August 25, 2021

Vaccine mandates harden on two fronts. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin orders the military to begin vaccinating troops immediately, telling service leaders to “impose ambitious timelines,” and Delta Air Lines announces a $200 monthly surcharge on unvaccinated employees, with its CEO citing the roughly $40,000 cost of a hospital stay. The airline stops short of a mandate; the fee does the same work by other means.

On her first day in office, incoming New York Governor Kathy Hochul adds nearly 12,000 deaths to the state’s published COVID tally, an acknowledgment that her predecessor Andrew Cuomo’s administration had reported far fewer than the true figure. The revision is a reminder of how much the official count had understated, and how much the public was told to trust numbers that turned out to be curated.

The message on what the shots can do keeps narrowing. PBS reports that it is increasingly clear the mRNA vaccines will not stop infection in the upper respiratory tract for some proportion of the vaccinated, and experts urge Americans to lower their expectations. Cases quintuple in South Dakota’s Meade County after the Sturgis motorcycle rally, and a study in an American Heart Association journal examines myocarditis following vaccination.

Profound Treg perturbations correlate with COVID-19 severity

PNAS

COVID-19 vaccines never promised perfection. Experts say it's time to curb our highest expectations

It is increasingly clear mRNA vaccines aren’t going to prevent infection in the upper respiratory tract of some proportion of the vaccinated.

PBS

COVID-19 vaccine post-introduction evaluation (‎cPIE)‎

Guide: interim guidance, 25 August 2021

World Health Organization (WHO)

Rapid greening response of China’s 2020 spring vegetation to COVID-19 restrictions: Implications for climate change

Science | AAAS

COVID-19 patients at higher risk of blood clots after surgery, study shows

CIDRAP

South Dakota Covid cases quintuple after Sturgis motorcycle rally

Meade County, home to Sturgis, has had a more than 1,500 percent increase in cases in the past 14 days.

NBC News

New NY governor adds 12,000 deaths to publicized COVID tally

AP News

New York governor adds 12,000 deaths to publicized COVID tally

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul promised more government transparency on her first day in office and by day's end her administration had quietly delivered it by acknowledging nearly 12,000 more deaths in the state from COVID-19 than had been publicized by her predecessor, Andrew Cuomo.

PBS

COVID, natural hazards and climate crisis in Asia and the Pacific expand ‘riskcape’

The convergence of the COVID-19 pandemic with natural hazards, made worse by climate change, has reshaped and expanded the disaster “riskscape” in Asia and the Pacific, according to a new report published on Wednesday by the UN’s regional commission there.

UN News

Myocarditis Associated With COVID-19 Vaccination | Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging

American Heart Association Journals

Pentagon says U.S. troops must get their COVID-19 vaccines ASAP

Military troops must immediately begin to get the COVID-19 vaccine, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a memo Wednesday, ordering service leaders to “impose ambitious timelines for implementation.”

PBS

ACE2-targeting monoclonal antibody as potent and broad-spectrum coronavirus blocker - Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy

Nature

Delta Air Lines Is Going To Start Charging Unvaccinated Employees $200 Per Month

Delta will not mandate employees to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, but its CEO says the charge is necessary because the average hospital stay for the virus costs the airline $40,000.

NPR

Perspective | Free rapid at-home coronavirus tests could make pandemic life easier

The Washington Post

The WHO is looking for experts to help investigate the origins of pathogens — including the coronavirus

The WHO is looking for experts to help investigate the origins of pathogens — including the coronavirus.

www.statnews.com

Covid-19: Is India entering endemic stage of coronavirus?

The WHO's Soumya Swaminathan said India may be entering "some stage of endemicity".

BBC

Japan to further expand virus emergency areas as Covid cases surge

Japan plan to expand its coronavirus state of emergency for a second week in a row amid surge in Delta variant strain testing its healthcare system

NBC News

F.D.A. Attaches Warning of Rare Nerve Syndrome to Johnson & Johnson Vaccine (Published 2021)

The New York Times

Some Nebraskans outraged at state’s recruiting ad for unvaccinated nurses: ‘It feels insulting to the profession’

The Washington Post

A Top Virologist in China, at Center of a Pandemic Storm, Speaks Out (Published 2021)

The New York Times

China slams U.S. intelligence report on origins of coronavirus pandemic

The Washington Post

Harris, in Vietnam, gets a dose of China’s challenge to the U.S.

The Washington Post

Can’t get your kid to wear a mask? Here are 5 things you can try

One of the best things you can do to encourage your kids to mask up is to model wearing one. There are other things you can try too.

The Conversation

A Boy With an Autoimmune Disease Was Ready to Learn in Person. Then His State Banned Mask Mandates.

High-risk students in states and districts that have made masks optional are staying home.

ProPublica

mRNA vaccines for infectious diseases: principles, delivery and clinical translation - Nature Reviews Drug Discovery

The COVID-19 pandemic has established mRNA vaccines as a rapid, effective and safe approach for the protection of individuals from infectious disease. Here, Whitehead and colleagues review the principles of mRNA vaccine design, synthesis and delivery, assessing recent progress and key issues in the development of mRNA vaccines for a range of infectious diseases.

Nature

Pentagon mandates US military service members receive Covid vaccine immediately | CNN Politics

CNN

Climate denial is a conspiracy theory – with a playbook rebooted against vaccines

As COVID surges, disinformation against safety measures and vaccines are proving resilient and costly. Political analyst Chai Komanduri says today's playbook against vaccines draws on a long-running GOP war on science. "Climate change denial is a conspiracy theory. It is a belief that the world’s scientific community is lying to you and a group of fossil fuel executives with little scientific training are telling you the truth,” Komanduri says, noting it is thus "a short leap to believe the worl...

MSNBC News

After slow start, demand for COVID monoclonal antibodies treatment skyrockets

Monoclonal antibodies can reduce the risk of severe COVID-19, but they've been underused. Demand has soared with the rise of the delta variant.

USA Today

In Florida, the pandemic is worse now than it has ever been before. (Published 2021)

The New York Times

The Next Pandemic Could Come Soon and Be Deadlier

Center for Global Development

Depression And Anxiety Double In Youth Compared To Pre-Pandemic

A new meta-analysis from the University of Calgary, showing that depression and anxiety symptoms have doubled in children and adolescents globally when compared to pre-pandemic times.

Forbes

Survey finds auto industry hit hardest by supply chain disruptions during Covid pandemic

Around 51.7% of respondents from the auto sector said disruptions to supply chains were "very significant," according to the survey.

CNBC

Perspective | In emergencies, judges usually defer to politicians. Not during the pandemic.

The Washington Post

Has COVID-19 stopped Asia-Pacific from reaching its global development goals? Experts explain

The World Economic Forum

The Venezuelan health-care workers secretly collecting COVID stats

Faced with government suppression and limited resources, doctors and nurses are quietly working with research networks to report reliable data.

Nature

The world is worried about the Delta virus variant. Studies show vaccines are effective against it. (Published 2021)

The New York Times

How the U.S. can reach 'Covid normalcy' by spring 2022, according to Fauci ⁠— and what experts say that'll look like

Dr. Anthony Fauci says the U.S. could have a grip on the Covid-19 pandemic by spring 2022. Here's what that'll require, and what to expect from a "new normal."

CNBC

August 25, 2021

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