Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Peter Smits et al. examine some of the risk factors which tend to produce particularly severe breakthrough cases of COVID-19. The Economist summarizes what we know so far - and still have left to learn - about long COVID. Mark Lieberman discusses the particularly high concentration of long COVID cases among educators in the U.S. And Melanie Borrelli reports on new research showing that children's mental health is primarily harmed by the spread of COVID rather than by public health measures to stop it. 

- Kelsey Langston makes the case for the Moe government to start funding harm reduction - though the next indication that it cares a whit about saving lives will be the first. And Zak Vescera reports on the Saskatchewan Party's appalling insistence that it won't bother to do anything to work on suicide prevention even after it passed legislation confirming the ongoing need for a strategy. 

- Clement Nocos offers a backgrounder on how to implement universal mental health care in Ontario (in advance of an election campaign where that's on the table thanks to the NDP). And Catherine Carstairs discusses why dental care remains outside of the universal health care system despite its obvious connection to health and welfare. 

- Meanwhile, Armine Yalnizyan, Pat Armstrong, Marjorie Griffin Cohen and Laurell Ritchie warn of the dangers of instead allowing the Ford PCs and other right-wing government to privatize needed care services. Philip Mirowski warns that the death of neoliberalism has been greatly exaggerated - as the mere fact that its promises have proven false doesn't mean there's a lack of corporate servants willing to keep pushing it. And Tom Perkins examines how corporations have been price-gouging consumers even while using their own greed as an excuse to try to impose public austerity. 

- Finally, Lori Culbert and Dan Fumano highlight how far Vancouver has to go in allowing families' needs to be met. And Leif Gregersen writes about the gross insufficiency of the resources being provided to help homeless people.