Coronavirus 2021 and beyond

And, yes, you, as a resident and citizen of your region, your state or province, the United States or other country, and of this planet, need to be thinking 2021 or beyond. That's the lower half of this piece.

Assuming there is no coronavirus vaccine before the end of this year, and that there's definitely no relatively safe AND relatively effective one (that is totally my assumption on the second [sit down Putin] and pretty much on the first) Nature magazine details, globally, what we'll be facing in 2021. It likely isn't pretty in general, and especially for the US, with its large percentage of anti-maskers and general resistors of social distancing.

Going beyond Nature, it also won't be pretty, given no national health care and Merika's general lack of a safety net, whichever duopoly party candidate is elected president Nov. 3. Democratic Veep nominee Kamala Harris says she favors some sort of basic income during the coronavirus, but for how long? And, to the degree Dick Cheney is incorrect about the importance of deficits, where does the money come from? And, what about national health care? In any case, she's the Veep nominee, and if elected, her newly elected boss opposes both.

Speaking of Putin? Orac, natch, has the truth on the alleged Russian coronavirus vaccine. That said, the piece is also further words to the wise about how fast a more serious vaccine is likely, or not likely to be developed. The truth? Adenovirus-based vaccines are simple and quick to create. Russian scientists have shown that. But Orac notes NONE have been proven to be both safe and effective in humans for general use.

Skeptical Raptor has more about US vaccine development, in a link off a piece of his that Orac, above, linked. Per Raptor, first of all, just like from Russia, you should trash Putin's propaganda, you should reject any PR from any US or other Western company working on a vaccine, if it's a commercially traded company. Their PR is for stock-goosing. More seriously, per him? A vaccine both safe AND effective — in other words, one we can use — probably won't be here for a full 12 months if not longer, even if Trump's "Operation Warp Speed" blathering can be taken seriously. (Which it can't and shouldn't be, Raptor says; 4-5 YEARS is his timeframe.) Both Raptor and Orac, in another piece, explain why we shouldn't bend any of the current regulatory hoops. We don't need to give either antivaxxers OR antiregulatory libertarians more food.

Medical researcher Eric Topol discusses vaccine research, including possible side effects from a vaccine (they likely would exist, and contra Tony Fauci's noble lie, I would prefer scientists, as here, be honest about them upfront, even at the risk of giving antivaxxers ammo), whether we're looking at the right angle on vaccines right now, and whether use of interferons and steroids, while not preventing the disease, might reduce long-term symptoms.

Add to all of this the news that a new strain has evolved.

So put your fucking mask on. And don't buy grocery store PR any more than Big Pharma PR.

This is all, this breathless American wait for a vaccine that is surely just around the corner, yet another example of what I have called salvific technologism. Americans are expecting that the tech / engineering / applied science cavalry is just around the corner.

Well, it ain't.

Grow the fuck up and stop looking for ponies.

Meanwhile, learn some things from "COVID-19: The Pandemic that Never Should Have Happened."