Click here to subscribe to the daily brief.

July 14, 2021 - Brief Issue 227

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

The Daily Brief will be on hiatus July 20.

Please consider making a donation to support our ongoing analysis of the most important news and headlines surrounding Covid-19.​

Top Headlines

Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca Consider Modifications to Covid-19 Vaccines (Health & Science)

U.S. Tells Pfizer It Wants More Data on Booster Shots (Health & Science)

Health Care Organizations Call for Mandating Health Worker Vaccination (Health & Science)

Unrest in South Africa Exacerbated by Pandemic (Around the World)

Fire at Iraqi Covid Ward (Around the World)

Pandemic Has Increased Worldwide Hunger (Around the World)

U.S. Treasury Secretary Warns Europe About Tight Spending Rules (U.S. Government & Politics)

Prices Up 5.4% in June 2021 vs. June 2020, Largest Increase Since 2008 (U.S. Economy)

Health & Science

There have been 33,916,927 coronavirus cases in the United States, and 607,786 people have died (Johns Hopkins). The United States has administered 334,942,236 vaccine doses, with 55.6% of all Americans having received their first vaccine dose and 48.1% fully vaccinated. Among adults aged 18 or older  67.7% have received at least one dose, and 58.9% are fully vaccinated (U.S. CDC). Worldwide, there have been 187,914,742 confirmed cases of coronavirus, with 4,051,915 deaths.

Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca Consider Modifications to Covid-19 Vaccines

Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford are working with outside scientists to research whether modifications of their Covid-19 vaccines could reduce or eliminate the risk of the rare but serious blood clots associated with the shot. A J&J spokesman said the company supports “continued research and analysis as we work with medical experts and global health authorities.” AstraZeneca has said it is “actively working with the regulators and scientific community to understand these extremely rare blood-clotting events, including information to drive early diagnosis and intervention, and appropriate treatment” (WSJ). The risk of clotting combined with low blood platelets results in a rare condition termed vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia, or VITT, after the AstraZeneca shot in 1 to 2 vaccinations per 100,000, according to U.K. and European data. U.S. government data shows a lower rate -- around 0.3 instances per 100,000 vaccinations -- for the J&J vaccine. The risk of blood clots is generally higher from contracting Covid-19. Modifications to the vaccines would entail serious scientific research along with changes to ownership rights and regulatory approvals. But the scale and seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic could be enough to push scientists and regulators to overcome some of these hurdles.

U.S. Tells Pfizer It Wants More Data on Booster Shots

U.S. government officials told Pfizer on Tuesday that more data and more time to assess the situation were needed before regulators could determine whether booster shots would be necessary (NYT). Pfizer representatives met with senior U.S. scientists and regulators on Monday to press for authorization of coronavirus booster shots amid growing concern about the current vaccines’ effectiveness against variants of the virus. Many American experts, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Biden’s chief medical advisor for the pandemic, have said publicly that there is insufficient evidence for the necessity of booster shots. “Both Pfizer and the U.S. government share a sense of urgency in staying ahead of the virus that causes Covid-19, and we also agree that the scientific data will dictate next steps in the rigorous regulatory process that we always follow,” said Pfizer spokesperson Sharon Castillo (Guardian). As we covered in yesterday’s brief, Israel has started administering third doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to immuno-compromised and other vulnerable populations. The differing strategies reflect the evolving views of scientists and health officials who are attempting to take real-world data into consideration in making public health decisions.

Health Care Organizations Call for Mandating Health Worker Vaccination

On Tuesday, a coalition of health care organizations called for medical facilities to mandate vaccination when it comes to health workers (WaPo). The coalition released a statement reading, “COVID-19 vaccination should be a condition of employment for all healthcare personnel.” The signatories of the call included the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, the Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine, the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the HIV Medicine Association (HIVMA), the Pediatric Infectious Disease Society, and the Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists.

Bonus Read: “Are Latent Viruses Causing Long Covid-19 Symptoms? Patient Groups Push for Testing,” (WSJ).

Around the World

Unrest in South Africa Exacerbated by Pandemic

Violence and unrest in parts of South Africa that were triggered by the arrest of former President Jacob Zuma for contempt of court went on for the third day on Tuesday (WSJ). Police and small deployments of soldiers were struggling to contain looting while many hospitals had trouble caring for the injured as they are also dealing with a record numbers of Covid-19 patients. Road blocks and general insecurity have also prevented medical staff from getting to work, according to officials. While the unrest was initially in response to the arrest of the former president, many people who are now participating in the looting and violence are doing so in protest against lockdown measures and the government’s handling of the pandemic. “People are tired and frustrated with the whole situation,” said Abram Lekganyane, who usually sells durags, sunglasses and masks at a stall at the Pan Africa Shopping Centre in the Johannesburg township of Alexandra. Mr. Lekganyane said he checked on his wares in a nearby storage facility and saw people leaving with everything from plasma televisions to sound systems and groceries. “The spark may have been Zuma. Now it’s a revolution against the lockdown, because nothing is being provided,” he said. South Africa’s economy has been experiencing its deepest recession on record over the past year.

Fire at Iraqi Covid Ward 

The death toll from a fire in a coronavirus ward at a hospital in the southern city of Nasiriyah reached 90 on Tuesday. The blaze decimated the hospital because no safety measures were in place, even though a similar fire three months ago in a hospital in Baghdad led government officials to put forward new precautions to avoid such fires (WaPo). Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi said early Tuesday that he was ordering an investigation into the cause of the fire but no government officials were at the scene on Tuesday as locals combed through the wreckage for human remains (NYT). While the cause of the fire is unknown, it highlights ongoing issues at many hospitals in Iraq that stem from corruption and mismanagement. The lack of fire extinguishers and other safety measures combined with the use of highly flammable building materials and the haphazard storage of oxygen cylinders all combined to contribute to the tragedy.

Pandemic Has Increased Worldwide Hunger 

In many parts of the world, an epidemic of hunger has followed in the footsteps of the coronavirus pandemic. Economic shutdowns and social restrictions put in place to stop the coronavirus have increased inequality in many places, widening the gap between rich and poor. New data released by the United Nations on Monday measures the disparity by comparing access to food (WaPo). Global hunger increased by an estimated 188 million people worldwide, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. The total number -- 768 million people -- is the highest it's been since 2006. Those living with food insecurity surged by 318 million to 2.38 billion people. The developing world faced the worst of it as many workers do not have formal work contracts and government assistance is lacking. Asia and Africa host the majority of people who are food insecure, but Latin America and the Caribbean, the regions hit hardest by the virus, saw the biggest one-year spike in food insecurity with a jump of nine percentage points to 40.9%. “The developed world had the advantage of being formal economies, where if you do a lockdown, people have access to unemployment insurance or social aid,” said Máximo Torero Cullen, chief economist of the U.N. food agency. “That did not happen in much of the developing world. You saw a middle class move into poverty and the poor move into severe food insecurity.”

U.S. Government & Politics

U.S. Treasury Secretary Warns Europe About Tight Spending Rules

On Tuesday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned the European Union of the risks of tight rules regarding spending that could hamper economic recovery following the pandemic (Politico). At a briefing, Yellen stated, “It’s important to think about whether or not [the rules] create the flexibility that countries in the EU need in order to be able to address cyclical developments.” The comment comes amid debate within the European Union with northern countries including Germany and the Netherlands finding such concerns less significant than southern countries.

U.S. Economy

Prices Up 5.4% in June 2021 vs. June 2020, Largest Increase Since 2008

On Tuesday the Bureau of Labor Statistics released data showing that prices in June were 5.4% higher than they were in the same month the previous year (WaPo, NYT). That increase is the largest such annual increase since 2008. The measure increased .9% from May, which had itself seen a .6% rise from the prior month. The increase has sparked concerns regarding the impact of inflation. However, the Federal Reserve continues to maintain that the price increases are largely due to temporary factors. The Washington Post notes, “Prices for used cars and trucks continued their sharp rise, increasing 10.5 percent compared to the previous month, and 45.2 percent compared to last June. That rise accounted for more than one third of the seasonally-adjusted price increases. The used car market, which relies heavily on trade-ins and auto parts, has been dogged by a global microchip shortage and a supply chain backlog that keep new cars from rolling onto the market.” Housing and rent prices were also a sector that saw high price increases.

JPMorgan Sees Profit Surge, Revenues Drop

JPMorgan Chase saw its profits surge even as its revenue fell in the second quarter (WSJ). The Wall Street Journal writes, “The nation’s biggest bank posted a profit of $11.95 billion, or $3.78 per share, compared with $4.69 billion or $1.38 per share a year ago. That beat the expectations of analysts, who had predicted $3.20 per share. Yet revenue fell 8% to $30.48 billion from $33.08 billion a year ago, the result of depressed lending margins and lower trading revenue. Analysts had expected $29.97 billion in revenue, according to FactSet.” The Journal attributes the divergence in part to the impact of the pandemic and the bank’s response to it, writing, “The divergence between profit and revenue is largely due to the extraordinary conditions of the second quarter of 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic appeared poised to decimate the economy. Then, JPMorgan set aside $10.47 billion to prepare for a wave of loan defaults. This quarter, the bank continued to free up pandemic loan-loss reserves, releasing another $3 billion and boosting its bottom line.”

Bonus Read: “Customers Are Back at Restaurants and Bars, but Workers Have Moved On,” (WSJ).

Analysis & Arguments

Katherine J. Wu writes on the importance of disentangling two distinct types of breakthrough infections (Atlantic).

Naomi Fry writes on the cultural aspects of ending masking (New Yorker).

Rachel Vogelsteiin and Meighan Stone argue that the pandemic hasn’t stopped the rise of the women’s movement even though it has unmasked structural barriers to gender equality (Foreign Policy).

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

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

Read previous briefs here and stream and subscribe to our weekly podcast here.

About New America

New America is dedicated to renewing the promise of America by continuing the quest to realize our nation's highest ideals. Read the rest of our story, or see what we've been doing recently in our latest Annual Report. 

Help us to continue advancing policy solutions and journalism by making a donation to New America.