Reopening America

FDA scientists have given their stamp of approval and said that Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine is safe and effective in fighting Covid-19. This could lead to its emergency-use authorization very soon. The vaccine reduced moderate to severe cases by 66%, does not require cold storage and is most importantly only a single shot. Matthew Herper, senior writer at STAT News, joins us for more on the J&J vaccine which can also help protect against new variants.

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Drug companies Pfizer and Moderna have pledged to boost the doses of vaccines delivered after solving some manufacturing issues they had. While they are stepping up production many ask, why can’t we make these doses any faster? Much of the answer in that lies in the very specialized process and raw materials that go into making them. Isaac Arnsdorf, reporter at ProPublica, joins us for more.

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It seems counterintuitive, but some Covid tests can’t pick up on certain variants in their results, and labs are using those very same tests to help flag if you might have the U.K. variant. If tests come back positive for Covid-19, but fail a specific section of the test, that could be an indicator that someone is infected with the U.K. strain. Brianna Abbott, health reporter at the WSJ, joins us for how some tests are being used to flag different Covid variants.

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The pace of vaccinations in the U.S. is starting to pick up, but many distribution sites are still recovering from an initial botched rollout. Many local health departments and hospitals were in the dark about how many doses they were getting and when they would be delivered. Officials overestimated how many doses to set aside for nursing homes, and reporting from states was also uneven. Sarah Krouse, reporter at the WSJ, joins us for vaccine distribution problems. 

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The latest data from Pfizer shows that its vaccine is less effective against the South African variant of coronavirus. While clinical trials have not been done, lab experiments show that there is about a two-thirds drop in the neutralization powers against this variant. Andrew Joseph, reporter at STAT News, joins us for what this means for the current batch of vaccines we have.

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We are recovering from the pandemic, but to a different economy. According to a new report, millions of jobs that have been affected by the pandemic are unlikely to come back as increased automation takes hold, more people work from home, and business travel not expected to rebound so quickly. Heather Long, economics correspondent at The Washington Post, joins us for why we need to invest more in retraining workers.

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As cases were soaring last year, the government bought millions of dollars of rapid covid tests and distributed them to states, now we are finding out that millions of those tests have gone unused. One area of concern is that many of these tests are also reaching their six month expiration dates. States have cited accuracy concerns and also other challenges such as training and demand for not using them. Sarah Krouse, reporter at the WSJ, joins us for how millions of rapid tests have remained unused.

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The rate of infections in the U.S. is starting to trend in the right direction despite the rise in concern with more transmissible covid variants. While we are seeing these better numbers, experts are divided on why and chalk it up to four possibilities. Good behavior and mask wearing, improved vaccine distribution, changing seasonality, and more cases going undetected because of less testing. Reis Thebault, reporter at the Washington Post, joins us why coronavirus cases are dropping.

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The process of getting a coronavirus vaccine appointment can seem like trying to get a PS5 with all available appointments gone before you know it. This can be especially hard if you might be helping out a parent or grandparent navigating the sites. Part of the problem is poorly designed sites and also too many vaccine sites from state, local, and hospitals all having their own web portals. Geoffrey Fowler, tech columnist at The Washington Post, joins us for tips on how to master the vaccine appointment websites.

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How much does it cost for treatment of some of the most severe cases of coronavirus? For one woman, it cost over $1.3 million dollars before insurance covered a large portion, leaving her to still owe over $42,000 which she cannot afford. The trouble lies in the fact that despite some insurers waiving certain costs, people may still be on the hook for a percentage which adds up quickly. Maria La Ganga, reporter at the LA Times, joins us for more.

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