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The Brave New Post-COVID Vaccine World

NEW ROCHELLE, NEW YORK - JULY 03: Friends and family mourn the death of Conrad Coleman Jr. following his funeral service on July 03, 2020 in New Rochelle, New York. Coleman, 39, died of COVID-19 on June 20, 2020, jus... NEW ROCHELLE, NEW YORK - JULY 03: Friends and family mourn the death of Conrad Coleman Jr. following his funeral service on July 03, 2020 in New Rochelle, New York. Coleman, 39, died of COVID-19 on June 20, 2020, just over two months after his father Conrad Coleman Sr. also died of the disease. The socially-distanced service was held at the New York Covenant Church in New Rochelle, New York which was an early epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the eastern United States. The African American community has been especially hard-hit by coronavirus pandemic, in terms of both illnesses and deaths. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images) MORE LESS

April 7, 2021 10:17 a.m.

Somehow yesterday I happened on this December article about COVID vaccines by David Wallace-Wells in New York Magazine. The premise is a set of facts you probably know. The Moderna vaccine, which along with Pfizer’s and Johnson and Johnson’s is now protecting millions of Americans from COVID and in all likelihood bringing a halt to the pandemic, was designed by January 13th. A month later a small first batch had already been sent to the NIH to begin phase one trials. Moderna was first but the Pfizer vaccine was almost as fast. In other words, we had the vaccines before the pandemic in the US even really got off the ground in early March.

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