Covid-19 vaccine is still working

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With the surge in delta variants in the United States earlier this year, it was not difficult to find reports suggesting that the Covid-19 vaccine was not working very well. The federal government updated its recommendation that vaccinated people wear masks, authorities warned that vaccinated people could still spread the virus, and cases surged in most parts of the country. Did.

But since then things have become clearer. The vaccine is working and Covid-19 is retreating.

First, there is scientific data.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found In August, unvaccinated people were six times more likely to test positive for Covid-19 and 11 times more likely to die of the virus than vaccinated people. Vaccines really protect people from the worst consequences, especially against Delta.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

But what about sending? One of the underlying concerns of the federal government’s call to mask vaccinated people is that vaccinated people can still spread the virus, especially the Delta. You may find people on social media and in real life who say that vaccines do not stop the spread of the disease.

Solid proof This suggests that it is wrong..Recent preprints study According to a Dutch study examining the spread at home, vaccinated people (mainly those infected with Delta) are more likely to spread the virus than unvaccinated or infected people.63 It turned out to be% lower. And that’s probably an underestimate. This is because vaccinated people are less likely to get the virus in the first place. This is another layer of protection against the spread of the disease.

There is Some evidence Vaccine efficacy can be diminished by infection, but it is not clear if this applies to hospitalization and death.

All of this helps explain what is happening across the United States today. Covid-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths are declining. After peaking in September, killing about 2,100 people a day, the United States is now 1,400 people die daily — It’s still too expensive, but it’s a real improvement.

Our world in data

There is a part of the country Keep watching Outbreaks involving Alaska, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, and Idaho.

But these are not coincidences, The least vaccinated areas of the United States.. Although more than 60% or 70% of the population is fully vaccinated in some states, most of the top 10 states currently reporting cases and deaths are in their 40s and early 50s. There is a complete vaccination rate.

Of course, things can get worse. Winter is coming — and last year, as people moved indoors and gathered for vacations, it brought the worst of all Covid-19 waves across the country. New variants can also cause an increase in cases.

But that’s possible — not sure, but possible — the current decline could leave behind the last major Covid-19 surge in the United States.

One positive signal comes from Britain, which saw the delta waves earlier than the United States. The case of Covid-19 is Bounce up and down Mortality in the UK Very stable — One-tenth to one-ninth the size of January’s largest peak in the country.

Our world in data

This provides a potential peak in the future: coronavirus Continue to spread in some way.. However, with higher vaccination rates and natural immunity from infection, the virus is no longer instigated — no longer a threat, it becomes more like influenza. It’s a pathogen that we don’t have to be, but it’s probably a pathogen that we can live with most of the time.

This is not guaranteed, especially as many in the United States refuse to vaccinate.

But there are a few things I can say now. The vaccine is really working. The virus is really retreating in the United States. Covid-19 has found a way to surprise everyone over the past year and a half, but this time there are several reasons to expect it to be.

This Week’s Paper: Free School Lunch Does More Than Helping Children

new Working paper Published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, it investigated the broader impact of school lunch programs. It turns out that they are likely to benefit not only school children but the entire population.

Researchers Jesse Handbury and Sarah Mochaly focused on the local and state adoption of the 2010 Healthy and Hunger-Free Children’s Law Community Qualifications.

Taking advantage of how national programs were deployed in various areas, they found that their adoption was associated with a 10% reduction in grocery sales in large chains. Since then, the chains most exposed to the program have reduced prices by 2.5% across the board.

Using the model, researchers estimated that the program reduced median household food costs by about 4.5% by 2016, but with some variability from place to place.

All of this suggests that school lunch programs have the benefit of reaching the entire population. This is great news for everyone (probably except for grocery chains) — if the findings are further scrutinized and reproducible.

In the current situation Inflation concernsThe study also reveals one way that more government spending can actually reduce inflationary pressure, rather than exacerbating inflation simply by boosting demand. This is an example that some policy makers may want to see while Democrats are working on a buildback better bill.