COVID, Week 65

Per Ed Yong, right now, vaccines remain effective against Delta. But, we're still looking at possible further new strains evolving as the separation of vaccinated and unvaccinated, not just in countries with low amounts of or funding for vaccines, but the self-separation in places like Merikkka, continues.

To that end, here in Texas, UT Southwestern expects case numbers to surge again with the start of school. Reminder that Texas is still just barely over 41 percent vaccinated; lower-income minority areas of big cities are lower and wingnut rural areas are lower yet. See the map here.

And, given that rural Texas, and much of the rural US as a whole, doesn't have a higher vaccination rate than much of the rest of the globe, it's probably sensible to follow WHO's advice and still wear a mask, at least in more crowded scenarios, even if vaccinated, rather than St. Anthony of Fauci and the CDC. More here on the split between WHO and CDC. That's even as OSHA has gutted final workplace safety regs and the CDC still says, "don't worry at work."

More on this vaccine divide and possible consequences here. Dr. Peter Hotez says CDC should issue two sets of guidelines, it's concerning enough to him.

 

The pandemic did have early mental health effects like depression and anxiety for many people, but after that, at least for people not facing pandemic-induced issues like long-term unemployment, resilience kicked in.

SocraticGadfly took a deep and supportive dive into Teynep Tufekci's set of pieces saying we need to look seriously at the possibility of a lab leak in Wuhan.