This is the part of the horror film where safety seems in sight, but it is obvious, to those paying attention, that the monster is not dead, and that the worst may be yet to come. We cannot let ourselves be taken by surprise. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/28/opinion/new-covid-strain.html

A lot of the advice in here is to do more of what we are doing. But some of it isn't! Among other things, the FDA really, really needs to open the gates on at-home antigen testing. The virus is getting faster. We need stronger tools to keep up.

And we need better masks — and maybe the government should simply produce and distribute them directly. Quickly.

Calculations @paulmromer shared with me suggest that at 2 million vaccinations a day, we stay ahead of the new strains. At 1 million, more than 300,000 more people die. We're already above 1m a day. Let's get to 2m.

There's more in the piece, but we need to act fast. These strains are in exponential growth. We can't wait till they explode to act. Delays that feel normal to us — 3 weeks for Congress to debate a bill, 2 weeks for FDA to schedule a meeting — could bring calamity.

If you want to see what happens if we fail, just look at Britain right now. And we're starting from a much higher base infection rate than they were at when B.1.1.7 took hold. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/28/opinion/uk-covid-deaths-hospitals.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage