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Coronavirus: Passing the smell test 

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QZ
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Hello Quartz readers,

We still don’t know much about Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, but we also no longer care: The faux plots submitted by Quartz readers are enough to put the Academy on notice. Here are a few of our favorites:

  • The Oliver Stone: “Recruited to a shadowy international government division, an agent learns about an imminent apocalypse created from a multiverse collision that will bend time and make it go backwards. Unfazed by the turn of events, the agent plows ahead by meeting a lady, befriending his partner, executing several incredible fight scenes, and saving the world in the nick of time.”
  • The Michael Bay: “Weird wind storm that only affects vehicles. Then the aliens land. And everybody runs.”
  • The Charlie Kaufman: “Groundhog Day but for two men stuck on a freeway during a car crash.”

Okay, let’s get started.

Vaccine and not heard

Several wealthy countries have already negotiated bilateral deals to secure vaccines for their citizens. The US snagged more than 500 million doses of a potential vaccine and the UK more than 200 million doses. Emerging economies such as India, China, and Russia are making their own vaccines. Much of Africa, meanwhile, may not have access to a vaccine until months or even a year after it’s approved.

Most African countries rely on the WHO for vaccines: The agency funded two-thirds of the H1N1 vaccines delivered to sub-Saharan Africa during that 2009 pandemic. Five years later, lack of funding left the organization slow to respond to the Ebola outbreak. This year, audits suggest the WHO division leading the Covid-19 response is also chronically underfunded.

“Too often, African countries end up at the back of the queue for new technologies, including vaccines,” says Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa. “These life-saving products must be available to everyone, not only those who can afford to pay.”

One promising initiative is the COVAX Facility, a joint effort from the WHO, Gavi, and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations to ensure equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines. This mechanism allows countries to pool their buying power, and has already secured 300 million potential doses. But in Africa, only Botswana, Mauritius, and Seychelles have signaled interest in paying to purchase vaccines through the facility.

About 37 African countries are eligible for the Advance Market Commitment (AMC), a mechanism within COVAX to supply poor countries with vaccines. But the number of doses available will depend on donations or development assistance, and the AMC has so far raised only $600 million against an initial target of $2 billion to secure doses for 92 economies.

Patient advocates worry that history is repeating itself. During the H1N1 pandemic, wealthy countries scrambled for and hoarded vaccines. As a result, it took one year after vaccine approval for all 34 African countries that qualified for vaccine donation to receive it.

Did you know

In the United States, a number of different healthcare providers can administer vaccines, from clinical nurses to midwives. But it took the H1N1 pandemic, which killed over 10,000 people in the US, to trigger laws that allow more retail pharmacists to administer vaccines. After all, it’s much more convenient to drop into a pharmacy than it is to schedule an appointment at a doctor’s office.

Ever since, pharmacists across the US have given about a quarter of flu shots annually.

The next cycle

We are entering the era of the electric bicycle.

While conventional bike sales declined slightly in 2018 and 2019, e-bikes soared more than 50%, according to data from market research firm NPD. And they’ve gone into overdrive during the pandemic. E-bike sales have more than doubled since January, outpacing even huge sales growth in conventional bicycles.

A chart showing how annual sales of e-bikes are outpacing conventional-bike sales in the US.

The US is following a global trajectory. Consulting firm Deloitte is predicting (pdf) a “surge” of 130 million e-bike sales in the next three years. By 2023, it expects 300 million e-bikes to be on the streets, compared with fewer than 10 million electric vehicles (including cars and trucks).

That would make e-bikes the best selling electric conveyances in the world by the end of the year, a prediction Deloitte made even before the pandemic turbo-boosted sales.

We asked

Why is the US so far behind on rapid testing for Covid-19?

You didn’t ask that, but Quartz special projects editor Alex Ossola did, and then found out the answer. Despite having the highest infection rate in the world, the US has a testing rate of about 12.5 tests per confirmed case, far lower than many other countries hit hard by the virus. Americans are still waiting up to two weeks for their results, too late for them to be useful.

Fortunately, quicker tests are on the way. The NIH’s Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) initiative seeks to speed up their development. In April, Congress allocated $1.5 billion towards the program; last week, RADx announced the seven tests that passed the preliminary round of vetting and will now be produced en masse. They all work differently, and none of them are perfect, but increased testing could lead to some degree of normalcy and possibly cheaper tests for all.

The sweet smell of success

Working remotely means being the master of your own olfactory universe—and spending accordingly. In the second quarter ending in June, US candle sales were up 13% from the same period last year, according to NPD Group.

Here are a few ways to elevate your day with a signature scent:

😌 Candle and chill. Citrus scents are common workday favorites, making people feel calm, perky, and a little less like they’re in the midst of an existential crisis. (Quartz staff recs: Nest’s grapefruit candle and deKor’s orangey Ojai candle.)

⏰ Candle as clock. “In an effort to develop a routine around working from home, I’ve gotten in the habit of lighting a candle when I start the work day,” says Carolina Ferrara, a paralegal in Los Angeles. Ferrara finds eucalyptus scents particularly energizing, and is a fan of the aromatherapy line from Bath & Body Works, and the Golden Coast scent from P.F. Candle Co.

📋 A scent for every stint. Having a variety of aromas on hand can help delineate different kinds of tasks within a day. “To set a different tone, I light a zen candle with a totally different scent,” says Brinton Parker, a social and editorial manager for a San Francisco tech company. “It helps me feel calm, even if I’m in the same room where I’ve been taking business calls all morning.”

🏡 No smell like home. Quartz’s Nico Rivero is using the Miami Candle by Homesick—featuring notes of coconut, patchouli, and sea breeze—to stay connected with his hometown. “It’s not quite the same as going for a walk and smelling jasmine coming from someone’s yard,” he says. “But it is a nice change of pace from the resting scent of my New York apartment, which is the fast-food smell of the Popeyes downstairs.”

Essential reading

Essential watching

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