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<title>15 August, 2021</title>
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<title>Covid-19 Sentry</title><meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" name="viewport"/><link href="styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="../styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.css" rel="stylesheet"/><script src="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.js"></script></head>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="covid-19-sentry">Covid-19 Sentry</h1>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
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<li><a href="#from-preprints">From Preprints</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-pubmed">From PubMed</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-patent-search">From Patent Search</a></li>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-preprints">From Preprints</h1>
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<li><strong>DECREASED BREADTH OF THE ANTIBODY RESPONSE TO THE SPIKE PROTEIN OF SARS-CoV-2 AFTER VACCINATION</strong> -
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The rapid development of vaccines to prevent infection by SARS-CoV-2 virus causing COVID-19 makes necessary to compare the capacity of the different vaccines in terms of development of a protective humoral response. Here, we have used a highly sensitive and reliable flow cytometry method to measure the titers of antibodies of the IgG1 isotype in blood of volunteers after receiving one or two doses of the vaccines being administered in Spain. We took advantage of the multiplexed capacity of the method to measure simultaneously the reactivity of antibodies with the S protein of the original strain Wuhan-1 and the variant B.1.1.7 (Alpha). We found significant differences in the titer of anti-S antibodies produced after a first dose of the vaccines ChAdOx1 nCov-19/AstraZeneca, mRNA-1273/Moderna, BNT162b2/Pfizer- BioNTech and Ad26.COV.S/Janssen. Most important, we found a relative reduction in the reactivity of the sera with the B.1.1.7 versus the Wuhan-1 variant after the second boosting immunization. These data allow to make a comparison of different vaccines in terms of anti-S antibody generation and cast doubts about the convenience of repeatedly immunizing with the same S protein sequence.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.08.12.21261952v1" target="_blank">DECREASED BREADTH OF THE ANTIBODY RESPONSE TO THE SPIKE PROTEIN OF SARS-CoV-2 AFTER VACCINATION</a>
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<li><strong>The relationship between fear of COVID-19 and anxiety in Honduran population</strong> -
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The purpose of this research was to determine the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and anxiety in the Honduran population. This was made through a quantitative methodology, using the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7). The sample consisted of 595 Honduran respondents, with a mean age of 25.10 years. The results suggest that female participants reported significantly higher scores in fear of COVID-19 and anxiety than men. A linear regression model determined that fear of COVID-19, sex and age were significant predictors of anxiety scores. The overall model had an r2 of 0.325, with fear of COVID-19 accounting for 29.9% of the variance in GAD-7 scores. The resulting model has a large effect size, f 2= 0.48. The results are discussed considering prior research and their psychosocial implications.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://psyarxiv.com/zyw6c/" target="_blank">The relationship between fear of COVID-19 and anxiety in Honduran population</a>
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<li><strong>Beneficial Effects of novel Aureobasidium Pullulans strains produced Beta-1,3-1,6 Glucans on Interleukin-6 and D-Dimer levels in COVID-19 patients; results of a randomized multiple-arm pilot clinical study</strong> -
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Objective: Cytokine storm and Coagulopathy have been implicated as major causes of morbidity and mortality in COVID-19 patients. A black yeast Aureobasidium pullulans AFO 202 strain produced beta 1,3 1,6 glucan has been reported to offer potential immune enhancement and metabolism balancing, as well as mitigation of coagulopathy risks. The N 163 strain produced beta glucan is an efficient anti-inflammatory immune modulator. In this pilot clinical study, we report the beneficial effects of these two beta glucans on the biomarkers for cytokine storm and coagulopathy in COVID-19 patients. Methods: A total of 24 RT PCR positive COVID 19 patients were recruited (Age range: 18~62; 17 males and 7 females). Patients were randomly divided into three groups (Gr): Gr. 1 control (n=8); Gr. 2: AFO-202 beta glucan (n=8); and Gr. 3, a combination of AFO-202 and N-163 beta glucans (n=8). All three groups received the standard care while groups 2 and 3 received additional supplementation of beta glucans for 30 days. In addition to basic clinical parameters, we periodically evaluated D Dimer, IL6, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C reactive protein (CRP), the neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR), the lymphocyte to CRP ratio (LCR) and the leukocyte CRP ratio (LeCR). Results: The duration of hospital stay for all three groups was nearly equivalent. There was no mortality of the subjects in any of the groups. Intermittent oxygen was administered from day of admission for up to four to five days with mask (two to four Lpm) to two subjects in Gr. 2 and one subject in Gr. 3. None of the subjects required ventilation. The D Dimer values in Gr. 1, which was on average 751 ng/ml at baseline, decreased to 143.89 ng/ml on day 15, but increased to 202.5 ng/ml on day 30, which in groups 2 and 3 decreased on day 15 and continued to remain at normal levels until day 30. IL6 levels decreased on day 15 from an average of 7.395 pg/ml to 3.16 pg/ml in the control, 26.18 pg/ml to 6.94 pg/ml in Gr. 2 and 6.25 pg/ml to 5.22 pg/ml in Gr. 3. However, when measured on day 30, in Gr. 1, the IL-6 increased to 55.37 pg/ml while there was only slight marginal increase in Gr. 2 but within normal range, and the levels further decreased to less than 0.5 pg/ml in Gr. 3. The same trend was observed with ESR. LCR and LeCR increased significantly in Gr. 3. NLR decreased significantly in groups 2 and 3. There was no difference in CRP within the groups. Conclusion: In this exploratory study, consumption of Aureobasidium pullulans produced beta glucans for thirty days, results in a significant control of IL6, D Dimer and NLR, a significant increase in LCR, LeCR and marginal control of ESR in COVID 19 patients. As these beta glucans are well known food supplements with decades of a track record for safety, based on these results, we recommend larger multi-centric clinical studies to validate their use as an adjunct in the management of COVID-19 and the ensuing long COVID-19 syndrome.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.08.09.21261738v1" target="_blank">Beneficial Effects of novel Aureobasidium Pullulans strains produced Beta-1,3-1,6 Glucans on Interleukin-6 and D-Dimer levels in COVID-19 patients; results of a randomized multiple-arm pilot clinical study</a>
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<li><strong>The impact of seasonal factors on the COVID-19 pandemic waves</strong> -
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The daily number of new COVID-19 cases per capita is an important characteristic of the pandemic dynamics indicating the appearance of new waves (e.g., caused by new coronavirus strains) and indicate the effectiveness of quarantine, testing and vaccination. Since this characteristic is very random and demonstrates some weekly period, we will use the 7-days smoothing. The second year of the pandemic allows us to compare its dynamics in the spring and the summer of 2020 with the same period in 2021 and investigate the influence of seasonal factors. We have chosen some northern countries and regions: Ukraine, EU, the UK, USA and some countries located in tropical zone and south semi- sphere: India, Brazil, South Africa and Argentina. The dynamics in these regions was compared with COVID-19 pandemic dynamics in the whole world. Some seasonal similarities are visible only for EU and South Africa. In 2021, the southern countries demonstrated the exponential growth, but northern regions showed some stabilization trends.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.08.06.21261665v1" target="_blank">The impact of seasonal factors on the COVID-19 pandemic waves</a>
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<li><strong>A Third Dose of SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine Increases Neutralizing Antibodies Against Variants of Concern in Solid Organ Transplant Recipients</strong> -
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Immunocompromised populations are at high risk for severe COVID-19. Vaccine-induced SARS-CoV-2 antibody responses are attenuated in solid organ transplant recipients (SOTRs), and breakthrough infections are more common. Additional SARS-CoV-2 vaccine doses may increase anti-spike antibody titers in some SOTRs, but whether this results in enhanced neutralizing capability, especially versus novel variants of concern (VOCs) that exhibit immune escape and higher infectivity (e.g., the Delta variant), is unclear. Here, we report that a third dose of a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine increases anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike and RBD IgG levels as well as plasma neutralizing capability versus VOCs, including Delta, in some SOTRs. However, anti-spike IgG and neutralizing capability remained significantly reduced compared to fully vaccinated healthy controls. These findings highlight the need for continued study of strategies to improve protection from COVID-19 in immunosuppressed populations as more SARS-CoV-2 VOCs emerge.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.08.11.21261914v1" target="_blank">A Third Dose of SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine Increases Neutralizing Antibodies Against Variants of Concern in Solid Organ Transplant Recipients</a>
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<li><strong>Associations between COVID-19 Risk Perceptions and Mental Health, Wellbeing, and Risk Behaviours</strong> -
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Background: Mental health has worsened, and substance use has increased for some individuals during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Cross-sectional studies suggest that COVID-19 risk perceptions are related to mental health and risk behaviours (potentially including substance use). However, longitudinal and genetic data are needed to support stronger inferences regarding whether these associations reflect causal pathways. Methods: Using cross-sectional, longitudinal, and polygenic risk score (PRS) data from the UK Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), we examined cross-sectional and prospective associations between COVID-19 risk perceptions and mental health, wellbeing, and risk behaviours. Participants (85% female) were aged between 27-72 years. We used pandemic (April-July 2020) and pre-pandemic (2003-2017) data (ns = 233-5,115). Results: COVID-19 risk perceptions were positively associated with anxiety (OR 2.78, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.20 to 3.52), depression (OR 1.65, 95% CI 1.24 to 2.18), low wellbeing (OR 1.76, 95% CI 1.45 to 2.13), increased alcohol use (OR 1.46, 95% CI 1.24 to 1.72), and COVID-19 prevention behaviours (ps < .05). Pre-pandemic anxiety (OR 1.64, 95% CI 1.29 to 2.09) and low wellbeing (OR 1.41, 95% CI 1.15 to 1.74) were positively associated with COVID-19 risk perceptions. The depression (b 0.21, 95% CI 0.02 to 0.40) and wellbeing (b -0.29, 95% CI -0.48 to -0.09) PRS were associated with higher and lower COVID-19 risk perceptions, respectively. Conclusions: Poorer mental health and wellbeing are associated with higher COVID-19 risk perceptions, and longitudinal and genetic data suggest that they may play a casual role in COVID-19 risk perceptions.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://psyarxiv.com/zup86/" target="_blank">Associations between COVID-19 Risk Perceptions and Mental Health, Wellbeing, and Risk Behaviours</a>
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<li><strong>Scientists, speak up! Source impacts trust in and intentions to comply with health advice cross-culturally</strong> -
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We examined how different types of communication influence people’s responses to health advice. Specifically, we tested whether presenting Covid-19 prevention advice (i.e., washing hands) as either originating from the government or a scientific source would affect people’s trust and intentions to comply with the advice. We also tested the effects of uncertainty framing: We presented the advice as being either certainly or potentially effective in reducing virus spread. To achieve this, we conducted an experiment using largely representative samples (N = 4,561) from the UK, US, Canada, Malaysia, and Taiwan. Overall, across countries, participants found messages more trustworthy when the purported source was science as opposed to government. This effect was stronger for left-wing/liberal participants. Phrasing the advice as certain versus uncertain had little impact on trust and intentions. Together, our findings suggest that health advice should be communicated by scientists rather than governments.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://psyarxiv.com/279yg/" target="_blank">Scientists, speak up! Source impacts trust in and intentions to comply with health advice cross-culturally</a>
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<li><strong>Religious Identity Cues Increase Vaccination Intentions and Trust in Medical Experts among American Christians</strong> -
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Containing the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. requires mobilizing a large majority of the mass public to vaccinate, but many Americans are hesitant or opposed to vaccination. A significant predictor of vaccine attitudes in the U.S. is religiosity, with more religious individuals expressing more distrust in science and being less likely to get vaccinated. Here, we test whether explicit cues of common religious identity can help medical experts build trust and increase vaccination intentions. In a pre-registered survey experiment conducted with a sample of unvaccinated American Christians (N=1,765), we presented participants with a vaccine endorsement from a prominent medical expert (NIH Director, Francis Collins) and a short essay about doctors’ and scientists’ endorsement of the vaccines. In the common religious identity condition, these materials also highlighted the religious identity of Collins and many medical experts. Unvaccinated Christians in the common identity condition expressed higher trust in medical experts, greater intentions to vaccinate, and greater intentions to promote vaccination to friends and family than those who did not see the common identity cue. These effects were moderated by religiosity, with the strongest effects observed among the most religious participants, and statistically mediated by heightened perceptions of shared values with the medical expert endorsing the vaccine. These findings demonstrate the efficacy of common identity cues for promoting vaccination in a vaccine-hesitant subpopulation. More generally, the results illustrate how trust in science can be built through the invocation of common group identities, even identities often assumed to be in tension with science.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/7hrf2/" target="_blank">Religious Identity Cues Increase Vaccination Intentions and Trust in Medical Experts among American Christians</a>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>COVID-19 in hospitalized patients in 4 hospitals in San Isidro, Buenos Aires, Argentina</strong> -
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In December 2019, a novel illness called coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID 19) was described in China and became pandemic in a few months. The first case was detected in Argentina on March 3, 2020. A multicentre prospective observational cohort study on hospitalized patients with COVID 19 was conducted in 4 hospitals in San Isidro district from March 1, 2020 to October 31. Data was obtained by the attendant physician. 668 patients were included, the median age was 54 years, and 42.7% were female. Male sex and older age were associated with COVID 19 disease and more strongly with severity. Most frequent symptoms were fever and cough followed by dyspnoea, myalgia, odynophagia, headache, anosmia, and diarrhoea. Nonsevere patients had more upper respiratory symptoms while severe patients had mainly lower respiratory symptoms on admission. Most common comorbidities were arterial hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. A great proportion of patients had normal thorax X ray and ground-glass opacity in tomography. In severe patients, radiography and tomography had a predominant ground glass pattern, but normal radiography and tomography on presentation were present in 22% and 5.9%, respectively. The absence of fever and normal radiology on admission neither excluded the disease nor further severity. PCR elevation was related with COVID 19 disease and with severity, while lymphopenia was more related with the disease and leukocytosis and thrombocytopenia with severity. 8, 4% of patients were health care workers. The mortality rate was 12.4%, 32.7% in severe patients and 61.2% in ventilated patients. Mortality was higher in the public hospital, probably associated with patients with older age and more comorbidities. All these observations can contribute to the knowledge of this disease in terms of diagnosis and prognosis.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.07.30.21261220v2" target="_blank">COVID-19 in hospitalized patients in 4 hospitals in San Isidro, Buenos Aires, Argentina</a>
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<li><strong>MALDI-ToF Protein Profiling as Potential Rapid Diagnostic Platform for COVID-19</strong> -
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More than a year after the COVID-19 pandemic has been declared, the need still exists for accurate, rapid, inexpensive and non-invasive diagnostic methods that yield high specificity and sensitivity towards the current and newly emerging SARS-CoV-2 strains. Several studies have since established saliva as a more amenable specimen type for early detection of SARS-CoV-2 as compared to nasopharyngeal swabs. Considering the limitations and high demand for COVID-19 testing, we employed MALDI-ToF mass spectrometry for the analysis of 60 gargle samples from human donors and compared the spectra with their COVID-19 status. Several standards including isolated human serum immunoglobulins and controls such as pre-COVID-19 saliva and heat inactivated SARS-CoV-2 virus were simultaneously analyzed to provide a relative view of the saliva and viral proteome as they would appear in this works methodology. Five potential biomarker peaks were established that demonstrated high concordance with COVID-19 positive individuals. Overall, the agreement of these results with RT-qPCR testing on NP swabs was no less than 90% for the studied cohort, which consisted of young and largely asymptomatic student athletes. From a clinical standpoint, the results from this pilot study are promising and suggest that MALDI-ToF can be used to develop a relatively rapid and inexpensive COVID-19 assay.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.05.26.21257798v2" target="_blank">MALDI-ToF Protein Profiling as Potential Rapid Diagnostic Platform for COVID-19</a>
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<li><strong>Screening of cell-virus, cell-cell, gene-gene interactions among kingdoms of life at single cell resolution</strong> -
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The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) issued a significant and urgent threat to global health. The exact animal origin of SARS-CoV-2 remains obscure and understanding its host range is vital for preventing interspecies transmission of this virus. Previously, we have assessed the target cell profiles of SARS-CoV-2 in pets, livestock, poultry and wild animals. With the reverse zoonotic transmission of SARS-CoV-2 to farm animals. Herein, we expand this investigation to a wider range of animal species and viruses to provide it is urgent to expand the a comprehensive source for large-scale susceptible host screening of potential virus hosts to a larger scale. Therefore, we constructed the single cell atlas for several representative mammalian species (alpaca, hamster, hedgehog, chinchilla etc.), as well as comparative atlas for lung, brain and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) for various lineages of animals were constructed, from which we systemically analyzed the virus entry factors for SARS-CoV-2 to identify potential host species. Moreover, to fully apply these resources to the prevention of other infectious diseases, we further evaluated the target cells for 113 viruses over 10 million single cells covering 102 species from mammalians, birds, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates. Conserved cellular connectomes and regulomes were also identified, with great implication for revealing the fundamental cell-cell and gene-gene cross-talks between these species. Overall, our study could help understand the transmission identify the potential host range and tissue tropism of SARS-CoV-2 and, as well as many other diverse set of viruses and, revealing the host-virus co-evolution footprints and throw light upon the control and prevention of current and future pandemics.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.08.13.456190v1" target="_blank">Screening of cell-virus, cell-cell, gene-gene interactions among kingdoms of life at single cell resolution</a>
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<li><strong>A diabetic milieu increases cellular susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infections in engineered human kidney organoids and diabetic patients</strong> -
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SARS-CoV-2 infections lead to a high risk of hospitalization and mortality in diabetic patients. Why diabetic individuals are more prone to develop severe COVID-19 remains unclear. Here, we established a novel human kidney organoid model that mimics early hallmarks of diabetic nephropathy. High oscillatory glucose exposure resulted in metabolic changes, expansion of extracellular membrane components, gene expression changes determined by scRNAseq, and marked upregulation of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). Upon SARS-CoV-2 infection, hyperglycemic conditions lead to markedly higher viral loads in kidney organoids compared to normoglycemia. Genetic deletion of ACE2, but not of the candidate receptor BSG/CD147, in kidney organoids demonstrated the essential role of ACE2 in SARS-CoV-2 infections and completely prevented SARS-CoV-2 infection in the diabetogenic microenvironment. These data introduce a novel organoid model for diabetic kidney disease and show that diabetic-induced ACE2 licenses the diabetic kidney to enhanced SARS- CoV-2 replication.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.08.13.456228v1" target="_blank">A diabetic milieu increases cellular susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infections in engineered human kidney organoids and diabetic patients</a>
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<li><strong>Delta spike P681R mutation enhances SARS-CoV-2 fitness over Alpha variant</strong> -
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SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant has rapidly replaced the Alpha variant around the world. The mechanism that drives this global replacement has not been defined. Here we report that Delta spike mutation P681R plays a key role in the Alpha- to-Delta variant replacement. In a replication competition assay, Delta SARS-CoV-2 efficiently outcompeted the Alpha variant in human lung epithelial cells and primary human airway tissues. Delta SARS-CoV-2 bearing the Alpha-spike glycoprotein replicated less efficiently than the wild-type Delta variant, suggesting the importance of Delta spike in enhancing viral replication. The Delta spike has accumulated mutation P681R located at a furin cleavage site that separates the spike 1 (S1) and S2 subunits. Reverting the P681R mutation to wild-type P681 significantly reduced the replication of Delta variant, to a level lower than the Alpha variant. Mechanistically, the Delta P681R mutation enhanced the cleavage of the full-length spike to S1 and S2, leading to increased infection via cell surface entry. In contrast, the Alpha spike also has a mutation at the same amino acid (P681H), but the spike cleavage from purified Alpha virions was reduced compared to the Delta spike. Collectively, our results indicate P681R as a key mutation in enhancing Delta variant replication via increased S1/S2 cleavage. Spike mutations that potentially affect furin cleavage efficiency must be closely monitored for future variant surveillance.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.08.12.456173v1" target="_blank">Delta spike P681R mutation enhances SARS-CoV-2 fitness over Alpha variant</a>
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<li><strong>Secreted SARS-CoV-2 ORF8 modulates the cytokine expression profile of human macrophages</strong> -
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Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is still adapting to its new human host. Attention has focussed on the viral spike protein, but substantial variation has been seen in the ORF8 gene. Here, we show that SARS- CoV-2 ORF8 protein undergoes signal peptide-mediated processing through the endoplasmic reticulum and is secreted as a glycosylated, disulphide-linked dimer. The secreted protein from the prototype SARS-CoV-2 virus had no major effect on viability of a variety of cell types, or on IFN or NF-{kappa}B; signalling. However, it modulated cytokine expression from primary CSF1-derived human macrophages, most notably by decreasing IL-6 and IL-8 secretion. Furthermore, a sequence polymorphism L84S that appeared early in the pandemic associated with the Clade S lineage of virus, showed a markedly different effect, of increasing IL-6 production. We conclude that ORF8 sequence polymorphisms can potentially affect SARS-CoV-2 virulence and should therefore be monitored in sequencing-based surveillance.
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
|
||||||
|
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.08.13.456266v1" target="_blank">Secreted SARS-CoV-2 ORF8 modulates the cytokine expression profile of human macrophages</a>
|
||||||
|
</div></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>Conserved T-cell epitopes predicted by bioinformatics in SARS-COV-2 variants</strong> -
|
||||||
|
<div>
|
||||||
|
Background: Finding conservative T cell epitopes in the proteome of numerous variants of SARS-COV-2 is required to develop T cell activating SARS-COV-2 capable of inducing T cell responses against SARS-COV-2 variants. Methods: A computational workflow was performed to find HLA restricted CD8+ and CD4+ T cell epitopes among conserved amino acid sequences across the proteome of 474727 SARS-CoV-2 strains. Results: A batch of covserved regions in the amino acid sequences were found in the proteome of the SARS-COV-2 strains. 2852 and 847 peptides were predicted to have high binding affinity to distint HLA class I and class II molecules. Among them, 1456 and 484 peptides are antigenic. 392 and 111 of the antigenic peptides were found in the conseved amino acid sequences. Among the antigenic-conserved peptides, 6 CD8+ T cell epitopes and 7 CD4+ T cell epitopes were identifed. The T cell epitopes could be presented to T cells by high-affinity HLA molecules which are encoded by the HLA alleles with high population coverage. Conclusions: The T cell epitopes are conservative, antigenic and HLA presentable, and could be constructed into SARS-COV-2 vaccines for inducing protective T cell immunity against SARS-COV-2 and their variants.
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<div class="article-link article- html-link">
|
||||||
|
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.08.12.456182v1" target="_blank">Conserved T-cell epitopes predicted by bioinformatics in SARS-COV-2 variants</a>
|
||||||
|
</div></li>
|
||||||
|
</ul>
|
||||||
|
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</h1>
|
||||||
|
<ul>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Pulmonary Rehabilitation Post-COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>: Other: Exercise program (virtual/remote)<br/><b>Sponsors</b>: University of Manitoba; Health Sciences Centre Foundation, Manitoba; Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Study of Allogeneic Adipose-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells to Treat Post COVID-19 “Long Haul” Pulmonary Compromise</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>: Biological: COVI-MSC; Biological: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>: Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc.<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Mix and Match Heterologous Prime-Boost Study Using Approved COVID-19 Vaccines in Mozambique</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>: Biological: BBIBP-CorV - Inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine (Vero cell); Biological: AZD1222 (replication-deficient Ad type 5 vector expressing full-length spike protein)<br/><b>Sponsors</b>: International Vaccine Institute; The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI); Instituto Nacional de Saúde (INS), Mozambique; University of Antananarivo; International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh; Harvard University; Heidelberg University<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Double Blind Randomized Clinical Trial of Use of Colchicine Added to Standard Treatment in Hospitalized With Covid-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: COVID-19 Infection<br/><b>Intervention</b>: Drug: Colchcine<br/><b>Sponsor</b>: <br/>
|
||||||
|
Asociacion Instituto Biodonostia<br/><b>Active, not recruiting</b></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>ACTIV-5 / Big Effect Trial (BET-C) for the Treatment of COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>: Drug: Danicopan; Other: Placebo; Drug: Remdesivir<br/><b>Sponsor</b>: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>COVID-19 Methylene Blue Antiviral Treatment</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>: Drug: Methylene Blue; Drug: Saline nasal spray<br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Irkutsk Scientific Center of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Irkutsk State Medical University<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Project FLUx COntact-CoVID-19 Faculty of Medicine Paris-Saclay</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>: Other: Antigenic tests (on saliva samples); Other: Individual electronic sensor port; Other: Atmospheric measurements of CO2<br/><b>Sponsor</b>: <br/>
|
||||||
|
Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Phase I/II Study of COVID-19 DNA Vaccine (AG0302-COVID19 High-dose)</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: COVID-19 Lower Respiratory Infection<br/><b>Interventions</b>: Biological: AG0302-COVID19 for Intramuscular Injection; Biological: AG0302-COVID19 for Intradermal Injection<br/><b>Sponsors</b>: AnGes, Inc.; Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>COVID-19 Administration of Single-Dose Subcutaneous or Intramuscular Anti- Spike(s) SARS-CoV-2 Monoclonal Antibodies Casirivimab and Imdevimab in High-Risk Pediatric Participants Under 12 Years of Age</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>: Drug: casirivimab and imdevimab<br/><b>Sponsor</b>: <br/>
|
||||||
|
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Reactogenicity, Safety, and Immunogenicity of Covid-19 Vaccine Booster</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>: Biological: Placebo; Biological: Inactivated vaccine booster; Biological: mRNA vaccine booster; Drug: Viral vector vaccine booster<br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Universidad del Desarrollo; Ministry of Health, Chile; University of Chile; Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile<br/><b>Active, not recruiting</b></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Relaxation Exercise in Patients With COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: Covid19<br/><b>Intervention</b>: Other: Relaxation technique<br/><b>Sponsor</b>: Beni- Suef University<br/><b>Completed</b></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Trial of Recombinant Novel Coronavirus Vaccine (Adenovirus Type 5 Vector, Ad5-nCoV) in Adults Living With HIV</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: Covid19<br/><b>Intervention</b>: Biological: Recombinant Novel Coronavirus Vaccine (Adenovirus Type 5 Vector) (Ad5-nCoV)<br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Fundación Huésped; Canadian Center for Vaccinology; CanSino Biologics Inc.; Hospital Fernandez<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Clinical Trial to Assess the Efficacy and Safety of Inhaled AQ001S in the Management of Acute COVID-19 Symptoms</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: Covid19<br/><b>Intervention</b>: Drug: Drug, inhalation<br/><b>Sponsor</b>: <br/>
|
||||||
|
Aquilon Pharmaceuticals S.A.<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Study to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of Artemisinin- a Herbal Supplement on COVID-19 Subjects</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>: Dietary Supplement: Artemisinin; Drug: Dexamethasone<br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Mateon Therapeutics; Windlas Biotech Private Limited<br/><b>Completed</b></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Efficacy, Immunogenicity and Safety of COVID-19 Vaccine , Inactivated in Children and Adolescents</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>: Biological: Inactivated COVID-19 Vaccine; Biological: Controlled vaccine<br/><b>Sponsor</b>: Sinovac Research and Development Co., Ltd.<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
|
||||||
|
</ul>
|
||||||
|
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-pubmed">From PubMed</h1>
|
||||||
|
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-patent-search">From Patent Search</h1>
|
||||||
|
<ul>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>자외선살균등</strong> - 본 발명은 사람의 의복이나 사용한 마스크 등에 부착하여 있다 호흡기로 유입되어 감염을 유발할 수 있는 COVID-19와 같은 유해균류를 간편하게 살균하기 위한 휴대용 자와선살균등에 관한 것이다. 반감기가 길고 인체에 유해한 오존을 발생하지 않으면서 탁월한 살균능력이 있는 250~265nm(최적은 253.7nm) 파장의 자외선을 발광하는 자외선램프를 본 발명의 막대형의 자외선살균등 광원으로 사용하고 비광원부를 손으로 잡고 의복이나 사용한 마스크 등 유해균류가 부착되었을 것으로 의심되는 곳에 자외선을 조사하여 간편하게 유해균류를 살균하므로써 감염을 예방하기 위한 휴대용 자외선살균등에 관함 것이다. - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=KR332958765">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Cabina de desinfección de doble carga exterior</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=ES331945699">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Camellia nitidissima C.W.Chi Caffeine and Chlorogenic acid composition for anti-SARS-CoV-2 and preparation method and application thereof</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=AU331907401">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Novel Method COVID -19 infection using Deep Learning Based System</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=AU331907400">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>EMPUNADURA DE RAQUETA O PALA PARA JUEGO DE PELOTA CON DISPENSADOR LIQUIDO POR CAPILARIDAD INSERTADO</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=ES331563132">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR COVID- 19 DIAGNOSIS USING DETECTION RESULTS FROM CHEST X- RAY IMAGES</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=AU330927328">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>System zum computergestützten Nachverfolgen einer von einer Person durchzuführenden Prozedur</strong> -
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
Ein System (2000) zum computergestützten Nachverfolgen einer von einer Person (1) durchzuführenden Testprozedur, insbesondere für einen Virusnachweistest, bevorzugt zur Durchführung eines SARS-CoV-2 Tests, wobei das System (2000) umfasst:</p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">eine Identifizierungseinheit eines Endgeräts (30), die eingerichtet ist zum Identifizieren (201) der Person</li>
|
||||||
|
</ul>
|
||||||
|
<ol type="1">
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">unmittelbar vor einem Durchführen der Testprozedur durch die Person (1);</li>
|
||||||
|
</ol>
|
||||||
|
<ul>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">wobei die Identifizierungseinheit des Endgeräts (30) weiter eingerichtet ist zum Identifizieren (202) zumindest eines Testobjekts (20), bevorzugt einer Testkassette, insbesondere für einen SARS-CoV-2 Test, mehr bevorzugt eines Teststreifens, weiter bevorzugt ein Reagenz in einem Behälter, weiter bevorzugt eines Testsensors, unmittelbar vor der Durchführung der Testprozedur, die Identifizierungseinheit aufweisend:</li>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">eine Kamera (31) des Endgeräts (30), eingerichtet zum Erfassen (2021) eines Objektidentifizierungsdatensatzes (21) als maschinenlesbaren Datensatz; und</li>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">eine Auswerteeinheit (33) des Endgeräts (30), eingerichtet zum Vergleichen (2022) des erfassten Objektidentifizierungsdatensatzes (21) mit einem Objektdatensatz</li>
|
||||||
|
</ul>
|
||||||
|
<ol start="420" type="1">
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">eines Hintergrundsystems (40);</li>
|
||||||
|
</ol>
|
||||||
|
<ul>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">eine Nachverfolgungseinheit des Endgeräts (30), die eingerichtet ist zum Nachverfolgen (203) einer oder mehrerer Positionen der Person (1) während der Durchführung der Testprozedur mittels Methoden computergestützter Gesten- und/oder Muster- und/oder Bilderkennung mittels eines Prüfens, ob beide Hände (12) der Person (1) während der gesamten Durchführung der Testprozedur in einem vordefinierten Bereich oder einem von der Kamera (31a) des Endgeräts (30) erfassbaren Bereich sind;</li>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">die Nachverfolgungseinheit des Endgeräts (30), zudem eingerichtet zum Nachverfolgen (203) von einer oder mehreren Positionen des zumindest einen Testobjekts (20) anhand der Form des Objekts während der Durchführung der Testprozedur mittels Methoden computergestützter Gesten- und/oder Muster- und/oder Bilderkennung; und</li>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">einer Anzeigeeinheit (34) des Endgeräts, eingerichtet zum Anleiten (204) der Person (1) zum Durchführen der Testprozedur während der Durchführung der Testprozedur.</li>
|
||||||
|
</ul>
|
||||||
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<img alt="embedded image" id="EMI-D00000"/>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"></p>
|
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<ul>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=DE333370869">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Mascarilla impermeable</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=ES329916792">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>基于细胞膜展示冠状病毒免疫原以诱导中和抗体的方法</strong> - 本申请公开了一种基于细胞膜展示冠状病毒免疫原以诱导中和抗体的方法。具体而言，本公开中提供了一种在其细胞膜表面展示新型冠状病毒SARS‑CoV‑2刺突蛋白S的细胞，包含所述细胞的针对新型冠状病毒SARS‑CoV‑2的疫苗或疫苗组合，所述细胞在制备用于预防或治疗新型冠状病毒SARS‑CoV‑2的疫苗中的应用及其制备方法。本公开的细胞和疫苗能够在体内高效活化B细胞，诱导中和抗体应答，在预防和降低新冠病毒感染中有广泛的应用前景。 - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=CN332882580">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>硫代咪唑烷酮药物在治疗COVID-19疾病中的用途</strong> - 本发明属于医药技术领域，具体涉及一种硫代咪唑烷酮药物或其药学上可接受的盐在制备用于治疗ACE2和TMPRSS2蛋白失调相关疾病的药物中的用途，尤其是在制备用于治疗COVID‑19疾病的药物中的用途。 - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=CN332882591">link</a></p></li>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="daily-dose">Daily-Dose</h1>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
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<ul>
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||||||
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<li><a href="#from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</a></li>
|
||||||
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<li><a href="#from-vox">From Vox</a></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</a></li>
|
||||||
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<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</a></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><a href="#from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</a></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><a href="#from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</a></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><a href="#from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</a></li>
|
||||||
|
</ul>
|
||||||
|
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</h1>
|
||||||
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<ul>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Vindication of Andrew Cuomo’s Accusers</strong> - Charlotte Bennett, Lindsey Boylan, and Ron Kim discuss their roles in bringing about the New York Governor’s reckoning. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-local-correspondents/the-vindication-of-andrew-cuomos-accusers">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>“Not Our Tragedy”: the Taliban Are Coming Back, and America Is Still Leaving</strong> - President Biden made it very clear this week that we’re out of Afghanistan, no matter what. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-bidens-washington/not-our-tragedy-the-taliban-are-coming-back-and-%20america-is-still-leaving">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>France’s Vaccination-Pass Experiment</strong> - An expert in French politics discusses Emmanuel Macron’s approach to vaccination policy and how the current wave of protests in France differs from the American anti-vaccine movement. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/frances-vaccination-pass-experiment">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Artist Behind TV’s Richly Emotional Comedies</strong> - Lisa Hanawalt’s anthropomorphic designs gave “BoJack Horseman” its absurdist twist. As the showrunner of “Tuca & Bertie,” she’s built a surreal, psychedelic world of her own. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/persons-of-interest/the-artist-behind-tvs-richly-emotional-comedies">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Return of the Taliban</strong> - Their comeback has taken twenty years, but it is a classic example of a successful guerrilla war of attrition. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-return-of-the-taliban">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
</ul>
|
||||||
|
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
|
||||||
|
<ul>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>CDC approval of Covid booster shot offers help for some Americans</strong> -
|
||||||
|
<figure>
|
||||||
|
<img alt="A woman with long brown hair is wearing a surgical face mask, a black long-sleeved blouse, and
|
||||||
|
light-colored trousers. She is standing with her arms folded straight against her body in front of her." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/hvmIl7wFE1TWN-YBqFRigUV7qes=/459x0:6507x4536/1310x983/cdn.vox-
|
||||||
|
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69726133/1262509236.0.jpg"/>
|
||||||
|
<figcaption>
|
||||||
|
Oncology nurse Laura Griffith, who is immunocompromised, poses outside of UCSF Medical Center, where she works in San Francisco, CA. | Sarahbeth Maney/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images
|
||||||
|
</figcaption>
|
||||||
|
</figure>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
However, fears are raised that a third shot may become the new marker of the pandemic’s inequality.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="t7ZBJj">
|
||||||
|
U.S. health agencies gave the go-ahead for immunocompromised people to receive a third dose of the Covid-19 vaccine late Thursday night, a high note amidst increasingly alarming news about the delta variant. The decision is a big deal since those who have weakened immune systems are still vulnerable to becoming severely ill from the coronavirus, even if they are fully vaccinated. However, there is still one hitch: immunocompromised people who received their previous shot from the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/cdc-says-authorization-
|
||||||
|
covid-19-vaccine-boosters-not-applicable-jj-shot-2021-08-13/">not be eligible</a> for a booster shot.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IZyFwO">
|
||||||
|
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) both approved third booster shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines for people with weakened immune systems. The CDC’s green light came within 24 hours of the FDA’s recommendation.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ORNagp">
|
||||||
|
“The FDA is especially cognizant that immunocompromised people are particularly at risk for severe disease,” said Dr. Janet Woodcock, the acting FDA commissioner, in a statement related to the <a href="https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavirus-
|
||||||
|
covid-19-update-fda-authorizes-additional-vaccine-dose-certain-immunocompromised">announcement</a>. “After a thorough review of the available data, the FDA determined that this small, vulnerable group may benefit from a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna Vaccines.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wATFgq">
|
||||||
|
The decision was applauded by health officials and healthcare workers. “We are immediately pulling in those people, getting them the doses,” Dr. Marc Boom, who runs Houston Methodist Hospital which includes a large organ transplant program, <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-
|
||||||
|
shots/2021/08/14/1027597108/6-things-to-know-if-youre-immunocompromised-and-considering-a-3rd-shot">told</a> NPR. Even those on the right, where skepticism over the severity of the pandemic and dissenting voices against vaccinations have thrived, have softened their tune in light of the development regarding booster shots.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VF4WZX">
|
||||||
|
“This move is a big step in the right direction especially given the increasing number of vaccine breakthrough infections from the delta variant,” <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/covid-boosters-marc-siegel">wrote</a> Dr. Marc Siegel, a frequent Fox News guest who has been criticized for spreading misinformation about the pandemic. Siegel applauded the booster shot approval but argued the policy should be expanded to other groups like essential workers and the elderly.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<div id="SAiVnC">
|
||||||
|
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
|
||||||
|
my dad is a cancer survivor and just got his first covid vaccine <em>booster shot</em>—very relieved and hoping more can get the booster soon.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
— justin block</blockquote></div></li>
|
||||||
|
</ul>
|
||||||
|
<ol class="example" type="1">
|
||||||
|
<li><a href="https://twitter.com/JBlock49/status/1426549516145102852?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 14, 2021</a></li>
|
||||||
|
</ol>
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AUmHsQ">
|
||||||
|
The Covid-19 booster shot approved by U.S. health agencies is not a new vaccine. It is simply a third dose of the vaccine that is given to a person who has already been fully vaccinated. As NPR reported, the CDC recommends that a person get the same vaccine they received for their first two doses. So, for example, if you received the Pfizer vaccine for your first two shots, then you should also get the Pfizer vaccine for your booster shot. If it is not possible to get the same vaccine for your booster shot, an additional dose of the other mRNA vaccine (Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna) is allowed.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8uNfBI">
|
||||||
|
Covid-19 booster shots work in conjunction with how our bodies build protection against threats. Biologically, our bodies contain helper T-cells that stimulate other cells called B-cells, which are crucial in producing antibodies. Certain types of B-cells act as memory cells that store the instructions needed for our bodies to produce a particular antibody. However, these memory cells aren’t activated; they’re waiting for a signal that triggers them to produce antibodies. As Sigal Samuel <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/22555898/covid-19-booster-shots">previously explained</a> for Vox:
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<blockquote>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="iktFFS">
|
||||||
|
When you get a booster shot, it gives your memory B-cells that crucial signal to reengage. This can be useful whether the booster contains the original vaccine recipe or something different. If it contains the original recipe, it’ll amplify the signal, increasing the number of antibodies produced. If it contains a tweaked recipe, it’ll retrain the cells to recognize new features of the virus and produce antibodies, should you be exposed to the variant.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
</blockquote>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MsD1m8">
|
||||||
|
Studies have shown the initial two-dose regimen for the Covid-19 vaccination has lower efficacy in those with weakened immune systems, so another “boost” of the vaccine will likely help immunocompromised people build better protection against the coronavirus.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="q6J2bd">
|
||||||
|
Currently, the Covid-19 booster shot is only recommended for “moderately to severely immunocompromised people.” While there are many kinds of people who may consider themselves at higher risk of serious illness from Covid-19, such as those<strong> </strong>having a pre-existing health condition, it is important to note that they are not necessarily the same as those who are immunocompromised.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vCOKQm">
|
||||||
|
<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/recommendations/immuno.html">According to the CDC</a>, this category of people includes organ transplant recipients who are taking medicine to suppress the immune system, those undergoing cancer treatment, and people who are HIV positive, among other criteria. The New York Times reported that <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/12/us/covid-vaccine-booster-pfizer-moderna.html">about 3 percent of Americans are estimated</a> to have weakened immune systems and studies show initial vaccine doses have been less effective for immunocompromised people. The vaccine efficacy rate for people with weakened immune systems is somewhere between 59% to 72%, which is much lower compared to those with a stronger immune<strong> </strong>system showing 90% to 94% efficacy. Further studies <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-08-11/third-moderna-shot-boosts-antibody-levels-
|
||||||
|
in-transplant-patients">revealed</a> people who are immunocompromised benefitted immensely from receiving a third dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, which is why it’s so important for them to receive a booster shot.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="F6YGfT">
|
||||||
|
Despite the good news, the FDA also said they were unable to extend the authorization for a booster shot of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine due to insufficient data. It is unclear whether immunocompromised people who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be eligible in the near future.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h3 id="kCEGRY">
|
||||||
|
<strong>Does this mean we are closer to booster shots for everyone? </strong>
|
||||||
|
</h3>
|
||||||
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><img alt="A close-up of the hand of a masked
|
||||||
|
health worker as she inserts a needle into a vial of the Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine to prepare a dose for use." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/KS1YISWbUZd0-Z2MS7XFvZnwpD0=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-
|
||||||
|
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22782675/1234650437.jpg"/> <cite>Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images</cite></p>
|
||||||
|
<figcaption>
|
||||||
|
An Israeli health worker prepares a dose of the Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine on August 13, 2021, at the Maccabi Health Service in the Israeli town of Rishon Lezion.
|
||||||
|
</figcaption>
|
||||||
|
</figure>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="b3YnZC">
|
||||||
|
In her statement last week, Dr. Woodcock reiterated that people who are not immunocompromised and are fully vaccinated are considered “adequately protected” and, as such, will not need a booster shot at this time. However, she emphasized that her team was continuing to work with agency partners to determine whether an additional dose for the general public is needed in the future.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jUSnJc">
|
||||||
|
But FDA and CDC approval on booster shots for immunocompromised people has reasonably spurred questions over whether we will soon get the go-ahead for booster shots to the general public, especially as Covid-19 infections and hospitalizations <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Health/live-updates/covid-delta-
|
||||||
|
variant-surge/?id=79058271">surge nationwide</a> due to the much more contagious<strong> </strong>delta variant.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mvIflF">
|
||||||
|
Most concerning are reports that the delta variant may be more successful against the Covid-19 vaccines, causing “breakthrough infections” or infections in people who are fully vaccinated. For these people, getting infected after being vaccinated can be overwhelmingly emotional.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Md92SH">
|
||||||
|
“I was pretty shocked to learn I’d tested positive,” Daniele Selby, a writer based in New York City, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/8/11/22611272/what-
|
||||||
|
breakthrough-covid-19-feels-like">told</a> Vox. “I am fully vaccinated and have continued to wear masks … so to do all that and still get Covid-19 and feel ill has been pretty upsetting.” Others who have suffered breakthrough infections have had their circumstance politicized, like André Gonzales, who traveled between states for a funeral in early June after being fully vaccinated, and tested positive. “There have definitely been some that have tried to use [my] experience to discount the efficacy of the vaccines or to push unfounded cures on social media,” Gonzales said.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3PcvSd">
|
||||||
|
There is still much to be learned about Covid-19 breakthrough infections but preliminary studies suggest there may be varying levels of risk to re-infection based on different vaccines. A <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/12/mayo-clinic-covid-breakthrough-risk-may-be-much-lower-with-moderna-vaccine-than-
|
||||||
|
pfizer.html">recent study</a> by Mayo Clinic suggests people who received the Moderna vaccine may be at a much lower risk of contracting a breakthrough Covid-19 infection than those who received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. The study, however, has yet to go through a full review. It’s important to remember that breakthrough cases among people who are fully vaccinated are still uncommon, and even when they are infected data shows that these infections are at low risk of resulting in severe illness and/or hospitalization, underlining the benefits of getting vaccinated in spite of risks of re-infection.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fQQrlR">
|
||||||
|
With upticks in Covid-19 cases across the globe due to the more aggressive delta variant, experts say we may have to learn to live with the virus. The closest comparison is the flu disease, which continues to cause tens of thousands of deaths each year in the U.S. alone. But, over time, our society has largely managed to adapt to a world with the flu, thanks to the existence of an effective flu vaccine.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EUduIF">
|
||||||
|
As German Lopez <a href="https://www.vox.com/22621760/covid-19-risk-delta-vaccines-provincetown-study">wrote</a> for Vox:
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<blockquote>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mPPw6U">
|
||||||
|
While we still have to get more people vaccinated, at a certain point we’ll have to acknowledge we’ve done what we can. It might not be ideal, but we can learn to live with a vaccine-weakened version of Covid-19 — hopefully not too unlike how we’ve long dealt with the flu.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
</blockquote>
|
||||||
|
<h3 id="lca6Wx">
|
||||||
|
<strong>Booster shot policies have exposed the world’s ongoing vaccine inequities</strong>
|
||||||
|
</h3>
|
||||||
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
||||||
|
<img alt="WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in a suit and tie speaking behind a podium desk with his hands in
|
||||||
|
motion." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/610EbGbFzteOQskTDrIzsECu94g=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-
|
||||||
|
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22782684/1234272551.jpg"/> <cite>Jaber Abdulkhaleg/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images</cite>
|
||||||
|
<figcaption>
|
||||||
|
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at a joint press conference in Kuwait City, Kuwait, on July 28, 2021.
|
||||||
|
</figcaption>
|
||||||
|
</figure>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wK0NdB">
|
||||||
|
Globally, the United States is the latest country to allow booster shots for people with weakened immune systems, following countries like France, Germany, and Hungary. Some countries have already begun announcing plans to expand their booster shot policies beyond those with weakened immune systems. The U.K., France, and Germany have announced they will begin administering third Covid-19 doses to the elderly as soon as next month. Israel, which has also approved booster shots for those above 60 years old, has gone a step further, reportedly <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/israel-80-vaccinated-suffers-another-
|
||||||
|
covid-19-surge-11628769603">making plans</a> to offer it to younger people, too. Israel was among the first to open up after lockdowns thanks to a strong vaccination program early on, but it is now experiencing another wave of Covid-19 infections, despite the country’s high vaccination rates.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PIyYTf">
|
||||||
|
The move to expand additional Covid-19 shots to the wider public in some countries has <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/french-president-macron-
|
||||||
|
third-covid-vaccine-doses-likely-elderly-vulnerable-2021-08-05/">sparked criticism</a> from World Health Organization officials since the vast majority of poorer countries are still struggling to get residents vaccinated, even with first shots.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="z9EcwR">
|
||||||
|
“I understand the concern of all governments to protect their people from the Delta variant. But we cannot accept countries that have already used most of the global supply of vaccines using even more of it,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. He urged governments to hold off on expanding booster shot programs until the end of September.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rC3C8U">
|
||||||
|
Officials from countries preparing to administer additional Covid-19 shots to the wider public have pushed back at the WHO’s criticism. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett argued that the results of the country’s distribution of booster doses among the elderly could be useful data for future booster programs across the world.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="r545xE">
|
||||||
|
In any case, many countries are still lagging in vaccinations, partly due to a lack of access to vaccine supplies and because of poor infrastructure to distribute them quickly. According to Reuters’s <a href="https://graphics.reuters.com/world-coronavirus-tracker-and-maps/vaccination-rollout-and-access/">world Covid-19 vaccination tracker</a>, which uses data only from countries that report their vaccination figures, about 40% of people who have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine were from high-income countries. Moreover, at least 34% of these vaccine recipients were from Europe and North America.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EqSrdL">
|
||||||
|
As some wealthier countries begin moving toward distributing additional Covid-19 vaccine doses to their populations while other poorer nations still lag behind, and governments struggle to determine the best health protocols to keep people safe, the likelihood of disparities will continue.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<ul>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>The Texas GOP’s war on governing</strong> -
|
||||||
|
<figure>
|
||||||
|
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-
|
||||||
|
cdn.com/thumbor/wXml21Ji2GJVtNnAmGPZSEiyk3U=/0x0:2440x1830/1310x983/cdn.vox-
|
||||||
|
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69724991/AP21194738860626_copy.0.jpg"/>
|
||||||
|
<figcaption>
|
||||||
|
Rep. Jim Murphy (R-Houston), center, stands alongside other members of the Republican caucus during a news conference in Austin, Texas on July 13. | Eric Gay/AP
|
||||||
|
</figcaption>
|
||||||
|
</figure>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
Republican lawmakers in Texas have put political ambition above public good amid statewide crises.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wzTcYK">
|
||||||
|
Republicans in Texas are on a warpath.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aToVhQ">
|
||||||
|
They’re fighting to fortify their trifecta control of state government despite a <a href="https://www.statesman.com/news/20190414/why-texas-legislature-doesnt-reflect-states-growing-diversity">rapidly diversifying electorate</a>, and to establish themselves as the bastion of arch-conservatism in the United States. Victory seems imminent, at least in the upcoming election cycle, if not in the years thereafter. But the people of Texas — Republican, independent, and Democrat — have become collateral damage. Because in having dedicated themselves to battle, Texas Republicans have forgotten how to govern.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5gKJfY">
|
||||||
|
This is certainly the case for the Texas legislature, whose GOP majority has just led it through its most conservative session in decades.<strong> </strong>During that session, GOP lawmakers failed to pass much-needed structural reforms to the state’s electrical grid after it collapsed during a catastrophic winter storm earlier this year, as well as a <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/04/22/texas-house-medicaid-expansion-uninsured/">federal Medicaid expansion program</a> that would have given health care coverage to <a href="https://files.kff.org/attachment/fact-sheet-medicaid-
|
||||||
|
expansion-TX">1.4 million uninsured Texans </a>amid a raging pandemic. Instead, the legislature has prioritized bills that allow any adult in the state to carry a handgun without a license or permit and that ban abortions after six weeks.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
||||||
|
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-
|
||||||
|
cdn.com/thumbor/9YtTLIMV86QZkgYdmO_FGTD0l1M=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-
|
||||||
|
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22781206/AP21198714461243_copy.jpg"/> <cite>Eric Gay/AP</cite></figure></li>
|
||||||
|
</ul>
|
||||||
|
<figcaption>
|
||||||
|
Empty seats are seen in the House Chamber at the Texas Capitol in Austin on July 13 as Texas Democrats left the state to block sweeping new election laws.
|
||||||
|
</figcaption>
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HexCvG">
|
||||||
|
It is now <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/08/11/texas-voting-bill-
|
||||||
|
filibuster/?utm_source=Texas+Tribune+Newsletters&utm_campaign=84416601c3-trib-newsletters-breaking-
|
||||||
|
alert&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d9a68d8efc-84416601c3-102627369&mc_cid=84416601c3&mc_eid=ce79b4cb9b">on track to enact</a> one of the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/7/13/22573680/democrats-texas-flee-greg-abbott-voting-
|
||||||
|
election-special-session-quorum">most restrictive voting laws</a> in the country after an effort that has literally rendered the legislature unable to govern: Democrats fled the state to deprive the legislature of the quorum it needs to operate to protest the bill, leaving Texans without a representative governing body. In response, the Republican House speaker did not offer to negotiate a policy compromise, but has tried to arrest the Democrats who fled.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VNIxnJ">
|
||||||
|
Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, meanwhile, has become a prominent national right-wing figure on both immigration and the pandemic.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jO8o1v">
|
||||||
|
He has waded into battles with the Biden administration over the US- Mexico border, setting off on a misleading quest to <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-
|
||||||
|
politics/2021/8/4/22605595/biden-immigration-border-title-42-deportation-mexico">construct a wall on his own</a> (the taxpayer funds he’ll use for the effort are enough for only a few miles of wall, at most) and <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/08/10/1026178171/republicans-migrants-covid-19-surges">falsely claiming</a> that migrants are behind Covid-19 surges. And as the delta variant is infecting <a href="https://txdshs.maps.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/ed483ecd702b4298ab01e8b9cafc8b83">almost 12,000</a> Texans a day in reported tests, he has also refused to reinstate mask mandates at the state level, banned local governments from doing so, and <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dallas-texas-mask-mandate-legal-challenge-greg-abbott-ken-paxton/">sued those that defy him</a>.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
||||||
|
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-
|
||||||
|
cdn.com/thumbor/6Zgm-02kzXr6Mn5f7l697trV7mE=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-
|
||||||
|
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22781210/GettyImages_1233910101_copy.jpg"/> <cite>Tamir Kalifa/Getty Images</cite>
|
||||||
|
<figcaption>
|
||||||
|
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott holds a border security briefing with sheriffs from border communities in Austin on July 10.
|
||||||
|
</figcaption>
|
||||||
|
</figure>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="372HTq">
|
||||||
|
It’s all a bid to keep the GOP base happy in the lead-up to next year’s midterm elections, as Republicans in the state are more concerned about potential primary challenges from the right than any serious offensive from Democrats. But with their focus on raising their political profiles and defeating potential rivals, they have forgotten to actually govern amid several statewide crises in recent months: the winter storm that left tens of thousands without power and in the cold, the arrival of increasing numbers of migrants at the border, and the recent resurgence of Covid-19 cases due to the delta variant.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<div class="c-float- right">
|
||||||
|
<div id="11pwNg">
|
||||||
|
<div>
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ypYmgp">
|
||||||
|
According to Brendan Steinhauser, a GOP strategist based in Austin who ran Texas Sen. John Cornyn’s 2014 reelection campaign, Republicans are just doing their job by responding to what Texas Republican voters want: “The voters are driving Republican policies,” Steinhauser said.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="35hZJZ">
|
||||||
|
But at some point, elected officials have a responsibility to protect the health and safety of their constituents and the basic human rights of anyone who passes through their state, even if it’s not what their base wants. Few Texas Republicans have embraced that sense of duty; state Rep. Lyle Larson, a Republican from San Antonio, has been a <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/05/25/lyle-larson-texas-tribune-podcast/">lone dissenting voice</a> calling on his colleagues to “<a href="https://twitter.com/RepLyleLarson?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor">do the right thing</a> with no expectation of getting re-elected” on issues like Covid-19, Medicaid expansion, and election law.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VMlA13">
|
||||||
|
“We’ve come to a point where Republican elected officials in Texas treat their jobs like they’re Fox News contributors as opposed to people with responsibilities to their constituents,” said Zack Malitz, co-founder of the progressive <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Real_Justice_PAC">Real Justice PAC</a> and a former adviser on Democrat Beto O’Rourke’s 2018 Texas Senate campaign.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EV6G6X">
|
||||||
|
Malitz’s view reflects the general frustration of Democrats. But there is a limited amount they — or anyone concerned about Texas government — can do. The reality of how districts are drawn, as well as Texas Republicans’ push to restrict voting, means many of those GOP lawmakers with little interest in lawmaking are likely to hang on to their seats next year. And that means the problems Texans have faced due to their government’s neglect are likely to continue.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h3 id="hEVnHa">
|
||||||
|
The Texas legislature is scoring political points at the expense of addressing the most pressing issues
|
||||||
|
</h3>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Hf8rf1">
|
||||||
|
For a while after the 2018 elections, Texas Republicans were focused on bread and butter issues like property taxes and school finance that wouldn’t offend many independents and Democrats. Democrats made some major inroads that year, not just retaking the US House, but also picking up 12 seats in the Texas House and two in the Texas Senate. That shook Republicans’ confidence a bit, and left them looking to play it safe.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="G12x2F">
|
||||||
|
But after Democrats’ predictions that they would<a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/21417460/texas-blue-democrat-biden-beto-2020-election"> turn Texas blue in 2020</a> failed to come to fruition, Republicans felt that they were given a mandate, marking the return of culture war-type issues that most energize their base in the Texas legislature.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3VeuAC">
|
||||||
|
“In Texas, Republicans still win statewide and have done so in the last couple of election cycles, even though we had some narrower races in 2018,” Steinhauser said. “If you’re a Republican running statewide, you still have to speak to the Republican Party first, not only to get the nomination, but to turn them out and win in November.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1mi1VB">
|
||||||
|
That pressure has manifested in what Steinhauser described as the most conservative session of the state legislature in his memory. The governor has already signed legislation that <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/06/16/texas-constitutional-carry-greg-
|
||||||
|
abbott/">removed permit requirements</a> to carry a handgun and also established an<a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/08/10/texas-abortion-law-fetal-heartbeat/"> effective ban on abortion</a> that is currently facing <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/07/13/texas-heartbeat-bill-lawsuit/">legal challenges</a>.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="H1kC0L">
|
||||||
|
But there is also a <a href="https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-
|
||||||
|
announces-second-special-session-date-agenda">special session</a> of the state legislature underway where lawmakers are supposed to work on legislation that would prevent schools from teaching critical race theory or mandating masks or Covid-19 vaccines, and to provide funding for border security, among other Republican causes.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fxRpNx">
|
||||||
|
All the while, the failure of the Texas power grid during the winter storm — a statewide crisis that impacted Texans regardless of political party — has been glossed over. Though the governor <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/06/08/greg-
|
||||||
|
abbott-texas-power-grid-ercot/">signed laws</a> to prepare the electrical grid to withstand future extreme weather events, the legislature hasn’t passed any bills delivering direct relief for consumers who were <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/05/25/electricity-market-financing-winter-storm/">slammed</a> with huge electricity bills as a result of the blackouts or making the kind of forward-looking structural changes to Texas’s electricity market that many experts have called for.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<div class="c-wide-block">
|
||||||
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
||||||
|
<pre><code> <img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-</code></pre>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">cdn.com/thumbor/0FnAMTtHJMrvrNGBrtlaK-n3y-8=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox- cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22781221/AP21194749783455_copy.jpg" /> <cite>Eric Gay/AP</cite></p>
|
||||||
|
<figcaption>
|
||||||
|
Wendy Rodriguez (right) joins a rally to protest proposed voting bills on the steps of the Texas state Capitol on July 13.
|
||||||
|
</figcaption>
|
||||||
|
</figure>
|
||||||
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
||||||
|
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-
|
||||||
|
cdn.com/thumbor/ZBDW_eyiwWxdLOdh_VL4w9Zl2uI=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-
|
||||||
|
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22781229/GettyImages_1234359341_copy.jpg"/> <cite>Mark Felix/Bloomberg via Getty Images</cite>
|
||||||
|
<figcaption>
|
||||||
|
Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke (right) marches with Luci Baines Johnson (center), the daughter of former President Lyndon B. Johnson, during a voting rights rally near the Texas State Capitol on July 31.
|
||||||
|
</figcaption>
|
||||||
|
</figure>
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YKldUQ">
|
||||||
|
Nor did the legislature, in either their regular or special sessions, find time to address many other pressing concerns in Texas, like Medicaid expansion and <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/05/25/texas-george-floyd-police-reform-legislation/">police reforms </a>that were proposed in the aftermath of former Houston resident George Floyd’s death.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Q2JUu0">
|
||||||
|
“These cultural war issues get people to hunker down in the trenches that they’re used to being in around elections and refocus voters’ attention on how much they hate the other side,” Malitz said. “These issues are being deliberately used as a distraction from really widely felt stuff in Texas right now: Covid, economic recovery, the blackouts, baseline bad governance.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pZqflM">
|
||||||
|
Republicans are also trying to strip Texans of the only tool they have to demand good governance with a bill that would make the state’s already very restrictive voting laws even more so. It passed the state Senate on Thursday despite a more than<a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/08/11/texas-voting-bill-
|
||||||
|
filibuster/"> 15-hour filibuster</a> from an Austin Democrat, but still needs to pass the House and be signed by the governor.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="evzT0c">
|
||||||
|
As my colleague <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/7/13/22573680/democrats-texas-flee-greg-
|
||||||
|
abbott-voting-election-special-session-quorum">Ian Millhiser notes</a>, the bill would strengthen constraints on absentee voting; ban drive-through polling sites; introduce new limitations and paperwork requirements on people who help disabled voters and non-English speakers cast a ballot; make it harder to remove partisan poll watchers who harass voters or otherwise disrupt an election; and impose harsh new penalties on people who commit even minor violations of Texas election law.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RyaaDq">
|
||||||
|
Steinhauser said that Texas Republicans are more unified behind that agenda than they have been in a long time.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<div class="c-float-right">
|
||||||
|
<aside id="pO5IzD">
|
||||||
|
<q>“If you’re a Republican running statewide, you still have to speak to the Republican Party first”</q>
|
||||||
|
</aside>
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TLqJ3f">
|
||||||
|
“Part of that is probably the party being out of power nationally and having a common political enemy, if you will — to have the White House and Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer to point to,” he said. “Also having Trump be a little less front and center in the party has allowed them to focus their critiques on national Democrats.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XcVGMN">
|
||||||
|
But for Texas Democrats, there isn’t room for compromise on the Republican agenda. House Democrats had fled the state en masse last month in an effort to prevent votes on the voting bill in particular. But after Republican Speaker Dade Phelan signed <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/08/10/1026573381/texas-democrats-can-bec-lawmakers-can-be-arrested-for-evading-
|
||||||
|
votes">civil arrest warrants </a>for absent Democrats on Tuesday night with a green light from the Texas Supreme Court, nearly enough of them have returned to form a quorum, a two-thirds majority of the chamber required to conduct business, giving the Republican majority a chance to move forward with their agenda.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vei4LX">
|
||||||
|
Though Republicans have decried Democrats’ actions as <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/08/09/texas-democrats-legislature-
|
||||||
|
relationships/">breaking relationships</a> in a chamber that has historically sought to give the minority party a seat at the table, Republicans had already drawn battle lines with a legislative agenda designed to exploit partisan divisions.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h3 id="VP5MRv">
|
||||||
|
Gov. Abbott has tried to pass off his failures on the Covid-19 resurgence on migrants
|
||||||
|
</h3>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VYyDIQ">
|
||||||
|
Beyond the problems with the legislature, Texas is in the middle of another statewide crisis: a third wave of Covid-19, this time brought on by the highly contagious delta variant. It has left hospitals with <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/08/10/coronavirus-texas-hospitals-icu-beds/">dwindling numbers of ICU beds</a> and delaying <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/08/09/texas-hospitals-elective-procedures-covid-greg-
|
||||||
|
abbott/">non-emergency medical procedures</a> while the governor calls in <a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-
|
||||||
|
health-education-coronavirus-pandemic-368eb9eb57b1d3b1a473d4414c42a522">out-of-state medical staff</a> to come to the rescue.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="t5CPXQ">
|
||||||
|
Nevertheless, Abbott hasn’t budged in refusing to use his gubernatorial powers to try to get rising case — and death — numbers under control. He could, for instance, implement statewide mask or vaccine mandates, but will not, saying that curbing the epidemic now comes down to “<a href="https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-
|
||||||
|
abbott-attorney-general-paxton-aligned-in-defense-of-executive-order-prohibiting-mask-mandates">personal responsibility</a>.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KXaj18">
|
||||||
|
He has instead actively worked against the interests of public health, issuing an executive order that prohibits any government entity from issuing its own mask mandates, effectively hamstringing local governments that are bearing the brunt of Covid-19 surge in keeping Texans safe. Several counties have gone ahead and <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/08/11/texas-mask-mandates-covid-19-greg-abbott/">implemented mask mandates anyway</a>, but Abbott is going to court in an effort to reverse them.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Zwf2mc">
|
||||||
|
Though he has praised the vaccine and has gotten the jab himself, Abbott is focused on protecting the rights of the unvaccinated.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
||||||
|
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-
|
||||||
|
cdn.com/thumbor/OGHPOkLnpuIai2qFRbTmrjUr47o=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-
|
||||||
|
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22781271/GettyImages_1234463888_copy.jpg"/> <cite>Callaghan O’Hare/Bloomberg via Getty Images</cite>
|
||||||
|
<figcaption>
|
||||||
|
A Coivd-19 test drive-thru testing site in Houston, Texas. Gov. Abbott issued an executive order prohibiting any government entity from issuing mask mandates.
|
||||||
|
</figcaption>
|
||||||
|
</figure>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TPBYle">
|
||||||
|
“They have the individual right and responsibility to decide for themselves and their children whether they will wear masks, open their businesses and engage in leisure activities,” Abbott told the <a href="https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2021/07/29/texas-gov-greg-abbott-issues-broad-covid-19-order-that-touts-
|
||||||
|
personal-responsibility-not-edicts/">Dallas Morning News</a>. “Vaccines, which remain in abundant supply, are the most effective defense against the virus, and they will always remain voluntary — never forced — in the State of Texas.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JB1XUc">
|
||||||
|
Steinhauser said that Abbott is trying to balance the desire of millions of Texans not to return to the shutdowns of last year with the real immediate need to get millions more Texans vaccinated. Democrats, however, see it as an abdication of the governor’s responsibility to protect public health.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uuW4QX">
|
||||||
|
“This is beyond inaction — this is the governor tying the hands of health experts who are trying to keep Texans healthy as cases and hospitalizations increase,” Texas state Rep. Donna Howard, a former critical care nurse, said in a <a href="https://texashousedems.com/statement-rep-donna-howard-responds-to-governors-covid-19-executive-
|
||||||
|
order/">statement</a>.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Cbx2HR">
|
||||||
|
What’s more, Abbott has sought to blame the recent delta surge on migrants arriving on the southern border — playing into a false, nativist, and damaging right-wing narrative that might be particularly attractive to Republican voters in the state, who have long identified immigration and border security as <a href="https://texaspolitics.utexas.edu/set/most-important-issue-facing-texas-june-2021#party-id">top priorities</a> in public opinion polling.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ETa0Op">
|
||||||
|
At a national level, a recent <a href="https://immigrationforum.lt.acemlnb.com/Prod/link-
|
||||||
|
tracker?redirectUrl=aHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZ3d3cuYXhpb3MuY29tJTJGYXhpb3MtaXBzb3MtcG9sbC1ibGFtZS1nYW1lLWNvcm9uYXZpcnVzLTQ3ZGZhMDYyLWMyYzUtNGU2Ni1iNzBiLTMwY2M5NDM2MWQ5Mi5odG1sJTNGdXRtX3NvdXJjZSUzRG5ld3NsZXR0ZXIlMjZ1dG1fbWVkaXVtJTNEZW1haWwlMjZ1dG1fY2FtcGFpZ24lM0RuZXdzbGV0dGVyX2F4aW9zYW0lMjZzdHJlYW0lM0R0b3A=&a=26236480&account=immigrationforum%2Eactivehosted%2Ecom&email=hu6B9F%2F5%2BMqDdHMocBLWR%2BLxSsT2%2BS3NdHXUV2aLA0U%3D&s=66a4b25f8b3106061c6bdbd1ec8cb296&i=788A955A24A20131">Axios</a> poll found that nearly 37 percent of unvaccinated Americans blame “foreign travelers in the US” for the rise in Covid-19 cases. Abbott has played no small part in creating that perception.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SvqmdO">
|
||||||
|
They’re “allowing free pass into the United States of people with a high probability of Covid, and then spreading that Covid in our communities,” he said in <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/texas-abbott-executive-order-biden-covid">an interview</a> last month on Fox News.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5Mqipm">
|
||||||
|
But available data hasn’t shown migrants on the border to be any more likely to test positive for Covid-19. In March, the acting head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) told Congress that <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-immigration-migrants-mexico-border/">less than 6 percent</a> of migrants at the border had tested positive for Covid-19, a lower percentage than the Texas positivity rate at that time.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="i6MyL9">
|
||||||
|
Scapegoating migrants serves two purposes for Abbott: It obscures his role in failing to prevent the current Covid-19 surge and provides him with an excuse to pursue the kind of restrictive immigration policies that former President Donald Trump both popularized and made a priority.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<div class="c-wide- block">
|
||||||
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
||||||
|
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/6XBrXVOdVctT--
|
||||||
|
t5xi-3tsc0MsI=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-
|
||||||
|
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22781273/GettyImages_1233738317_copy.jpg"/> <cite>Sergio Flores/AFP via Getty Images</cite>
|
||||||
|
<figcaption>
|
||||||
|
Former President Trump is joined by Gov. Greg Abbott, during a visit to the border wall near Pharr, Texas, on June 30, 2021.
|
||||||
|
</figcaption>
|
||||||
|
</figure>
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="buS7zc">
|
||||||
|
He recently issued an <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/07/28/abbott-immigrant-travel-501378">executive order</a> allowing public safety officers to stop and reroute vehicles suspected of transporting migrants with Covid-19, though the measure has been <a href="https://twitter.com/valontheborder/status/1422687122381852678?s=21">blocked in federal court</a> for now.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8Cexzw">
|
||||||
|
He has told Texas child care regulators to <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/06/08/migrant-
|
||||||
|
children-biden-lawsuit/">revoke the licenses</a> of facilities that house migrant children and state troopers to <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/07/30/texas-greg-abbott-border-security/">jail migrants </a>for state crimes, such as trespassing on private property when they cross the border.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EmTl9E">
|
||||||
|
And he is trying to <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2021/7/9/22566733/texas-border-wall-abbott-trump-immigration">finish the wall</a> along the Texas border, putting forth a $250 million “down payment” drawn from state disaster relief funds — money that could have gone to the aid of those still recovering from last winter’s storms, or those struggling under the burden of the pandemic — and crowdfunding <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/poll-shows-just-12-texans-definitely-plan-
|
||||||
|
donate-construct-mexico-border-wall-1606945">almost another $500,000</a> as of June 23. That’s still a drop in the bucket of what he might need to finish the project, which the federal government estimated could cost as much as <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/briefing-room/2021/06/11/fact-sheet-department-of-defense-and-department-of-
|
||||||
|
homeland-security-plans-for-border-wall-funds/">$46 million per mile</a> in some sectors of the border.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oQrSKr">
|
||||||
|
But it doesn’t really matter if Abbott finishes the wall or whether his executive order is ever allowed to go into effect. The policies have generated news cycles that boost his profile nationally, which will be important if he pursues a <a href="https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/is-abbott-setting-the-stage-for-a-2024-presidential-run-if-so-
|
||||||
|
he-needs-to-win-reelection-first/">2024 presidential bid</a> as rumored.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OARcGJ">
|
||||||
|
“It’s a fantastic talking point for his primary electorate, both next year and in 2024,” Malitz said. “It’s government by theater. The things that they are doing with government in Texas are, by and large, for the purpose of introducing a message into the right wing media machine with obviously catastrophic humanitarian results.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rL1Jdn">
|
||||||
|
Abbott and his fellow Texas Republicans have been very successful at controlling messaging, and have had many wins in energizing state conservatives. Their party is poised to retain control of Texas. But these victories have come at a great cost, carried by the people of Texas.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<ul>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>Apple would like to clear a few things up</strong> -
|
||||||
|
<figure>
|
||||||
|
<img alt="VPNE Parking Solution lot with an Apple iPhone billboard regarding privacy on Broad Street in
|
||||||
|
Boston on October 7, 2020." src="https://cdn.vox-
|
||||||
|
cdn.com/thumbor/V7MWrP6Pd7NR0-DI0NoprdVqBko=/279x0:4728x3337/1310x983/cdn.vox-
|
||||||
|
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69704538/GettyImages_1230252505.0.jpg"/>
|
||||||
|
<figcaption>
|
||||||
|
Apple’s advertising focuses on user privacy, but a recent move to check iPhone photos for child abuse has privacy advocates concerned. | Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe/Getty Images
|
||||||
|
</figcaption>
|
||||||
|
</figure>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
The privacy-first company’s invasive approach isn’t going over well with many.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oOFMNi">
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JDd35F">
|
||||||
|
Apple, the company that proudly touted its user privacy bona fides in its recent <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2021/6/7/22522994/apple-ios15-privacy-
|
||||||
|
icloud">iOS 15 preview</a>, recently introduced a feature that seems to run counter to its privacy-first ethos: the ability to scan iPhone photos and alert the authorities if any of them contain child sexual abuse material (CSAM). While fighting against child sexual abuse is objectively a good thing, privacy experts aren’t thrilled about how Apple is choosing to do it.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oaIFot">
|
||||||
|
The new scanning feature has also confused a lot of Apple’s customers and, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-apples-child-protection-features-spark-concern-within-its-own-
|
||||||
|
ranks-2021-08-12/">reportedly</a>, upset many of its employees. Some say it builds a back door into Apple devices, something the company swore it would never do. So Apple has been doing a bit of a damage control tour over the past week, admitting that its initial messaging wasn’t great while defending and trying to better explain its technology — which it insists is not a back door but in fact better for users’ privacy than the methods other companies use to look for CSAM.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="w5njkE">
|
||||||
|
Apple’s new “expanded protections for children” might not be as bad as it seems if the company keeps its promises. But it’s also yet another reminder that <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2021/6/23/22545534/peloton-tread-membership-now-required-recall">we don’t own our data or devices</a>, even the ones we physically possess. You can buy an iPhone for a considerable sum, take a photo with it, and put it in your pocket. And then Apple can figuratively reach into that pocket and into that iPhone to make sure your photo is legal.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h3 id="VqBW7X">
|
||||||
|
Apple’s child protection measures, explained
|
||||||
|
</h3>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WQlbUu">
|
||||||
|
In early August, Apple <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516588&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.apple.com%2Fchild-
|
||||||
|
safety%2F&referrer=vox.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vox.com%2Frecode%2F2021%2F8%2F10%2F22617196%2Fapple-
|
||||||
|
ios15-photo-messages-scanned" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">announced</a> that the new technology to scan photos for CSAM will be installed on users’ devices with the upcoming iOS 15 and macOS Monterey updates. Scanning images for CSAM <a href="https://blog.chron.com/techblog/2014/08/google-microsoft-others-scan-your-data-looking-for-
|
||||||
|
child-porn/">isn’t a new thing</a> — Facebook and <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2014/8/5/5970141/how-google-scans-
|
||||||
|
your-gmail-for-child-porn">Google</a> have been scanning images uploaded to their platforms for years — and Apple is already able to access photos uploaded to iCloud accounts. Scanning photos uploaded to iCloud in order to spot CSAM would make sense and be consistent with Apple’s competitors.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YAmwa3">
|
||||||
|
But Apple is doing something a bit different, something that feels more invasive, even though the company says it’s meant to be less so. The image scans will take place on the devices themselves, not on the servers to which you upload your photos. Apple also says it will use new tools in the Message app that scan photos sent to or from children for sexual imagery, with an option to tell the parents of children ages 12 and under if they viewed those images. Parents can opt in to those features, and all the scanning happens on the devices.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OEj4yE">
|
||||||
|
In effect, a company that took <a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/2/25/11588232/apple-files-its-motion-to-throw-out-court-order-to-hack-san">not one</a> <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/5/18/21262731/fbi-apple-unlock-iphone-encryption-bill-barr-alshamrani">but two</a> widely publicized stances against the FBI’s demands that it create a back door into suspected terrorists’ phones <a href="https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2021/08/apple-adds-a-backdoor-to-imesssage-and-icloud-storage.html">has seemingly created a back door</a>. It’s not immediately clear why Apple is making this move this way at this time, but it could have something to do with pending laws abroad and potential ones in the US. Currently, companies can be fined up to $300,000 if they find CSAM but do not report it to authorities, though <a href="https://stratechery.com/2021/apples-mistake/">they’re not required to look for CSAM</a>.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kVBroh">
|
||||||
|
Following backlash after its initial announcement of the new features, Apple on Sunday <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516588&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.apple.com%2Fchild-
|
||||||
|
safety%2Fpdf%2FExpanded_Protections_for_Children_Frequently_Asked_Questions.pdf&referrer=vox.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vox.com%2Frecode%2F2021%2F8%2F10%2F22617196%2Fapple-
|
||||||
|
ios15-photo-messages-scanned" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">released an FAQ</a> with a few clarifying details about how its on-device scanning tech works. Basically, Apple will download a database of known CSAM images from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) to all of its devices. The CSAM has been <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516588&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.apple.com%2Fchild-
|
||||||
|
safety%2Fpdf%2FExpanded_Protections_for_Children_Technology_Summary.pdf&referrer=vox.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vox.com%2Frecode%2F2021%2F8%2F10%2F22617196%2Fapple-
|
||||||
|
ios15-photo-messages-scanned" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">converted into strings of numbers</a>, so the images aren’t being downloaded onto your device. Apple’s technology scans photos in your iCloud photo library and compares them to the database. If it finds a certain number of matches (Apple has not specified what that number is), a human will review it and then report it to NCMEC, which will take it from there. It isn’t analyzing the photos to look for signs that they might contain CSAM, like the Messages tool appears to do; it’s just looking for matches to known CSAM.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<div class="c-float-right">
|
||||||
|
<aside id="xKwxjr">
|
||||||
|
<q>“A thoroughly documented, carefully thought-out, and narrowly-scoped backdoor is still a backdoor”</q>
|
||||||
|
</aside>
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="V9BfR0">
|
||||||
|
Additionally, Apple says that only photos you choose to upload to iCloud Photos are scanned. If you disable iCloud Photos, then your pictures won’t be scanned. Back in 2018, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/11/apple-could-sell-icloud-for-the-enterprise-barclays-
|
||||||
|
says.html">CNBC reported</a> that there were roughly 850 million iCloud users, with 170 million of them paying for the extra storage capacity (Apple offers all iPhone users 5 GB cloud storage free). So a lot of people could be affected here.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XRLQzQ">
|
||||||
|
Apple says this method has “significant privacy benefits” over simply scanning photos after they’ve been uploaded to iCloud. Nothing leaves the device or is seen by Apple unless there’s a match. Apple also maintains that it will only use a CSAM database and refuse any government requests to add any other types of content to it.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h3 id="FOIry2">
|
||||||
|
Why some privacy and security experts aren’t thrilled
|
||||||
|
</h3>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Bu03ZM">
|
||||||
|
But privacy advocates think the new feature will open the door to abuses. Now that Apple has established that it can do this for some images, it’s almost certainly going to be asked to do it for other ones. The Electronic Frontier Foundation <a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/08/apples-plan-think-different-about-encryption-opens-backdoor-your-private-
|
||||||
|
life">easily sees</a> a future where governments pressure Apple to scan user devices for content that their countries outlaw, both in on-device iCloud photo libraries and in users’ messages.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AX5TLS">
|
||||||
|
“That’s not a slippery slope; that’s a fully built system just waiting for external pressure to make the slightest change,” the EFF said. “At the end of the day, even a thoroughly documented, carefully thought-out, and narrowly-scoped backdoor is still a backdoor.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="b4tkBS">
|
||||||
|
The Center for Democracy and Technology said in a statement to Recode that Apple’s new tools were deeply concerning and represented an alarming change from the company’s previous privacy stance. It hoped Apple would reconsider the decision.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rYccsf">
|
||||||
|
“Apple will no longer be offering fully end-to-end encrypted messaging through iMessage and will be undermining the privacy previously offered for the storage of iPhone users’ photos,” CDT said.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8fEH5v">
|
||||||
|
Will Cathcart, head of Facebook’s encrypted messaging service WhatsApp, blasted Apple’s new measures in a Twitter thread:
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<div id="FPYgUO">
|
||||||
|
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
|
||||||
|
Instead of focusing on making it easy for people to report content that’s shared with them, Apple has built software that can scan all the private photos on your phone – even photos you haven’t shared with anyone. That’s not privacy.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
— Will Cathcart (<span class="citation" data-cites="wcathcart">@wcathcart</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/wcathcart/status/1423701477705404418?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 6, 2021</a>
|
||||||
|
</blockquote></div></li>
|
||||||
|
</ul>
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TcG6dn">
|
||||||
|
(Facebook and Apple <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22254815/facebook-apple-privacy-
|
||||||
|
ios-14-lawsuit">have been at odds</a> since Apple introduced its anti-tracking feature to its mobile operating system, which Apple framed as a way to protect its users’ privacy from companies that track their activity across apps, particularly Facebook. So you can imagine that a Facebook executive was quite happy for a chance to weigh in on Apple’s own privacy issues.)
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="G7qbMu">
|
||||||
|
And Edward Snowden expressed his thoughts in meme form:
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<div id="YwCGaA">
|
||||||
|
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="und">
|
||||||
|
<a href="https://t.co/yN9DcTsBNT">pic.twitter.com/yN9DcTsBNT</a>
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
— Edward Snowden (<span class="citation" data-cites="Snowden">@Snowden</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/Snowden/status/1423482640791969793?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 6, 2021</a>
|
||||||
|
</blockquote>
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1AMLUp">
|
||||||
|
Some experts think Apple’s move could be a good one — or at least, not as bad as it’s been made to seem. Tech blogger John Gruber <a href="https://daringfireball.net/2021/08/apple_child_safety_initiatives_slippery_slope">wondered</a> if this could give Apple a way to fully encrypt iCloud backups from <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22565926/police-law-enforcement-
|
||||||
|
data-warrant">government surveillance</a> while also being able to say it is monitoring its users’ content for CSAM.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="K6QARG">
|
||||||
|
“If these features work as described and <em>only</em> as described, there’s almost no cause for concern,” Gruber wrote, acknowledging that there are still “completely legitimate concerns from trustworthy experts about how the features could be abused or misused in the future.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gmrujr">
|
||||||
|
Ben Thompson of Stratechery <a href="https://stratechery.com/2021/apples-mistake/">pointed out</a> that this could be Apple’s way of getting out ahead of potential laws in Europe requiring internet service providers to look for CSAM on their platforms. Stateside, American lawmakers have <a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/12/2020-congress-threatened-our-speech-and-security-
|
||||||
|
earn-it-act">tried to pass</a> their own legislation that would supposedly require internet services to monitor their platforms for CSAM or else lose their <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/5/28/21273241/section-230-explained-
|
||||||
|
trump-social-media-twitter-facebook">Section 230 protections</a>. It’s not inconceivable that they’ll reintroduce that bill or something similar this Congress.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7y8Yrn">
|
||||||
|
Or maybe Apple’s motives are simpler. Two years ago, the New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/11/09/us/internet-child-sex-abuse.html">criticized</a> Apple, along with several other tech companies, for not doing as much as they could to scan their services for CSAM and for implementing measures, such as encryption, that made such scans impossible and CSAM harder to detect. The internet was now “overrun” with CSAM, the Times said.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h3 id="CuzT1u">
|
||||||
|
Apple’s attempt to re-explain its child protection measures
|
||||||
|
</h3>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ez0SIo">
|
||||||
|
On Friday, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-apples-child-protection-
|
||||||
|
features-spark-concern-within-its-own-ranks-2021-08-12/">Reuters reported</a> that Apple’s internal Slack had hundreds of messages from Apple employees who were concerned that the CSAM scanner could be exploited by other governments as well as how its reputation for privacy was being damaged. A new PR push from Apple followed. Craig Federighi, Apple’s chief of software engineering, talked to the Wall Street Journal in a <a href="https://www.wsj.com/video/series/joanna-
|
||||||
|
stern-personal-technology/apples-software-chief-explains-misunderstood-iphone-child-protection-features-
|
||||||
|
exclusive/573D76B3-5ACF-4C87-ACE1-E99CECEFA82C?mod=hp_lead_pos7">slickly produced video</a>, and then Apple <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516588&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.apple.com%2Fchild-
|
||||||
|
safety%2Fpdf%2FSecurity_Threat_Model_Review_of_Apple_Child_Safety_Features.pdf&referrer=vox.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vox.com%2Frecode%2F2021%2F8%2F10%2F22617196%2Fapple-
|
||||||
|
ios15-photo-messages-scanned" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">released</a> a security threat model review of its child safety features that included some new details about the process and how Apple was ensuring it would only be used for its intended purpose.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ZjS9Ks">
|
||||||
|
So here we go: The databases will be provided by at least two separate, non-government child safety agencies to prevent governments from inserting images that are not CSAM but that they might want to scan their citizens’ phones for. Apple thinks that this, combined with its refusal to abide by any government’s demands that this system be used for anything except CSAM as well as the fact that matches will be reviewed by an Apple employee before being reported to anyone else, will be sufficient protection against users being scanned and punished for anything but CSAM.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xzvf19">
|
||||||
|
Apple also wanted to make clear there will be a public list of the database hashes, or strings of numbers, that device owners can check to make sure those are the databases placed on their devices if they’re concerned a bad actor has planted a different database on their phone. That will let independent third parties audit the database hashes as well. As for the source of the databases, Apple says the database must be provided by two separate child safety organizations that are in two separate sovereign jurisdictions, and only the images that both agencies have will go into the database. This, it believes, will prevent one child safety organization from supplying non-CSAM images.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wbhBkX">
|
||||||
|
Apple has not yet said exactly when the CSAM feature will be released, so it’s not on your device yet. As for how many CSAM matches its technology will make before passing that along to a human reviewer (the “threshold”), the company is pretty sure that will be 30, but this number could still change.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2g9TL5">
|
||||||
|
This all seems reassuring, and Apple seems to have thought out the ways that on-device photo scans could be abused and ways to prevent them. It’s just too bad the company didn’t better anticipate how its initial announcement would be received.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="09axQC">
|
||||||
|
But the one thing Apple still hasn’t addressed — probably because it can’t — is that a lot of people simply are not comfortable with the idea that a company can decide, one day, to just insert technology into their devices that scans data they consider to be private and sensitive. Yes, other services scan their users’ photos for CSAM, too, but doing it on the device is a line that a lot of customers didn’t want or expect Apple to cross. After all, Apple spent years convincing them that it never would.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="crdin8">
|
||||||
|
<strong>Update, August 13, 4:55 pm: </strong>Updated to include new information about Apple’s messaging around its CSAM scanning technology.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AQBJyD">
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</h1>
|
||||||
|
<ul>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>German and Bayern Munich great Gerd Mueller passes away</strong> - Gerd Mueller widely regarded as one of the game’s greatest goalscorers and nicknamed “Bomber der Nation”</p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Medallists at Tokyo Olympics add sheen to Independence Day celebrations</strong> - As an athlete and a soldier, my heart is full of emotion when I see the national flag flying high. Jai Hind: Neeraj Chopra</p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>AFC Cup | BFC takes on Club Eagles</strong> - Sunil Chhetri-led Bengaluru FC will face Club Eagles of Maldives in a play-off match of the AFC Cup here on Sunday. The winner of the playoff, schedu</p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Explained | Why was Messi forced to leave Barça?</strong> - What are LaLiga’s financial fair play rules? How could PSG pick the star player?</p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Eng vs Ind | My finger on lips celebration is for haters: Siraj</strong> - ‘I will only let the ball do the talking’</p></li>
|
||||||
|
</ul>
|
||||||
|
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</h1>
|
||||||
|
<ul>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Sonia hoists tricolour, reclaims centre stage</strong> - Amid efforts at Opposition unity, Congress chief seen as asserting leadership</p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>DRM lauds officials for their performance despite pandemic situation</strong> - ‘The first oxygen express was run by Waltair Division’</p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>We have contingency plans, says govt. sources on evacuation of Indian staff from embassy in Kabul</strong> - On August 15, Taliban militants entered the city of Kabul demanding a transition of power</p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Government committed to establishing three capitals, says Kannababu</strong> - ‘Visakhapatnam will be developed and made the Executive capital of the State’</p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Strengthen voices against all forces that try to stifle freedom: Mamata</strong> - TMC national general secretary, Abhishek Banerjee, also tweeted about preserving the ‘nation’s sanctity’</p></li>
|
||||||
|
</ul>
|
||||||
|
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</h1>
|
||||||
|
<ul>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Polish law on property stolen by Nazis angers Israel</strong> - A new law will make it harder for people to recover property lost in World War Two.</p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Turkey floods: Death toll near Black Sea rises to at least 40</strong> - Flash floods in northern Turkey are the country’s second natural disaster this month.</p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>‘My night in notorious Nazi collaborator Quisling’s cabin’</strong> - When Ben McPherson realised he could rent Vidkun Quisling’s cabin, it struck him as weird. His Norwegian wife disagreed.</p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Sarah Rainsford on Russia: ‘I’ve been told I can’t come back - ever’</strong> - The BBC’s Sarah Rainsford, devastated after being told she could not return to Russia, ever.</p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Channel migrant crossings reach record high as man dies</strong> - The UK deals with 592 people crossing the Channel on the day a migrant makes a fatal leap into the sea.</p></li>
|
||||||
|
</ul>
|
||||||
|
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</h1>
|
||||||
|
<ul>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Strawberry Mansion: A great sci-fi premise with trippy, arthouse execution</strong> - In this film, society can track dreams, so <em>of course</em> someone’s out to monetize ’em. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1786242">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Samsung has its own AI-designed chip. Soon, others will too</strong> - Semiconductor software-design maker Synopsys is adding AI to its arsenal. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1787115">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The weekend’s best tech deals: AirPods Pro, Jackbox games, and more</strong> - Dealmaster also has deals on the iPad Air, Switch Pro Controller, and storage. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1786382">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Review: Androids is a developer commentary track for the Android 1.0 era</strong> - A new book by Googler Chet Haase offers an inside look at Android development. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1786567">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Perl Foundation is fragmenting over Code of Conduct enforcement</strong> - “I’m fresh out of ideas with regards to handling toxicity in the Perl community.” - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1787157">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
</ul>
|
||||||
|
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
|
||||||
|
<ul>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>Day 317 without sex</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||||||
|
<div class="md">
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
Went jogging in flipflops just to remember the sound.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Golden_Was_Taken"> /u/Golden_Was_Taken </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/p4hzk4/day_317_without_sex/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/p4hzk4/day_317_without_sex/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>Accordion to a recent survey, 7 out of 10 people don’t notice when a word in a sentence is replaced</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||||||
|
<div class="md">
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
by a musical instrument.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/paulyozz"> /u/paulyozz </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/p4gy22/accordion_to_a_recent_survey_7_out_of_10_people/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/p4gy22/accordion_to_a_recent_survey_7_out_of_10_people/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>What do Incel and Excel have in common?</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||||||
|
<div class="md">
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
Misinterpreting something as a date.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/SpLi0"> /u/SpLi0 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/p4q44k/what_do_incel_and_excel_have_in_common/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/p4q44k/what_do_incel_and_excel_have_in_common/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>A Psychic buying clothes</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||||||
|
<div class="md">
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
Employee: How about this one?
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
Psychic: That shirt is too small.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
Employee: You didn’t even try it on.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
Psychic: I’m a medium.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/ClannadFeels"> /u/ClannadFeels </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/p4rs7b/a_psychic_buying_clothes/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/p4rs7b/a_psychic_buying_clothes/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>Dr. Seuss cheated on his wife for 13 years while she was battling cancer and then married his mistress after she died.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||||||
|
<div class="md">
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
He really said “One bitch, two bitch, dead bitch, new bitch”.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<!--
|
||||||
|
SC_ON -->
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Golden_Was_Taken"> /u/Golden_Was_Taken </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/p4hpyq/dr_seuss_cheated_on_his_wife_for_13_years_while/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/p4hpyq/dr_seuss_cheated_on_his_wife_for_13_years_while/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||||||
|
</ul>
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
<script>AOS.init();</script></body></html>
|
||||||
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Reference in New Issue