Bleak Covid Death Tally Meets Pfizer’s Plaxlovid Pill

WSJ reports Covid-19 deaths now top 800K but also that Pfizer’s “pill” is another Trumpian Warp Speed “breakthrough” as “Omicron Variant Meets Our Public-Policy Mess” under mandate Bidenitis. Time to redouble effort to vaccinate with reason, focus on “At Risk” folks?

First, the bad news we already knew. The newspaper repeats earlier warning that “this year’s coronavirus fatalities [was going to] exceed those reported in 2020 as new infections, hospitalizations rise in parts of the country,” although the newest strain, Omicron, appears to have mutated into a more virile yet less sickening strain. But, the latest data from John Hopkins U suggests the pandemic is likely to continue into 2022 and maybe yet another booster will be needed down the road for those already vaccinated. “About 64.8% of eligible Americans are fully vaccinated” according to the CDC, “including 70.4% of those 12 & older and 87.2% of those 65 & older.” Meanwhile, columnist Holman Jenkins notes “Americans are having to adapt instinctively because they ARE LED AND INFORMED badly,” by you know who.

Yet, separately reminds the WSJ editorial board, Pfizer’s “antiviral pill is the best therapeutic news so far,” and its booster [if not the company’s original two-shot protocol] is proving effective in blocking Omicron. Paxlovid is even being touted as “a game changer” after final trials “showed it reduced risk of hospitalizations among high-risk groups by nearly 90%.” Indeed. Perhaps the best Christmas present yet?

Davd Soul