Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Different Takes: Thoughts On Which Booster To Choose; Examining The New Valneva Vaccine
The Washington Post: Why I Chose The Pfizer Booster After The Johnson & Johnson Vaccine
After months of waiting, I finally received my second coronavirus vaccine shot. It’s not that I’ve procrastinated. Like 15 million Americans, I was initially inoculated with the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Since then, I’ve been watching with growing concern as more and more studies emerged that showed one dose of J&J is inferior to the two-dose mRNA vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna). (Leana S. Wen, 10/20)
Bloomberg: Valneva's Covid Vaccine Trial Success Comes With Caveats
The U.K. government never said publicly why it abruptly pulled plug in September on its 1.4 billion-euro ($1.98 billion) contract for a new vaccine from Valneva SE, to be manufactured at a plant in Scotland. But Monday’s news that a Phase 3 trial of the French pharmaceutical company’s vaccine compared favorably to the Oxford-AstraZeneca Plc vaccine has brought fresh questions about that decision and the role this new vaccine might play in building Covid defenses. (Sam Fazeli and Therese Raphael, 10/20)
The Atlantic: Selflessness Alone Can't Fight The Pandemic
This winter, COVID-19 will continue to demand our attention, and we’ve unfortunately exhausted our store of soft-touch options to rouse those inner angels. More will be required if we are to leverage one of our greatest natural advantages as a species: the impulse to help others. From the start of the pandemic, we have seen a mix of selfless and abhorrent behaviors. A puzzling feature of human nature is that they exist in a delicate balance. (Nicholas A. Christakis, 10/20)
