Welcome to our weekly newsletter highlighting the best of The Economist’s coverage of the pandemic and its effects.
This week our data journalists looked at how prepared America and Europe are for Omicron. They found that the availability of arms, not vaccines, will be the greatest constraint on booster campaigns.
We examined why America’s response to the Omicron variant has been so weak. Politics and the courts have hampered
President Biden’s efforts against covid-19.
The early data on Omicron show surging cases but milder symptoms. The variant’s capacity for reinfection appears unprecedented. Meanwhile, in South Africa, Omicron is already dominant. It appears to have rapidly outcompeted Delta and set off another wave of infections.
In a “By Invitation” article, Melissa Fleming and Jeremy Heimans, a UN official and a social entrepreneur, wrote about countering vaccine falsehoods. Traditional health messages don’t convince the vaccine-hesitant, they say, but there are digital techniques that can move the needle.
In England, people marked “Freedom Day” on July 19th, when most covid restrictions in the country were lifted. However, for those who are clinically vulnerable, true freedom has yet to arrive. When will those who have spent 21 months isolating be able to mingle freely again?
As office life approaches some sort of new normal, remote working is here to stay. In our Business section, we look at the various ways in which countries are trying to legislate to maintain some boundaries between work and home life.
Zanny Minton Beddoes
Editor-In-Chief
