The promise of anti-covid pills

How the approval of anti-covid pills from drug companies Pfizer and Merck could impact the course of the pandemic. And the life and legacy of feminist author bell hooks.

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On Tuesday, President Biden urged calm as coronavirus cases rise, and the omicron variant becomes dominant in the United States. He touted a plan for more readily available testing and more resources for strained hospitals nationwide. 

But on the horizon is another treatment against covid-19: antiviral pills. The pills are said to dramatically reduce the risk of hospitalization and death in vulnerable populations, and could be approved for use as early as this week. Health reporter Carolyn Y. Johnson explains what we know about the pills and what role they could play against the omicron variant.

Plus, a remembrance of bell hooks. Hooks died last week at the age of 69. She was a Black feminist author and critic who had a wary eye even on Beyoncé. “Hood Feminist” author Mikki Kendall reads her remembrance of hooks.