Reopening America

As more companies are resuming normal operations, work conferences are also making a comeback and these professional gatherings are acting as mini vacations for parents who spent the pandemic taking care of their kids while they were out of school.  Alina Dizik, contributor to the WSJ, joins us for how parents are escaping their families by going on work trips.

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The Omicron subvariant BA.5 is proving that the pandemic is still not over.  It continues to evade immunity, even from previous omicron infections.  The good news is that death rates are down and hospitals aren’t overwhelmed like before, but the virus is spreading fast again and the small fraction of people getting seriously ill can add up.  Umair Irfan, senior reporter at Vox, joins us for how virus mutations are keeping Omicron in play.

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Americans relationship with college is complicated and according to a new poll many think that it might not be worth the cost and time commitment.  Overall, most people believe that the benefits outweigh the costs long-term, and those with bachelor’s degrees usually earn 75% more than they would if they only have a high school diploma.  But the pandemic also plays a big part in this as enrollment has been down 1.3 million students since March 2020.  Chris Quintana, education reporter at USA Today, for how many still value higher education, but feel it’s too expensive for many.

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Driven by mass migrations of both workers and employers, red states have been winning the post-pandemic economic recovery over blue states.  Not really a move because of political preferences, workers left for financial and lifestyle reasons such as cheaper housing, less Covid restrictions and lower taxes.  Biggest winners are Florida, Texas, and North Carolina while California, New York and Illinois have lost the greatest number of residents.  Josh Mitchell, reporter at the WSJ, joins us for how red states have had quicker recoveries.

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There are now enough doses of vaccine available globally to vaccinate all adults and children, but the demand has dropped so much that governments, vaccination sites, and even the drugmakers themselves are having to dispose of millions of doses.  One of the main problems is that vaccines are packaged in multi-dose vials, and once they’re opened, the rest must be discarded if not used in 12 hours.  Peter Loftus, Pharma reporter at the WSJ, joins us for how the supply has now outstripped the demand.

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Finally, the airline industry was waiting for business travelers to come back to get them back up to pre-pandemic levels.  Well, some of that has returned, but flight cancellations and delays are causing some professionals to opt for the road trip instead.  To avoid delays and missing appointments, they are willing to drive up to 7 hours to get where they need to be.  Allison Pohle, travel reporter at the WSJ, joins us for more. 

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Booster shots coming in the fall will be tailored to the latest wave of the pandemic and target Omicron and its subvariants BA.4 and BA.5.  This would hopefully provide more short-term immunity protections as new variants have been better able evade current vaccines.  Pfizer would most likely be the first ready with these new boosters.  Carolyn Johnson, science reporter at The Washington Post, joins us for more.

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Workers in the U.S. have a very strange relationship with working and not taking time off.  After going through the pandemic, Covid may have done away with the sick day.  Because of the pace of work or fears of getting in trouble, many people continued to log in for meetings and answered emails.  Managers also weren’t good role models as they took to working while sick too, this is coming despite many companies changing sick day policies to allow people more time to heal.  Emma Goldberg, reporter at the NY Times, joins us for why employees can’t seem to take a sick day.

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There is a whole swath of young kids that have never known life without Covid.  Their formative years were spent masking and social distancing and the long-term effects remain unknown.  Studies and observations show that some kids are behind in speech, motor and social development and could need counseling, speech therapy and other support to adjust.  There is optimism in the resilience of young kids to adapt now that things are a little more back to normal and in some of the positive effects like spending more time with family.  Anna North, senior correspondent at Vox, joins us for how the pandemic affected the country’s youngest children.

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After more than 2 years of the pandemic, we are seeing that Covid is making the flu and other common viruses act in unfamiliar ways.  Behavioral changes like stay-at-home orders, masking and social distancing could be responsible for viral shifts.  For instance, at Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital, children are being admitted with a range of seven different respiratory viruses, many of which are out of season and seem to be more virulent.  Frances Stead Sellers, senior writer at The Washington Post, joins us for how everything is out of whack.

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