Covid boosters are here to stay according to White House officials. They will likely be similar to annual flu shots, with a new booster to defend against a new variant every year. There were discussions a year ago that suggested drug makers were looking for a common denominator that would be present in all Covid variants, but I doubt that will happen. First of all it’s not easy or it would have been done already for flu shots and Covid boosters. Second, why would drug makers make a universal vaccine when they can sell boosters for new variants every year?
Category: News and Events
Tuesday Links
- Why Jackson Miss. doesn’t have water: they gave too much of it away for free.
- Why the prohibition on consuming raw milk from your own cow really matters.
- The latest fertility numbers. It takes 2.1 births per woman of child bearing age to replace a country’s population. Most developed countries are well below that.
- The downside of capping the price of insulin: it will encourage its use over newer, better, and more expensive alternative treatments. ”That will mean more disease, more disability, and more death from diabetes.”
The Atlantic: Lowering the Cost of Insulin May Costs Lives
An article in The Atlantic explains that lowering the cost of insulin could turn deadly. According to The Atlantic:
The Inflation Reduction Act, passed last month, aims to help people… by lowering the cost of insulin across America. …Democrats succeeded in capping expenses for the drug among Americans on Medicare at $35 a month, offering meaningful savings for our seniors, some of whom will save hundreds of dollars a month thanks to the measure.
Jackson’s Water Crisis; Krugman Off the Rails
Jackson, the state capital and largest Mississippi city, is run by Democrats. Its mayor and most of the city council members are Black. You may have read that the entire city is without safe drinking water, with no end in sight. The reason is well understood locally. The city is poorly run.