Sunday, November 15, 2020

Three Beautiful Things 11-14-20: Update on Everett, The Masters, Laurie Garrett on the Vaccine

1. Christy spent the day and night in Coeur d'Alene and was with Everett for most of today. Everett slept most of the day. It was a good day here in Kellogg for Riley. Paul exercised him a lot and he spent about three hours with me and was mellow and content.

2. I spent much of the day enjoying  the Masters and texting insights and wisecracks with Terry T. and Byrdman.  At the end of the round, we wondered what Dustin Johnson might have to do to preserve his four stroke lead going into the final round on Sunday.

3. Throughout the pandemic, Pulitzer Prize winning science writer Laurie Garrett has been one of several experts I've listened to frequently. Her understanding of the pandemic has been informed and reliable. Today I listened to her conversation, on the On the Media podcast, with host Brooke Gladstone. This past week Garrett wrote an article for Foreign Policy in which she agrees that, on the face of it, the news that Pfizer announced that its coronavirus vaccine has demonstrated a 90% effectiveness with no serious bad reactions in trial results looks like really great news.

But, the title of this twenty minute episode is "The Pfizer Vaccine Isn't a Home Run Yet". Laurie Garrett raises several warnings about the vaccine. Underwriting the storing and distribution of the vaccine presents immense challenges. So does getting the vaccine into people's arms. To reach herd immunity, 80 to 90 percent of the population would need to either have contracted the virus or be vaccinated. Enough people in the USA oppose being vaccinated that that factor alone makes reaching herd immunity through vaccination unlikely. That's not the only hurdle. 

The podcast episode is here

Laurie Garret's article in Foreign Policy is here

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