Journalists are coming under fire for promoting doom-and-gloom news about COVID-19 that may not be all that. 

Happening in the World: An American intelligence report released yesterday asserts that Muhammad bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, personally ordered a team of special operatives to murder dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. Khashoggi was enticed to enter the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, before being killed and dismembered with a bone saw, presumably in retaliation for his scathing critiques of Saudi government officials in various op-eds. (NYT) 

Happening in the US: The FDA announced Wednesday that Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose COVID-19 vaccine is both safe and effective at preventing severe disease. Yesterday, the FDA convened for a final decision on the granting of Emergency Use Authorization for the vaccine and is expected to release its verdict in the next few days. The J&J vaccine does not have to be frozen at sub-zero temperatures like the Pfizer and Moderna shots, which makes it a valuable weapon in the fight against COVID-19 in countries and regions with limited cold storage capacity. Trials for J&J’s vaccine showed that it is 72% effective at preventing moderate-to-severe disease in the US and even 57% effective in South Africa, where a variant that is said to make the virus more resistant to vaccines is predominant. (AP)

Happening in NYC: The New York Times published an alarming piece Wednesday alleging that a new COVID-19 variant is circulating in New York City that has the ability to evade the current generation of vaccines. That piece, however, was based on an unpublished study by Columbia researchers that had not been peer reviewed and did not provide complete figures for its claims. City officials concur that while the variant should be studied further just like any other, it does not pose an immediate threat to public health in the city and has not meaningfully affected the city’s infection trajectory or caused specific outbreaks in any part of the city. Dr. David Ho, the Columbia researcher behind the original report, pushed back, claiming his work is “good science” that is falling on deaf ears. The Mayor’s Senior Advisor for Public Health Dr. Jay Varma, however, described the Times’ article and others like it as “pathogen porn” that adds nothing but headaches for public health officials as they calm a concerned public. (NBC New York)

Happening in the Columbia Community: Nuclear waste: what to do, what to do? The Center on Global Energy Policy is hosting a panel with some experts in nuclear energy to answer that very question this Tuesday from 1:30 to 3 pm EST. Sign up here!

super secret lab via Bwog Archives