The Atlantic Daily: 4 Theories to Explain the Blood-Clot Problem

Plus: Streaming queue looking a bit sparse? Our critic picks three shows for you to start this weekend.

The COVID-19 Outbreak

(DeAgostini / Getty / Katie Martin / The Atlantic)

This week, America hit its latest vaccination roadblock: The Johnson & Johnson offering remains on pause in the United States as regulators investigate six cases of a rare blood-clotting disorder in recently vaccinated people, all women under 50.

The good news is that the company’s shots make up only a small percent of those being administered nationally. The bad news is that the pause threatens to undermine vaccine confidence—and exacerbate existing inequities.

• It’s not just AstraZeneca: The vaccine blood-clot problem is multiplying. The science journalist Roxanne Khamsi talks through four theories for what’s behind it.
• J&J risks becoming a “dudes only” vaccine. It’s too early to tell whether there’s a link between the clots and sex or gender, our staff writer Katherine J. Wu reminds us.
• mRNA vaccines are looking particularly good right now. Once long shots, they are emerging as a technological triumph. But while “the U.S. can afford, literally, to vaccinate most of its population with Pfizer’s and Moderna’s vaccines,” our staff writer Sarah Zhang writes, “most other countries cannot.”

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HBO MAX

Three shows to start this weekend

Struggling to find new worthwhile streaming picks this far into the pandemic? I asked Shirley Li, a staff writer who covers television, to select three shows for you to start this weekend. She chose:

1. Younger (Paramount+, Hulu)

The Darren Star–helmed comedy is “a fairy tale fit for basic cable” and “a treacly confection of a show: witty but not wise, delightful but not deep,” Megan Garber wrote back in 2016. The first four episodes from the final season begin streaming yesterday.

2. Made for Love (HBO Max)

The “zany new series about a woman who manages to escape what’s essentially a virtual-reality prison” is the latest show to obsess over the relationship between love and technology, Sophie Gilbert argued.

3. For All Mankind (Apple TV+)

The space-race drama returned for a second season earlier this year. It stars Joel Kinnaman, who plays “a character so wholesome and uncontaminated you could put him on a cereal box.”

What else to do:

• Looking for a longer read? In our May cover story, David Treuer argues that America should return its national parks to the tribes. (He also discusses his essay on the latest episode of The Experiment, our podcast with WNYC Studios.)  
• Looking for some new music? Here’s a playlist for your next walk, and one for cleaning your house this spring.
• Want a podcast instead? Our hosts unpack the Johnson & Johnson vaccine pause on this week’s Social Distance.

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The Atlantic Crossword

11-Across, nine letters: Nomadland director

Try your hand at our daily mini crossword (available on our site here), which gets more challenging through the week.

→ Challenge your friends, or try to beat your own solving time.

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