PLUS: The Covid-19 headlines you need to know, a distraction, and something to read.
By Eve Sneider | 07.21.22 |
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| President Biden tests positive, the CDC approves Novavax's vaccine, and Chinese authorities apologize for breaking into the homes of people in quarantine. But first, here's this week's big story: | |
Covid-19 Keeps Evolving As Vaccines Race to Keep Up BA.5, what experts consider one of the most transmissible Covid variants yet, is driving a wave of infections across the country and the world. The strain has been identified in Shanghai and is responsible for some 78 percent of cases in the US. But attempts to fully understand this surge have been complicated by the fact that there's relatively little precise information about exactly how many people are infected, given that at-home testing has become much more common and many public testing sites have closed in recent months. When mRNA Covid shots first debuted, experts predicted that they would be easier to tailor to an ever-mutating virus compared to existing vaccine technologies. And yet, the vaccines and boosters being offered today still target the original strain that was identified in late 2019. Why haven't they evolved alongside the virus? Drugmakers say that while updating a booster goes quickly, testing and manufacturing it at scale take longer. Plus, Covid-19 variants are emerging more quickly than anticipated. Still, there's hope that a new spate of boosters will arrive this fall and winter, as experts have recommended. | |
Headlines This morning President Biden tested positive for Covid-19 for the first time. He's fully vaccinated and twice boosted, and experiencing mild symptoms. The White House says he's staying isolated and taking Paxlovid. (New York Times) The CDC approved Novavax's Covid shot on Tuesday, making it the fourth vaccine available for American adults. It uses a more familiar kind of vaccine technology that may appeal to people who have been hesitant to receive other shots. (CNN) Officials in the southern China district of Liwan apologized after they broke into the homes of people staying at a quarantine hotel in order to disinfect the spaces and find close contacts who might have been hiding inside. (CBS) The White House announced that it is reorganizing the Department of Health and Human Services, and making the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response into its own division to lead pandemic response work. (Washington Post) The US Open has said that Novak Djokovic will be barred from competing next month unless he gets vaccinated. The tennis star has previously said that he will give up competition opportunities in order to remain unvaccinated. (NBC) | |
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| More than a million Americans have died from Covid-19, making the pandemic the largest mass mortality event in the history of the United States. How do you grieve such an incalculably large sum? Data visceralization could help people process and recover from two years of overwhelming numbers. | |
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