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June 28, 2022 - Brief Issue 342

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

Long Covid Overlooked in Older Americans (Health & Science)

FDA May Move Toward Updating Vaccines (Health & Science)

Children in Latin America Experienced Greatest Learning Loss During the Pandemic (Around the World)

Chinese Communist Party Official Says Zero-Covid Policy Could Last 5 Years, Alarm Ensues (Around the World)

Amid Hot Housing Market, Renters See Bidding Wars (U.S. Economy)

One Broadway Show Keeps Its Mask Mandate (U.S. Society)

Air Travel is Expensive and Booming (U.S. Society)

Health & Science

There have been 87,092,384 coronavirus cases in the United States, and 1,016,208 people have died (Johns Hopkins). The United States has administered 593,739,529 vaccine doses, with 78.1% of all Americans having received at least one vaccine dose and 66.9% fully vaccinated. Among adults aged 18 or older 89.5% have received at least one dose, and 76.8% are fully vaccinated (U.S. CDC). 47.3% of fully vaccinated Americans have received a first booster shot. 26.1% of Americans aged 50 or older have received a second booster shot. Worldwide, there have been 544,560,513 cases of coronavirus, with 6,330,513 deaths.

Long Covid Overlooked in Older Americans

In a new study, researchers have estimated that 32% of older Americans who survived Covid infections had symptoms of long Covid up to four months after infection–more than double the 14% rate an earlier study found in younger adults (WaPo). The researchers, who published their findings in the journal BMJ, examined more than 87,000 adults over 65 years of age. The higher rate of long Covid in older adults is probably tied to the higher incidence of chronic disease and general physical vulnerability in the age group. “On average, older adults are less resilient. They don’t have the same ability to bounce back from serious illness,” said Ken Cohen, a co-author of the study and executive director of translational research for Optum Care.

But long Covid symptoms are often overlooked in older adults because they can be confused with general signs of aging or overlap with symptoms of other chronic conditions. “The challenge is that nonspecific symptoms such as fatigue, weakness, pain, confusion and increased frailty are things we often see in seriously ill older adults. Or people may think, ‘That’s just part of aging,’” said Charles Thomas Alexander Semelka, a postdoctoral fellow in geriatric medicine at Wake Forest University.

FDA May Move Toward Updating Vaccines

Today, Tuesday, a panel of independent experts advising the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will recommend whether to update existing Covid-19 vaccines to target a newer version of the virus in a booster shot. The federal government is hoping to improve the vaccine in order to combat a fall and winter resurgence, but updating the shot in time could mean foregoing lengthy human trials and relying on laboratory tests and animal trials (NYT). Both Pfizer and Moderna have been studying an updated vaccine that targets the Omicron variant, but subvariants have now overtaken the original Omicron strain in the meantime and some scientists argue that it’s no longer a threat. “Omicron is clearly in the rearview mirror,” said Dr. Peter J. Hotez, a vaccine expert with Baylor College of Medicine. A booster that targets Omicron makes no sense, he said, unless it also works against the latest subvariants, adding, “I haven’t seen evidence of that.” The meeting of experts today will advise the FDA on whether an updated vaccine should target a version of the virus in the Omicron family, but federal regulators will decide on the exact formulation to use for the fall surge. 

Around the World

Children in Latin America Experienced Greatest Learning Loss During the Pandemic

According to studies from United Nations agencies and other development organizations, children in Latin America experienced the greatest disruptions and losses of learning during the pandemic. With schools closed an average of 225 days, school closures in the region were some of the longest in the world (NYT). A lack of reliable access to the internet or even computers meant remote schooling was an impossibility for many students. Third and sixth grade students in the region appear to show worse scores in math and reading than they did a decade ago.  Studies showed that low-income students, students of African descent (who are more likely to be low income), students in rural areas, and female students were among those most affected by the pandemic school closures.   

Chinese Communist Party Official Says Zero-Covid Policy Could Last 5 Years, Alarm Ensues

An announcement which appeared in Beijing Daily and attributed to the Beijing Secretary of the Communist party, Cai Qi, caused alarm on Chinese social media sites after it appeared to imply that China would be adhering to its strict zero-Covid policy for the next five years (Guardian). The original statement, which discussed the city’s commitment to maintain and improve the city’s Covid management as well as continue with vigorous and regular testing, also included a statement that “in the next five years, Beijing will unremittingly grasp the normalisation of epidemic prevention and control.” However, this reference to five years was later removed from the article after it began to spread on social media. Authorities gave no explanation for its removal, however China's commitment to zero Covid has increasingly been met with resentment as unpredictable lockdowns and quarantines have tested residents’ patience and hurt economic growth.

U.S. Economy

Bonus Read: “Stock Markets Waver as Investors Weigh Interest-Rate Fears,” (WSJ).

Amid Hot Housing Market, Renters See Bidding Wars

As we have covered in prior briefs, the housing market is hot, with record prices and demand. The Wall Street Journal reports that one consequence of the hot market is that people who might otherwise buy are now renting to avoid high prices, and in turn they are driving the rise of bidding wars over rental properties (WSJ). The Journal writes, “An increasing number of white-collar professionals—some of whom recently sold homes—are reluctant to buy because of record-high home prices, rising mortgage rates and limited supply. They are renting instead, helping to drive a frenzy for leased properties of all kinds, and helping fuel the trend of offering above asking rents, real-estate agents said. In some parts of Atlanta, so many people compete for the same homes that Re/Max agent Peter Beckford said he is renting out $3,500-a-month townhouses to couples making close to $1 million a year.” The Journal adds, “The median U.S. asking rent passed $2,000 for the first time in May, according to real-estate company Redfin, and it has risen 15% over the past 12 months. If more high-income people enter hot rental markets, and the supply of new homes for them to rent or buy doesn’t substantially increase, rents are poised to keep rising, housing analysts say.”

Bonus Read: “Fed interest rate hikes just made national debt a lot more expensive,” (WaPo).

U.S. Society

One Broadway Show Keeps Its Mask Mandate

As we covered in a prior brief, the Broadway League announced that starting July 1, Broadway audiences will no longer be required to wear masks. However, one show is maintaining its mask mandate (NYT). The New York Times writes, “The producers of a starry revival of ‘American Buffalo,’ which is a 1975 drama by David Mamet about three schemers in a junk shop, announced Friday that they would continue to require masks through the scheduled end of the show’s run at Circle in the Square Theater on July 10.” The Times adds, “That’s only 10 days beyond when Broadway plans to drop its industrywide masking requirement, and it’s just one show, but it suggests that the unanimity among producers and theater owners may not be rock solid.”

Air Travel is Expensive and Booming

The Wall Street Journal reports that air travel is returning to pre-pandemic levels, and as people return to the skies, the cost of air travel is also booming (WSJ). The Journal writes, “Crowds are returning to near prepandemic levels, and flights are just about as full as they were in 2019. The number of people passing through U.S. airports Friday hit the highest level since February 2020. Pilot shortages have checked airlines’ growth ambitions, and carriers aren’t flying as much as they had hoped. Hundreds of regional jets that fly to small cities have been grounded. Several airlines have made further cuts to try to run more reliably, pulling schedules down by 15% from what they had planned for summer at the start of the year, according to Airlines for America, a trade group.” The price of that travel has surged. The Journal writes, “Strong demand, limited supply and fuel prices that have roughly doubled since last summer have helped lift fares. Hopper, a travel booking app, said round-trip domestic airfare for the Fourth of July holiday costs an average of $437, up 45% from 2019.”

Bonus Read: “Hotels Are Taking Wellness to Extremes, From IV Drips to MRIs,” (WSJ).

Analysis & Arguments

Ed Yong writes the U.S. is sliding into a long pandemic defeat (Atlantic).

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

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