Dear Colleagues,

With a new, potentially (ultra-) nasty variant in town, described as having “a Frankenstein mix of  mutations” in the NYT (which seems to fit the ongoing horror show that the Covid pandemic is), we are entering the third year of Covid-19. Increasingly, we realize we’re in this for the long haul and will have to learn to live with the virus.  Unfortunately, though, as dr. Tedros said at this week’s  Special Session of the World Health Assembly (WHASS2), “The lack of a consistent and coherent global approach has resulted in a splintered and disjointed response, breeding misunderstanding, misinformation and mistrust”.  Adding, correctly, “Globally, we have a toxic mix of low vaccine coverage, and very low testing – a recipe for breeding and amplifying variants.”

Let’s hope the world will do ( a lot) better in 2022.  Even if the evidence is perhaps a bit shaky  (see the scientific speculation on the origins of Omicron), I certainly agree that activists should...