Intent to get vaccinated rises; trust in J&J vaccine low: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trust-johnson-johnsons-coronavirus-vaccine-low-intent-inoculated/story?id=77218518 . With the majority of the country now in the vaccination pipeline, social pressure to receive the vaccine is rising. Still, the situation with the J&J vaccine shows the sensitivity of the public to messaging. That sensitivity is not entirely based on facts or analysis.
US to share entire supply of AstraZeneca vaccine (60 million shots) with the world after federal approval: https://apnews.com/article/politics-health-business-government-and-politics-coronavirus-26fa41b98fab721218d9a51065351d9d . The US has contracts for 300 million doses of this vaccine. We can share huge quantities with the world if the production commitments are met (this is an iffy proposition with AstraZeneca so far). It is wise to go through the US regulatory approval process as we will be acting as a middleman in these distributions. WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-to-share-astrazeneca-covid-19-vaccine-doses-with-world-11619457366 .
EU sues AstraZeneca over failure to meet delivery schedule: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56891326 . WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/eu-sues-astrazeneca-over-covid-19-shortfall-11619442321 .
WSJ: Sanofi agrees to provide finish manufacturing for Moderna vaccine: https://www.wsj.com/articles/sanofi-to-help-make-moderna-covid-19-vaccine-for-u-s-11619434801 .
COVID deaths in India are undercounted: https://read.getdailybrief.com/digests/as-covid-19-devastates-india-deaths-go-undercounted (link replaced 5/29/21). We all suffer when politicians find advantage in inaccurate data. Admittedly the crisis in India is so deep that data is not the first concern. But there has to be a commitment to get the data right as soon as possible in order to learn what we can. More: https://apnews.com/article/health-india-coronavirus-1bda2318594d65be400074da41fa13c6 . Still more: https://www.dw.com/en/india-coronavirus-death-toll/a-57338733 . You may recall that in February India was suggesting that places like New Delhi were reaching herd immunity. That is quite obviously not true. The role of variants is yet to be determined.
More on the “triple mutant” variant: https://www.womenshealthmag.com/health/a36232744/what-is-triple-mutant-variant-coronavirus/. This article seems more like false reassurance than true analysis. Variants must be analyzed in the context of their performance against vaccines. India is a country with a low current level of vaccination. The issue for the US is the efficacy of our vaccinations against the new variants, and there is evidence that several vaccines perform poorly against several of the variants. Beyond that, we just don’t know yet. More: https://www.politico.eu/article/i-have-never-seen-so-many-patients-die-india-plunges-into-coronavirus-crisis/ .
Army called in to help COVID crisis in India: https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2021-04-27/india-posts-323-144-new-covid-19-cases . The drop in case numbers dropped slightly, due to a fall in testing.
WSJ: India blocks social media criticism of government’s social response: https://www.wsj.com/articles/india-accused-of-censorship-for-blocking-social-media-criticism-amid-covid-surge-11619435006 .
Tensions rise in Canada over border restrictions: https://www.bloombergquint.com/business/frustration-builds-on-world-s-longest-border-as-canada-goes-slow . We have an economic interest in increasing vaccination levels in Canada (and Mexico).
WSJ: EU to welcome vaccinated Americans this summer: https://www.wsj.com/articles/europe-aims-to-let-american-travelers-in-while-keeping-covid-19-at-bay-11619455299 .
WSJ: Olympics should require everyone be vaccinated: https://www.wsj.com/articles/tokyo-olympics-vaccines-pandemic-11619445969 .
Reapportionment data coming today: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/04/26/census-bureau-release-population-totals-congress-apportionment/7381180002/ . Here is the data: https://www.axios.com/census-apportionment-states-house-representatives-3ada2a93-346a-4b59-9e42-54bd500353d8.html . The key takeaway to me is that Democrats must focus on larger red states that are trending blue: North Carolina, Texas and Florida would be my picks, in that order. Also, Democrats must consolidate gains in Georgia, which they seem to be doing, and in Arizona and Nevada. And voting rights must be protected from the widespread GOP voter suppression efforts. WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/south-and-mountain-west-gain-political-power-from-population-growth-11619465263 .
The Proud Boys as FBI informants: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-proudboys-fbi-exclusive/exclusive-before-jan-6-fbi-collected-information-from-at-least-4-proud-boys-idUSKBN2CD1WL . The meaningfulness of this reporting depends entirely on the content of the information shared.
DOJ to investigate Louisville police practices: https://www.wsj.com/articles/justice-department-to-probe-louisville-police-after-breonna-taylor-killing-11619458969 . After the Minnesota investigation, DOJ is heading down the road of a pattern of practice inquiries. WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/justice-department-to-probe-louisville-police-after-breonna-taylor-killing-11619458969 .
The politics of plant-based beer: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/apr/26/trump-larry-kudlow-biden-plant-based-beer . The only way you say something this stupid is where your focus is searching for hate-based things to say. That is the Fox franchise. More food-based stupidity: https://www.thewrap.com/gop-red-meat-biden/ .
Rick Santorum disses himself, again: https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2021/04/26/rick-santorum-dismisses-native-american-culture-spurring-backlash/7384340002/ . Rick Santorum’s job at CNN is to be a punching bag. He is irreplaceably ignorant.