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March 3, 2022 - Brief Issue 294
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
CDC Data: Vaccine Protection Wanes in Young Adults; Vaccine Protection Weaker Against Omicron (Health & Science)
U.S. NIH Orders Comprehensive Review (Health & Science)
Coronavirus Invades Cells in the Penis, Testicles of Monkeys (Health & Science)
Violence in New Zealand as Police End Protest Against Vaccine Mandates (Around the World)
Hong Kong’s Transit, Supermarkets Cut Services Due to Covid (Around the World)
China Considers Relaxing its Zero Covid Policy (Around the World)
Eurozone Inflation at New High (Around the World)
White House Releases New Covid Strategy (U.S. Government & Politics)
D.C. Drops Outdoor School Mask Mandate; Retains Indoor Mandate (U.S. Government & Politics)
A Maskless State of the Union (U.S. Government & Politics)
D.C. and Virginia Receive Millions in Federal Grants Aimed at Equity Regarding Unemployment (U.S. Government & Politics)
Nevada Governor Accosted and Threatened by Man Citing “Authoritarian” Public Health Policies (U.S. Government & Politics)
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to Propose Quarter Point Rate Increase (U.S. Economy)
Lack of Childcare Workers Affecting the Labor Market (U.S. Society)
Networking Events Boom as Covid Cases Fall (U.S. Society)
National Cherry Blossom Festival to be Held In-Person This Year (U.S. Society)
Health & Science
There have been 79,143,885 coronavirus cases in the United States, and 954,519 people have died (Johns Hopkins). The United States has administered 553,778,476 vaccine doses, with 76.4% of all Americans having received at least one vaccine dose and 65% fully vaccinated. Among adults aged 18 or older 87.9% have received at least one dose, and 75% are fully vaccinated (U.S. CDC). 43.8% of fully vaccinated Americans have received a booster shot. Worldwide, there have been 441,100,275 cases of coronavirus, with 5,976,834 deaths.
CDC Data: Vaccine Protection Wanes in Young Adults; Vaccine Protection Weaker Against Omicron
New data published Tuesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that five months after immunization, two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine offered no defense against moderate illness by the Omicron variant in 12 to 17 year olds (NYT). Booster shots increased protection, however. The data was collected by measuring visits to emergency departments and urgent care clinics among 12 to 17 year olds. But researchers did not exclude unvaccinated adolescents who had immunity from a prior infection and researchers offered only limited data on hospitalizations. “One limitation of this data is that parents may bring their children to an urgent care or emergency department for a variety of reasons, and vaccine effectiveness by immunocompromised status, underlying health status, or vaccine product have not yet been examined,” the CDC said in a statement. Still, the findings suggest that the vaccine’s performance in children and adolescents over time needs to be closely monitored.
The data from the CDC also showed that protection from vaccines against the Omicron variant was not as strong as against other variants. As a result, there were higher rates of infection, hospitalization, and death for fully vaccinated adults and even those who had received boosters. Even though vaccines still provided significant protection against death, the data adheres to a pattern of the vaccines' reduced effectiveness over time. The Washington Post notes, “At the end of December, unvaccinated people were 10 times as likely to die as the vaccinated who had received the initial series of two Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna shots, or a single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. That difference was about one-third smaller than it had been before omicron.”
U.S. NIH Orders Comprehensive Review
The U.S. National Institutes of Health ordered a sweeping review of government policies for experiments involving dangerous viruses and other pathogens. The agency said the decision is unrelated to the debate over the coronavirus pandemic’s origin. There was a theory circulating that the novel coronavirus was developed in a lab in Wuhan and somehow transmitted outside of the lab, but that theory has been “generally rejected” by the scientific community, and recent studies have provided further evidence that the origin was Wuhan’s animal market, as we covered in a prior brief. “This is an appropriate time for us to undertake and ensure that our policies are allowing potential benefits of research while managing potential risks,” Lyric Jorgenson, acting associate director for science policy at NIH, said Tuesday (WaPo). “This is around definitions of what should be in and what should be out.” The review will be conducted by the National science Advisory Board for Biosecurity and the NIH hopes to have recommendations in hand by the end of this year.
Coronavirus Invades Cells in the Penis, Testicles of Monkeys
A new study that was published online on Monday found that the coronavirus infected the prostate, penis, testicles, and surrounding blood vessels in three male rhesus macaques. The findings could be an important clue in understanding why symptoms like erectile dysfunction are reported by some Covid patients. In fact, about 10-20% of men infected with the coronavirus have symptoms linked to male genital tract dysfunction and are three to six times more likely to develop erectile dysfunction. Scientists and doctors believe it is an indicator of long covid.
"The signal that jumped out at us was the complete spread through the male genital tract,” said Thomas Hope, the paper’s senior author and a professor of cell and developmental biology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. “We had no idea we would find it there” (NYT). The monkeys were from the Tulane National Primate Research Center in Louisiana. The study has not yet been peer-reviewed.
Around the World
Violence in New Zealand as Police End Protest Against Vaccine Mandates
Protesters in the center of New Zealand’s capital have occupied the area in front of Parliament and have threatened politicians and other public figures over the country’s vaccine mandates (NYT). The protest was inspired by the “Freedom Convoy” in Canada, where truck drivers protested a vaccine mandate for those crossing the border. But on Wednesday, the police began dismantling tents and removing toiles, kitchen equipment and other make-shift infrastructure around 6 a.m. Protesters fought back with fire extinguishers, projectiles, and plywood shields. Police officers used pepper spray and rubber bullets and arrested 60 people; three officers were taken to hospitals (Reuters). New Zealand has taken a highly restrictive approach to the pandemic that allowed the country to avoid community transmission for months.
Hong Kong’s Transit, Supermarkets Cut Services Due to Covid
Subway, bus, and ferry companies as well as the biggest supermarket chain in Hong Kong are cutting services due to a severe Covid-19 outbreak. Authorities reported 56,827 new infections and 144 deaths on Thursday, an exponential rise from around 100 daily cases in early February (Reuters). Officials are still clinging to a “dynamic zero” Covid-19 policy that seeks to eradicate all outbreaks, compared to most nations’ approach of living with the virus. Many restaurants and shops are also closed and many global business executives have fled the city, which is a global financial hub. On Wednesday, a prominent businessman and government advisor, Allan Zeman, said the government’s confusing and mixed messages over their coronavirus strategy has spread alarm. "Many people have lost faith" with the city's draconian Covid-19 policies which have created "hardship for many many people", the Canadian-born property developer and longtime resident told Reuters. "Right now, there is a lot of uncertainty. The government needs to speak with one voice," Zeman said. "Citizens are very confused, different government officials have come out with different messages and so there is panic."
China Considers Relaxing its Zero Covid Policy
China has the world’s strictest pandemic-control regime but officials are beginning to explore ways of loosening restrictions. Chinese officials are considering what moving forward will look like. One strategy they’re considering is creating travel bubbles modeled on measures taken during the Winter Olympics; officials in transportation departments have been tasked with assessing potential policies to present to top leadership (WSJ). Another avenue is collecting data on new antiviral drugs that could help treat Covid-19. The government is also scouting out sites abroad for production of the homegrown Chinese mRNA vaccines. “In the near future, at an appropriate time, there will be a Chinese-style roadmap for living with the virus,” Zeng Guang, China’s former chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Center for Disease Prevention and Control, wrote on China’s Twitter-like Weibo on Monday.
Eurozone Inflation at New High
The eurozone’s inflation rate rose to a new high in February. The news comes as the Russian invasion of Ukraine spurs further concern about its potential impact on inflation. Now, the European Central Bank faces a “difficult choice between supporting flagging growth and clamping down on accelerating prices,” writes the Wall Street Journal. Russia is a key source of energy for Europe and accounts for around 40% of the European Union’s imports of natural gas and around 25% of the bloc’s oil imports. On Wednesday, the EU’s statistics agency said consumer prices were 5.8% higher in February compared to a year ago and up from the 5.1% rate recorded in January. It’s the fourth straight month in which inflation hit a record high.
U.S. Government & Politics
White House Releases New Covid Strategy
On Wednesday, the White House released a new national coronavirus strategy (NYT, WSJ, Politico). The New York Times describes the strategy as “aimed at ushering the United States into what some are calling a ‘new normal’ with four main goals: protecting against and treating Covid-19; preparing for new variants; avoiding shutdowns and fighting the virus abroad.” Jeff Zients, White House’s Covid-19 response coordinator, stated, “Vaccines, treatments, tests, masks: These tools are how we continue to protect.” The strategy states, “Make no mistake, President Biden will not accept just ‘living with Covid’ any more than we accept ‘living with’ cancer, Alzheimer’s, or AIDS,” adding, “We will continue our work to stop the spread of the virus, blunt its impact on those who get infected, and deploy new treatments to dramatically reduce the occurrence of severe Covid-19 disease and deaths.” During the State of the Union, President Biden emphasized that the new approach will require funding, stating, “Of course, continuing this costs money. I will soon send Congress a request.” The Wall Street Journal writes, “The administration last month told Congress it needs an additional $30 billion in coronavirus response aid. The request includes $17.9 billion for medical countermeasures like antivirals, $4.9 billion for testing capacity and $2.7 billion to combat future variants. It is uncertain whether lawmakers will be on board with a request for billions more dollars to cope with Covid-19 going forward, and some Republican lawmakers have already expressed skepticism over the price tag.”
D.C. Drops Outdoor School Mask Mandate; Retains Indoor Mandate
On Tuesday, D.C. Public Schools System Chancellor Lewis D. Ferebee sent a letter to public school families, announcing that public schools will no longer maintain their mandate that people wear masks outside, but will continue their indoor mandate (WaPo). The rule took immediate effect. The Washington Post writes, “The announcement marks the first time the city has rolled back mask requirements in schools since partially reopening buildings last academic year.” In his letter, Ferebee wrote, “We will continue to robustly implement our health and safety measures while making the appropriate adjustments to reflect the reduced number of positive cases we are seeing.”
A Maskless State of the Union
Politico reports that few people wore masks while attending President Biden’s State of the Union on Tuesday (Politico). The Capitol lifted its mask mandate in advance of the speech and while a few Democrats still wore masks, Politico reports, “Most members of Congress, Supreme Court justices and Cabinet members left their face coverings at home for the president’s address.” Politico notes, “Among the masked-up members of Congress were Sens. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), as well as Reps. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.), Danny Davis (D-Ill.) and Jim Langevin (D-R.I.).” Attendees did have to provide a negative test. Politico notes that last year, all 200 attendees had to wear masks, a very different image. Bonus Read: “Tlaib diverges from Biden's State of the Union address,” (Politico).
D.C. and Virginia Receive Millions in Federal Grants Aimed at Equity Regarding Unemployment
The Washington Post reports that D.C. and Virginia will be the first to benefit from the Department of Labor’s rollout of federal grants aimed at providing access to unemployment benefits for historically marginalized groups (WaPo). The Department of Labor announced the rollout on Tuesday and the Post writes, “After the coronavirus pandemic put an unprecedented strain on unemployment programs around the country, researchers have pointed to mounting inequities in who applies for benefits — and how much funding is disbursed. The first-of-their-kind grants, including $6.84 million for Virginia and more than $2.28 million for the District, are meant to address those disparities.”
Nevada Governor Accosted and Threatened by Man Citing “Authoritarian” Public Health Policies
On Sunday Nevada’s Democratic Governor Steve Sisolak was accosted by a man who threatened to “string you up by a lamppost” while he and family were eating at a Mexican restaurant (NYT, Review Journal). After asking the governor for a photo, the man launched a tirade in which he called Sisolak a “new world order traitor.” He also said, “Where’s your security at, punk?” adding, “We should string you up by a lamppost right now.” The New York Times notes, “The man follows the governor and his wife into the parking lot of the restaurant, accusing Mr. Sisolak of treason and working for China. The governor’s wife, Kathy Sisolak, who was born in Nevada, is of Chinese descent, according to the governor’s website.” The man then said, “You’re lucky I’m a law-abiding citizen.” The governor’s office released a statement saying that the governor was “deeply disappointed in how this incident unfolded, particularly with the language used to talk about First Lady Kathy Sisolak’s heritage.” Justin Andersch, the man who accosted the governor, held his own news conference during which he said he would not apologize and also claimed he lost his job and medical benefits because of what he termed the governor’s “desire to follow obediently in line with the other overreaching authoritarian measures.” He was referencing public health measures, continuing, “We’ve endured for two full years of authoritarian overreach that is guided by the constant shifting of the scientific goal posts.”
U.S. Economy
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to Propose Quarter Point Rate Increase
On Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told the House Financial Services Committee that he plans to propose a quarter point interest rate increase at the reserve’s meeting to be held in two weeks (WSJ, NYT). Powell also said that it was too early to know the effect of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on inflation, saying that “For now, I would say that we will proceed carefully along the lines of that plan” referring to his previous statements about raising interest rates over the course of the year. The Journal adds, “Most Fed officials have indicated they would prefer to begin raising their benchmark rate in March by a quarter percentage point—the size of all Fed rate increases since their last half-point move in 2000. A few officials have hinted over the past week that they would be open to a larger increase this month.” Bonus Read: “Biden’s Fed Nominees Are Frozen as One Faces Republican Questions,” (NYT).
U.S. Society
Lack of Childcare Workers Affecting the Labor Market
According to a new study, around 460,000 families have been left without childcare, forcing parents to stay home with their children, subsequently affecting the labor market. This finding reflects mounting evidence that the dwindling number of childcare workers is affecting the entirety of the United States, “hampering companies who are trying to hire more workers and particularly affecting the careers of women,” according to the Wall Street Journal. Wells Fargo economists have found that mothers usually bear the responsibility of remaining home with children and that the “labor-force participation rate among women has fallen to the lowest levels in decades during the pandemic, according to government data.” The decline in childcare workers began before the pandemic, but the implications of Covid have underscored the problem.
Networking Events Boom as Covid Cases Fall
The Wall Street Journal reports that after a two-year hiatus, “networking-starved professionals are returning to in-person luncheons and live conventions, organizers say, with meetings of local chambers of commerce and national industry events back on the calendars as Covid-19 cases fall.” Some employees have longed for these professional in-person connections for so long that they admit to attending events they once dreaded attending. One professional is planning to attend eight networking events in March and claims that face-to-face interactions will help her get to know business partners better. Despite the excitement, some event organizers still expect fewer attendees for their events than they would have had prior to the pandemic.
National Cherry Blossom Festival to be Held In-Person This Year
The annual National Cherry Blossom Festival, which has been hosted online for the last two years, will finally be held in person beginning March 20. The festival, a revered tradition for residents of Washington D.C., signals the beginning of the spring season and marks the time of the year when tourists flock to the city. The Washington Post writes that peak bloom will fall somewhere between March 22 and 26. The theme this year is “Rediscover Spring” and will be celebrated with a slew of events and performances. The Washington Post quotes Diana Mayhew, president of the National Cherry Blossom Festival: “This year’s festival is about uniting the community as well as rediscovering well-loved traditions and exploring new ways to celebrate springtime throughout Washington, D.C., and the surrounding areas.”
Analysis & Arguments
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