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February 22, 2021 - Brief Issue 155

The Coronavirus Daily Brief is a daily news and analysis roundup edited by New America’s International Security Program and Arizona State University.

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Top Headlines

U.S. Coronavirus Hospitalizations Drop Below 60,000, the Lowest Since Early November 2020; U.S. Covid-19 Deaths Exceed 500,000 (Health & Science)

Pfizer and BioNtech Coronavirus Vaccine Trials for Pregnant Women Begin (Health & Science)

New Paper Finds Individuals with Severe Mental Health Disorders Are at High Risk for Covid-19, But Are Largely Left Out of EU Vaccination Strategy (Health & Science)

Mayo Clinic and Nference Preprint Study Finds That Moderna and Pfizer/Biontech COVID-19 Vaccines Are Effective at Preventing Severe COVID-19 in Real-World Application (Health & Science)

New Preprint Findings Highlight Coronavirus Variant B.1.1.7 May Cause Longer Infections Than Other Earlier Variants (Health & Science)

Public Shaming in Canada Could be Driving Covid Cases Underground (Around the World)

Virus Variants Threaten EU’s Open Borders (Around the World)

U.K. Speeds Up Vaccinations, Says All Adults Will Get First Shot by July 31; PM to Plot Path Out of Lockdown Today (Around the World)

India’s Serum Institute Prioritizing Domestic Needs; Resurgence of Covid in Maharashtra Brings New Restrictions (Around the World)

Seoul Doctors Threaten to Strike, Disrupt Vaccine Rollout (Around the World)

Tensions Emerge Between Biden Administration and Governors on Covid Response (U.S. Government & Politics)

Blue Collar Jobs Boom Amid Pandemic (U.S. Economy)

Economists Project Strong Growth After Pandemic Wanes (U.S. Economy)

American Life Expectancy Falls by One Year (U.S. Society)

Facebook’s Ban on Political Ads Catching Pro-Vaccine Ads (U.S. Society)

Health & Science

There have been 28,134,102 coronavirus cases in the United States, and 498,897 people have died (Johns Hopkins). The United States has conducted 340,620,767 tests and distributed 75,204,965 vaccine doses, with 63,090,634 doses administered (U.S. CDC). Worldwide, there have been 111,396,382 confirmed cases of coronavirus, with 2,466,958 deaths. At least 62,864,045 people have recovered from the virus.

U.S. Coronavirus Hospitalizations Drop Below 60,000, the Lowest Since Early November 2020; U.S. Covid-19 Deaths Exceed 500,000

On Friday, hospitalizations due to Covid-19 dropped below 60,000 for the first time since November, according to the Atlantic’s COVID Tracking Project (FT, CNN). Analysis by the Financial Times noted this new low number is a drop of “about 55 per cent from the country’s peak of 132,474 in early January.” Further, according to the COVID Tracking Project, the test positivity rate of the U.S. dropped to 4.8 percent as of Saturday, which is the lowest it has been since October 2020. January’s test positivity rate was as high as 13.6 percent after the holidays (CNN). On Friday, Brown University School of Public Health Dean Ashish Jha promoted the idea of pushing back the dates of providing second coronavirus doses in order to inoculate larger swaths of the population, though still advocating for a second dose. However, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci responded that single doses may not be sufficient to build up a sufficient immune response in the body, particularly against recent virus variants. California, Texas, and New York continue to struggle, and have the highest numbers of Covid-19-related hospitalizations. Further, New York (7,399), California (6,700), and Florida (5,884), each have some of the highest seven-day rolling averages of new coronavirus cases across the U.S. (FT).

On Sunday, the United States neared 500,000 Covid-19-related deaths, passing it according to a tally kept by NBC (NBC). While interviewed on CNN's State of the Union, Fauci said, "It's nothing like we've ever been through in the last 102 years since the 1918 influenza pandemic," adding, "People decades from now are going to be talking about this as a terribly historic milestone in the history of this country." This comes after President Joe Biden spoke at Pfizer’s manufacturing site in Kalamazoo Michigan on Friday, noting that deaths due to Covid-19 would soon reach 500,000. “In a few days, we’ll cross 500,000 Americans who will have died from COVID-19. Five hundred thousand. That is almost 70,000 more than all the Americans who died in World War Two, over a four-year period. All the sorrow, all the heartache, all the pain” (White House). Bonus Reads: “The US Isn’t Prepared for a New, More Infectious Variant to be Dominant by March – Even With Vaccinations Underway,” (Business Insider) and “Can COVID Vaccines Stop Transmission? Scientists Race to Find Answers,” (Nature).

Pfizer and BioNtech Coronavirus Vaccine Trials for Pregnant Women Begin

Coronavirus vaccine trials for pregnant women are about to commence. According to Bloomberg, Pfizer and BioNTech started a trial for 4,000 women who are towards the end of their pregnancies. This study is a Phase 2/3, randomized, placebo-controlled, observer-blind study, according to details of the trial (Clinicaltrials.gov). The women are all 18-years and older, and are between 24-34 weeks of their pregnancies. This study will be taking place in Europe, South America, Africa, and the United States. AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson also plan to begin trials for pregnant women in the future. This is the first time pregnant women will be studied during a clinical trial due to early concerns regarding safety.

These trials come after we reported last week that according to a study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, pregnancy is associated with a 70 percent higher rate of Covid-19 (CIDRAP). Further, the authors of the study wrote that pregnant people should be prioritized for Covid-19 vaccination. The U.S. National Institute of Health will begin a study on the use of remdesivir as a treatment for Covid-19 in pregnant women (NIH).

New Paper Finds Individuals with Severe Mental Health Disorders Are at High Risk for Covid-19, But Are Largely Left Out of EU Vaccination Strategy

Researchers from universities and mental health research institutions in Belgium, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Poland, France, and the Netherlands published a paper in The Lancet Psychiatry noting that the European Union has not focused enough attention on vaccinating those with severe mental illness, such as psychotic disorders, bipolar disorders, and severe major depressive disorders, though they are also “particularly at risk for severe Covid-19.” Only eight of 20 European countries “explicitly mentioned psychiatry or mental illness in their national vaccine strategy documents… Only four countries (Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, and the U.K.) had some form of higher vaccination priority for outpatients with severe mental illness.” According to a news release by the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology, syndicated in the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Dr. Livia De Picker of the University Psychiatric Hospital Campus Duffel, Belgium, and lead author of the Lancet paper said, “Recent work shows that if you have a psychiatric disorder your risk of COVID infection rises by 65%, and severely mentally ill patients are between 1.5 and 2 times more likely to die. Early vaccination is needed to protect them from severe or even fatal COVID infection; they need to be prioritised in the same way that at-risk patients with physical conditions are prioritized” (AAAS). Further, individuals with severe mental health disorders are more likely to have other preexisting conditions, such as diabetes or cardiovascular disease, making them more susceptible to severe Covid-19 (Lancet).

Mayo Clinic and Nference Preprint Study Finds That Moderna and Pfizer/Biontech COVID-19 Vaccines Are Effective at Preventing Severe COVID-19 in Real-World Application

A preprint study posted on medRxiv from Mayo Clinic and nference researchers found that Phase 3 clinical trials of both Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized Covid-19 vaccines have demonstrated efficacies of 94.1% and 95% in preventing symptomatic COVID-19, respectively.” The study included data from 62,138 people in Arizona, Florida, Minnesota, and Wisconsin between December 1, 2020 and February 8, 2021. Researchers focused on data of 31,069 individuals who received either vaccine, compared to the other 31,069 individuals who were not vaccinated and were “propensity-matched based on demographics, location (zip code), and number of prior SARS-CoV-2 PCR tests.” The second of two doses of the vaccine were given to 8,041 people 36 days after they received the first injection. The data found that two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine were “88.7% effective in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection… Furthermore, vaccinated patients who were subsequently diagnosed with COVID-19 had significantly lower 14-day hospital admission rates than propensity-matched unvaccinated COVID-19 paint’s.” The researchers believe that this study proves the effectiveness of both the Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines at preventing severe Covid-19 for those most at risk for contracting the virus. Bonus Read: “Long-Term Studies Of COVID-19 Vaccines Hurt By Placebo Recipients Getting Immunized,” (NPR).

New Preprint Findings Highlight Coronavirus Variant B.1.1.7 May Cause Longer Infections Than Other Earlier Variants

According to a new preprint study posted on Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard (DASH), early findings from research of 65 people infected with the coronavirus, including seven infected with the B.1.1.7 variant, state the “SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.7 may cause longer infections with similar peak viral concentrationer earlier strains of the virus. Individuals infected with B.1.1.7 had infections that lasted 13.3 days on compared to non-B.1.1.7 SARS-CoV-2, and this extended duration may contribute to B.1.1.7 SARS-CoV-2’s increased transmissibility.” Therefore, the B.1.1.7 variant “might be more transmissible because it spends more time inside its host than earlier variants do,” reports Nature. As noted in previous briefs, the B.1.1.7 coronavirus variant is about 50 percent more contagious than oth average, compared to 8.2 days for those with other strains of the virus. The researchers note that quarantine periods may need to be adjusted for those who have contracted the B.1.1.7 strain. Further, “Collection of longitudinal PCR and test positivity data in larger and more diverse cohorts is needed to clarify the viral trajectory of variant B.1.1.7. Similar analyses should be performed for other SARS-CoV-2 variants such as B.1.351 and P.1.” (DASH). This research was conducted by researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Yale School of Public Health, IQVIA, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Duke Center for Antimicrobial Stewardship and Infection Prevention, and Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center of Columbia University. Bonus Read: “To Get Ahead of Variants, Covid-19 Drug Makers Use Evolutionary Biology as a Guide,” (STAT).

New Studies Find That COVID-19 Is Causing PTSD and Other Severe Mental Health Concerns for Adults

In a research letter published in JAMA Psychiatry by researchers in Italy, nearly one-third (30.2 percent) of 381 patients in Rome who “had sought emergency care for COVID-19 and were given a psychiatric assessment 1 to 4 months after recovery” were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. Another 17.3 percent had depression, 7.0 percent had anxiety, 0.7 percent were hypomanic, and 0.2 percent were psychotic. Women accounted for more than half (55.7 percent) of the PTSD diagnoses. A little over 81 percent of patients studied were hospitalized with Covid-19 for 18.4 days, on average. All of the patients were white and the average age was 55.3 years old (CIDRAP).

Similar alarming findings were published as a letter in JAMA Network Open by researchers in Monash University in Melbourne, Australia and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). According to the researchers, “Demographic quota sampling and survey weighting were used to make the sample representative of the US population by age, sex, and race/ethnicity, and weighted values are presented.” In the letter, the authors discussed a survey conducted of U.S. adults between August 28 and September 6, 2020. This was a follow-up survey to one conducted in June 2020. The June survey found that 40.9 percent (2,238) of individuals reported “adverse mental or behavioral health symptoms.” A little over 98 percent of the 5,186 August/September surveys were analyzed: 1,710 (33 percent) respondents said they had symptoms of anxiety or depression, 1,536 (29.6 percent) had symptoms of coronavirus-derived trauma and stress, 781 (15.1 percent) reported an increase in substance use, 518 (11.9 percent) indicated that they had seriously considered suicide in August, and 2,237 (43.1 percent) had at least one of those symptoms, reports CIDRAP. Adults below 65-years-old showed higher “adverse mental or behavioral health symptoms” than those above 65-years-old (JAMA). According to the researchers, “evidence of sustained adverse mental health symptoms among more than 5000 community-dwelling US adults highlights the need to promote preventive behaviors, expand mental health care access, and integrate medical and behavioral health services to mitigate the mental health effects of COVID-19.”

FDA Issues Public Statement about “Limitations” of Pulse Oximeters

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a public statement on Friday about the “limitations” of pulse oximeters on Friday (FDA). The warning begins: “The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused an increase in the use of pulse oximeters, and a recent report (Sjoding et al.) suggests that the devices may be less accurate in people with dark skin pigmentation.” This comes after Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Ron Wyden (D-OR) requested that the FDA look into these devices after research was released by the New England Journal of Medicine that pulse oximeter readings are disproportionately providing incorrect oxygen levels of Black patients (NEJM, STAT, AHA). The research found that pulse “oximeters were nearly three times as likely to miss hypoxemia in Black patients compared with white patients” (STAT). However, the published study had its own limitations, reports the FDA. For example, “It relied on previously collected health record data from hospital inpatient stays and could not statistically correct for all potentially important confounding factors. However, the FDA agrees that these findings highlight a need to further evaluate and understand the association between skin pigmentation and oximeter accuracy” (FDA). In several previous briefs, we have noted the continued disproportionate impact of severe Covid-19 in Black and Latinx communities across the United States. 

Around the World

Americas

Public Shaming in Canada Could be Driving Covid Cases Underground 

In Canada, public shaming of people who test positive is becoming so prevalent that doctors and health officials worry that it is making the coronavirus harder to quash (NYT). The New York Times writes, “Complaint lines — or so-called ‘snitch lines’ — set up across Canada have been flooded with tips about people suspected of breaking quarantine rules, businesses flouting public health restrictions and outsiders, arriving with unfamiliar license plates, potentially bringing the disease with them.” Social media is being used to label people as potential vectors and being refused service at businesses or banned from family gatherings or even being reported to the police. But this is all in spite of a recent poll from British Columbia that showed around half of respondents flouted coronavirus public safety regulations, yet around 60% of respondents said they were doing a better job than others in following the rules (Vancouver Sun). According to Dr. Ryan Sommers, one of eight public health doctors in Nova Scotia who published a letter asking locals to stop shaming one another, the public shaming “is impacting our ability to contain the virus. We want to create a social norm, where people will be supportive and caring and compassionate” and explained that “social media can be more virulent than the virus itself.”

Europe

Virus Variants Threaten EU’s Open Borders

Across Europe, countries are rushing to limit travel and reintroduce border controls as new variants of the coronavirus spread, raising fears that the world’s largest area of free movement, known as the Schengen zone, will not survive the pandemic. Free movement is a fundamental pillar of the European Union but it’s been threatened throughout the pandemic as countries resort to an “our borders, our business” mindset (NYT). The new variants of the virus have caused both Germany and Belgium to introduce new border restrictions this month, adding to steps already taken by other countries across the continent. “Last spring we had 17 different member states that had introduced border measures and the lessons we learned at the time is that it did not stop the virus but it disrupted incredibly the single market and caused enormous problems,” the commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, told the news media this week. “The virus taught us that closing borders does not stop it.” But German officials disagree. “We are fighting the mutated virus on the border with the Czech Republic and Austria,” the German interior minister, Horst Seehofer, told the tabloid newspaper Bild. He believes the commission “should support us and not put spokespeople in our wheels with cheap advice.” European lawmakers worry that the Schengen zone will be forever altered by the pandemic, with free movement replaced with harsh surveillance, health passports, and a confusing patchwork of national rules that make crossing borders confusing.  

U.K. Speeds Up Vaccinations, Says All Adults Will Get First Shot by July 31; PM to Plot Path Out of Lockdown Today

On Sunday the British government said that every adult in the country can expect to get the first dose of coronavirus vaccine by July 31, a month earlier than its previous target (AP). Everyone over the age of 50 and everyone with an underlying health condition will get the first of two vaccine shots by April 15, which is also a few weeks earlier than the previously stated goal date. Following supply problems by pharmaceutical companies AstraZeneca and Pfizer, both of which are supplying vaccines to the U.K., Health Secretary Matt Hancock said that “we now think we have the supplies” to speed up the vaccination campaign. Britain is delaying giving people a second vaccine dose until 12 weeks after the first rather than the three to four week recommended window. The approach has been criticized by some health officials and Pfizer, which says it does not have the data to support the longer interval, but the U.K.’s scientific advisors have approved the delay; they reason that it is better to have more people with at least some protection. 

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is planning to announce a “road map” out of the current national lockdown today in Parliament, but has stressed in the past that economic and social reopenings will be slow and cautious (Reuters, Guardian). “Our decisions will be made on the latest data at every step, and we will be cautious about this approach so that we do not undo the progress we have achieved so far,” he will say, according to his office. Lawmakers will vote on Johnson’s plan in Parliament. Nadhim Zahawi, the minister in charge of the vaccine rollout, said English schools would reopen on March 8. Since Jan. 5 they have been open only to vulnerable pupils and to key workers’ children. Still, the news that vaccines will be administered more quickly than previously thought is welcome news to the country that has had more than 120,000 deaths, the highest toll in Europe. 

Asia

India’s Serum Institute Prioritizing Domestic Needs; Resurgence of Covid in Maharashtra Brings New Restrictions

The Serum Institute of India (SII) asked for patience from foreign governments on Sunday and explained that it had been directed to prioritize India’s domestic vaccine requirements before supplying others with Covid-19 shots (Reuters). "...I humbly request you to please be patient," SII's Chief Executive Adar Poonawalla said in a tweet here, adding the company "has been directed to prioritise the huge needs of India and along with that balance the needs of the rest of the world." SII is the world’s largest vaccine maker by volume and is manufacturing the Oxford/ AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, one of the two shots that India is using to initially vaccinate some 300 million people as part of its national inoculation campaign. Many low- and middle-income countries, like Bangladesh and Brazil, are waiting for SII’s AstraZeneca vaccine but there is also growing demand from Western countries like Canada (NYT). The U.K. is currently auditing SII’s manufacturing processes, which could also pave the way for its vaccine to be shipped there. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has come under criticism for the slow rollout of the vaccination drive, but authorities are expanding the number of inoculations in the coming weeks. 

The vaccinations can’t happen soon enough as some areas of the country are experiencing a resurgence of the virus. India’s richest state and home to financial capital Mumbai, Maharashtra, ordered new restrictions on people’s movement and imposed curfews in some cities amid signs of a second wave of the coronavirus is building (Reuters). Maharashtra alone reported nearly 7,000 new cases on Sunday, up from just 2,000 cases earlier this month. India has had more than 10.9 million Covid-19 infections, the second highest in the world behind the United States, and has vaccinated around 11 million people since mid-January.

Seoul Doctors Threaten to Strike, Disrupt Vaccine Rollout

Doctors in South Korea have threatened a protest strike against legislation that would strip them of licenses following criminal convictions, threatening to disrupt coronavirus vaccination efforts scheduled to begin this week. Over the weekend, the Korean Medical Association (KMA) said it would strike if parliament passed a bill to revoke the licenses of doctors getting jail terms (Reuters). “The bill might result in ordinary, innocent doctors being stripped of their licences and falling into hell because of an accident that has nothing to do with their job, or lack of legal knowledge,” spokesman Kim Dae-ha said in a statement on Monday. Association president Choi Dae-zip has said the bill’s passage into law would “destroy” current cooperation with the government to treat the virus and carry out the vaccine campaign. Healthcare workers are set to receive the first batch of AstraZeneca’s vaccine starting on Friday with the government looking to inoculation 10 million high-risk people by July.

U.S. Government & Politics

Bonus Read: “Democrats Shift Congress Into Top Speed on Covid Aid, But it May Still Be Too Slow for Many,” (Politico).

Tensions Emerge Between Biden Administration and Governors on Covid Response

Tensions are emerging between the Biden administration and some governors over the administration’s proposed Covid response plans (Politico). Politico reports, “The White House is locked in a delicate dance with governors over reopening schools, distributing Covid shots and enforcing mask mandates, with Biden’s team wary of alienating key state leaders even as it takes stock of the lurching response to the crisis. Governors, in turn, are starting to push back on the first federal efforts to pressure them.” A White House spokesperson stated, “Our strong partnership with states over the last several weeks is helping us vaccinate more people.” 

Biden Tells Governors Minimum Wage Hike Unlikely

Two Fridays ago, President Biden told a gathering of mayors and governors that his proposed minimum wage hike to $15 was unlikely to happen, Politico reported on Thursday (Politico). Biden told the a gathering of governors, “I really want this in there but it just doesn't look like we can do it because of reconciliation.” He added, “I’m not going to give up. But right now, we have to prepare for this not making it.” Biden’s comments have drawn criticism from Democrats who argue that given its majority, the party could interpret Congressional rules to allow passage of the hike through the reconciliation process. Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) commented, “Given the makeup of the Senate, this is our best opportunity and the right moment in the midst of this pandemic, to give millions of workers a long overdue raise.” The proposed wage hike was part of the administration’s proposed Covid relief efforts but almost certainly lacks the votes to break a filibuster, and it is not clear if current rules regarding what can be passed under reconciliation would allow it to be passed through that process which would avoid a filibuster.

U.S. Economy

Blue Collar Jobs Boom Amid Pandemic

Despite the pandemic, the job market for blue collar jobs is strong in the United States, according to a Wall Street Journal report on Sunday (WSJ). The Journal writes, “Nationally, employment in residential construction, package delivery and warehousing now exceeds pre-pandemic levels. Manufacturers have steadily added back jobs after slashing payrolls last spring, though employment remains down about 5% from February 2020, according to Labor Department data. Job openings in many blue-collar occupations broke above pre-virus levels last summer and remain significantly elevated, figures from the online job site Indeed show.” The booming job market has been driven in large part by e-commerce and housing. David Berson, chief economist at Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. told the Journal, “The demand for the workers is not going to go down.” The increases have also been supported by the Federal Reserve’s maintenance of near zero interest rates.

Economists Project Strong Growth After Pandemic Wanes

Many economists are projecting that the U.S. economy will see a period of strong growth as the pandemic wanes (NYT). The New York Times reports, “Forecasters have always expected the pandemic to be followed by a period of strong growth as businesses reopen and Americans resume their normal activities. But in recent weeks, economists have begun to talk of something stronger: a supercharged rebound that brings down unemployment, drives up wages and may foster years of stronger growth.” Hints of a possible boom include declining unemployment claims in January and signs of increased investment. The Times writes, “Economists surveyed by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia this month predicted that U.S. output will increase 4.5 percent this year, which would make it the best year since 1999. Some expect an even stronger bounce: Economists at Goldman Sachs forecast that the economy will grow 6.8 percent this year and that the unemployment rate will drop to 4.1 percent by December, a level that took eight years to achieve after the last recession.” Goldman Chief Economist Jan Hatzius told the Times, “We’re extremely likely to get a very high growth rate.” The growing confidence also comes amid dropping Covid case numbers and the increasing rollout of vaccines.

Bonus Read: “Restaurants and Startups Try to Outrun Uber Eats and DoorDash,” (WSJ).

U.S. Society

American Life Expectancy Falls by One Year

Americans’ life expectancy fell by one year in the first half of 2020, although it may rebound as the pandemic wanes (NYT). On Thursday, the United States reported the decline, which the New York Times describes as “the largest drop since World War II and a grim measure of the deadly consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.” The Times writes, “Life expectancy is the most basic measure of the health of a population, and the stark decline over such a short period is highly unusual and a signal of deep distress. The drop comes after a troubling series of smaller declines driven largely by a surge in drug overdose deaths. A fragile recovery over the past two years has now been wiped out.” Life expectancy dropped to 77.8 years from 78.8 years. The drop also revealed racial disparities. The Times reports, “Life expectancy of the Black population declined by 2.7 years in the first half of 2020, slicing away 20 years of gains. The life expectancy gap between Black and white Americans, which had been narrowing, is now at six years, the widest it has been since 1998.” Elizabeth Arias, the federal researcher behind the report, told the Times, “I knew it was going to be large but when I saw those numbers, I was like, ‘Oh my God.’” However, given the impact of the pandemic, expectancy may rebound as the pandemic wanes. Dr. Arias noted that while expectancy fell by 11.8 years from 1917 to 1918 amid the Spanish Flu, it entirely rebounded in 1919. However, experts warn that the decline comes amid a slower and seemingly more permanent set of declines tied to opioid use and inequality.

Facebook’s Ban on Political Ads Catching Pro-Vaccine Ads

Facebook’s ban on political ads, imposed in an effort to prevent the spread of misinformation, has at times resulted in the blocking of public health messages in support of vaccination, Politico reported on Sunday (Politico). Politico writes, “Paid-for messages from at least 110 groups aimed at raising awareness of how the vaccines work or where to get inoculated were flagged and sent to Facebook’s register of political messages, a POLITICO review of barred ads dating from last September shows.” Politico notes that while groups have the right to appeal, the delays involved have “led some public health experts to question if Facebook can be a viable forum for information on the pandemic as it faces pressure to combat anti-vaccination forces that have been prevalent on its platform.” Politico reports, “Facebook acknowledged that it’s misidentified some ads and said it was restoring two — from the Centers for Disease Control and the Forsyth County, N.C. department of public health — to the ad rotation.” Facebook released a statement reading, “While we have temporarily paused ads about social issues, elections or politics, we continue to allow ads about Covid-19 that promote vaccine efficacy, and have made our guidance to advertisers on how to run them publicly available.”

Analysis & Arguments

Vladimir Kogan and Vinay Prasad argue that the new CDC school opening guidelines may not have been crafted with real-world evidence of the experience of schools that opened earlier (STAT).

New America 2018 Eric & Wendy Schmidt Fellow Katie Engelhardt writes on how the pandemic is impacting Americans living with dementia (NYT).

The Washington Post provides an interactive look at what it has meant for America to suffer a daily mass casualty event in the form of the pandemic (WaPo).

 Readers can send in tips, critiques, questions, and suggestions to coronavirusbrief@newamerica.org.

The Brief is edited by David Sterman and Emily Schneider with Jessica Scott and Senior Editor Peter Bergen.

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