PLUS: The Covid-19 headlines you need to know, a distraction, and something to read.
By Eve Sneider | 06.23.22 |
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| A programming note: The Coronavirus Update will be off next Monday. See you in a week! Covid tracking apps pivot to other uses, Covax asks drugmakers to slow deliveries, and Austria gets rid of its vaccine mandate. But first, here's this week's big story: | |
Covid shots for little kids are here, but administering doses comes with challenges Starting this week, Americans between the ages of 6 months and 5 years are finally eligible to get vaccinated against Covid-19. The FDA and the CDC signed off on shots from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech late last week. The White House said it has already made at least 10 million doses available to states and providers, but as of last week fewer than 4 million total doses had been ordered. Children can receive the vaccines at some pharmacies and community health centers, but the administration has said that primary care offices and pediatricians will likely administer many of the shots. While this is a huge milestone, experts anticipate that rolling out vaccines for this age group will be more complicated than it was for older demographics. Many large vaccination sites have been dismantled, and school clinics are closed for the summer, plus only certain pharmacies can offer these shots to the youngest kids. On top of that are the ongoing issues of vaccine hesitancy and inequitable access. All of this means getting America's children vaccinated against Covid will be a challenge. | |
Headlines Many of the Covid tracking apps that emerged in the early days of the pandemic are no longer collecting pandemic data and are instead pivoting to more commercial uses. (WIRED) Covax, the WHO's campaign to get vaccines to poorer nations, is now asking drugmakers to slow or stop deliveries so that distribution more closely matches countries' needs and shots aren't wasted. (VOA) Austria announced today that it is officially scrapping its mandate that all adults get vaccinated, a directive that had already been suspended, because it was too polarizing. (ABC) As of today, South Africans can once again go maskless in indoor public spaces and enter the country more easily, with officials noting that its fifth wave seems to be subsiding. (Al Jazeera) Dr. Deborah Birx, the coronavirus response coordinator under President Trump, testified before Congress today that the Trump White House asked her to alter guidance she sent health officials in the early days of the pandemic. (The New York Times) | |
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| How do you write a novel about being incredibly online without being incredibly annoying? Writer Jordan Castro may have figured it out with his new book, The Novelist. | |
| This time last year, Madison Marquer was a punk musician and video game geographer grieving a profound loss. He was also just starting a new job as the esports coach at a junior college in Wyoming. The following year took Marquer and his team in directions none of them could have anticipated. | |
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