The COVID-19 History Project

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This Day in COVID: August 24, 2020

Details

Another routine the pandemic has disrupted: Your period

Washington Post

Challenge trials for a coronavirus vaccine are unethical – except for in one unlikely scenario

The Conversation

How to Break a Big Pharma Monopoly on a Covid-19 Vaccine

The race for a cure has put a spotlight on corporate control over medical research. Under a Democratic administration, it doesn’t have to be that way.

New Republic

Ethics must not be ignored when testing COVID-19 vaccines

The Conversation

Fauci says rushing out a vaccine could jeopardize testing of others

Reuters

New U.S. COVID-19 cases drop for fifth week in a row, deaths decline

Reuters

The unequal scramble for coronavirus vaccines — by the numbers

Wealthy countries have already pre-ordered more than two billion doses.

Nature

Did Pangolin Trafficking Cause the Coronavirus Pandemic?

The elusive animals’ possible involvement in the origins of COVID-19 gives them a weird ambivalence: threatened and, perhaps, dangerous.

New Yorker

Opioid overdoses on the rise during COVID-19 pandemic, despite telemedicine care

As COVID-19 cases continue to appear across the nation, so do opioid deaths.

ABC

New Thinking on Covid Lockdowns: They’re Overly Blunt and Costly

WSJ

COVID-19 prevalence and mortality in patients with cancer and the effect of primary tumour subtype and patient demographics: a prospective cohort study

The Lancet

Our Mission

The COVID-19 History Project is a curated archive of the events and policy decisions surrounding the emergence of COVID-19.

The pandemic era of 2020-2022 saw massive increases in restrictions on daily life—enforced by the government and by social stigma—accompanied social protests that roiled cities worldwide

In the United States alone, trillions of dollars were spent by the federal government to offset the forced closure of businesses and the devastation of normal life.

The impacts of these policy decisions are still being felt today.

Some would like us to forget the actions and people that played a significant role during the pandemic.

But we of the COVID-19 History Project don't want to forget. Through our work, we hope there will always be an archive to learn from and interpret this fascinating, disturbing, time in world history.

The Timeline

In order to learn from the mistakes of the past, and give COVID-19 decision makers the credit—both good and bad—they deserve, we have compiled a media timeline from every day of the pandemic.

We have endeavored to make the timeline comprehensive without being duplicative, following the major trends as they unfolded.

We provided analyses for each month highlighting major events, but encourage readers to make their own conclusions about these events as well.

This Day in COVID: August 24, 2021

Details

How Adolescents Used Drugs During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Among adolescents ages 10 to 14 in the U.S, the overall rate of drug use remained relatively stable in the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, one change was a decreased use of alcohol, but an increased use of nicotine and misuse of prescription drugs.

UC San Diego Health

Anthony Fauci apologizes for latest gaffe in COVID analysis

Dr. Anthony Fauci has admitted making his latest mistake in coronavirus guidance, this time over when he thinks the pandemic will come “under control” — apologizing by saying, &#8…

New York Post

Study: Patients, not staff, source of most hospital COVID spread

CIDRAP

CDC study shows unvaccinated people are 29 times more likely to be hospitalized with Covid

The new CDC study also found that unvaccinated people were nearly five times more likely to be infected with Covid than vaccinated people.

CNBC

Fauci says he hopes U.S. will have 'some good control' over Covid by spring 2022

White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said Monday night he hopes the U.S. will have some control over Covid-19 by spring.

CNBC

WHO says Covid misinformation is a major factor driving pandemic around the world

A WHO official said misinformation about Covid and vaccines appears to have gotten worse and is keeping people from getting the shots, driving a rise in cases.

CNBC

Neutralization of MERS coronavirus through a scalable nanoparticle vaccine - npj Vaccines

Nature

Monitoring non-pharmaceutical public health interventions during the COVID-19 pandemic - Scientific Data

Measuring and monitoring non-pharmaceutical interventions is important yet challenging due to the need to clearly define and encode non-pharmaceutical interventions, to collect geographically and socially representative data, and to accurately document the timing at which interventions are initiated and changed. These challenges highlight the importance of integrating and triangulating across multiple databases and the need to expand and fund the mandate for public health organizations to track ...

Nature

Analysis | The pandemic actually helped bring Americans together – briefly

The Washington Post

Opinion | A doctor said he won't treat patients who didn't get the Covid vaccine. Can he do that?

Taking vaccination status into account when deciding whether to treat a patient can be acceptable — sometimes.

NBC News

3 reasons why teens and adolescents should get COVID-19 vaccines

Playdates. Sleepovers. Sports. Kids are itching to return to kid stuff. Here’s why vaccines are the way to get them there.

Nebraska Medicine

DeSantis and Fauci Agree Over Monoclonal Antibody Treatment

Newsweek

Caught in the Crossfire Over Covid’s Origins (Published 2021)

The New York Times

She's Now A Millionaire Because She Got Vaccinated

Michigan resident Christine Duval won $2 million as part of a sweepstakes campaign in the state to encourage people to get vaccinated.

NPR

Disney World Has An Agreement To Require Union Workers To Be Vaccinated

The deal requires workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by Oct. 22 but they can apply for a medical or religious exemption. Disney cruises will soon require passengers 12 and up to get the shots.

NPR

Use These 6 Expert Tips To Find The Best Masks For Your Kids

This year, face masks are on most parents' list of back-to-school supplies. But which ones are most effective? Here's how to choose the right one for your child.

NPR

F.D.A. Fully Approves Pfizer-BioNTech’s Vaccine, a First for a Covid-19 Shot (Published 2021)

The New York Times

Coronavirus Briefing: What Happened Today (Published 2021)

The New York Times

The timelines for F.D.A. approval for the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines remain unclear. (Published 2021)

The New York Times

Health workers face 'indescribable' mental, physical exhaustion as COVID fills hospitals

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, roughly 60% of frontline healthcare workers said that pandemic-related stress had negatively affected their own mental health — in a poll taken before the delta variant that filled hospitals even more. For more on how hospitals are facing this now fourth surge, William Brangham is joined by Mary Mahew, the president of the Florida Hospital Association.

PBS

Scientists Have Calculated The Probability of Another COVID-Level Pandemic Emerging

Statistics aren't everyone's cup of tea.

ScienceAlert

COVID Vaccines Show No Signs of Harming Fertility or Sexual Function

The novel coronavirus, in contrast, can disrupt both things in unvaccinated men and women

Scientific American

The Coronavirus Could Get Worse

Delta is far from the last variant. But what shape the virus takes next depends on us.

The Atlantic

‘You are not a horse’: FDA tells Americans stop taking dewormer for Covid

Agency issues message after misinformation about ivermectin, a medicine used to deworm livestock, spreads on social media

The Guardian

The Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on State & Local Courts Study 2021 - Thomson Reuters Institute

A new report looks at how the global pandemic impacted the nation’s court system around remote hearings, legal tech, case backlogs, and access to justice.

Thomson Reuters

Perspective | Even LDS leaders are struggling to get Mormons vaccinated against the coronavirus

The Washington Post

Biden receives inconclusive intelligence report on covid origins

The Washington Post

Analysis | How those ivermectin conspiracy theories convinced people to buy horse dewormer

The Washington Post

Telling conservatives it’s a shot to ‘restore our freedoms’: How online ads are promoting coronavirus vaccination

The Washington Post

Australia’s prime minister compares coronavirus exit strategy to ‘The Croods’ movie

The Washington Post

Fauci warns 'wily virus' could derail 2022 return to normalcy, avoids specifics on herd immunity

Washington Times

How effective bureaucratic work supports health.

Psychology Today

Association between government policy and delays in emergent and elective surgical care during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil: a modeling study

The Lancet

Remote Work Is Here to Stay. Manhattan May Never Be the Same. (Published 2021)

The New York Times

The death of the job

What if paid work were no longer the centerpiece of American life?

Vox