10
votes
Weekly coronavirus-related chat, questions, and minor updates - week of May 31
This thread is posted weekly, and is intended as a place for more-casual discussion of the coronavirus and questions/updates that may not warrant their own dedicated topics. Tell us about what the situation is like where you live!
I was shocked when I read the stats on the Times for Sunday; 7,428 new cases for the US. The whole ass country - not long ago that would be a fantastic number for my state.
I saw on TV that Brazil will receive some free vaccines from the US. I don't know how much but any help is appreciated. I hope other countries follow suit, poor regions will definitely need this help and the world will benefit too. I remember I was thinking of asking Tilders to write to their congressmen on our behalf, but I ended up just making a comment on Reddit. Since there are so many Americans here I would like to say thanks. Our president is an asshole but we have good people working to get these vaccines to everyone.
Counterpoint to all the "pandemic is almost over" posts and discourse in the New York Times by Zeynep Tufekci
I don't think that's really a counterpoint so much as an addendum. This opinion piece itself reinforces the "pandemic is almost over" narrative for the US in its opening. The point moreover is that it will not be over for the nations without immunity, and if you consider the likely number of deaths from the wave in India this period is already among the deadliest periods of the entire pandemic.
I get what you're saying, but what bothers me about the framing is how narrow-minded it is. What's happening in the rest of the countries, which don't have robust vaccine access and which actually represent most of the world, and the hundreds of thousands of deaths in those countries due to coronavirus that could have been mitigated if the former countries had shared the vaccine and resources to produce it, should not be an "addendum." I feel it's intellectually irresponsible to publish pieces saying "the pandemic is over" when it's only "over" for a small fraction of the human population lucky enough to be born in the right countries. To me, this piece acknowledges the reality you're describing but re-frames it in a way that centers the humanity of people living outside the core, which is really important right now.
It’s a different way of thinking, though. I’ve sharing many articles about the importance of US assistance to other countries, something I feel strongly about, but it’s just not the same as it being a local issue. Most of people aren’t that involved in federal foreign policy.
Sinovac vaccine restores a Brazilian city to near normal
[...]
There are apparently five COVID-19 vaccines from China, three of which are seeing widespread use and two are approved by the WHO. Nature has an article comparing them.
Indian states begin easing COVID lockdowns as case numbers decline
India accelerates vaccine supplies in fight against COVID-19
[...]