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October 7, 2021 - Brief Issue 248

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

The brief will be on hiatus October 11 and 12 to mark Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

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Top Headlines

U.S. At-Home Test Availability to Increase Next Month, Says White House (Health & Science)

Cases Decline in the U.S. but Hospitals Still Struggle (Health & Science)

Sweden, Denmark Pause Moderna Shots for Younger Age Groups Due to Risk of Rare Side Effect; Some Countries Decide to Vaccinate Children with Single Dose (Health & Science)

U.N. Agency Will Pay Afghan Healthcare Workers (Around the World)

Russia’s Daily Death Toll Surpasses 900 Deaths (Around the World)

Canada Mandates Vaccine for Federal Workers, Transportation (Around the World)

Study by Pfizer Will Vaccinate Entire Brazilian Town (Around the World)

Health Experts Urged Biden to Scale Back Booster Shot Push (U.S. Government & Politics)

Idaho Lieutenant Governor Makes Power Play on Covid, National Guard with Governor Out of State, Governor Says No (U.S. Government & Politics)

Jobless Claims Remain Near Pandemic Lows in September (U.S. Economy)

Moderna Founders Make Forbes List (U.S. Economy)

Amid Pandemic, Some Brooklyn Residents Go on Rent Strike (U.S. Society)

Health & Science

There have been 44,060,356 coronavirus cases in the United States, and 707,797 people have died (Johns Hopkins). The United States has administered 398,675,414 vaccine doses, with 65.1% of all Americans having received at least one vaccine dose and 56.1% fully vaccinated. Among adults aged 18 or older 77.9% have received at least one dose, and 67.5% are fully vaccinated (U.S. CDC). 3.4% of Americans have received a booster shot. Worldwide, there have been 236,600,132 confirmed cases of coronavirus, with 4,830,213 deaths.

U.S. At-Home Test Availability to Increase Next Month, Says White House

On Wednesday, the Biden administration said that the nation’s supply of at-home Covid-19 tests should triple by early November thanks to recent government investments and the FDA’s emergency authorization of another at-home test developed by ACON Laboratories (Politico). “There will not just be more tests on the market, but we expect much more affordable tests on the market,” a White House official told Politico. By December, 200 million rapid tests will be available to Americans each month. Jeffrey D. Zients, the White House’s Covid-19 coordinator, said at a news conference that the administration would also double the number of sites in the federal government’s free testing program, bringing the total up to 20,000 (NYT).

Cases Decline in the U.S. but Hospitals Still Struggle

The number of new cases, hospitalizations, and deaths from Covid-19 have been trending downwards in many parts of the United States. While data from the CDC released last week showed that hospitalizations declined by more than 1,400 a day on average, health experts say it's unclear whether the decline is temporary or if the numbers will continue to decrease (CNN). In some parts of the U.S., hospitals are struggling to cope with the number of patients infected with Covid-19. Texas, Idaho, Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Arkansas and North Carolina have 15% or less of their ICU capacity available to patients, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has repeatedly said the vast majority of the population will need to be vaccinated to control the spread of the virus. Right now, data from the CDC shows only 56.1% of the population is fully vaccinated. 

Sweden, Denmark Pause Moderna Shots for Younger Age Groups Due to Risk of Rare Side Effect; Some Countries Decide to Vaccinate Children with Single Dose

Both Sweden and Denmark said on Wednesday that they are pausing the use of Moderna’s Covid-18 vaccine for younger age groups following reports of possible rare cardiovascular side effects (Reuters). The Swedish health authority said people born in 1991 and later would no longer be given the Moderna vaccine due to side effects related to myocarditis and pericarditis among youths. "The connection is especially clear when it comes to Moderna's vaccine Spikevax, especially after the second dose," the Swedish health agency said, adding the risk of being affected was very small. Denmark said that it was pausing use of the Moderna vaccine in people below 18 as a “precautionary principle.” "In the preliminary data ... there is a suspicion of an increased risk of heart inflammation, when vaccinated with Moderna," the Danish Health Authority said in a statement. The authority used data from a yet unpublished Nordic study to inform its decision; that study will now be sent to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for further assessment. 

While the U.S. decides on how to proceed with vaccinating children, other countries have moved forward with somewhat of a compromise: they’re giving children a single dose of the vaccine. Officials in Britain, Hong Kong, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and other countries have recommended that children ages 12 and older be vaccinated with a single dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. The strategy would provide partial protection from the virus but avoid potential side effects occasionally observed following the second dose.

Around the World

U.N. Agency Will Pay Afghan Healthcare Workers

The U.N. Development Program plans to take over management from the World Bank of the system that has used aid dollars to fund essential health services throughout Afghanistan in order to prevent a humanitarian crisis (WaPo). Foreign funding was cut off abruptly when the Taliban took over following the U.S. withdrawal from the country, meaning the salaries of at least 25,000 doctors, nurses, and other workers in hospitals and clinics haven’t been paid since Aug. 15, the day the Taliban entered Kabul. 

The stopgap measure was made possible when the Biden administration last week issued special licenses allowing “certain international organizations” to engage in “authorized transactions” in Afghanistan, according to the Washington Post. 

But the cash for emergency supplies is only a Band-Aid, Kanni Wignaraja, the UNDP’s Asia-Pacific director said. Only about 17% of about 2,200 health facilities funded under the World Bank program “are currently fully functional” and able to use whatever humanitarian supplies may arrive, she said. No personnel have been paid, and those still working are doing so on a voluntary basis, Wignaraja said. “There is a risk that the Afghan people will have virtually no access to primary health services,” she said. The lack of healthcare is especially problematic now, during a pandemic.

Russia’s Daily Death Toll Surpasses 900 Deaths 

For the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, Russia’s death toll surpassed 900 deaths in one day on Wednesday (Boston Globe). The 929 deaths reported by Russia’s state coronavirus task force is the fourth time this month that the death toll reached record highs. The previous record, of 895 deaths, was registered on Tuesday. The government has been reluctant to impose restrictions that became common in other parts of the country and the country has a low vaccination rate. As of Tuesday, almost 33% of Russia’s 146 million people had received at least one shot of a coronavirus vaccine, and 29% were fully vaccinated.

Canada Mandates Vaccine for Federal Workers, Transportation

On Wednesday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that federal employees who remain unvaccinated will be placed on unpaid leave and air, train and ship passengers will be required to be vaccinated. The plan is one of the world’s strictest vaccine mandate policies (Reuters). "These travel measures, along with mandatory vaccination for federal employees, are some of the strongest in the world," Trudeau told reporters. "If you've done the right thing and gotten vaccinated, you deserve the freedom to be safe from COVID." According to Reuters, “Federal employees will be required to declare their full vaccination status through an online portal by Oct. 29. Workers and passengers age 12 and older on trains, planes and marine transport operating domestically - which are federally regulated - must show they have been inoculated by Oct. 30.”

Study by Pfizer Will Vaccinate Entire Brazilian Town

In a study to better understand the effectiveness of its vaccine against covid-19, Pfizer will inoculate the entire population of a town in southern Brazil over the age of 12 (Reuters). The company said on Wednesday that it would conduct the study in Toledo, population 143,000, in the west of Parana state so it could understand coronavirus in a "real-life scenario" after the population has been vaccinated. "The initiative is the first and only of its kind to be undertaken in collaboration with the pharmaceutical company in a developing country," Pfizer said. Toledo, for its part, has little vaccination hesitancy, with 98% of its population having had a first dose. "Here we believe in science and we lament the almost 600,000 deaths from COVID-19 in Brazil," Toledo Mayor Beto Lunitti said at a news conference announcing the Pfizer study.

U.S. Government & Politics

Health Experts Urged Biden to Scale Back Booster Shot Push

Politico reports that last week a group of health experts, including some who advised President Biden during the transition urged him to scale back his administration’s push for Americans to get booster shots (Politico). On the private, off the record September 27 call the group of experts argued that current vaccination performance does not justify widespread use of booster shots. They argued for more limited use in severe cases of hospitalization. Politico writes that the administration’s approach to boosters has put it at odds with many healthy experts, weakening previously strong ties. Irwin Redlener, director of the Pandemic Resource and Response Initiative at Columbia University, told Politico, “It undermines credibility not just for [federal health] agencies but for the administration overall.” According to Politico, the call with the experts included the following officials, “Biden’s chief medical adviser, Anthony Fauci; White House policy adviser Cameron Webb; and the heads of the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”

Idaho Lieutenant Governor Makes Power Play on Covid, National Guard with Governor Out of State, Governor Says No

On Tuesday, Idaho’s Republican Lieutenant Governor Janice McGeachin issued an executive order banning employer vaccine mandates and tried to activate the National Guard to send them to the border while the state’s governor was out of state (Politico, WaPo). Idaho Governor Brad Little, also a Republican, bristled at the McGeachin’s powerplay made while he was at a meeting of Republican governors on border security in Texas, saying he would rescind the executive order, and stating, “I am in Texas performing my duties as the duly elected Governor of Idaho, and I have not authorized the Lt. Governor to act on my behalf.” The commanding general of Idaho’s National Guard likewise told McGeachin she could not activate the guard. McGeachin’s power play comes as she runs for the governorship. The Washington Post reports that it is not the first time McGeachin has made a power play on Covid policy while Little was out of state, writing, “This is the second time the state’s top two officials have battled after Little left the state and McGeachin seized the opportunity to issue an executive order in his absence. While Little attended a Republican governors’ conference in Nashville in May, McGeachin banned local governments from issuing mask mandates. Little, saying he wanted those local governments to have control over their communities, rescinded her order when he returned the next day.” It also follows a longer clash, in which McGeachin has criticized the governor’s Covid response. The Post writes, “When the pandemic hit, they almost immediately clashed over how to handle it. After Little ordered bars to shut down until mid-June 2020, McGeachin defied him by opening her family’s tavern in Idaho Falls weeks before she was supposed to. In October 2020, McGeachin was in a conservative think tank’s video — a gun in one hand, a Bible in the other — and seemed to question the existence of the pandemic. In March, she went to a protest at the state Capitol in Boise where people burned masks.” Idaho’s constitution has the Lieutenant Governor assume authority when the governor is out of the state. It also makes it so the two positions do not run on a joint ticket.

Bonus Read: “How Trump’s health department fell in love with charter jets,” (WaPo).

U.S. Economy

Jobless Claims Remain Near Pandemic Lows in September

The number of jobless claims remained near pandemic lows in September, according to data released last Thursday by the Department of Labor (WSJ). The Wall Street Journal writes, “the four-week moving average, which smooths out volatility in the weekly figures, was 340,000, just above the lowest level since the Covid-19 crisis began last year.” The Journal does note, however, that “Initial unemployment claims, a proxy for layoffs, have edged higher the past three weeks largely due to temporary factors. An accounting issue in California has effectively double counted those shifting from recently ended federal pandemic benefits to other programs. Parts shortages in Michigan are causing short-term auto industry layoffs.” In addition, continuing claims have been falling. The Journal writes, “Overall continuing claims fell to 5 million the week ended Sept. 11 from 11.3 million the prior week.”

Moderna Founders Make Forbes List

Key figures tied to Moderna, the manufacturer of one of the coronavirus vaccines, made Forbes’ list of the 400 richest people (WaPo). The Washington Post writes, “Moderna’s chairman, Noubar Afeyan, one of the U.S. biotech company’s founders; along with board member Robert Langer, also a co-founder; and early investor Timothy Springer each made their debut in this year’s tally produced by business magazine Forbes.” Despite the pandemic, the people on the list are collectively 40% richer than the prior year’s list members. The list also had its highest number of new members since 2007, in part fueled by the entry of billionaires in the finance, tech, and health care sectors. 

Bonus Read: “Wine Deal Making Surges as Investors Look Past Covid-19 Woes,” (WSJ).

U.S. Society

Amid Pandemic, Some Brooklyn Residents Go on Rent Strike

The New York Times reports on how amid the pandemic, residents of a Brooklyn building have gone on rent strike (NYT). About a dozen residents of the 1616 President Street building have refused to pay rent to their landlord. Among them is Patricia Edwards, who has dealt with a rooftop leak into her top-floor apartment that comes through a “crack in the bathroom ceiling so big that Ms. Edwards needs an umbrella just to use the toilet.” Ms. Edwards says she never missed a payment before, but struggling financially during the pandemic, she decided to stop paying. Another striking resident stated, “Before the pandemic, I don’t think I would do this.” The striking renters “are withholding rent until the landlord forgives the debt owed by residents affected by the pandemic and makes repairs to a building they say has been neglected for too long.”

The building’s strike is a microcosm of the larger patterns during the pandemic, which encouraged many residents across New York City to demand more from their landlords. The Times notes that the President Street building may be “an extreme example” in which the landlord faces criticism from city officials as well as a city lawsuit. In addition to mobilizing residents to protest, the pandemic has also empowered the residents, who have been able to use New York state’s pandemic rent relief law to leverage their position, demanding that the landlord make repairs in exchange for them applying for relief. The Times writes, “The landlord argues that the property has been properly maintained and that in some cases tenants themselves have blocked access to their apartments and prevented repairs from being made.”

Analysis & Arguments

Simon Copland argues that smugness over Covid policy benefits the far-right (Atlantic).

Katrina vanden Heuvel writes that closing Rikers Island is a matter of life and death, citing the Covid death of Isaabdul Karim, who died of Covid while in jail accused of a non-violent parole violation (Nation).

Intercept Reporters Sharon Lerner and Mara Hvistendahl, a 2017 New America fellow, discuss their reporting on the search for Covid’s origins (Intercept).

 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.

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