Longer Looks: Interesting Reads You Might Have Missed

Bloomberg: The Window Is Closing for Also-Ran Vaccine Makers
As the world fell victim to the coronavirus pandemic early this year, the field seemed wide open for the scores of pharmaceutical companies and universities that rushed to develop vaccines to curb Covid-19. But now that Pfizer Inc. and its partner BioNTech SE are rolling out a coronavirus shot, with rival Moderna Inc. not far behind, dozens of drugmakers further back in the development pack are suddenly facing a sobering possibility: The window to develop a successful vaccine before the field becomes crowded could be closing. That may leave some laggards unable to easily enroll enough volunteers in the trials needed to win regulatory authorization. In fact, drugmakers that are too many months behind might find themselves locked out of the vast U.S. market, which also is usually the most lucrative. (Paton, Fay Cortez and Langreth, 12/10)

The Atlantic: Who Decides Which COVID-19 Patients Get Ventilators?
The original “God Committee” had seven members: a surgeon, a minister, a banker, a labor leader, a housewife, a government worker, and a lawyer. They convened in the summer of 1961 in Seattle because a professor of medicine at the University of Washington had invented a new method of dialysis that could indefinitely filter the blood of people whose kidneys were failing. His device, hailed as the first artificial human organ, resided in an unobtrusive annex of Seattle’s Swedish Hospital, and it seemed like a true medical miracle. Suddenly people with less than a month to live could be restored to health, provided they could be dialyzed regularly. But at the time, roughly 100,000 Americans were dying of end-stage kidney disease. There were hundreds, possibly thousands, of viable candidates. The program could take only 10. Who should get the lifesaving care? (Kisner, 12/8)

The Washington Post: The Cost Of Child Care During Coronavirus 
Once a month, after the kids are in bed, Margie Yeager and her husband convene at the dining room table. She opens her computer and pulls up the spreadsheet where she tracks the family budget. There is one column that’s caused far more stress this year than any other: child care. Yeager and her husband have three kids — ages 3, 6 and 7 — and child care has always been expensive. But with schools and many day cares closed during the pandemic, the cost has skyrocketed: from $1,850 per month before the coronavirus hit to $5,300 in December. She used to pay nothing for her two oldest children, both enrolled in public school where she lives in Washington, D.C. Now they’re part of a learning “pod” led by a woman who used to work in their school cafeteria. (Kitchener, 12/7)

The New York Times: Holidays In A Pandemic? Here’s What Happened In 1918 
That pandemic, like the coronavirus today, seemed to roll across the United States in waves. The winter holidays in 1918 were marked by grievous loss. They came during a relative lull after the deadliest wave, in the fall. Another, smaller surge would peak shortly after New Year’s Day. But the national conversation around private family gatherings appeared to have been less charged in 1918 than it is today, as many weary from months of restrictions bristle at guidance from health agencies to stay home. (Fortin, 12/9)

Cincinnati Enquirer: COVID Vaccine Distribution Reminds Of Lines On ‘Sabin Sunday’ To End Polio
A committee of leading U.S. vaccine scientists recommended Thursday that the FDA authorize the first COVID-19 vaccine for Americans. For many Americans, this vaccine roll-out may seem unprecedented, but folks with longer memories have gone through this before with the polio vaccine. The poliovirus was a constant threat through the mid-1950s. Every summer, thousands of children were stricken with the highly infectious virus that often caused infantile paralysis. Children placed into iron lungs – tank respirators shaped like torpedoes that helped them breathe – was a nightmare for parents and children. (Suess, 12/10)

The New York Times: The Loneliest Childhood: Toddlers Have No Covid Playmates 
Alice McGraw, 2 years old, was walking with her parents in Lake Tahoe this summer when another family appeared, heading in their direction. The little girl stopped. “Uh-oh,” she said and pointed: “People. She has learned, her mother said, to keep the proper social distance to avoid risk of infection from the coronavirus. In this and other ways, she’s part of a generation living in a particular new type of bubble — one without other children. They are the Toddlers of Covid-19. (Richtel, 12/9)

The Washington Post: Plastic Surgery Is Up During The Pandemic 
After logging many hours on Zoom, Sarah Hayes became distressed. “I noticed my face was starting to look older: fine lines and droopy,” said the senior program manager for a financial firm in New Hampshire. “I’m definitely bothered by my lines more on video than in real life.” So, she decided to get Botox. Call it a Zoom boom. Or an opportune moment. Plastic surgeons across the globe are anecdotally reporting an unprecedented number of requests for procedures. (Braff, 12/8)

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The New York Times: This Is Your Skin On Stress 
It starts in utero. A mass of cells divides and develops, splits and stretches, and from a single layer of embryonic tissue, two seemingly separate but inherently interconnected systems are born: the brain and the skin. They are bound for life. When one senses embarrassment, the other blushes. When one senses pain, the other processes it. And when one bears the burden of a pandemic, political unrest, systemic racism and the ever worsening effects of climate change … well, the other gets a pimple. (DeFino, 12/8)

Courier-Journal: How Botox Treatment Is Helping Stop Overactive Bladders
Botox is often the punchline for folks desperate to ward off the aging process, and it's most commonly used is to smooth out the wrinkles in the face. The injections use a toxin that paralyzes the muscles on the brow, smooths out wrinkles and holds the muscles in place. The treatment can also relax muscles in the back of the neck to relieve migraines. The bladder is really just one large bag of muscles, said Stewart, a physician with Norton Health Care's Norton Urogynecology Center. Essentially Botox works the same way on the bladder as it does when you're trying to roll back the clock. (Menderski, 12/9)

The New York Times: Steaks Grown From Human Cells Spark Interest And Outrage 
The installation of steak grown from human cells at the Design Museum in London was intended to criticize the meat industry’s rising use of living cells from animals. It ended up triggering a roiling debate about bioethics and the pitfalls of artistic critique. Orkan Telhan, an artist and associate professor of fine arts at the Stuart Weitzman School of Design at the University of Pennsylvania, spent the last year imagining how climate change might impact the future of food consumption. He collaborated with scientists to create a project that included 3-D printed pancakes, bioengineered bread and genetically-modified salmon. But it was their provocative, and less appetizing, development of what they call “Ouroboros Steak,” meat cultivated from human cells and expired blood, that challenged the sustainability practices of the nascent cellular agriculture industry, which develops lab-grown products from existing cell cultures. (Small, 12/7)

PBS NewsHour: This Biologist Is Figuring Out How To Short-Circuit Sperm As Birth Control
Polina Lishko will tell you she began studying reproductive biology accidentally. But her deep-seated interest in what ignites the body’s bioelectrical signals has opened up new possibilities for how to address infertility and introduce new options for contraception. Tens of millions of women use some form of birth control in the United States. In 2019, the number of unintended pregnancies hit an all-time low, yet still accounted for 45 percent of all pregnancies, according to the Brookings Institution. Reproductive health experts say that the figure could rise as people lose their health insurance — a trend that was already unfolding before the COVID-19 pandemic forced tens of millions of Americans out of work, severing them from their livelihood and insurance coverage when they needed both the most. (Santhanam, 12/3)