Thread by @TheAtlantic

1/ This is the worst week of the pandemic yet. The United States set records in all three metrics that gauge severity, including a total of 1.4 million new cases and 15,966 deaths as of Wednesday. And it could get worse, writes @COVID19Tracking. theatlantic.com/health/archive…

2/ The virus has torn through long-term-care facilities. The number of deaths jumped 27 percent the week of December 3. States reported the highest number of new cases—51,574—in these facilities since @COVID19Tracking started collecting these data in May: theatlantic.com/health/archive…

3/ As COVID-19 has overwhelmed hospitals, the lack of clear bioethical guidelines has forced doctors to make wrenching life-and-death decisions on the fly. The result has been chaos and unnecessary suffering, @jordan_kisner writes.
theatlantic.com/magazine/archi…

4/ An FDA advisory committee voted Thursday to authorize the first vaccine against COVID-19, but until Americans have broad access to it, quarantining is the main thing keeping us healthy. So why aren’t more Americans doing it? @olgakhazan reports:
theatlantic.com/politics/archi…

5/ A vaccine is also not an off switch for the coronavirus pandemic, @sarahzhang warns. The next six months will almost certainly bring delays, fights over priority, and questions about how immune the newly vaccinated are and how they should behave. theatlantic.com/health/archive…

6/ We are already seeing signs of “vaccine nationalism,” in which nations prioritize their domestic needs at the expense of others. This accelerated efforts to develop drugs—but the pandemic will not end without equal distribution, @YasmeenSerhan writes.
theatlantic.com/international/…

7/7 “With enough effort and cooperation, the holidays next year could feel almost like normal,” @jameshamblin writes. “The exact timeline—and how much hardship we endure in the interim—is up to us.“ theatlantic.com/health/archive…