July 28, 2021

Slate publishes a piece calling the government’s early pandemic messaging a series of “noble lies,” singling out Fauci’s March 2020 assurance that Americans did not need masks as a deception meant to preserve supply for hospitals. The admission lands while trust in official guidance is already strained by the CDC’s mask reversal a day earlier.

Pfizer’s own data show its vaccine’s efficacy sliding from 96% to 84% about six months after the second dose, and CEO Albert Bourla uses the figures to press the case for a third shot. Pfizer, which stands to sell those boosters, is also the source of the data arguing they are needed. Separate company data suggest a third dose sharply raises antibodies against Delta.

Google and Facebook announce that employees returning to their offices must be vaccinated, joining a growing list of corporate mandates. In the Wall Street Journal, two doctors ask why the FDA is warning people off ivermectin, a drug they call safe and potentially useful. Sydney extends its lockdown by another month as case numbers stay stubbornly high.

Pregnant Mom Survives Life-Threatening COVID Infection, Delivers Healthy Baby - Stanford Medicine Children’s Health Blog

A multidisciplinary team of Stanford experts came together to save Lorena and her baby after complications from COVID-19.

Stanford Medicine Children's Health

The U.S. Government’s Noble Lies About COVID-19

When Fauci said in March 2020 that Americans didn’t need to wear masks, it was a noble lie—and a destructive one.

Slate

Excluding migrants undermines the success of COVID-19 vaccine rollouts

Failure to ensure access for all to prevention and treatment, including vaccines, undermines national responses to COVID-19.

The Conversation

Vaccine selfies may seem trivial, but they show people doing their civic duty — and probably encourage others too

Are vaxxies just the latest trend in virtue signalling? And even if they are, does that mean they’re not worth it?

The Conversation

What to expect from post-pandemic voting behaviour

Research shows shared traumas drive political preferences in certain directions.

The Conversation

Daily briefing: How SARS-CoV-2 infects cells

The life cycle of SARS-CoV-2, evidence that vaccines reduce the spread of the coronavirus and a powerful call to stop mass COVID deaths in Africa.

Nature

As a Covid outbreak worsens, Fiji’s Olympic athletes fly to Japan on a plane full of fish. (Published 2021)

The New York Times

As Virus Resurges, G.O.P. Lawmakers Allow Vaccine Skepticism to Flourish (Published 2021)

The New York Times

Biden Weighs Vaccine Mandate for Federal Workers (Published 2021)

The New York Times

Breakthrough COVID infections show 'the unvaccinated are now putting the vaccinated at risk'

Occasional breakthroughs are expected with any vaccine, but more transmissible variants spread among so many unvaccinated people in the United States has placed greater strain on highly effective and safe COVID-19 vaccines.

PBS

McConnell aims to boost U.S. Republican vaccination rate by countering 'bad advice'

Reuters

Efficacy of Pfizer/BioNTech Covid vaccine slips to 84% after six months, data show

The efficacy of the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech fell from 96% to 84% over six months, according to newly releasedata, a decline that could fuel Pfizer’s case that a third dose will eventually be required.

www.statnews.com

Johnson rejects Gove remark that Covid vaccine refusers are ‘selfish’

PM emphasises positive benefits of having jab and appears to distance himself from vaccine passport plan

The Guardian

Revealed: £6bn NHS glove contract shows rocketing cost of PPE

Extraordinary sum reveals PPE cost pressures and raises fears of forced labour in overseas factories

The Guardian

Back to school: LGBTQ+ students lost some support networks during the pandemic

‘If school is a warming, affirming and safe environment, then it can definitely be a resource,’ says UCLA Health’s Dr. Brandon Ito.

UCLA Health

‘Hope You Get a Bullet’: Man Charged With Sending Death Threats to Fauci

Thomas J. Connally Jr. faces up to 15 years in prison if he’s convicted.

VICE

Sydney’s Coronavirus Lockdown Extended Another Month

Extension for Australia’s largest city was announced when authorities in New South Wales state, reported 177 new infections over a 24-hour period

Voice of America English News

The impact of COVID-19 on industries without smokestacks in Kenya: The case of horticulture, ICT, and tourism sectors

Eldah Onsomu, Boaz Munga, and Violet Nyabaro provide an early assessment of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on horticulture, information and communication technologies (ICT), and tourism.

Brookings

The pandemic hurt low-wage workers the most—and so far, the recovery has helped them the least

Prior to the onset of the pandemic, low-wage earners comprised 43% of the workforce. More than a year into the pandemic, they comprise 52% of the displaced—nearly 10 percentage points higher than we would expect if low-wage and mid/high-wage jobs were recovering at an equal pace.

Brookings

Dr. Fauci on CDC mask guidelines: ‘We are dealing with a different virus now'

The more transmissible and dominant delta variant acts in unique ways. Dr. Anthony Fauci recently explained why the CDC reversed its mask guidance.

CNBC

Pfizer's CEO says Covid vaccine effectiveness drops to 84% after six months

Pfizer's vaccine initially protects people 100% of the time against hospitalization, but that falls to low 90% and mid-to-high 80% after 6 months, Bourla said.

CNBC

This teen brought in nearly $2 million selling gaming consoles and pools on Amazon during the pandemic

New Jersey high school student Max Hayden ramped up his business reselling items online — like PlayStations, home exercise equipment and even swimming pools — that were in high demand and low supply during the pandemic. By doing so, he turned a six-figure profit in 2020.

CNBC

Tanzania’s President gets coronavirus vaccine live on TV, reversing country’s year-long policy of Covid denial | CNN

CNN

A surrogate virus neutralization test to quantify antibody-mediated inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 in finger stick dried blood spot samples - Scientific Reports

Nature

Google and Facebook mandate vaccines for all employees returning to offices

The announcements come as the delta variant has caused coronavirus cases to rise in every state, with some of the highest numbers in states with low vaccination rates.

NBC News

Side-by-side comparison of vaccination rates, Covid spikes shows clear cause and effect

According to experts and echoed in the data, vaccination rates are determining how big a boom the summer 2021 Covid outbreak will be.

NBC News

New York City will pay people $100 to get Covid vaccine

Mayor Bill de Blasio said over 59 percent of the city's population has received at least one Covid-19 shot, but that's not enough.

NBC News

Covid-19 Breakthrough Infections in Vaccinated Health Care Workers

The New England Journal of Medicine

Do you need to wear a mask where you live? Understand the CDC's new guidance

The CDC advises wearing masks indoors if hospitals are overloaded and the coronavirus is spreading widely where you live. Find out the level of virus transmission in your county.

NPR

Trea Turner is removed from game after testing positive for the coronavirus

The Washington Post

Opinion | Why Is the FDA Attacking a Safe, Effective Drug?

WSJ

From offices to restaurants, companies are requiring proof of vaccination | CNN Business

CNN

Pfizer data suggest third dose of Covid-19 vaccine ‘strongly’ boosts protection against Delta variant | CNN

CNN

Anti-vaxxer who threatened to 'scalp and torture Fauci' faces charges

Thomas Patrick Connally, Jr., 56, is facing charges of making threats against a federal official and interstate communication containing threat to harm.

Daily Mail

How the coronavirus infects cells — and why Delta is so dangerous

Scientists are unpicking the life cycle of SARS-CoV-2 and how the virus uses tricks to evade detection.

Nature

Wealth Matters: The Black-White Wealth Gap Before and During the Pandemic

Center for American Progress

Michael Palin joins Amnesty call for UK to urgently redistribute Covid-19 doses

Amnesty International and actor Michael Palin are urgently calling on the UK government to redistribute Covid-19 vaccines to ensure that those most at risk - no matter where they live - can receive a life-saving jab, as Nepal and many other countries continue to battle with a catastrophic health crisis.

Amnesty International

Increase in serum levels of phosphatidylserine-specific phospholipase A1 in COVID-19 patients - Cellular & Molecular Immunology

Nature

Rapid and stable mobilization of CD8+ T cells by SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine - Nature

Longitudinal analyses of SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine-elicited epitope-specific CD8+ T cell responses shows that CD8+ T cells are rapidly induced after prime vaccination and stably maintained after boost vaccination.

Nature

An Olympic Swimmer Who Battled COVID-19 Twice Is Now A Gold Medalist

Great Britain's Tom Dean was diagnosed with COVID for a second time just a few months ahead of the Olympic trials. Now he has two gold medals in Tokyo.

NPR

Man charged in threats sent to Fauci, NIH director Collins

Washington Times

July 28, 2021

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