September 23, 2021

The Intercept publishes a leaked grant proposal, rejected by the Pentagon’s research agency DARPA, in which EcoHealth Alliance and Wuhan collaborators described inserting human-specific furin cleavage sites into bat coronaviruses. The document draws immediate attention because SARS-CoV-2 carries exactly such a site, and it lands as one of the most concrete pieces yet in the debate over whether the pandemic virus could have emerged from research.

A CDC advisory panel backs Pfizer booster shots for older adults, a step toward wider availability that follows weeks of public disagreement among the FDA, the CDC, and the White House. CNN reports that vaccine protection wanes over time, especially in the elderly, the same argument used to justify boosters that regulators had resisted only days earlier.

The mandate’s frictions come into focus. NPR reports that hospitals already short of nurses fear the vaccine requirement will drive more out, CBS notes that valid medical exemptions are described as roughly one in a million, and the Los Angeles Times warns that religious objections may cost workers their jobs. Reason magazine argues bluntly that the CDC made America’s pandemic worse, while a non-peer-reviewed study suggesting teenage boys face elevated myocarditis risk from vaccination draws both alarm and methodological criticism.

Glass blowing adapts to Covid-19 protocols

Despite Covid-19 restrictions, the Great Glass Pumpkin Patch returns to MIT for 2021 with 2,000 new glass pumpkins.

MIT News

New preliminary evidence suggests coronavirus jumped from animals to humans multiple times

It’s more evidence a lab leak is very unlikely.

The Conversation

Leaked Grant Proposal Details High-Risk Coronavirus Research

The proposal, rejected by the U.S. military’s research agency DARPA, describes the insertion of human-specific cleavage sites into bat coronaviruses.

The Intercept

Sierra Army Depot provides COVID-19 PPE support to Afghanistan evacuee mission

Army.mil

Etsy is one of the best places to buy cloth face masks — here are 19 highly rated options

The CDC recommends everyone wear face masks indoors to slow the spread of the Delta variant. Here are some of the most popular cloth options on Etsy.

Business Insider

Tiny particles could make a powerful COVID vaccine

Nanoparticles that bristle with dozens of copies of a SARS-CoV-2 protein segment could protect against a wide variety of coronaviruses.

Nature

Exposure to COVID-19 is associated with increased altruism, particularly at the local level - Scientific Reports

Nature

Network neighbors of viral targets and differentially expressed genes in COVID-19 are drug target candidates - Scientific Reports

Nature

Emergence of universality in the transmission dynamics of COVID-19 - Scientific Reports

Nature

Factors associated with the difference between the incidence and case-fatality ratio of coronavirus disease 2019 by country - Scientific Reports

Nature

My Family Was a COVID Cluster

Four vaccinated adults and two unvaccinated children had mild symptoms. Is this what the end of the pandemic looks like?

The New Yorker

A CDC Panel Backs Booster Shots For Older Adults, A Step Toward Making Them Available

The advisory committee's recommendation follows the FDA's authorization of Pfizer vaccine boosters for people 65 and up. Both regulatory moves will inform the U.S. plan to dispense extra doses.

NPR

COVID-19: What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 23 September

The World Economic Forum

‘Vaccine apartheid': Africans tell UN they need vaccines

AP News

Nurses Are In Short Supply. Employers Worry Vaccine Mandate Could Make It Worse

President Biden has ordered more than 17 million health care workers to get a COVID-19 vaccine. Some health care employers fear losing large numbers of workers who don't want the shots.

NPR

Want a medical exemption for the COVID-19 vaccine? Good luck with that.

Valid medical conditions that might excuse someone are "very, very rare -- like one in a million," one disease expert said.

CBS News

In thousands of wasted Covid vaccines, a common culprit: Multi-dose vials

The federal government is working with Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers to reduce the number of doses per vial, amid growing concerns about wasted vaccines.

NBC News

For Parents of Disabled Children, School Mask Wars Are Particularly Wrenching (Published 2021)

The New York Times

After storms, mental health crisis compounded by COVID looms in Louisiana

When Ida hit, it wasn't just infrastructure that took a hit. Experts say storm survivors' physical and mental health will continue to be affected long after the clouds have parted, compounded by the region’s high rates of COVID and hospitalizations that have pushed hospitals past their limits.

PBS

WATCH: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa delivers remarks on COVID-19 vaccine inequality across Africa

The inequity of COVID-19 vaccine distribution is coming into sharper focus as many of the African countries whose populations have little to no access to the life-saving shots stepped to the podium to speak at the U.N.’s annual meeting of world leaders.

PBS

Why California has landed in a new COVID plateau after the delta surge

San Francisco Chronicle

Will Federal Employee Unions Challenge Biden’s Vaccine Mandate in Court?

Several major labor groups said they won’t, but some are leaving open the possibility.

Government Executive

Naval officer wins praise for Portugal’s vaccine rollout

AP News

Vaccine protection against Covid-19 wanes over time, especially for older people, CDC says | CNN

CNN

Citing religious beliefs to avoid the COVID-19 vaccine could cost you your job

Law dictates that employers must make "reasonable accommodations" for workers who refuse to be vaccinated because of religious beliefs. But in some jobs, an accommodation may not be possible.

Los Angeles Times

Changing your mind about something as important as vaccination isn’t a sign of weakness – being open to new information is the smart way to make choices

People tend to stick with their stated beliefs. But here’s how external forces like vaccine mandates can push people to do something they don’t want to do – and provide some face-saving cover.

The Conversation

Heart inflammation after COVID-19 vaccine: Are boys at higher risk?

A non-peer-reviewed study found increased heart inflammation risk in boys who had been vaccinated. However, there are many concerns about the study.

Medical News Today

China’s Bogus Attack on a Top U.S. Coronavirus Lab

China has cherry-picked and misrepresented facts to falsely suggest that a U.S. scientist may have engineered the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

VOA - Voice of America English News

COVID-19's impact on women’s health and rights

The World Economic Forum

Nobel Prize ceremonies to be curtailed again due to pandemic

The Nobel Prize ceremonies will be reined in for a second year due to the coronavirus pandemic. The winners of this year’s prizes are set to be announced between Oct. 4 and Oct. 11.

PBS

PHOTOS: How Struggling Families Manage To Feed Their Kids In A Pandemic

For millions, the pandemic has meant a loss of income even as food prices are rising. The challenge for parents and grandparents is how to feed the youngsters in the family — and themselves as well.

NPR

The CDC Made America's Pandemic Worse

The pandemic was a test of America's public health bureaucracy. It failed. Those failures were legion, and they were spread across multiple officials,

Reason Magazine

Children’s NHS mental health referrals double in pandemic

Young people ‘suffering terribly’ in Covid crisis, with nearly 200,000 referred in just three months

The Guardian

Stonehenge autumn equinox gathering first since start of pandemic

About 250 people gathered at the stones to watch the sunrise on the first day of autumn.

BBC

Howard Zucker, Who Led Cuomo’s Pandemic Response, Resigns (Published 2021)

The New York Times

Kids are bringing pandemic stress to school. Here’s how to spot it | CNN

CNN

Resilience and mental health in individuals with spinal cord injury during the COVID-19 pandemic - Spinal Cord

Nature

How MLMs took advantage of the pandemic

Multilevel marketing companies were the “perfect” pandemic business.

Vox

CDC panel recommends extra dose of Pfizer vaccine for vulnerable groups

The U.S. vaccination drive against COVID-19 stands on the verge of a major new phase: Government advisers on Thursday recommended booster doses of Pfizer’s vaccine for millions of Americans.

PBS

September 23, 2021

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