When healing becomes a luxury: the high cost of political theatre

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Arsonist Trump sets 100% tariff on generic drugs from August 2028, doubling a year later — pure nihilism. {Bloomberg 21 July}

https://finance.yahoo.com/economy/policy/articles/trump-plans-100-tariff-generic-230559381.html

FTA: (Bloomberg) -- The US plans to impose a 100% tariff on generic drugs imported to the US beginning in August 2028, President Donald Trump said in a social media post Tuesday.

That levy would then double a year later to 200% in August 2029.

"This is done in order to RESHORE Generic Pharmaceutical Production into America, with a penalty to those Companies that decide not to build Plant and Equipment within the stated period of time given to them," Trump said in the post.

Trump said his administration's tariff plans related to patented drugs would remain unchanged.

linktr.ee/arthurnewhook

🪐💔 #QueSeraSera 𓅨 🕈

Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

The most common variety of Russian war crimes, North Korea takes being a hermit kingdom to another level, and Elon Musk buys Twitter

Omar Marques/Getty Images

Rape: The war crime that goes mostly unpunished - Russian men are nearly all brutes, rarely to be trusted. Make no mistake, rape is a deliberate tactic and is sanctioned by the Kremlin itself. It is hardly the first time in history Russians have used rape as a weapon, nor are they the only nation that has done so to its enemies. Obviously, for the women of Ukraine. Quote: ‘What’s happening in Ukraine is one of the worst large-scale campaigns of sexual violence in war since Islamic State’s attacks on the Yezidi minority in Iraq in 2014.’ (Ruth Pollard, Bloomberg 4/19)

North Korea remains one of only two countries on earth not to have administered COVID-19 vaccines - The hermit kingdom was offered millions of doses by the UN and China, and turned them down. Information concerning current conditions there is spotty, but none of what is known or highly suspected is good. The small African nation of Eritrea is the only other country not to have administered vaccines to citizens. (Washington Post 4/24)

Getty Images/BBC

Elon Musk buys Twitter for $44 billion - As of right now, I’m not terribly concerned about this and am not leaving Twitter, but I’ll be among the many watching this guy like a hawk. ‘Free speech’ is fine, but he’d be well-advised not to give any more openings to liars, disinfo agents, and those engaging in hate speech. Yes, ‘hate speech,’ just as with ‘free speech,’ can be wrongly defined in a lot of ways; but blatant and open racism is really not at all hard to detect. Same goes for sedition. (BBC 4/26)

Andriy Khlyvnyuk/Pink Floyd

Hey Hey Rise Up - Dozed off sometime around 9 p.m. on Monday night, and woke up just before 11 p.m. out of a nightmare - that my neighborhood just outside of Boston was bombed. I do not have vivid, lifelike dreams too often, but they do happen and this one was a bit too much. I woke up sweating, and my head is still pounding as I write this (just after Midnight on Tuesday morning.) I have had visions of calamity come upon me in the past, and they are always physically and mentally exhausting. And, at those moments, I have to remind myself that it’s nothing next to the destruction we are seeing overseas. For the people of Ukraine, the nightmare is their daily reality. Please pray for the Ukrainian people. And continue to stream and download ‘Hey Hey Rise Up,’ as all proceeds go to relief efforts. Every click is meaningful, and may even save a life or two. Слава Україні

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The share of Americans killed by COVID-19 found to be 63% higher than any other wealthy, developed nation

Steven Senne/AP

The COVID pandemic continues to expose, for all the world to see, the decay of a falling empire. And so many of these deaths were preventable, were not it for belligerence, conspiracism, and grave mistrust of all institutions. These are dark days. U.S. has far higher COVID death rate than other wealthy countries - 

Two years into the pandemic, the coronavirus is killing Americans at far higher rates than people in other wealthy nations, a sobering distinction to bear as the country charts a course through the next stages of the pandemic. 

The ballooning death toll has defied the hopes of many Americans that the less severe omicron variant would spare the United States the pain of past waves. Deaths have now surpassed the worst days of the autumn surge of the delta variant, and are more than two-thirds as high as the record tolls of last winter, when vaccines were largely unavailable. 

With American lawmakers desperate to turn the page on the pandemic, as some European leaders have already begun to, the number of dead has clouded a sense of optimism, even as omicron cases recede. And it has laid bare weaknesses in the country’s response, scientists said. 

“Death rates are so high in the States — eye-wateringly high,” said Devi Sridhar, head of the global public health program at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, who has supported loosening coronavirus rules in parts of Britain. “The United States is lagging.” 

Some of the reasons for America’s difficulties are well known. Despite having one of the world’s most powerful arsenals of vaccines, the country has failed to vaccinate as many people as other large, wealthy nations. Crucially, vaccination rates in older people also lag behind certain European nations. 

The United States has fallen even further behind in administering booster shots, leaving large numbers of vulnerable people with fading protection as omicron sweeps across the country. 

The resulting American death toll has set the country apart — and by wider margins than has been broadly recognized. Since Dec. 1, when health officials announced the first omicron case in the United States, the share of Americans who have been killed by the coronavirus is at least 63% higher than in any of these other large, wealthy nations, according to a New York Times analysis of mortality figures. (Read more) 

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Some encouraging news concerning the severity of Omicron, but the overall outlook is bleak

AFP

Authorities in the United Kingdom report that the Omicron variant appears to cause up to 70% fewer hospitalizations than the previous Delta variant of COVID, and global financial markets expressed a little bit of relief on Thursday. Still, the rate of transmission is higher than with previous strains, and the number of new infections continues to soar, while events are canceled or scaled back. A new daily record of nearly 120,000 infections was set in the UK, while new research suggests a booster shot only offers ten weeks of maximum protection against the Omicron variant. In other words, I would say this is no time to let our guard down, but people already let their guard down some time back. Thus, why new variants continue to emerge, and we’re likely to be stuck in this cycle of death for years to come. The only silver lining may be that potentially better treatments are here.

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New York Times report: ‘Most of the World’s Vaccines Likely Won’t Prevent Infection From Omicron’

Sergey Ponomarev/NYT

Incredibly disheartening, and anti-vaxxers are likely having a field day with this report. But it’s been known all through the course of the pandemic that if not enough people took the necessary precautions, then the virus would mutate. Omicron is the end result of widespread belligerence, and ultimately the blame belongs to all the ordinary people demanding that they are ‘done with COVID.’ Guess what, we’ll never be ‘done with COVID’ now, fools. - 

A growing body of preliminary research suggests the Covid vaccines used in most of the world offer almost no defense against becoming infected by the highly contagious Omicron variant. 

All vaccines still seem to provide a significant degree of protection against serious illness from Omicron, which is the most crucial goal. But only the Pfizer and Moderna shots, when reinforced by a booster, appear to have initial success at stopping infections, and these vaccines are unavailable in most of the world. 

The other shots — including those from AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson and vaccines manufactured in China and Russia — do little to nothing to stop the spread of Omicron, early research shows. And because most countries have built their inoculation programs around these vaccines, the gap could have a profound impact on the course of the pandemic. 

A global surge of infections in a world where billions of people remain unvaccinated not only threatens the health of vulnerable individuals but also increases the opportunity for the emergence of yet more variants. The disparity in the ability of countries to weather the pandemic will almost certainly deepen. And the news about limited vaccine efficacy against Omicron infection could depress demand for vaccination throughout the developing world, where many people are already hesitant or preoccupied with other health problems. 

Most evidence so far is based on laboratory experiments, which do not capture the full range of the body’s immune response, and not from tracking the effect on real-world populations. The results are striking, however. (Read more)

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FDA moves to speed along convoluted approval process for COVID booster shots

AP Photo/Matt Rourke

Some states have not waited for federal regulators to finish their convoluted approval processes. It really isn’t any wonder why so much of the general public is skeptical of the FDA, CDC, etc. (and thus become vulnerable to anti-vaxxer propaganda) when these agencies have been so inept throughout the course of the pandemic - 

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. regulators on Friday moved to open up COVID-19 booster shots to all adults, expanding the government’s effort to get ahead of rising coronavirus cases that experts fear could snowball into a winter surge as millions of Americans travel for the holidays. 

The Food and Drug Administration’s decision stands to simplify what has been a confusing list of who’s eligible by allowing anyone 18 or older to choose either a Pfizer or Moderna booster six months after their last dose — regardless of which vaccine they had first. The move came after about a dozen states had started offering boosters to all adults. 

“We heard loud and clear that people needed something simpler — and this, I think, is simple,” FDA vaccine chief Dr. Peter Marks told The Associated Press. 

There’s one more step before the approach becomes official: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must agree to expand Pfizer and Moderna boosters to even healthy young adults. Its scientific advisers were set to debate it later Friday. 

If the CDC agrees, tens of millions more Americans could have three doses of protection before the new year. Anyone who got the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine can already get a booster. 

All three COVID-19 vaccines used in the U.S. offer strong protection against severe illness including hospitalization and death without boosters, but protection against infection can wane with time. Previously, the government had cleared boosters of Pfizer’s vaccine, as well as the similar Moderna vaccine, only for vulnerable groups including older Americans and people with chronic health problems. 

But Pfizer last week asked the FDA to expand that decision to everyone, citing new data from a study of 10,000 people. Ultimately, the FDA decided there was enough evidence, from studies and real-world use of boosters, to back the expansion for both Pfizer and Moderna. 

The move comes as new COVID-19 cases have climbed steadily over the last two weeks, especially in states where colder weather is driving people indoors. Some states didn’t wait for federal officials to act and opened boosters to all adults. 

Marks said he understood why some governors got out ahead of the FDA. 

“We’re going into a cold season, cases going up, high travel season, people indoors sharing good holiday times together,” he said. “They probably saw the specter of what could happen here, and were trying — well intentioned — to do something.” 

Boosters for everyone was the Biden administration’s original goal. But in September, a panel of FDA advisers voted overwhelmingly against that idea based on the vaccines’ continued effectiveness in most age groups. Instead, they endorsed an extra Pfizer dose only for the most vulnerable. (Read more)

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‘Three snow leopards died of complications related to Covid-19 at a zoo in Lincoln, Neb., despite efforts by staff to restore them to health after they tested positive for the virus about a month ago’

San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, via Associated Press

Human beings refuse to protect each other from this plague, so innocent animals certainly do not stand a chance when they are confronted with it -

The Lincoln Children’s Zoo lamented the deaths of Ranney, Everest and Makalu in a Facebook post on its official page Friday evening, saying the mountain cats “were beloved by our entire community inside and outside of the zoo.”

“This loss is truly heartbreaking, and we are all grieving together,” the statement said.

The snow leopards were not the only animals to have contracted the virus at the facility. The Lincoln Children’s Zoo had published a statement on Oct. 13 disclosing that the snow leopards and Sumatran tigers had “tested positive for the virus that causes Covid-19.”

The zoo had collected nasal swab and fecal samples after animal keepers had “observed symptoms consistent with the virus in felids,” which can include respiratory illness. The zoo said it had been treating the snow leopards and tigers “with steroids and antibiotics to prevent secondary infection,” but its statement did not say whether its animals had been vaccinated.

This summer, zoo animals started receiving an experimental Covid vaccine made by Zoetis, a veterinary pharmaceutical company in New Jersey.

The Lincoln zoo’s tigers appeared to be pulling through, according to the latest statement. “Sumatran tigers, Axl and Kumar, have made a seemingly full recovery from the illness,” the zoo said.

Cases of coronavirus infections among zoo animals have surfaced throughout the U.S., including the first two spotted hyenas in the world found to have the virus, among other animals infected at the Denver Zoo. Other recently reported cases have included tigers in Omaha, Neb.; African lions, snow leopards, jaguars and a tiger in St. Louis and lions in Honolulu. (Read more)

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Paxlovid: Pfizer seeking FDA approval for COVID drug that could dramatically reduce hospitalizations and deaths

Evan Frost/MPR News

Hopeful the FDA doesn’t drag its heels on this. After all, it must be more sensible than taking horse dewormer or injecting bleach -

WASHINGTON (AP) — Pfizer Inc. said Friday that its experimental antiviral pill for COVID-19 cut rates of hospitalization and death by nearly 90% in high-risk adults, as the drugmaker joins the race to bring the first easy-to-use medication against the coronavirus to the U.S. market. 

Currently all COVID-19 treatments used in the U.S. require an IV or injection. Competitor Merck’s COVID-19 pill is already under review at the Food and Drug Administration after showing strong initial results, and on Thursday the United Kingdom became the first country to OK it. 

Pfizer said it will ask the FDA and international regulators to authorize its pill as soon as possible, after independent experts recommended halting the company’s study based on the strength of its results. Once Pfizer applies, the FDA could make a decision within weeks or months. If authorized the company would sell the drug under the brand name Paxlovid. 

Researchers worldwide have been racing to find a pill against COVID-19 that can be taken at home to ease symptoms, speed recovery and reduce the crushing burden on hospitals and doctors. 

Pfizer released preliminary results Friday of its study of 775 adults. Patients who received the company's drug along with another antiviral shortly after showing COVID-19 symptoms had an 89% reduction in their combined rate of hospitalization or death after a month, compared to patients taking a dummy pill. Fewer than 1% of patients taking the drug needed to be hospitalized and no one died. In the comparison group, 7% were hospitalized and there were seven deaths. (Read more)

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CDC panel approves Pfizer vaccine for children age 5-11

Duke Health

Since half the adults in this country refuse to do anything to mitigate the spread of the virus, perhaps vaccinating these little vectors of disease will go some ways in eradicating it. Long overdue. - 

Pfizer Inc.’s Covid-19 shot for children age 5 to 11 was backed unanimously by advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in a vote that will help usher in a new phase in the pandemic response. 

The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted 14-0 in favor of giving young children the shot developed by Pfizer and BioNTech SE after it was cleared Friday by U.S. regulators. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky still must sign off on the recommendation before vaccinations begin, and her decision is expected later Tuesday.  

“Today is a monumental day in the course of this pandemic, and one that many of us have been very eager to see,” she said at the opening of the panel’s all-day meeting. “For almost two full years, schools have been fundamentally changed; there have been children in second grade who have never experienced a normal school year.” 

A surge in infections fueled by the delta variant and the return of in-person learning have increased calls for younger children to be immunized. Although kids generally don’t get as sick as adults from Covid, many parents and caregivers are keen to give children -- as well as older and ill people who interact with them -- a shield against infection. (Read more)

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The far-left origins of the far-right anti-vaccine movement

AP

The nationalist populists are the loudest and most numerous faction in the anti-vaccine movement and get most of the media attention, but there does exist a contingent on the far-left that is also rejecting vaccines. In fact, most of the silly talking points the right are using now actually originated – long before this pandemic – in leftist circles. Via Jon Entine and Patrick Whittle - 

Nowhere is the politicization of science more evident than in the pernicious absurdity of the anti-vaccination movement, which has received fresh impetus during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The internet and social media (not to mention malevolent bots and trolls) have enabled the rapid spread of vaccine misinformation. But what role do broader political beliefs play in fueling anti-vax sentiment and suspicions about science in general? 

We know this is happening on the Right, especially in the United States, where resistance to COVID vaccines has become a marker of political and ideological identity among Trump supporters, even though their leader was among the first politicians to avail himself of the shots. Vaccine rejectionism fits comfortably with traditional right-wing opposition to certain types of science (such as evolution and the reality of anthropogenic climate change), but in a fiercely polarized political climate, it has been inflamed by suspicion of liberals who endorse vaccination. For some conservatives, a childishly contrarian resistance to the “progressive establishment” constitutes a kind of principled libertarianism. 

But before the Left allows itself to become too smug about this particular right-wing rejection of science, a little history is in order. Seldom discussed, let alone acknowledged, is that right-wing vaccine rejectionism has its roots in mainstream left-wing doctrines. Twenty-five years after Alan Sokal’s celebrated hoax, anti-scientific nonsense from the Left continues to inspire and inform anti-vaxxers’ absurd abuse of science. Consequently, vaccine rejectionism in the US is now endemic. In the decade preceding the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States saw a 10 percent overall decline in the number of parents who believe that it’s extremely or very important to vaccinate their children (from 94 percent in 2001 to 84 percent in 2019). An astonishing 11 percent say that vaccines are more dangerous than the diseases they prevent. In 2015, almost two-in-five respondents to a Canadian survey stated that “the science on vaccinations isn’t quite clear.” 

Before the pandemic, resistance to vaccinations in the US was fairly evenly divided between Left and Right, at least according to polling data. But the reasons were different, and telling. Conservatives were more likely to believe that vaccination should be the choice of a patient or parent, while leftists were more likely to embrace conspiracy nonsense. Many of the movement’s most ardent conspiracy-mongers were progressives and the largest pockets of anti-vaccine sentiment were in liberal US counties. The 2015 California measles outbreak, for instance, began in the wealthy, liberal enclave of Marin County, and the progressive San Francisco collar counties were the hotbed of opposition to the California law—passed in 2016 as measles cases soared—banning personal belief exemptions for children entering kindergarten. (Read more)

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Mandates work: ‘The number of Americans getting COVID-19 vaccines has steadily increased to a three-month high’

Getty Images

Some good news for once. - 

The number of Americans getting COVID-19 vaccines has steadily increased to a three-month high as seniors and people with medical conditions seek boosters, and government and employer mandates push more workers to take their first doses. 

Demand is expected to spike in a few weeks if regulators authorize the Pfizer vaccine for elementary school children, and some states are reopening mass vaccination clinics in anticipation. 

In Missouri, a mass vaccination site at a former Toys R Us store is set to open Monday. Virginia plans to roll out nine large vaccination centers over the next few weeks, including one at the Richmond International Raceway. 

Colorado opened four mass vaccination sites in mid-September, largely to deal with employer mandates, and officials saw a 38% increase in vaccinations statewide during the first week. 

The total number of doses being administered in the U.S. is climbing toward an average of 1 million per day, almost double the level from mid-July — but still far below last spring. The increase is mainly due to boosters, with nearly 10% of the nation’s over-65 population already getting third shots, but there are signs of increased demand from other groups as well. 

On Thursday, 1.1 million doses were given, including just over 306,000 to newly vaccinated people, said Dr. Cyrus Shahpar, the White House COVID-19 data director. 

Organizers of the effort to reach the roughly 67 million unvaccinated American adults say the rise in demand can be traced to approval of the Pfizer booster, mandates that have forced employees to choose between the shot and their jobs and sobering statistics that show nearly all COVID-19 deaths are among the unvaccinated. (Read more)

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Arkansas doctor under investigation for prescribing ivermectin to his patients, as well as prisoners under his care

KATV

It is absolute lunacy that in America we allow so many unqualified quacks to practice medicine. NBC News - 

The Arkansas State Medical Board is investigating a doctor who used ivermectin to treat his patients, as well as inmates at the Washington County jail, suffering from Covid-19. 

The board said Friday that it has an open probe into Dr. Robert Karas, who owns Karas Health Care, which has facilities in Fayetteville and Lowell and provides medical services to detainees at the jail. 

"Once the investigation is complete, the information will be provided to the full Board to review and to be discussed at the next scheduled Board Meeting," board Director Amy Embry said in a statement. "No additional information is available at this time." 

Karas declined to be interviewed Friday because of his schedule but said in an emailed statement that he began using the drug in late 2020 to treat patients and inmates "who had become significantly sick from Covid." 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration have warned against using ivermectin to treat or prevent Covid. On Thursday, the CDC said that there has been a rise in calls to poison control centers for reports of overdoses after people have taken the drug. 

The FDA on Saturday urged people to stop taking it. It said that while FDA-approved ivermectin tablets can treat certain conditions caused by parasitic worms in humans, the drug is not an approved medication for the coronavirus. Generally, ivermectin is used to treat or prevent parasites in animals. 

"You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y'all. Stop it," the FDA tweeted, alongside a consumer update detailing why the drug can be unsafe for humans. (Read more)

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Following FDA approval of the Pfizer vaccine, ‘anti-vaxxer social media influencers and Republican politicians are finding new reasons to oppose the vaccine’

Sen. Ron Johnson. Getty Images

The least surprising news one will come across today. The biggest joke is the contention that somehow approval was rushed. Are you kidding me? It’s been nine months since the vaccines first became available. The anti-vaxxer movement is a giant, deadly scam. -  

The Food and Drug Administration’s full approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on Monday has boosted hopes that at least some of the millions of unvaccinated adults in the U.S. would change their minds. But right on cue, anti-vaxxer social media influencers and Republican politicians are finding new reasons to oppose the vaccine.  

Even before the FDA gave full approval, Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican who has for months criticized the outreach campaign to get people vaccinated, argued that the approval process was rushed due to politics. 

“I see no need to rush the FDA approval process for any of the three COVID-19 vaccines,” Johnson wrote in a letter to top Biden administration health officials. “Expediting the process appears to only serve the political purpose of imposing and enforcing vaccine mandates.”  

Responding to a speech from President Joe Biden calling on American companies to require vaccines, Johnson tweeted: “No one should be pressured, coerced, or fear reprisal for refusing any medical treatment, including the Covid-19 vaccine.” (Read more)

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Anti-vaxxer Florida governor promotes COVID-19 antibody treatment that a top donor has invested millions in

AP

Gov. Ron DeSantis, an absolutely shameless sleazebag. - 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — who has been criticized for opposing mask mandates and vaccine passports — is now touting a COVID-19 antibody treatment in which a top donor’s company has invested millions of dollars. 

DeSantis has been flying around the state promoting a monoclonal antibody treatment sold by Regeneron, which was used on then-President Donald Trump after he tested positive for COVID-19. The governor first began talking about it as a treatment last year. 

Citadel, a Chicago-based hedge fund, has $15.9 million in shares of Regeneron Pharmaceutical Inc., according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Citadel CEO Ken Griffin has donated $10.75 million to a political committee that supports DeSantis — $5.75 million in 2018 and $5 million last April. 

It’s not unusual for hedge funds to have a wide range of investments. And BlackRock, which has primarily donated to Democratic candidates, though has also donated substantially to Republicans, has a large holding in the company - more so than Citadel. 

DeSantis ramped up the call for Floridians to seek out monoclonal antibody treatments in August as coronavirus cases spiked. He’s held news conferences at treatment sites and a Tampa hospital touting the effectiveness of the drug if people receive treatment soon after testing positive. 

“Early treatment with these monoclonal antibodies – Regeneron and others – have proven to radically reduce the chances that somebody ends up being hospitalized,” DeSantis said Monday at a treatment site in Orlando. “Reducing hospital admissions has got to be a top priority.” 

Experts agree that keeping people out of the hospital is a top priority, but say vaccines — not treatments for people after they get sick – are the best way to do that. The Regeneron drugs, when given within 10 days of initial symptoms, have been shown to cut rates of hospitalization and death by roughly 70%. The vaccines authorized for use in the U.S. have been proven in large, real-world studies to be 95% effective against hospitalization. (Read more)

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Third dose of COVID-19 vaccines to be available starting in September

Reuters

The virus is proving itself to be a most tenacious foe, so shoring up one’s defenses is vitally important. - 

Federal health officials said Wednesday that a third dose of the COVID-19 shots developed by Moderna Inc. and Pfizer Inc. will be available in mid-September for Americans who have been fully vaccinated for at least eight months. 

They cited waning protection as the reason for a booster shot. 

“The available data make very clear that protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection begins to decrease over time following the initial doses of vaccination, and in association with the dominance of the delta variant, we are starting to see evidence of reduced protection against mild and moderate disease,” the officials said in a statement. 

The new plan to administer COVID-19 boosters to Americans is subject to an evaluation from the Food and Drug Administration and a recommendation from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention committee. 

It does not apply to people who got the Johnson & Johnson JNJ vaccine, only those who received the vaccines developed by Moderna MRNA and Pfizer PFE. 

Officials said individuals who got J&J’s single-shot vaccine will likely need boosters, but they are waiting on data from the company in the coming weeks and then will set out a plan. 

For the people who received the mRNA vaccines, boosters will begin to be available on Sept. 20. The first people to qualify for a third dose will include “many health care providers, nursing home residents, and other seniors,” then “residents of long-term care facilities.” (Read more)

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