Post by t-bob on Dec 16, 2020 18:12:34 GMT -5
The Trump administration is negotiating with Pfizer to secure more vaccines by spring, federal health officials said, after last week's news that additional doses wouldn't be on the way until June or July. This move comes after Pfizer's report that other nations have rushed to buy its 2021 second quarter supply after the federal government turned down its opportunity to double its purchase of 100 million doses. (You can track vaccine distribution by state on this updating page.)
Now that the coronavirus has set up residence inside millions of bodies around the world, it's doing what viruses always do: mutating. That's normally not cause for special concern, but the British health secretary caused alarm when he announced that a particularly worrisome mutation could be behind a surge of infections in southeast England. There's no sign that the mutation has made the virus any deadlier, but it might have made it more transmissible, and any significant changes to its genetic makeup could threaten the efficacy of vaccines.
A nearly instant at-home coronavirus test was authorized for sale by the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday. It costs about $30 a pop, does not require you to mail your nose gunk to a laboratory, and will be available over the counter at drugstores for use on anyone older than 2.
But for at least the near term, Americans might have trouble getting hold of one. The chief executive of Ellume, the Australian company that makes the test, said only 100,000 of them will be distributed at first. The company plans to ramp up production to about 1 million tests by mid-2021. Our Health desk nevertheless reports that U.S. testing capacity is expected to increase rapidly over the next two to three months, as many other technologies and products come online.
Widespread signs of economic deterioration have prompted Democrats and Republicans in Congress to push for a second economic stimulus despite their disagreements. Party leaders said Wednesday that they are nearing a deal on a $900 billion package that would include aid for small businesses, the unemployed, schools, vaccine distribution and a one-time check of up to $700 for millions of lower-income Americans.
Nearly 8 million Americans have become poor in the past five months, propelling the poverty rate into double digits and contributing to the biggest one-year jump since the government began tracking the rate 60 years ago, according to data released Wednesday by researchers at two universities.
On the other end of the wealth spectrum, rich corporations are having a pretty decent year. Our Business desk reported that 45 of the 50 most valuable publicly traded companies turned a profit between April and September, but also collectively cut more than 100,000 workers. “These are times when the strong can get stronger,” Nike chief John Donahoe told analysts in September.
Now that the coronavirus has set up residence inside millions of bodies around the world, it's doing what viruses always do: mutating. That's normally not cause for special concern, but the British health secretary caused alarm when he announced that a particularly worrisome mutation could be behind a surge of infections in southeast England. There's no sign that the mutation has made the virus any deadlier, but it might have made it more transmissible, and any significant changes to its genetic makeup could threaten the efficacy of vaccines.
A nearly instant at-home coronavirus test was authorized for sale by the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday. It costs about $30 a pop, does not require you to mail your nose gunk to a laboratory, and will be available over the counter at drugstores for use on anyone older than 2.
But for at least the near term, Americans might have trouble getting hold of one. The chief executive of Ellume, the Australian company that makes the test, said only 100,000 of them will be distributed at first. The company plans to ramp up production to about 1 million tests by mid-2021. Our Health desk nevertheless reports that U.S. testing capacity is expected to increase rapidly over the next two to three months, as many other technologies and products come online.
Widespread signs of economic deterioration have prompted Democrats and Republicans in Congress to push for a second economic stimulus despite their disagreements. Party leaders said Wednesday that they are nearing a deal on a $900 billion package that would include aid for small businesses, the unemployed, schools, vaccine distribution and a one-time check of up to $700 for millions of lower-income Americans.
Nearly 8 million Americans have become poor in the past five months, propelling the poverty rate into double digits and contributing to the biggest one-year jump since the government began tracking the rate 60 years ago, according to data released Wednesday by researchers at two universities.
On the other end of the wealth spectrum, rich corporations are having a pretty decent year. Our Business desk reported that 45 of the 50 most valuable publicly traded companies turned a profit between April and September, but also collectively cut more than 100,000 workers. “These are times when the strong can get stronger,” Nike chief John Donahoe told analysts in September.