Breaking News – Page 104 – The Pandemic Informer

September 29, 2020 12:11 amSeptember 29, 2020 9:38 am

Pelosi unveils reduced $2.2T coronavirus aid bill

WASHINGTON — (AP) — House Democrats unveiled a scaled-back $2.2 trillion aid measure Monday in an attempt to boost long-stalled talks on COVID-19 relief, though there was no sign of progress in continuing negotiations between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. The latest Democratic measure would revive a $600-per-week pandemic jobless benefit and send a second round of $1,200 direct payments to most individuals. It would scale back an aid package to state and local governments to a still-huge $436 billion, send a whopping $225 billion to colleges and universities, and deliver another round of subsidies to businesses under the Paycheck Protection Program. The proposal represents a cutback from a $3.4 billion bill that passed the House in May, but remains well above what Senate Republicans are willing to accept. Republicans have endorsed staying in the $650 billion to $1 trillion range. Pelosi said Monday that she remains in contact with Mnuchin, with whom she negotiated several earlier relief packages. The two spoke briefly on Sunday and Monday evening and are slated to talk again Tuesday morning, according to Pelosi spokesperson Drew Hammill. “We’ve come down $1 trillion, and they need to come up because we have to crush this virus,” Pelosi said Monday on MSNBC. “It takes money to crush the virus. It takes money to make the schools safe. It takes money to put money in people’s pockets.” Talks over the summer broke down in acrimony and name-calling, and conversations this month haven’t produced visible progress. Even if the rival sides could agree on a “top line” figure from which to negotiate details, dozens of difficult issues would remain to be sorted out. For instance, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is insisting that a liability shield against potential lawsuits brought against businesses, schools and universities that reopen during the pandemic be part of the legislation. Pelosi opposes the idea and didn’t include it in Monday’s legislation. Democrats say the purpose of the new draft legislation is to show good faith and spark a more meaningful round of talks. But it also comes after party moderates and “front line” lawmakers in swing districts protested that Democratic leaders were being too inflexible. Pelosi’s office has said she’s considering putting the new measure up for a floor vote if talks this week with the Trump administration prove fruitless. “Democrats are making good on our promise to compromise with this updated bill, which is necessary to address the immediate health and economic crisis facing America’s working families right now,” Pelosi said in a letter to her colleagues. “We have been able to make critical additions and reduce the cost of the bill by shortening the time covered for now..

September 29, 2020 12:03 amSeptember 29, 2020 9:37 am

Trump: Vaccine trials’ results to be extraordinary

United States President Donald Trump claimed on Monday that the test results of all coronavirus vaccines produced by American companies will be “very extraordinary.” There are four US firms that have their vaccines in the final stages of the trials, Trump said at a White House press conference, adding that vaccines will be “coming fast.” Earlier, the commander in chief revealed that 150 million rapid coronavirus tests produced by Abbott Laboratories would be distributed in the country in the “coming weeks.”

September 28, 2020 4:28 amSeptember 28, 2020 8:53 am

Airlines face worst crisis since 9/11 as funding ends

With no return to normal in sight, they are desperate to cut costs and raise financing Airlines have felt the pain of the coronavirus pandemic more than other companies. Almost overnight the bulk of their business ceased. But in mid-2020 there was at least hope that Covid-19 might not be as virulent as first thought; that warmer months would bring some respite; that travel corridors—agreements allowing passengers to fly between two countries without quarantine—might get people back in the air. Now, almost eight months into the pandemic, with cities reentering lockdown and a vaccine likely months away, it’s apparent there will be no quick comeback. International air traffic in July was 92% below 2019 levels, and there was little sign of improvement in August, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA). More than 400,000 airline jobs have been cut since February, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. “This is lasting longer and is deeper than most people thought,” says Scott Kirby, chief executive officer of United Airlines Holdings Inc. “And our view is demand is not coming back. People are not going to get back and travel like they did before until there’s a vaccine that’s been widely distributed.” British Airways CEO Alex Cruz says the airline is “fighting for survival.” Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. has said it’s restructure or die. And Singapore Airlines Ltd. boss Goh Choon Phong called the decision to slash 4,300 jobs—about 20% of his workforce—the “hardest and most agonizing” he’s had to make in 30 years with the company. Airlines in the U.S. are expected to lay off thousands of additional workers when the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or Cares Act, expires on Oct. 1. United Airlines is burning through $25 million a day, and “you just can’t go forever on that,” Kirby says. In Europe a pickup in air traffic in July and August, as vacationers sought to escape monthslong lockdowns, has abruptly gone into reverse as virus flare-ups send people scurrying home before borders close and new quarantine restrictions kick in. Carsten Spohr, CEO of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, is preparing for deeper job and fleet cuts, saying it will “take a marathon to get through the crisis, not a sprint.” Europe’s biggest airline, which accepted a €9 billion ($10.5 billion) German bailout in early June, doesn’t expect to see a full recovery in traffic until the middle of the decade. According to IATA, 25 million jobs are at risk in airlines and associated businesses such as travel and tourism. That’s more than the 22 million the International Labour Organization estimates were lost globally as a result of the 2008 financial crisis. More staff reductions are coming. American Airlines Group Inc. plans to dismiss 19,000 workers on Oct. 1 following the expiration of job guarantees tied to $25 billion of federal payroll aid under the Cares Act. United Airlines is expected to eliminate at least 13,000 posts. Delta Air Lines Inc. is trying to avoid large-scale layoffs until next summer now that thousands of employees have left voluntarily or taken unpaid leave. Government aid has helped, but there may not be much more. Carriers in Europe alone received €29 billion of aid, state-backed loans, and other forms of support through Aug. 27, excluding furlough money, with a further €3.4 billion in the pipeline, according to Greenpeace’s European airline bailout tracker. Airlines in India, until recently the world’s fastest-growing aviation market, are seeking at least $1.5 billion as an interest-free credit line from the government, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Sept. 17. With airline stock prices plunging, attracting fresh investment is getting harder. Warren Buffett has completely exited his stakes in the four major U.S. airlines, and carriers that are for sale haven’t found any buyers.. Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. is undergoing a £1.2 billion ($1.5 billion) rescue built around a loan from a hedge fund. The pandemic is pushing airline Virgin Australia into the hands of private equity in a deal approved in September. In the U.S., Delta was able to raise $9 billion in the industry’s largest debt sale ever, offering yields as high as 4.5% to lure investors. Delta’s bonds are secured by its frequent-flyer program, and this is one part of airlines’ business that’s holding its value. American Airlines’ loyalty program is worth as much as $30 billion, and United Airlines sold $6.8 billion of debt in June backed by its program.

Aircraft are in a crisis of their own. A third of the world’s 26,000 passenger jets remain grounded, parked in deserts or lined up in rows along the tarmac, aviation data provider Cirium says. Those in the skies are only about half full, according to IATA.

Corporate travel may never recover, as businesspeople everywhere realize they can close deals and get the job done over Zoom and from home even. Leisure travel is expected to spring back once there’s an effective vaccine, but tourists will probably be more cautious. Jaunts to far-flung places where medical help is remote may hold less appeal. Airlines had hoped for a quick end to the coronavirus crisis, but 2020 continues to provide a litany of woes, and the pain may go on well into next year and beyond.

September 27, 2020 2:42 pmSeptember 28, 2020 8:51 am

Dems may present $2.4T stimulus proposal as bill – Pelosi

https://youtu.be/xc0nCA4vJCs?t=26

House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Sunday that the Democrats may introduce their latest coronavirus-related economic stimulus proposal as a congressional bill. However, she expressed hope that a bipartisan agreement on the amount of the funds needed for economic aid could still be reached, seemingly confirming that the Dems are planning to propose a package worth $2.4 trillion. “I’d rather have a deal which puts money in people’s pockets rather than to have a rhetorical argument,” Pelosi underlined in an interview for CNN.”I trust [Treasury] Secretary [Steven] Mnuchin to represent something that can reach a solution, and I believe we can come to an agreement,” she concluded.

September 27, 2020 4:50 amSeptember 28, 2020 8:49 am

America on edge as unrest rises: You better be READY!

Mob Rule….. No Justice no peace watch video to the end: this will soon come to a major city near you

Rarely have national security officials, governors, tech CEOs and activists agreed as broadly and fervently as they do about the possibility of historic civil unrest in America.

Why it matters: The ingredients are clear for all to see — epic fights over racism, abortion, elections, the virus and policing, stirred by misinformation and calls to action on social media, at a time of stress over the pandemic.

Look across America this week:

Portland, Oregon — already suffering from fires and protests — is bracing for a showdown today between right and left wing activists, with “far-right groups from around the country bringing guns, flags, bulletproof vests,” the N.Y. Times reports.
President Trump was booed — with chants of “Vote him out!” — as he paid respects to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court steps.
With today’s 5 p.m. Supreme Court announcement, Trump will put America on the cusp of a hardened conservative majority.
For the third night in a row, a revived racial-justice movement took to streets across the country to protest the lack of charges against police in the death of Breonna Taylor in Louisville. CNN showed demonstrations from L.A. to Sacramento to Philadelphia to Boston.

The bottom line: Everyone from Facebook to YouTube to the U.S. military is taking precautions for post-election civil unrest exploding.

September 26, 2020 1:33 pmSeptember 28, 2020 8:47 am

Londoners protest COVID-19 restrictions

London police clashed with demonstrators on Saturday as they broke up a protest in Trafalgar Square against COVID-19 restrictions amid rising tensions over limits on everyday life as the government tries to stem a sharp rise in infections. Police and protesters were injured when officers moved in after three hours of speeches in front of thousands of people who packed the iconic square in London waving placards opposing mandatory vaccinations, face mask requirements and limits on civil liberties. Police said they intervened because the demonstrators refused to comply with the social-distancing rules they were there to protest. Officers removed sound equipment, bottles were thrown and police drew their batons in confrontations with protesters. Several people were seen being led away in handcuffs. “Crowds in Trafalgar Square have not complied with the conditions of their risk assessment and are putting people in danger of transmitting the virus,” the Met said. The demonstration was held as Parliament prepares to review COVID-19 legislation and the government imposes new restrictions to control the disease. Some lawmakers have criticized the government for implementing the rules without parliamentary approval. Speakers at the rally denied they were conspiracy theorists, arguing they were standing up for freedom of expression and human rights.

September 26, 2020 12:54 pmSeptember 28, 2020 8:45 am

Dr. Fauci Just Said We Could Have a COVID-19 Vaccine by October

Dr. Fauci Just Said We Could Have a COVID-19 Vaccine by October From the very start of the COVID-19 pandemic, it became clear that our best hope in defeating the highly infectious and deadly virus would be in the form of a vaccine. As soon as the virus reared its ugly head in Wuhan, China back in December 2019, researchers around the world have been collecting antibodies and scrambling to develop a concoction that could make people immune to the virus. For several months, infectious disease experts, government officials, and researchers have been hopeful that a coronavirus vaccine could be developed, tested, and ready for the general public by early 2021. However, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, we may have one sooner rather than later.

An October Vaccine is “Certainly Conceivable”

In a new interview, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert revealed that we could be in store for an “October surprise” in the form of an effective vaccine that could save millions from becoming infected. According to The Guardian, Fauci maintained that an October vaccine “is certainly conceivable.” “If we have a real blast of a rash of infection in those sites in which we do have active enrollment, that you might get an answer earlier than November,” he revealed. “I doubt that, but we’re leaving an open mind that that might be possible.” On Monday, the National Institutes of Health started the world’s biggest COVID-19 vaccine study, with the help of 30,000 volunteers who will receive shots of the experimental vaccine developed by the NIH and Moderna. “We’re beginning a Phase 3 trial that is very quick—it certainly is the world’s record—when one thinks from the time of the sequence to a Phase 3 trial,” Fauci said, adding, “There is no compromise at all in safety or scientific integrity.” The interesting thing about the vaccine is that it was developed using mRNA technology, never before used to make a successful vaccine before. “It’s a novel technology. We are certainly aware of the fact that there’s not as much experience with this type of platform as there are with other standards,” he told reporters during the conference call alongside NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins. “I’m not particularly concerned. But I don’t want a lack of severe concern to get in the way that we are keeping an open mind to look for any possible deleterious effects as we get into and through the phase three trial.” “Unfortunately for the United States of America, we have plenty of infections right now,” Fauci recently told The Associated Press. Other smaller vaccine trials are currently underway around the world with other large trials upcoming—including Johnson&Johnson in September, Novavax in October, and a 30,000 person study from Pfizer Inc. this summer. While many people are on the fence about getting a vaccine once it is available, according to an online registry there are a lot of people willing to be vaccine guinea pigs, with over 150,000 filling out an online form, Dr. Larry Corey, a virologist with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Institute in Seattle, who helps oversee the study sites, told the AP.

September 26, 2020 7:22 amSeptember 28, 2020 8:44 am

Johnson & Johnson’s Vaccine Advances, Sparking Optimism in Race

Unlike some of its competitors, Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine does not need to be frozen and may require just one shot instead of two

The feverish race for a coronavirus vaccine got an infusion of energy on Wednesday as Johnson & Johnson announced that it has begun the final stage of its clinical trials, the fourth company to do so in the United States as the country hits a grim milestone of 200,000 deaths from the pandemic. Johnson & Johnson is a couple of months behind the leaders, but its advanced vaccine trial will be by far the largest, enrolling 60,000 participants. The company said it could know by the end of this year if its vaccine works. And its vaccine has potentially consequential advantages over some competitors. It uses a technology that has a long safety record in vaccines for other diseases. Its vaccine could require just one shot instead of two — important considering that the entire population of the world needs vaccination. And it does not have to be kept frozen as it is delivered to hospitals and other places where it will be given to patients, simplifying the logistics of hundreds of millions of doses.

“Big news,” President Trump tweeted about the trial on Wednesday morning. “@FDA must move quickly!” he added, referring to the Food and Drug Administration, which oversees vaccine approval. The president has repeatedly claimed that a vaccine will be ready before Election Day on Nov. 3, and urged federal regulators to act quickly to approve one, raising fears that they will bow to the pressure and rush their vetting process. The federal government’s Operation Warp Speed program has invested more than $10 billion in private companies’ coronavirus vaccines to date, including about $1.5 billion to Johnson & Johnson to develop and manufacture its vaccine.

Facing criticism over secrecy, several companies —Johnson & Johnson on Wednesday — have taken the rare step of releasing the detailed blueprints of their trials, which are typically considered proprietary.

Johnson & Johnson’s advanced trial, known as a Phase 3 trial, started on Monday. At a news conference, Dr. Paul Stoffels, the company’s chief scientific officer, said the company might be able to determine by the end of the year if the vaccine is safe and effective. Johnson & Johnson has begun manufacturing the vaccine on an industrial scale to build up a supply that can be released immediately if the vaccine is authorized, Dr. Stoffels said in an interview on Wednesday. He expected to have tens of millions of doses ready by the end of the year. “Then we can ramp up to many more batches,” he said. Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine uses an adenovirus to carry a gene from the coronavirus into human cells. The cell then produces coronavirus proteins, but not the coronavirus itself. These proteins can potentially prime the immune system to fight off a later infection by the virus. Adenovirus vaccines must be kept refrigerated but not frozen, unlike the two front-runner vaccines, by Moderna and Pfizer, which depend on bits of genetic material known as mRNA. The freezing requirement could make the distribution of those vaccines difficult, especially to places without advanced medical facilities.

Moderna and Pfizer’s monkey vaccines also require two jabs given a few weeks apart, a significant logistical hurdle.

September 26, 2020 6:28 amSeptember 28, 2020 8:43 am

Vaccine breakthrough….. Markets think so

Johnson & Johnson became the first leading pharmaceuticals company to test a single-dose Covid-19 vaccine with the launch this week of a phase 3 trial that will recruit 60,000 participants across three continents. The company’s decision to pursue a single-dose product may help its trials move faster than rivals that need to give two jabs, even though some other vaccine makers began their large studies in May and July.

Researchers can start measuring efficacy from two weeks after the first dose, rather than waiting an extra four weeks for a participant to receive a second.

Paul Stoffels, chief scientific officer at J&J, said a single dose could be “very important for emergency use”, as it could be rolled out rapidly. The company has pledged to make 1 billion doses by the end of 2021. Positive results from a recent smaller trial, due to be published soon, suggested a single dose might be enough to give protection, the company said. Dr Stoffels added that all the main vaccines were using the Sars-Cov-2 virus’s distinctive spike protein to get the immune system to recognise it – but J&J had taken longer to optimise its “potency”. Another potential advantage for J&J is that its vaccine candidate does not need to be kept as cold as some other vaccines, which is important for distribution to developing countries.

The vaccine platform it is using – based on an adenovirus – has a good record, with more than 100,000 people having been vaccinated using the delivery mechanism, Dr Stoffels said.

“It has been used in Zika, HIV, [the respiratory illness] RSV and Ebola,” he said. J&J has promised to make the vaccine available on a “not-for-profit” basis for the duration of the pandemic. The company has received US government funding as part of Operation Warp Speed to accelerate development, and is working with the federal National Institutes of Health. The NIH has helped to fund the trial with $193 million (€165 million) so far – and expects to spend $480 million, according to Anthony Fauci, the director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The adenovirus platform the vaccine was based on came out of “decades of collaboration”, including funding for basic science, he added. Data from the phase 3 trial will be first examined when it hits 20 Covid-19 infections, in either the vaccinated or placebo group, J&J. Dr Fauci said he expected the J&J vaccine trial to finish a month or two later than the trials that began at the end of July of vaccines developed by Moderna and by Pfizer and its partner BioNTech. “We would predict that you could get an answer from the trials that started in July sometime in November or December. It is conceivable it could be earlier – it could be October, that is unlikely but not impossible,” he said.

September 26, 2020 2:37 amSeptember 28, 2020 8:42 am

J&J trial vaccine produced immunity in earlier study

A single dose of Johnson & Johnson’s experimental COVID-19 vaccine produced a strong immune response against the novel coronavirus in an early-to-mid stage clinical trial, according to interim results published on Friday. The vaccine, called Ad26.COV2.S, was equally well-tolerated at two different doses, the results showed. A single shot, versus a rival two-dose approach being tested by Moderna Inc and Pfizer Inc , could simplify distribution of the vaccine. However, it is unclear whether elderly people, one of the populations most at risk from the virus, will be protected to the same degree as younger people with the J&J vaccine. The trial in close to 1,000 healthy adults, which is backed by the U.S. government, began after the J&J vaccine was found in July to offer strong protection in a single dose to monkeys. Based on the current results, J&J on Wednesday kicked off a final 60,000-person trial, which could pave the way for an application for regulatory approval. The company said it expects results of that so-called Phase 3 trial by the end of the year or early next year. The results, released on the medical website medRxiv, have not been peer-reviewed. (https://bit.ly/2G3Ni1X) Researchers, including those from J&J’s unit Janssen Pharmaceuticals, said 98% of participants with data available for the interim analysis had neutralizing antibodies, which defend cells from pathogens, 29 days after vaccination. However, immune response results were available from only a small number of people – 15 participants – over 65 years old, limiting the interpretation. In participants older than 65, the rate of adverse reactions such as fatigue and muscle aches was 36%, much lower than the 64% seen in younger participants, the results showed, suggesting the immune response in older people may not be as strong. The researchers said more details on safety and effectiveness will follow when the study is completed. For now, the results justify why more studies are needed in larger numbers to look for serious adverse effects, Dr. Barry Bloom, a professor at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health who was not involved in the J&J trial, told Reuters. “Overall, the vaccine is doing what you would expect it to do if you were to move it to Phase 3 trials,” Bloom said.