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Among the many actions included in the $1.7 trillion budget deal Congress is looking to pass this week is a vital effort to make sure the United States never again responds to a pandemic as poorly as it did with covid-19. This legislation needs to make it across the finish line. (Amu Maxmen, 12/21)

For as long as there have been vaccines, there has been vaccine misinformation—and surprisingly often it has focused on fertility. The COVID vaccines have been no exception. (Viki Male, 12/21)

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’s petition for a statewide grand jury to investigate Pfizer and Moderna for “wrongdoing in Florida with respect to Covid-19 vaccines” is a political stunt, not a serious legal argument. This sort of pandering was probably inevitable, given still-simmering public anger over the pandemic. (Megan McArdle, 12/21)

Sepsis, a deadly overreaction of the immune system to infection, has befuddled clinicians and researchers for decades. Covid-19 made things worse. (Richard Marfuggi, Aparna Ahuja and Rick A. Bright, 12/22)

By all indications, getting infected with COVID has ceased to be a frightening prospect for most. Few people wear a mask in public. Proof of vaccination is rarely required to visit most establishments. And the share of people who have received the latest booster shot is just 14%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (12/22)