One of the most interesting and clarifying discussions I’ve read in recent weeks is Dr. Monica Gandhi’s discussion of the difference between ‘colonization’ and ‘infection’ in thinking about what counts as a case of COVID. It’s conceptually interesting but also highly relevant both for the choices we make balancing risk as individuals as well as how we approach the vaccine phase of the pandemic in policy terms.
As Gandhi tells it, in many cases a vaccinated individual will be exposed to COVID and have the pathogen briefly colonize their nasal passages. But vaccine-induced immunity will fight and defeat the virus there. Is that an infection or a case? If you take a PCR test, you’ll test positive. But Gandhi says we’re confusing things by treating it as one.
Gandhi is an infectious disease specialist and we spoke with her this morning in an Inside Briefing about this and related topics.
If you’re a TPM member you can watch our full interview after the jump.
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At TPM, we’ve been harping on the fact that the whole bipartisan back-and-forth that unfolded over the last two months — and that might conclude early tomorrow morning — doesn’t really matter that much. It’s the reconciliation package that matters. If it passes in a form similar to what Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer outlined this morning, it would be the most significant progressive legislation in at least a decade.
It might also be the last significant progressive legislation for at least a decade.
MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell has been on a destructive path for some time, buckling himself to the former president’s Big Lie crusade with near blind allegiance.
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The tour of terribleness is, apparently, just getting started.
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As at least one Republican governor expresses regret over a state law that bans mask mandates at the local level, Texas and Florida’s top officials are doing the opposite.
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Former Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA), who served on Trump’s impeachment defense team and who represented the former president in his legal bid to overturn election results in Georgia, signaled on Monday that Trump’s legal team will not block congressional requests for testimony from at least a handful of former Trump administration officials.
But there’s a caveat.
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ (R) rise to Trumpy stardom is largely tied to his defiant stance against public health measures during most of the pandemic last year.
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Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) was one of the first Republicans to point the finger at the amorphous “antifa” as the true culprits behind the Jan. 6 insurrection.
His tone hasn’t changed much since.
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Turning Point USA is pushing anti-vaccine talking points as part of its fundraising efforts.
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