COVID-19 Update

WaPo:

Debate rages over whether FDA should use emergency powers to clear a coronavirus vaccine early
Speeding the process could save lives, but some say it might also make it easier for the White House to push regulators to clear an unproven vaccine before Election Day

A fierce debate has erupted over whether the Food and Drug Administration should use its emergency authority to clear a coronavirus vaccine before it is formally approved — a move opponents warn could pose safety dangers and inflame anti-vaccination sentiment but others say could save thousands of lives by speeding protection from the virus.

With concerns growing about the politicization of the FDA amid a botched White House rollout of the agency’s emergency authorization of convalescent plasma and sharply criticized comments by FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn, some scientists and bioethicists are demanding the agency forgo use of its emergency authority for a vaccine. They worry its very flexibility, which gives FDA officials broad latitude, could make it easier for the White House to pressure the agency into clearing an unproven vaccine before Election Day, Nov. 3.

Trump’s repeated promise to deliver a safe and effective vaccine this year, “or maybe even sooner,” has become central to his reelection campaign and has sparked concerns in the scientific community in particular that the White House could pressure regulators to cut corners.

And it won't be fun to watch as politicians and Press Poodles try to make their hay out of "the new anti-vaxxers vs the new science-based blah blah blah."

Our default position has to be: Ignore These Fucking Idiots. The hard part is knowing which fucking idiots we should ignore on which particular occasion - and we still have to sift thru it all to able to find some clue as to what they're up to this time.

It's fucking exhausting, but that's what the Daddy State counts on - that we get tired of all the shit, and so frustrated that we just throw up our hands and resign to it.