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Workplace exposures continue to be a major driver of the coronavirus pandemic, something that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) should be on top of. But a reinterpretation of a reporting rule is making that all but impossible. (David Michaels, 11/24)

The vaccines are coming, and the prospect of several effective inoculations to combat the coronavirus pandemic is a remarkable scientific achievement. But even in the best of conditions, it will take time to overcome manufacturing and logistics hurdles, and to distribute hundreds of millions of shots equitably. Fasten your seat belts, and be patient. (11/23)

As an increasing body of evidence suggests America’s new anti-Covid vaccines are both efficacious and safe, the question of how to distribute those vaccines assumes greater importance. One poll suggests that Americans think health-care workers, the elderly and people with compromised immune systems should receive vaccines very early. But what to do after that? There is an uncomfortable truth here: Most of the best distribution methods are blatantly unfair. In this context, however, fairness is overrated. Priority should be given to methods that will save more lives and bring back the economy more rapidly. (Tyler Cowen, 11/23)

With the first results of multiple Covid-19 vaccine candidates giving hope to billions of people around the world, the power of biomedical research has captured the public’s attention. The speed with which it moved to develop vaccines, treatments, and diagnostic tests has been impressive — although equitable access to these innovations is still unsure. (Nathalie Strub-Wourgaft, 11/24)

The world is unequal enough and the Covid-19 pandemic threatens to make things more unequal still. Poorer countries have had to take on debt they will struggle to pay back. Their more fragile healthcare systems and crowded cities forced them into stricter and more economically harmful lockdowns, and poverty rates have risen dramatically. Now, they rightly fear a staggered recovery from the pandemic will further disadvantage them, given how expensive vaccine rollouts look to be. It should not be surprising then that several developing countries, led by India and South Africa, argued last week at the World Trade Organization’s intellectual property rights council that IPR-related payments should be suspended for the duration of the pandemic for Covid-19 related vaccines, therapeutics and equipment. They worry about “intellectual property rights hindering or potentially hindering timely provisioning of affordable medical products” to their citizens. (Mark Sharma, 11/23)

The numbers across the U.S. are staggering: more than 167,000 new Covid-19 cases and 1,400 deaths a day, with more than 83,000 Americans currently hospitalized. A fall Covid surge is under way, reminiscent of the fall of 1918, which saw the second wave of the much deadlier Spanish flu. Without an intervening factor, biology, like history, repeats itself. New York is battling a rising disease prevalence but has so far escaped a second significant spike. No doubt a tough fall and winter lie ahead, with the virus spreading, pandemic fatigue growing, and cold weather sending people indoors to socialize. (Mark Jarrett and Bruce Farber, 11/23)

At Joe Biden takes his oath to become the 46th president of the United States, the U.S. should learn three important lessons. Infectious diseases can ambush advanced and developing economies alike; preventing them may create even more wealth than we had thought. What looks like a pocket or a local outbreak can turn into a threat to global wellbeing in as little time as it takes a 787 to fly from one side of the world to the other. Sharing the responsibility for preventing this spread of infections serves American and global interests. (Amanda Glassman, 11/23)

President Trump has largely been a corrosive force on healthcare issues, working to undermine the Affordable Care Act and advancing policies that favored younger, healthier people at the expense of Americans with preexisting conditions. But on prescription drugs — an area largely overlooked by the ACA — he’s aligned himself with the millions of consumers deeply concerned about the cost of new or specialty drugs. The Trump administration responded to that concern in its most concrete way yet on Friday, announcing a pair of controversial steps that could ultimately save money for taxpayers and many consumers. (11/24)

It is crystal clear that job number one for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is helping tackle the coronavirus pandemic. However, that doesn’t mean that the FDA, particularly its Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, should ignore other major causes of rampant illness and death. We’re thinking of salt. Yes, salt, innocent crystals of which are in half of all packaged foods and practically every factory, restaurant and kitchen in America. (Michael F. Jacobson and Marsha N. Cohen, 11/23)