Pandemic
Some folks might have a T-cell response that protects them from COVID-19 and this may mean that “herd immunity” isn’t quite[1] the mirage it’s been made out to be,[2] and some of what’s described in this article, frankly, sounds a lot like me and to the extent it does apply to me, I might not after all be at risk of exposing others. But if I understand correctly, T-cell response stems from previous exposure to a pathogen or a similar pathogen.[3] My deal seems to be that I just never come down with this shit—any of it—in the first place.
But one thing that occurs to me is that if antibodies are different from T-cells, and it seems they are,[4] then antibody tests will fail to detect all the immunity that’s already out there. And how much of it is indeed out there matters a lot for how we come through this, whether in fact there is, after all, “herd immunity.”[5]
This is the first good news I’ve seen in this pandemic. The trouble is, it won’t be good enough news for far too many people, only some of whom have already died.
Sanjay Gupta and Andrea Kane, “Do some people have protection against the coronavirus?” CNN, August 2, 2020, https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/02/health/gupta-coronavirus-t-cell-cross-reactivity-immunity-wellness/index.html
Recession
Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman write for the Politico “Playbook” newsletter,
WE ARE MOVING INTO the phase where serious progress has to be made, or it may be time to reconsider who’s at the negotiating table. [emphasis in original][6]
When you’ve already got the people with authority to make a deal at the table, who would reconsider? Who else would have that authority? These are words that sound right and may even be right but fail to reach the practicalities involved, let alone the heart of the problem.[7]
Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman, “Will they ever get a deal?” Politico, August 3, 2020, https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook/2020/08/03/will-they-ever-get-a-deal-489957
Isaias
Higher education
Higher education
Vivian S. Lee, Vindell Washington, and Robert M. Califf, “The Bad Science of Reopening,” Chronicle of Higher Education, July 28, 2020, https://www.chronicle.com/article/the-bad-science-of-reopening
- [1]Sanjay Gupta and Andrea Kane, “Do some people have protection against the coronavirus?” CNN, August 2, 2020, https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/02/health/gupta-coronavirus-t-cell-cross-reactivity-immunity-wellness/index.html↩
- [2]D. Clay Ackerly, “My patient caught Covid-19 twice. So long to herd immunity hopes,” Vox, July 12, 2020, https://www.vox.com/2020/7/12/21321653/getting-covid-19-twice-reinfection-antibody-herd-immunity; Christie Aschwanden, “Sorry, Immunity to Covid-19 Won’t Be Like a Superpower,” Wired, April 16, 2020, https://www.wired.com/story/sorry-immunity-to-covid-19-wont-be-like-a-superpower/↩
- [3]Sanjay Gupta and Andrea Kane, “Do some people have protection against the coronavirus?” CNN, August 2, 2020, https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/02/health/gupta-coronavirus-t-cell-cross-reactivity-immunity-wellness/index.html↩
- [4]Sanjay Gupta and Andrea Kane, “Do some people have protection against the coronavirus?” CNN, August 2, 2020, https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/02/health/gupta-coronavirus-t-cell-cross-reactivity-immunity-wellness/index.html↩
- [5]Sanjay Gupta and Andrea Kane, “Do some people have protection against the coronavirus?” CNN, August 2, 2020, https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/02/health/gupta-coronavirus-t-cell-cross-reactivity-immunity-wellness/index.html↩
- [6]Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman, “Will they ever get a deal?” Politico, August 3, 2020, https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook/2020/08/03/will-they-ever-get-a-deal-489957↩
- [7]David Benfell, “We need to do everything different,” Not Housebroken, July 30, 2020, https://disunitedstates.org/2020/07/30/we-need-to-do-everything-different/; David Benfell, “The mysterious expectation that elites give a damn,” Not Housebroken, August 1, 2020, https://disunitedstates.org/2020/08/01/the-mysterious-expectation-that-elites-give-a-damn/↩