Moderna says it's working on Covid booster shot for variant in South Africa, says current vaccine provides some protection Berkeley Lovelace Jr. CNBC

Moderna said Monday it’s accelerating work on a Covid-19 booster shot to guard against the recently discovered variant in South Africa.

Why Vaccines Alone Will Not End the Pandemic New estimates suggest the vaccine rollout is no match for the severity of the U.S. outbreak, and stricter social distancing measures are needed to reduce infections. nytimes

The coronavirus pandemic in the United States has raged almost uncontrollably for so long that even if millions of people are vaccinated, millions more will still be infected and become ill unless people continue to wear masks and maintain social distancing measures until midsummer or later, according to a new model by scientists at Columbia University.

Biden health officials express concern about short-term vaccine supply crunch “I think that the supply is probably going to be the most limiting constraint early on," the CDC director said. Jesse Naranjo POLITICO

Top Biden administration health officials on Sunday expressed concern about limited vaccine supplies but offered measured optimism that the worse-than-expected rollout would be improved, while warning that the current crunch for doses posed a pressing threat.

2 in 5 Americans live where COVID-19 strains hospital ICUs Straining to handle record numbers of COVID-19 patients, hundreds of the nation's intensive care units are running out of space and supplies and competing to hire temporary traveling nurses at... AP NEWS

Straining to handle record numbers of COVID-19 patients, hundreds of the nation’s intensive care units are running out of space and supplies and competing to hire temporary traveling nurses at soaring rates. Many of the facilities are clustered in the South and West.

Biden says his mask mandate is common sense. Republicans say ‘kiss my ass.’ The president’s first executive order already has opponents. Is it a harbinger of things to come? Natasha Korecki POLITICO

When Joe Biden issued an executive order this week requiring mask-wearing on federal properties, it was framed as the least controversial provision he would issue early in his presidency.

“It’s not a political statement,” he said, “it’s a patriotic act.”