Vaccinated? You're more likely to get others to 'swipe right'
White House touts dating apps for vaccine outreach; Argentina goes into new lockdown, and India surge continues unabated
As Memorial Day approaches, the COVID-19 pandemic is firmly on at least two very different trajectories. If the USA maintains its high level of vaccine acceptance, many - or most - restrictions will be lifted in the next month. At the same time, tragic surges continue in India, Brazil and now Argentina - with hope for control a long way off in many places. Despite the progress, the USA will reach 600,000 confirmed COVID-19 deaths within the next three weeks or so.
The headlines for today:
Argentina’s president declared that the nation is in its worst position since the pandemic started, recording 35,543 new cases and 745 deaths in one day. Argentina had a strict lockdown that prevented a surge last year, but restrictions were lifted in July.
India set new record high daily death tolls this week. More than 4,200 on Friday, according to India’s health ministry. Mother Jones reports on the risks to other nations from India’s out-of-control COVID-19.
The US plans to ship 80 million doses of vaccine (mostly AstraZeneca vaccines) to other countries by early July. However, the FDA has not yet cleared the AstraZeneca shots, some of which were manufactured at the same factory where millions of doses of J&J shots were contaminated.
Wired takes a deep dive into the early days of China’s COVID-19 outbreak, including how information about the disease was flowing freely at first, then shut down.
Stepping up efforts to reach people who don’t feel any urgency to getting COVID-19 vaccinations, the U.S. government is encouraging companies to do more to reach their customers and employees.
Next week, the administration will begin helping companies schedule “pop-up” vaccination events.
Also, starting Monday, anyone who texts their zip code to either GETVAX (438829) or VACUNA (822862) will get both the nearest locations for vaccinations and an offer of a free Uber or Lyft ride to and from their vaccine site.
The White House highlighted several dating apps that have created ways for users to indicate they’ve been vaccinated - or to get vaccine info. “We have finally found one thing that makes us all more attractive,” said White House Senior Advisor for COVID-19 Response Andy Slavitt, noting that one dating site reported 14% more matches for those who either got vaccinated or said they planned to. Getting vaccinated has “clear benefits to your social life, and most importantly, you’ll be protected against a virus that is racing around the world.”
That’s it for today. Stay safe and have a good weekend.