Trying to time the tripledemic is a bad idea

Plus: Understaffed restaurants, Amazon's grocery troubles and more. [Bloomberg]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a convenience store of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions, which will be greatly improved once you, distinguished reader, complete [this survey](. Today’s Agenda - Flu, Covid, RSV: [Which vaccine]( do you need? - [Restaurants]( aren’t running at full speed. - Amazon’s [grocery stores]( can’t compete. - [Private jets]( at the beach? Check the balance sheet. One shot, two shot, RSV shot, flu shot It’s one of the cardinal rules of investing, according to not only [Bloomberg]( but also practically [every]( [other]( [financial]( [publication]( on the planet: Do not try to time the stock market. As it turns out, it’s a pretty good rule for vaccinations as well. Last year, some tried to delay their flu vaccine to time its peak protection for when the virus is at full force. In many years, that might mean seeking out the shot in late October for the best coverage later in the winter. But last year, the flu season peaked early, catching many people unprepared. The lesson: “Just get it when you can,” Nuzzo says. “That’s better than trying to play the timing game.” I had no idea that people were delaying their pilgrimage to their local CVS MinuteClinic® to try and *time* their flu shots! It’s impressive, to be that organized. Sadly, aiming for this level of precision is not effective. So if you’re guilty of doing this, pretty please do not do it this year. Just get jabbed in September like the rest of us underachievers! It’ll be fine, I promise. Lisa Jarvis says [this year’s fall shots]( — for Covid, flu and RSV — will all have slightly different eligibility guidelines, which further complicates the [tripledemic](. Now that even Zoom is calling employees [get back to HQ](, the office is about to turn into a germaphobe’s [worst nightmare](. And if people don’t have their vaccines, they’re more likely to get sick during the impending season of sniffles. “If you become eligible for a vaccine, you should get it,” Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the Pandemic Center at Brown University School of Public Health, told Lisa, adding: “If you are high risk and there is a form of insurance that can keep you out of the hospital, use it.” If only people would listen: Last fall, fewer than 20% of Americans got the Covid booster. But plenty of people who skipped the booster still opted for a flu shot, which is probably why Covid continued to be [deadlier than the flu]( last winter. The CDC hasn’t officially made their recommendation for the updated Covid shot, but experts expect them to focus on protecting the most vulnerable first. Some (but not all!) of those people also might want to snag one of the new RSV vaccines, Lisa notes. On top of that, “we’d still want everyone, everywhere, to get a flu shot,” she writes. For all my visual girlies out there, here’s a very rough, rather unscientific sketch of what this all might look like, come fall: Get. A. Flu. Shot!!!!! Illustration: Jessica Karl The Menu Plenty of people say that technology has made our lives easier. But have they tried making a [restaurant reservation]( lately? At least in New York, the process is more [difficult]( than writing a joint Instagram caption for a [breakup post](. Let me walk you through it: First, you need to figure out how many days in advance the restaurant releases reservations on Resy or OpenTable or wherever. Sometimes it’s 30 days. Other times it’s two weeks. There are even places that randomly release them 13 days out, which feels like a rather cruel and unfair “little secret”: After that, you still need to find out the specific time the reservation opens up. If it’s midnight, you’ll set your alarm for the ungodly hour of 11:58 p.m. And once it’s time to book, you pray to the restaurant gods that your Wifi is good. If you fail, you’ll end up sitting at home, writing [sad girl songs]( about how you’ll never get to experience [Lilia](’s pink peppercorn [mafaldine](. Or you’ll be gnawing on your off-menu [seasonal skate wing]( at like 11 p.m., because that’s that’s literally the [only time slot]( that was left. Maybe you’re thinking: Wouldn’t it just be easier to pick up the phone and call the front of house to make a reservation? Haha, yes sure. That is, if the front of house [even has a phone](. “I’d have to hire people just to answer,” restaurateur Roni Mazumdar recently [told]( Eater of his decision to nix the landline. Cutting corners like this isn’t an anomaly in the industry, Matthew Yglesias says, it’s the norm. Ever since Covid, “there has been [a structural shift of workers]( out of low-productivity roles into [more productive sectors](, while food-service businesses transform themselves to be less labor-intensive.” Humans, it seems, are in short supply in food services these days: In a way, “every person serving food or bussing tables at a mediocre restaurant represents a form of labor market slack,” Matthew writes. Since wages are going bananas at the [lower end]( of the labor spectrum, fast-casual businesses are outperforming traditional full-service ones. He argues that this creates “a strong incentive to make dining more like Chipotle and less like Chili’s.” Although some may see this as “a bleak vision of the future,” where burrito bowls and QR codes replace human interaction, it’s also a sign that Bidenomics — the president’s effort to raise wages and reduce inequality — is, indeed, working. Maybe your struggles to book a reservation are actually a win for the economy. RIP, mafaldine, I never knew thee. Bonus Economy Reading: - The US economy [is crushing it](, so please stop worrying about it. — Tyler Cowen - Bond market [volatility]( isn’t about to doom the economy. — Mohamed A. El-Erian Amazon Not-So-Fresh Picture this: You have a date tonight. So you put on the cutest outfit in your closet. Got your hair did. Put your pearls on. Grabbed your bag. Sent a selfie to your BFF, who then has the audacity to text back: “Aww girl, you’re doing [too much](.” It hurts to hear it! But this is a good friend right here. She’s got your back, protecting your image like that. If only Amazon had such a friend. Because right now, it sure could use the advice: “The company has two grocery brands — Whole Foods, Amazon Fresh — and a convenience store called Amazon Go, which sells snacks you might also find at a Whole Foods,” Leticia Miranda explains. It’s clearly doing too much with its confusing grocery offering. But you won’t hear a peep of negativity from Amazon’s shareholders, who are just happy to see their [shares]( soar each [earnings season](. “The flood of optimism glosses over [issues in Amazon’s grocery]( business,” Leticia says. Since 2018, sales at Whole Foods have grown by half the rate of Kroger — proof that “the segment really needs a massive makeover if it wants to compete,” she writes. That’s the kind of tough love it needs to stay ahead. Telltale Charts Country Garden used to be one of China’s biggest real-estate developers by sales. Now? It’s [walking a tightrope](, Shuli Ren writes. The company is struggling to generate enough cash to be able to finish pre-sold projects, many of which are in remote areas that don’t benefit from China’s new push to make cities more resilient. Country Garden has to decide whether it wants to repay bond investors or finish its pre-sold homes instead. “Painful as it is, investors may agree that delivering apartments to consumers takes priority,” she says. Here’s [a fun question](, from Brooke Sutherland: “When is it appropriate for the chief executive officer to take the company plane on vacation?” It’s top of mind after 3M announced that it’s grounding its private jets amid [its]( [restructuring](. But “3M is far from the first company to decide corporate jets are an unnecessary extravagance at a time of turmoil,” Brooke says, noting how GE shut down its corporate aviation department in 2017. “It’s not clear to me why it’s necessary for the vast majority of CEOs to have free access to the company plane for vacations,” she writes. To them, it’s all: Work hard, play hard — as long as they can charge it to the corporate credit card: Further Reading Chances are, [LK-99]( is nothing. But if it is something, it’s a BIG something. — Bloomberg’s editorial board [Wind “Turbinegeddon”]( has arrived, and it doesn’t bode well for the energy transition. — Chris Bryant Banks will [break the rules]( as long as there are banks. — Paul J. Davies Apple’s [new iPhone]( needs to be supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. — Dave Lee Australia shows how [natural gas is a habit]( as hard to kick as coal or oil. — David Fickling [Imran Khan's conviction]( will only deepen his followers' paranoia. — Mihir Sharma [Rishi Sunak]( isn’t interested in playing nice anymore. — Martin Ivens Donald Trump’s [challengers]( give the GOP a second shot at decency. — Francis Wilkinson ICYMI Trucking company [Yellow]( went [bankrupt](. Summer in the city is [a sweaty affair](. Trump is not on the [same page]( as his lawyer. Scanning your eyeballs for [magic beans]( is unwise. Jeopardy! is [recycling clues]( to survive the strike. Kickers Italian man gets crushed by [cheese wheels](. Usher doesn’t want your [potato salad](. Scientists discovered a child with [no chin](. SF has [magic mushroom churches](. TSA has [a boarding pass]( trash problem. Notes: Please send potato salad and feedback to Jessica Karl at jkarl9@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Threads](, [TikTok](, [Twitter](, [Instagram]( and [Facebook](. Follow Us You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Opinion Today newsletter. If a friend forwarded you this message, [sign up here]( to get it in your inbox. [Unsubscribe]( [Bloomberg.com]( [Contact Us]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022 [Ads Powered By Liveintent]( [Ad Choices](