We can stop the spread of COVID variants by vaccinating kids
Happy Tuesday! We are leading the newsletter with a column from Dr. Thomas K. Lew about how we can stop the spread of COVID, including variants, by vaccinating everyone — including children. We also are sharing some columns you might've missed including one about Taylor Swift.
Omicron: COVID-19 vaccinations for kids will help top the spread
By Dr. Thomas K. Lew
We are entering what appears to be yet another transition period of the pandemic – cases and deaths have declined from the peak of the delta surge, but they are not zero. Meanwhile, the new omicron variant is possibly rising as a serious threat.
As a hospital provider, I still see very sick unvaccinated younger individuals and moderately sick vaccinated people who are either elderly or with compromised immune systems. Now is the time as a nation to seize our opportunity and consolidate our gains to end our continuing national COVID-19 crisis.
Today's Editorial Cartoon
So you want to become a better writer? Be a better reader.
By Benjamin Dreyer
People who write habitually – for work or for fun, journal entries or blog posts, book reports or short stories – often want to put their better foot forward, but the eccentricities and minutiae of the English language can be extraordinarily daunting.
As a professional word person, I know this as well as anyone: There’s always so freaking much to remember, from the basic differentiation between treacherous homophones (their, they’re, there), to the fine points of grammar (subject-verb agreement! the dreaded subjunctive!), to where to put the punctuation. (Some days I’m tempted to save up all the commas, colons and periods and dump them at the end of whatever I’m writing and leave it to the reader to sort out.)
These things are important, to be sure: God is in the details, they tell us, but so, they tell us, is the devil. And sometimes I’m simply asked for simple big-ticket advice on improving one’s writing.
Pancreatic cancer treatments are improving, and there's cause for hope
By Drs. William R. Jarnagin and Alice Wei
Over the past few years, we have lost several iconic figures to the same deadly disease, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Congressman John Lewis and “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek. Each of these leaders – and thousands of other fathers and mothers, sisters and brothers, lovers and friends passed away after losing a hard-fought battle with pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest of all cancers.
In the oncology world, pancreatic cancer has frustrated doctors, scientists and other experts for decades, while causing untold suffering for patients. Often called “the silent killer,” pancreatic cancer usually does not carry symptoms until the tumors have advanced to the point where they invade nearby organs.
Other columns to read today
- Omicron was found by South Africa COVID experts, now country is target
- Taylor Swift, rerecording to own her masters, is more punk rock than I am
- America has a plastic problem, and our recycling efforts need help
- Adopted children live with trauma, rejection. But education can help
Columns on qualified immunity
- Qualified immunity: 8 myths about why police need it to protect the public
- Colorado took a revolutionary step to reform policing. Here's how we did it.
- When police are out of line, they should face remedial action. But don't end qualified immunity
- No one should be immune from accountability when they harm another person
This newsletter was compiled by Jaden Amos.