September 24, 2021

CDC director Rochelle Walensky endorses Pfizer boosters for older and vulnerable Americans and adds workers in high-exposure jobs, overruling part of her own advisory committee, which had declined to recommend shots on occupational grounds alone. The reversal caps a chaotic week of shifting guidance and leaves ordinary people, as NPR puts it, trying to work out for themselves whether they need an extra dose.

The origins story keeps building. The Atlantic weighs the leaked DARPA proposal under the headline that the lab-leak debate just got messier, conceding the document changes the picture even as it cautions against firm conclusions. The Guardian, meanwhile, traces how the ivermectin craze spread from an overwhelmed Peru outward, treating widespread self-medication as a cautionary tale.

Real-world strain shows on several fronts. Israeli hospitals are described as overcrowded and short of ECMO machines despite a fast vaccine rollout, Costco reimposes limits on toilet paper and cleaning supplies as demand and supply-chain problems return, and two hosts of “The View” are pulled off the air mid-show after testing positive ahead of a scheduled Kamala Harris appearance. A Penn State modeling group offers a more hopeful note, projecting that the worst of the pandemic may be over barring a new variant.