capitol: https://apnews.com/article/mlb-sports-baseball-washington-nationals-cb01d8233837b28cc82c60d0d63a0b6e . WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-capitol-police-tracking-aircraft-that-poses-a-probable-threat-to-capitol-complex-11650495248 . Sigh. Maybe it’s best we’re just supplying Ukraine with materiel.
Iowa Supreme Court puts law over partisan BS: https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/15/politics/abby-finkenauer-primary-ballot/index.html . I say this because the Supreme Court decision was unanimous, and in a red state. Every prior decision in the case could be predicted by reference to the political affiliation of the person making the decision. Still, American democracy and the rule of law remain in serious trouble, particularly in the fly-over states.
Apparently, editors no longer recognize sarcastic puns: https://bgr.com/science/us-science-advisors-desperately-want-to-probe-uranus/ . As if the headline wasn’t sufficiently bold, the first sentence of the article tells us “there’s very little we know about Uranus as a whole”. Seriously, no one is paying attention here.
And … Happy 4/20, which is of course National Lima Bean Respect Day: https://nationaltoday.com/lima-bean-respect-day/ .