Trump’s attack on the FDA

The Biden administration will be guided by science, not right wing politics.

HHS and the FDA are spending the Trump administration’s last days locked in another power struggle, after the health department blindsided the FDA with a series of major policy changes https://t.co/gNAknXtMPC
— POLITICO (@politico) January 13, 2021

But Azar, infuriated by the FDA’s defiance in a showdown over vaccine standards, has spent recent weeks openly plotting Hahn's ouster. @adamcancryn @ddiamond https://t.co/nyg8MjqNyD
— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) October 22, 2020

BREAKING: 7 former bipartisan FDA commissioners including former Trump commissioner condemn Trump administration politicization of the FDA.

This is an enormous statement. https://t.co/pLMaV7pwpW
— Andy Slavitt @ 🏡🇺🇸 (@ASlavitt) September 29, 2020

Trump, White House demand FDA justify tough standards for coronavirus vaccine, raising concerns of political interference https://t.co/8fTZuklCn8
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) September 26, 2020

In a stunning declaration of authority, Alex Azar, the health secretary, barred the nation’s health agencies, including the FDA, from signing any new rules regarding the nation’s foods, medicines, medical devices and other products, including vaccines https://t.co/Y66ATzWaw9
— NYT Politics (@nytpolitics) September 20, 2020

NEW: Inside a tumultuous week at the FDA, where an over-the-top WH announcement on plasma worried agency insiders that it became a prop in the president's reelection campaign and undermined its credibility. w/ @lauriemcginley2 @jdawsey1 @Carolynyjohnson https://t.co/FUEcyTz02n
— Yasmeen Abutaleb (@yabutaleb7) August 30, 2020

Vaccine polls

Only 45% of Republicans will take the vaccine. Sad! It’s even less in the NPR/PBS/Marist poll.

Willingness to get vaccinated via Gallup poll:

83% Democrats
77% college degree
74% over 65 years old
67% men
67% White adults
66% under 45 years old
65% All Americans
64% women
62% non-White adults
60% no college degree
59% independents
45% Republicans
— Ryan Struyk (@ryanstruyk) January 12, 2021

That growing acceptance is a reassuring sign for public health experts who call distribution of the vaccine crucial to controlling the pandemic that has killed more than 318,000 people in the USA. https://t.co/s04Kx0DWD4
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) December 22, 2020

What will sway Americans to take a COVID-19 vaccine? Efficacy, adverse effects and politics, survey says https://t.co/EzouZKdaJk pic.twitter.com/ON3qaxhSOA
— Yahoo News (@YahooNews) October 21, 2020

Will get vaccinated via NPR/PBS/Marist poll:

79% Biden voters
75% Democrats
71% White college
60% White
60% men
58% all Americans
55% women
55% non-White
54% independents
53% White non-college
45% White evangelical Christians
43% Republicans
39% Trump voters
— Ryan Struyk (@ryanstruyk) January 19, 2021

Republicans in Congress who didn’t wear masks during the lockdown could spread COVID

There are now 3 Dem lawmakers who have tested positive for COVID after being locked in a room with these folks (and lots of others). https://t.co/yjdV38upCg https://t.co/i6xAy5b7QB
— Amanda Terkel (@aterkel) January 12, 2021

THREE Democratic lawmakers have now tested positive for COVID after the Capitol lockdown, spending hours in a room with GOP lawmakers who refused to wear a mask. https://t.co/whArNqMzmN
— Amanda Terkel (@aterkel) January 12, 2021

This is so enraging. There were hundreds of us isolated together as the Capitol was under attack. The Sergeant At Arms repeatedly asked the dozens of maskless Republican members to respect others’ health. @RepLBR offered them masks. They laughed and refused. Get well, @RepBonnie! https://t.co/nIgVsJ3IQy
— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) January 11, 2021

Track Covid-19 cases in Congress here:https://t.co/TPPUJKMuys
— Benjy Renton (@bhrenton) January 11, 2021

Meanwhile, as right wing terrorists were trying to get into Congress and kill lawmakers, right wing lawmakers were busy risking the lives of their own colleagues, because they're awful human beings too…https://t.co/LIzxZ9OvjU
— Tim Wise (@timjacobwise) January 11, 2021

Worried—Freshman GOP Kansas Congressman Jake LaTurner tests #COVID19 positive. Is 11th House member of 117th Congress—all of the same party.

But what worries me is MOCs were all holed up together yesterday during the siege. Many maskless. He was likely infectious.
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) January 8, 2021

Rep. Jake LaTurner, Republican of Kansas, tested positive for the coronavirus on Wednesday night, after he spent the day participating in a failed effort to stop Congress from certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. https://t.co/RTAFNNvEMN
— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 7, 2021

Chaser: https://t.co/gwoDjEwIhG
— Ezra Klein (@ezraklein) January 11, 2021

If there’s a Covid outbreak in Congress, every one of those morons that refused a mask in the safe room should be expelled. https://t.co/wNn6R4lVOv
— Angry Staffer (@Angry_Staffer) January 10, 2021

House lawmakers may have been exposed to Covid-19 when they went into hiding during Wednesday riots at the US Capitol, Congress' attending physician wrote in a letter to members on Sunday. https://t.co/wtnJkOzfBX
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) January 11, 2021

Biden said he was “appalled” when he saw GOP colleagues wouldn’t take masks from Delaware congresswoman @LisaBRochester when she tried to hand them out to members while they were hiding from a mob during the Capitol riots. pic.twitter.com/zB1gkVFbPh
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) January 11, 2021

Virus research update 1/7/21

Fatigue, post-exercise malaise, and brain fog are the most common symptoms reported by COVID long haulers 6 months after contracting the virus, a new study finds. https://t.co/9UNkQFrsLo pic.twitter.com/GqwpybILye
— WebMD (@WebMD) January 6, 2021

A new study finds that patients with mild cases of COVID-19 may be much more likely to report losing their sense of smell than patients with moderate to critical cases. https://t.co/9JYCCVgmmw pic.twitter.com/NGwLD07a4q
— WebMD (@WebMD) January 7, 2021

Mutant variant of the novel coronavirus shows signs of spreading and may become significantly more common in coming weeks, according to CDC and infectious-disease experts. @joelachenbach @bbguari https://t.co/6bgVX097dw
— LenaSun (@bylenasun) January 6, 2021

Here's what we know about B.1.1.7., the new variant of coronavirus. https://t.co/vzFNzTqpzH
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) January 5, 2021

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by CNN (@cnn)

Loss of smell can lead to “an inability to feel pleasure, as well as a strange sense of detachment and isolation. Memories and emotions are intricately tied to smell, and [it] plays an important though largely unrecognized role in emotional well-being.” https://t.co/XZ91idKJNM
— Ezra Klein (@ezraklein) January 3, 2021

📍Worrisome new data—new B117 variant is not only more infectious, it’s potentially more infectious in children 0-9 (+24%) and 10-19 (+14%), and less among 60-79, compared to common strains. More sobering—the R estimate is much higher.

THREAD🧵 #COVID19 https://t.co/2tXzvy4QpU pic.twitter.com/PiUbf9zAPS
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) January 2, 2021

As knowledge of COVID-19 continues to evolve, here's a look at some key findings so far. https://t.co/4zcN2cisaz pic.twitter.com/M03ZGpBvpw
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) January 2, 2021

Kerry Malawista has an important and compelling op/ed in the @baltimoresun The looming mental health catastrophe from Covid. https://t.co/0mW6OsiWh7
— Norman Ornstein (@NormOrnstein) January 1, 2021

You can spread Covid-19 to others from your nose-picking session, and you are also more likely to bring that virus, along with others like influenza or the common cold, directly into your body. https://t.co/SnHVGy2SnC
— CNN (@CNN) December 31, 2020

Flying with covid-19 isn’t just reckless — it’s potentially deadly, doctors say https://t.co/SeNd21nEN9
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) December 30, 2020

Small Number of Covid Patients Develop Severe Psychotic Symptoms – The New York Times https://t.co/oUbNpI1ckQ
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) December 29, 2020

When I spoke w/ @lawrence_wright about #RacialHealthDisparities surrounding #COVID, I explained to him it’s not just the elderly. COVID takes our kids, too.

Native American, Black, & Hispanic children are 41% of Americans 0-20 years old, yet account for 78% of children dying. https://t.co/EaeMsGDxdq pic.twitter.com/ac21iHW9J6
— Ebony Jade Hilton, MD (@EbonyJHilton_MD) December 29, 2020

It turns out that hair loss is not a particularly uncommon symptom of COVID-19 https://t.co/Hu5qHxAbvb
— GQ Magazine (@GQMagazine) December 29, 2020

How long is #LongCovid?
The most extensive symptom assessment and longest duration (7 months) of nearly 3,800 individuals shows how debilitating this is in young, predominantly women, w/ most unable to return to full prior work https://t.co/o0YUNse1EA @ahandvanish @AthenaAkrami pic.twitter.com/3miXJFdVp0
— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) December 29, 2020

No Mask protesters are wrong

GOP Gov Cancels Inaugural Ceremony Over Armed Protesters Outside His Home https://t.co/Ijaj65Hb1C pic.twitter.com/8rTa8XAh1G
— Talking Points Memo (@TPM) December 30, 2020

Minnesota bar sued by state over indoor dining ban refuses to close: "We want to let freedom ring" https://t.co/HNK9KYcEXv
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) December 18, 2020

This is America. https://t.co/aspFje54D7
— Midwin Charles, Esq. (@MidwinCharles) December 16, 2020

More on the slow vaccine rollout

"On the current pace, by that point [Inauguration Day] about 6 million Americans — perhaps 10 million — would have been vaccinated. And, depending on local bureaucracy and storage capacity, perhaps many million doses will be set to expire."https://t.co/ldT33ZNJ4x
— Matthew Yglesias 🍦 (@mattyglesias) December 30, 2020

At the current rate of #covid19 vaccinations, it will take the U.S. 10 years to inoculate 80% of Americans.

Instead of obfuscating & deflecting responsibility, the federal government needs to take 3 urgent steps.

My @washingtonpost op-ed (1/6): https://t.co/81ex7IluL3
— Leana Wen, M.D. (@DrLeanaWen) December 29, 2020

Here's HHS Sec Azar being very specific about the 20 million promise, as recently as December 3. https://t.co/yKhqwwaquU pic.twitter.com/4T6CKG83ET
— David Frum (@davidfrum) December 30, 2020

“What this reveals is…a failure to have a national strategy to vaccinate individuals across the country…and a failure to be honest and transparent with Americans,” Rick Bright, a member of Biden’s coronavirus advisory board, says about slower-than-promised US vaccinations. pic.twitter.com/K2H2AEzazz
— New Day (@NewDay) December 30, 2020

Here's video of Trump vaccine program head Dr Moncef Slaoui predicting: "Overall in the month of December, we expect to have immunized 20 million of our American people and to have 20 million doses in reserve for their second dose a few weeks later"
https://t.co/6I5cSFGtq2
— David Frum (@davidfrum) December 30, 2020

Dr. @ashishkjha says there could be "many weeks of unnecessary delays essentially because the federal government has made no real effort to get the vaccination infrastructure.”

“It strikes me as a level of incompetence I have to say I am stunned by.” pic.twitter.com/avqwWUdSf6
— New Day (@NewDay) December 30, 2020

Honestly people should vote governors in/out of office based on how fast their states are at administering vaccines. https://t.co/CPPsyHDpyc
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) December 30, 2020

In virtually every campaign rally Trump promised 100 million PEOPLE would be vaccinated by the end of December. https://t.co/t6mmrAFfCG
— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) December 30, 2020

The U.S. is vaccinating only 200,000 people a day, and will end the year millions short of its goal of 20 million shots administered.https://t.co/t9CvTkfSQV
— Drew Armstrong (@ArmstrongDrew) December 29, 2020

Gov Larry Hogan repeatedly said 155K people in Maryland would be vaccinated against Covid by end of December…perhaps even 300k.
To date # vaccinated in Maryland–
About 28k pic.twitter.com/L5DkED5JfH
— Jayne Miller (@jemillerwbal) December 30, 2020

The president washes his hands of the flawed vaccine distribution effort https://t.co/RfZi9Lm8l5
— Chris Megerian (@ChrisMegerian) December 30, 2020

Some states buck federal vaccine recommendations and prioritize the elderly over essential workers https://t.co/qFa1TKgfqs
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) December 29, 2020

At the current rate, it would take almost 10 years to vaccinate enough Americans to get the pandemic under control, @NBCNews analysis shows. https://t.co/dcOBXqKAxK
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) December 29, 2020

Remember when president @realdonaldtrump said that we would have 100 million vaccinations by the end of 2020? Or Secretary Azar saying that we'd vaccinate 20 million people by then? Here is where we are. (By the way, allocated just means that states can put in their orders.) pic.twitter.com/KAvd0s4ksn
— Leana Wen, M.D. (@DrLeanaWen) December 30, 2020

A CNN analysis of the most recent government data shows that the U.S. is falling behind some countries in its Covid-19 vaccination efforts @elizcohencnn reports pic.twitter.com/wDtRQ91UAs
— The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) December 30, 2020

GWU doctor blasts Trump administration’s vaccine distribution so far @JReinerMD discusses pic.twitter.com/COXdthCeP7
— The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) December 30, 2020

White House coronavirus testing czar: "We need to be doing a better job" with Covid-19 vaccine rollout https://t.co/QvigOZoKPj pic.twitter.com/unD4pJ1WWD
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) December 30, 2020

Shots are slow to reach arms as Trump administration leaves final steps of mass vaccination to beleaguered states https://t.co/2ve9jAFKy7
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) December 30, 2020

Vaccination pace is too slow

Biden says Trump admin not administering doses of covid vaccine quickly enough, saying current pace won't get life back to normal in '21: "It's going to take years not months to vaccinate the American people."
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) December 29, 2020

So a lot of chatter happening on the slow vaccine roll out

Personally, I'm incredibly frustrated.

Did we not know that vaccines were coming? Is vaccine administration a surprise?

Several complex issues so lets break things down a bit

Warning, this is a bit of a rant

Thread
— Ashish K. Jha, MD, MPH (@ashishkjha) December 29, 2020

Coronavirus vaccinations lag as hospitalizations hover near record high https://t.co/e0jHz4a5sP
— JM Rieger (@RiegerReport) December 29, 2020

What happens when a vaccination program is run as a logistics program by White House appointees with zero experience with vaccination? Doesn’t start well. Less than one fifth of vaccines shipped have been given. This should be the beginning of the end of the pandemic in the US.
— Dr. Tom Frieden (@DrTomFrieden) December 29, 2020

“The Trump administration seems to be changing its Covid vaccination targets on its way out the door,” @AliVelshi says as the Trump admin. hasn’t even come close to the 20M vaccinations promised by the end of the year. https://t.co/1McB0UPbXG
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) December 29, 2020

Part 1 of this piece is about the challenges of rolling out the most complicated vaccination campaign in US history.

Part 2 looks at the new patchwork that will arise, when some parts of the US are heavily immunized & others aren’t. 3/ https://t.co/3MwScFM7tb
— Ed Yong (@edyong209) December 29, 2020

Experts Say It's A Herculean Effort For Rural Hospitals To Roll Out Mass Vaccination https://t.co/UrzpGTXt5N
— NPR Health News (@NPRHealth) December 29, 2020

Some not so radical ideas for improving the vaccination process as well as offering why predicting when its your turn to get your shot is not as easy as you think https://t.co/y0z4Qx2XKb
— Kavita Patel M.D. (@kavitapmd) December 29, 2020

Read @DeanBaker13 on vaccines.
The magnitude of this missed opportunity cannot be overstated.https://t.co/0puoWuWQUG
— David Dayen (@ddayen) December 22, 2020

When I started researching this piece I was going to write why to vaccinate the elderly next (after frontline healthcare & nursing homes). But now everyone agrees on that, so the piece is more about how we got there, and our weird ideas about experts: https://t.co/HDsIJbolhe
— Kelsey Piper (@KelseyTuoc) December 22, 2020

Yikes. Why R endorsements are so important. https://t.co/3FVWNEhoWs
— Brendan Nyhan (@BrendanNyhan) December 22, 2020

Virus research 12/28/20

Where COVID-19 spreads most easily, according to experts: https://t.co/UgXxsNqsFF
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) December 28, 2020

A small number of Covid patients who had never experienced mental health problems are developing severe psychotic symptoms weeks after contracting the coronavirus. Cases are expected to remain rare but are being reported worldwide. https://t.co/t2MczoODgs
— The New York Times (@nytimes) December 28, 2020

A new study found that the pulse oximeter, a device routinely used to detect oxygen levels in the blood, may give misleading results for some Black patients and other people of color with dark skin pigment. https://t.co/UzVx19nI1O
— NYT Science (@NYTScience) December 22, 2020

The newly identified coronavirus variant may make kids “as equally susceptible as adults,” said Wendy Barclay, a government adviser and virologist. But scientists are still studying it, and there’s not yet strong evidence that it causes more severe disease.https://t.co/IZtt69dYRG
— The New York Times (@nytimes) December 22, 2020

COVID-19 vaccine: Answering the most common questions https://t.co/IcCJIqhOQK pic.twitter.com/O9XFTQMGkc
— Yahoo News (@YahooNews) December 14, 2020

More on COVID-19 in prisons

The #COVID19 epidemic has taken big tolls inside prisons — yet shocking numbers of prisoners are refusing #vaccination — especially men of color.https://t.co/PDWmhGIXwT
— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) July 22, 2021

For the first time, you can mail one of our stories directly to your loved one in prison. We’ll cover the costs of postage.

We answered questions that incarcerated people asked about the vaccine. Help us out by sharing with your loved ones behind bars. https://t.co/sChphXNHYS
— The Marshall Project (@MarshallProj) March 4, 2021

“It is very alarming now that we have these deaths. We got a crisis that is starting to explode in Maryland prisons and it is not getting the attention that it merits,” Marc Shindler, of the Justice Policy Institute said. https://t.co/iUF611aHOe
— Phillip Jackson (@phillej_) December 25, 2020

It’s come to this. 1 in 5 people in prison—both incarcerated and workers—has contracted coronavirus this year. That’s four times as high as the overall population. Important reporting from @marshallproj & @AP today assessing the toll. https://t.co/Zrl2UjBUqk pic.twitter.com/NXHa4G3Zux
— Tom Meagher (@ultracasual) December 18, 2020

Opinion: Incarcerated people are suffering from covid-19 most. They should be among the first vaccinated. https://t.co/JdZFlcX43Q
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) December 10, 2020

At least 2,647 incarcerated youth have tested positive for #covid19, 414 of them in November. pic.twitter.com/io06OdGheT
— Josh Rovner (@JoshRovner) December 3, 2020

There are reports that more than 252,000 people have contracted COVID-19 while in federal, state, and local custody.

More than 1,400 of them have died.

I called today's hearing to make it clear that this is absolutely unacceptable. pic.twitter.com/uhOj9SELTd
— Congressmember Bass (@RepKarenBass) December 2, 2020

This is data that had never been public until now. Just like the @MarshallProj/@ap project tracking #COVID19 in prisons. This data (open, naturally) has a life in civil society that goes far beyond the stories we author, from op-eds to academic papers.https://t.co/3r5WA0TH5j
— David Eads (@eads) December 1, 2020

Your liberal northern states. Huh. A full half of the people imprisoned by NYS are black although black were only 16% of the population in that last census. Covid disproportionately kills black people. The sound you hear is the deafening silence of you so-called allies. https://t.co/cGnLirXuI5
— Charles M. Blow (@CharlesMBlow) February 13, 2021

Wear a mask – don’t be like these people

Welp—Pastor who told parishioners not to fear pandemic—parents then die of COVID after Thanksgiving.

🔥“I’m not wearing a mask—There will be no social distancing CDC. Faith over fear!”

➡️A few weeks later, both parents died of #COVID19 in Fort Worth 🏥.
https://t.co/NqsRSp4ri5 pic.twitter.com/5lEQhSuB2L
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) December 23, 2020

My son & I were at CVS in Los Angeles, the epicenter of the virus where 1 person is dying every 10 mins from COVID-19 & this woman was refusing to wear a mask & arguing with everyone. The selfishness she exhibited was intense. It blew our minds. My 10-yr-old has more sense. pic.twitter.com/LFIuwTBzFC
— Ty Stiklorius (@tystiklorius) December 27, 2020

This is narcissistic, toddler-level, attention-seeking behavior. Do not waste time trying to reason with people like this. Call security and boot them from the store and then get on with life. https://t.co/HSCW4j0pII
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) December 27, 2020

Two California men accused of opening fire with an AK-47 on a strip club they had been kicked out of for refusing to wear masks have been charged with attempted murder, authorities say. https://t.co/BHzesPGunt
— NBC News (@NBCNews) December 22, 2020

Refusing to wear a mask is today’s equivalent of drunken driving.-but collectively this year the refusal to wear masks will kill far more Americans than driving under the influence.

This is the test of our lifetimes. Let’s stop failing it.@NickKristof⁩ https://t.co/03Jjg07v9I
— Mia Farrow (@MiaFarrow) December 12, 2020

Rand Paul to me disputed public health officials and CDC on science of masks. “It’s this political correctness of submission, submission, submission. Everybody's got to submit, going to walk around like a drone and wear a mask, and yet there's no real evidence of this working."
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) December 21, 2020

It’s the police officer treating him like a toddler for me. America infantilizes white men. A Black man would have been shot and killed on sight. https://t.co/ntpJNgLeFI
— Midwin Charles, Esq. (@MidwinCharles) December 22, 2020

As Pence gets the covid vaccine on television to promote its use, @DonaldJTrumpJr RTs anti mask and antivaxx fever dreams. pic.twitter.com/NbmNLD6EgM
— Tommy Vietor (@TVietor08) December 19, 2020

I spoke to the authors of two studies that Laura Ingraham has cited to support mask denialism. Both authors told me they reject her portrayal of their work & that they support people in public wearing masks. "It's the right thing to do," one of them said. https://t.co/k62osaRSXI
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) December 19, 2020

This is like marching through a McDonalds with dirty bare feet and then spitting in the fries, filming yourself as you go and declaring it an act of patriotism. https://t.co/1SeKJ2ZsgU
— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) December 18, 2020

lede of the day, possibly the year https://t.co/U6GjPeLk1Z pic.twitter.com/ZGaNmGxB7B
— Ernest Saves Sam Thielman💭 (@samthielman) December 16, 2020

This is Ian Smith owner of Atilis Gym in Bellmawr, NJ.

We are near 300,000 deaths from #COVID19.

In terms of casualties, we are experiencing a 9/11 every day.

People are dying all over this country because of assholes like this.

Assholes who parrot assholes like Donald Trump https://t.co/tks5OuVW2b
— Don Winslow (@donwinslow) December 13, 2020

You're exposing White House staff, servers, Secret Service agents and their families to the virus so you can go to a party without even wearing a mask. https://t.co/JqkD9vSsm1
— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) December 11, 2020

Amid unprecedented caseload, deaths and strain on hospital workers. https://t.co/2u0MCsT5ux
— Ronald Brownstein (@RonBrownstein) December 23, 2020