Month: December 2020

Categories
Business

What Occurs to the Unemployed When the Checks Run Out

What Happens to the Unemployed When the Checks Run Out

Poverty, which actually declined in the early months of the pandemic – reflecting the extraordinary relief that the CARES Act offers in spring and early summer – has declined with a vengeance. According to estimates by Bruce D. Meyer of the University of Chicago, James X. Sullivan of the University of Notre Dame, and Jeehoon Han of Zhejiang University, 11.4 percent of Americans were living below the official poverty line by October, down from 9.3 Percent in June.

The checking accounts of the unemployed also reflect this reversal of wealth since the early stages of the CARES Act discharge, according to an analysis by researchers at the JPMorgan Chase Institute and the University of Chicago. Your account balance more than doubled from January to July, aided by the extra unemployment benefits and the economic impact review. Expressed as a percentage, their profit was much higher than that of employees who kept their jobs. Their spending increased too, peaking in July.

By late August, the last month the researchers tracked the unemployed ‘s finances, their median bank balances had shrunk by about a third since July, and lost most of the pillow that had built up since March.

“The typical family still has some cash buffer,” said Fiona Greig, co-president of the JPMorgan Chase Institute, “but it’s falling sharply.”

Regular unemployment insurance in the United States remains one of the least generous in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. It usually drops to zero after six months, unless there are exceptional legal provisions. In Denmark or Portugal, on the other hand, unemployment benefits replace around two percent of lost wages by workers, even two years after they have lost their jobs.

In the US, according to the OECD, unemployment benefits make up around 20 percent of the average income of a family with two children. In Germany and Ireland they are over 50 percent.

Emergency laws like the CARES Act have given unemployed American workers a temporary boost in times of crisis. Unless Congress takes new action in the coming days, the safety net will revert to its previous state. Millions will fall through the cracks.

Categories
Health

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy optimistic on rollout

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy optimistic on rollout

Democratic Governor Phil Murphy was optimistic about the launch of a Covid-19 vaccine in New Jersey on Monday, but urged state residents to continue to follow public health protocols as hospital admissions increase.

“We’re still in the thick of it,” Murphy said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box”. The vaccine distribution “is really good news, but I think the next six or eight weeks will be very difficult in New Jersey and our country.”

“There’s a lot of fatigue, a lot of private diffusion, lots of holidays, cold weather – all of this is conspiratorial. In the near future, I’d just … ask people to do the right things and keep their watch,” Murphy added.

The governor’s comments came when the first Americans were vaccinated against Covid-19 outside of clinical trials. The Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency clearance for the vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech on Friday, which kicked off the complex logistics network that allowed health care workers in several states to take their first admissions on Monday morning.

In New Jersey, the first vaccinations for hospital staff will be given Tuesday morning at Newark University Hospital, according to Murphy. The state will initially receive 76,000 doses, which is enough for 38,000 people to get vaccinated as it requires two shots. From there, Murphy said the state will receive “an increased allotment” of Pfizer BioNTech doses each week “until it plateaus” earlier this year.

Murphy also noted that Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine could soon be approved. The FDA meeting was held later that week to review the emergency approval application. In this case, New Jersey expects “another string of shipments over time,” Murphy said.

The rollout of a coronavirus vaccine in New Jersey and across the country is at a critical juncture. The 7-day average of daily new infections in the US is at a record high of 213,748, according to a CNBC analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The 7-day average of Covid-19 deaths per day is 2,403, according to CNBC analysis, which is also an all-time high during the pandemic. That’s 9% more than a week ago.

Hospital stays are increasing in 24 states, including New Jersey and Washington, DC, according to a CNBC analysis of data from the COVID Tracking Project run by journalists at The Atlantic.

Murphy said he understand Americans are tired of pandemic restrictions and said, “I know it stinks. Who doesn’t get tired, including yours?” However, he urged people to hold small holiday gatherings among individuals “in your bladder” in December, continue to wear face masks, and maintain social distance.

“It’s basic principles to rely on. New Jersians were exceptional. We just need one more kick, especially if we get through the holiday season,” Murphy said.

Categories
Business

Costco CEO says brick-and-mortar stays key at the same time as e-commerce grows

Costco CEO says brick-and-mortar remains key even as e-commerce grows

Craig Jelinek, CEO of Costco, told CNBC on Monday that the company’s physical stores will continue to be of vital importance, despite the wholesaler seeing a surge in e-commerce sales during the coronavirus pandemic.

“Our entire online business will continue to grow. Will we be difficult? No, we will not,” said Jelinek to “Closing Bell”. “We will simply continue to attach importance to high-quality goods and quality goods and deliver them either via the warehouse, stationary trade or electronic trade.”

Before the pandemic, Costco had made a name for itself for its personal shopping experience, with cheap items on its food court like the hot dog and soda combo for $ 1.50. However, many Costco members turned to their website this year, resulting in strong online sales growth that many competitors saw as well.

For the 13 week period ending November 29, Costco’s total comparable revenue increased 14.5%. In particular, e-commerce increased by 82% compared to the same period in the previous year. A similar trend emerged in the company’s fourth quarter. Online sales increased 91% over the previous year.

“We will continue to grow this business,” said Jelinek, noting some of the technology investments the company had made. In March, for example, Costco acquired $ 1 billion worth of Innovel Solutions, which provides last-mile delivery services. It was owned by the company that has Sears and Kmart businesses.

“We see a great opportunity to build our last mile business with large ticket items and bulk items. … Our clothing business continues to grow online,” added Jelinek.

Even so, it remains an essential part for the retailer to have members shop in the store, Jelinek said. “It’s still important to physically get people into stores. I still think brick and mortar retail isn’t going to go away. We want to keep getting people into stores and there’s no better way to do it than a $ 1.50 price. ” Dog and a Roast Chicken “for $ 4.99, he said.

During the pandemic, Costco saw customers stock up on items like toilet paper, which resulted in a limit on the number of purchases. Jelinek said Costco began monitoring some of shoppers’ inventory behavior this fall as coronavirus cases rise in the US and state and local officials reintroduce public health restrictions. However, he said it was “not quite as much” as it was this spring during the first wave of the pandemic.

“They are still buying extra toilet paper, toiletries, and the like to keep making sure they are in place as some of those items … will continue to be a long-term need,” Jelinek predicted that some of the increased buying patterns will “likely be in the middle of next year if I had to guess “could persist.

Costco’s shares closed the session slightly on Monday at $ 374 apiece. The stock is up 27% since the start of the year.

Categories
Politics

With Selfies, Emojis and Little Disruption, the Electoral School Makes It Official

With Selfies, Emojis and Little Disruption, the Electoral College Makes It Official

In the end, democracy carried the day.

Wisconsin’s 10 voters quietly walked into a quiet state capitol on Monday and saw more police officers than protesters. While waiting to officially cast their ballots, the socially distant Democratic officials and activists took selfies in an ornate wood-paneled room. When the vote finally came, one voter added hearts to the controls on the lines for the Democratic President’s ticket in a rare expression of emotion.

“We did it,” said Governor Tony Evers, relieved after he announced the final settlement – a unanimous vote for Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Kamala Harris.

When the electoral college cast their ballots for Mr. Biden on Monday, the moment felt both extraordinary and repetitive. After all, the elected president and his team have won the election since November and have repeatedly emerged victorious in legal proceedings, hearings and recounts.

But President Trump and his allies’ extraordinary attack on the elections and their efforts to deprive millions of voters of the voting rights exposed the creaky governance of American democracy.

And on Monday the bureaucracy withdrew.

From Hillary Clinton giving a thumbs up after casting her vote as New York Electress to the shadow gatherings Republicans held in battlefield states, it was a day marked by more symbolism and emotion than surprise for some was.

Robin Smith, a Democratic activist and librarian in Lansing, Michigan, was suffocated while casting her vote for the president-elect. She wore a Biden / Harris face mask and donkey needle with red, white and blue jewels for the Democratic Party.

‘Stay there, Mom. Be in the moment,’ ‘Ms. Smith said, her daughter pressing for text. “As a black woman, it really means everything to me.”

Prior to the official votes in Maryland, Governor Larry Hogan, a Republican who early criticized Mr Trump’s efforts to cast doubt on the election results, described the event as a “civic lesson” – perhaps a nameless confrontation with the president.

“The peaceful change of power in which we are officially participating here today is a hallmark of our democracy, which has been passed on for more than 220 years,” said Hogan. “It is a reminder that despite our differences, we are united as Americans who honor the will of the people.”

As Mr Hogan noted, there was a history of American democracy – as well as its many quirks.

In Kentucky, voters promised they would not be engaged in a deadly weapon duel, part of the state’s oath added in the early 19th century because too many residents killed each other.

In Alabama, voters heard a lecture on the story of their role from an actor dressed as Uncle Sam before casting their nine votes for Mr. Trump.

And in New Hampshire, Mary Carey Foley, a retired high school teacher who first met Mr. Biden nearly four decades ago, described her political ancestry as a third-generation elector and described the voices of her mother in 1972 and grandmother in the year 1946.

Perhaps the most unusual thing was that anyone was talking about voters at all. As the country recorded 300,000 deaths from the coronavirus and eagerly watched the introduction of a vaccine, Americans were bombarded by obscure officials who cast ballots and signed them multiple times – procedures that were shown on cable news throughout the day.

Voters sought transparency through flawed internet streams, both to refute the conspiracy theories that have resonated with Trump’s supporters and to implicitly admit that some conservatives are unlikely to accept the election result. Those theories blossomed in the live chat streams that accompanied the meetings, a unique mix of champagne emojis and conspiracy theories for 2020.

In Nevada, six voters who met during a live publicly broadcast video chat held signed ballots on their screens, which were counted by Mark Wlashin, assistant secretary of state for elections. The chatter offered a glimpse into a divided nation.

“We all know Trump is having a breakdown!” wrote one user walking from Clorox Bleach followed by four laughing emoji faces.

Hillbilly shot back: “I’m a Trump supporter and not angry because Biden will never be president.”

Last week, the Supreme Court turned down the desperate efforts of Trump allies to change the election result and smashed a long-term strategy that depended on banning four states won by Mr Biden from casting their votes and convincing Republican-controlled legislators with alternative legislators Choose slate friendly voters.

Mr Trump now has few resources to change the election result, although that did little to deter some supporters from continuing to advance fantastic plans.

Much of the recent effort has centered on what some Trump allies have called the “alternate voter roll” – die-hard supporters who gathered in state capitals to vote for Mr. Trump. The self-appointed voters are not certified by state executives and, according to legal experts, have no legal position.

That didn’t stop them from playing a little live-action role-playing game of the typical everyday inner workings of democracy.

Outside the Michigan State Capitol on Monday 10 of the so-called Republican voters vowed to cast their ballots for Mr. Trump before being denied entry by state police.

Bernadette Comfort, president of the Trump campaign in Pennsylvania, described the shadow event in her state as a “procedural vote” carried out at the request of the campaign.

“This was in no way an effort to usurp or dispute the will of Pennsylvania voters,” she said.

Josh Shapiro, the Democratic attorney general and one of his 20 voters, was far less sympathetic: “A ridiculous charade,” he told CNN shortly after Mr Biden was elected.

Across the country, some of Mr. Trump’s allies seemed far more willing to accept the reality of the elections. After California officially confirmed Mr Biden’s victory, several Republican senators finally recognized the Democrat as president-elect on Monday night, a reversal of weeks of public opposition among GOP lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

Top Republican leaders in the Michigan legislature recognized the loss of Mr Trump on Monday and reiterated their refusal to give in to the president’s demands for interference in the electoral process.

“I fought hard for President Trump – nobody wanted him to win more than me,” said spokesman Lee Chatfield. “But I also love our republic. I can’t believe risking our norms, traditions and institutions to pass a resolution that will retroactively change voters for Trump. “

He added, “I’m afraid we will lose our country forever.”

After weeks of harassment and death threats against election officials, only a handful of Trump supporters gathered outside the state capital’s buildings on Monday – a sign of waning hope, even among the more ardent supporters of the president, that he could prevail.

In Madison, a small group marched slowly around the Capitol on a cold afternoon, wearing rosaries, statutes of the Blessed Virgin, and many complaints about the elections.

“We don’t protest, we pray,” said Geralyn Kettermann, 65, of Fulton Township, Wisconsin, who saw a sign that read “Jail Wisconsin Election Commission! All Trump votes stolen!”

The Democrats also saw an opportunity to fuel their political struggles. Nikema Williams, the leader of the Democratic Party in Georgia, opened the proceedings with a small victory round. As she spoke, long voting lines grew across the state, with the beginning of personal voting in two crucial runoff elections that will determine control of the Senate.

“Georgian voters are very powerful and we will soon prove it again,” said Ms. Williams. “Georgians have known for years, and now the nation knows Georgia is a blue state.”

Mrs. Williams looked forward to the next month. And others also looked ahead – with a less certain view that this chapter is really coming to an end.

Since November 7, when Mr Biden won the presidency and the Trump campaign hastened its attacks on the process, Americans had viewed the vote in the electoral college as the finish line.

Now that the country was crossing it, not everyone was so confident.

“Towards the end of this event, it is evident that this is neither the end of the discussion about the 2020 election nor the way we conduct future elections,” said Katie Hobbs, Arizona Democratic Secretary of State. “This is probably the start of a long debate.”

The coverage was contributed by Kathleen Gray of Lansing, Michigan. Kay Nolan of Madison, Wisconsin; Reid J. Epstein from Washington; and Isabella Grullón Paz from New York.

Categories
Health

Did You Get the Coronavirus Vaccine, or Are You Planning To?

Did You Get the Coronavirus Vaccine, or Are You Planning To?

With the approval of the Food and Drug Administration, Pfizer is shipping doses of its coronavirus vaccine to hospitals across the country this week.

Health care workers have already started taking the pictures and most nursing home residents will have them next week. Other priority groups – likely a combination of key workers, people aged 65 and over, and people at high risk for disease – are expected to gain access sometime in January.

The New York Times reporters writing about the vaccine would like to hear – or try – your experience with the vaccine. We also want to know if receiving a vaccine changes your daily behavior or your attitudes about going out in public and interacting with others.

We will not publish any part of your submission without contacting you first.

Required fields are marked with an asterisk.

Categories
World News

Biden wins majority of Electoral Faculty votes, securing presidency

Biden wins majority of Electoral College votes, securing presidency

WASHINGTON – The electoral college voted Monday to consolidate President-elect Joe Biden’s victory over President Donald Trump in this year’s presidential election.

The ballots were cast throughout the day by individual voters in all 50 states and the District of Columbia and reflect their state’s referendum.

Just before 5:30 p.m. ET, California voters cast their 55 votes for Biden, pushing him past the crucial 270-ballot threshold. Around 7.15 p.m., Hawaii cast the last 4 votes of the day for Biden, who won a total of 306 votes. Trump won 232 votes.

Biden plans to address the nation on Monday evening, where he will stress that “the integrity of our elections remains intact”.

“And so now is the time to turn the page. To unite. To heal,” Biden will say, according to the snippets released by the transition.

Democratic voter Stacey Abrams leads her fellow voters through the process of voting for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris in the Georgia Senate Chambers in the Georgia State Capitol building in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, December 14. 2020.

Elijah Nouvelage | Reuters

Voting in the electoral college is usually a formality that takes place more than a month after the vote is cast on election day. But Trump’s unprecedented legal and legislative efforts to reverse election results this year have made the process more important.

The president, his campaigning and political allies have filed dozens of lawsuits since election day, urging federal and state courts to invalidate the election results on the basis of countless unfounded allegations of irregularities.

These efforts failed repeatedly, prompting the president to change tactics in early December and personally pressure the Republican legislature to intervene in the selection of individual voters. This has also failed so far.

Still, Trump continues to falsely claim that he was not Biden, the legitimate winner of the November election, and that he was the victim of a massive, coordinated nationwide conspiracy to change the votes in Biden’s favor.

In Pennsylvania (below) and Arizona, two major swing states that Biden won, Trump supporters met outside their state capitals on Monday to protest the election of the electoral college.

A small group of Trump supporters march with flags as voters gather to cast their votes for the U.S. presidential election at the State Capitol complex in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the United States, on December 14, 2020.

Joanathan Ernst | Reuters

In Michigan, voters were given police escorts under threat of violence in the state capital. A Republican official was stripped of committee assignments by GOP leaders Monday after refusing to rule out violence in the capital, Lansing, during the election.

Meanwhile, Congressional Republicans, fearful of angering their Trump-loving voters, have largely lagged behind the president and have refused to recognize Biden’s victory.

After voters officially register their votes for the President and Vice-President, the next big event in the electoral college process is a joint congressional session on January 6th when both houses will officially count the votes.

Vice President Mike Pence, in his formal role as President of the Senate, is expected to lead the trial on January 6th. These tasks also include announcing the results.

All congressional objections to voting must be submitted in writing and signed by at least one member of the House and one senator. If an objection is raised, the two chambers will consider the objection separately.

Alabama Republican MP Mo Brooks has already announced that he will question the results of the House Electoral College census. In the Senate, Wisconsin’s Ron Johnson has not ruled out filing a similar objection.

But not all Republicans are in favor of Brooks’ plan to increase the number of elections to challenge the results, which are sure to fail. And several Republican senators, who have yet to publicly acknowledge Biden’s victory, have announced that they will accept the results of Monday’s vote in the electoral college as the final verdict on the 2020 presidential election.

Still, some Republicans’ rejection of Biden’s victory in Congress is likely to extend into January and beyond.

In a December 6 poll by the Washington Post of all 249 Republicans in Congress, only 27 said they would accept Biden as legally elected president. Another 220 GOP lawmakers gave an unclear answer or didn’t respond, and two, Brooks and Rep. Paul A. Gosar of Arizona, said they believed Trump was the rightful election winner.

Since Election Day, Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris have tried largely to defy Trump’s increasingly desperate campaign to reverse the results.

While a small team of Biden campaign lawyers oversees Trump’s lawsuits, the former vice president goes through a formal transition process, announcing his candidates for his new cabinet, and putting forward a plan to aggressively fight the coronavirus pandemic during his first 100 days in office .

Biden and Harris are sworn in as President and Vice President of the United States on January 20, the day of their inauguration.

Categories
Entertainment

Kelly Clarkson and Garth Brooks’s Cowl of “Shallow” Simply Hits Completely different

Kelly Clarkson and Garth Brooks's Cover of "Shallow" Just Hits Different

Kelly Clarkson keeps surprising us with her incredible music covers. During the December 14 episode of The Kelly Clarkson ShowClarkson has teamed up with country singer Garth Brooks to play a special performance of Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s 2018 “Shallow” A star Is Bornand it was just beautiful. Between Clarkson’s chill-inducing vocals and the way the two harmonized, we thought we’d heard every “Shallow” cover under the sun by now, but we were wrong. As you may recall, Clarkson already covered the track in 2019, but this version of Brooks hits is completely different. Now check out their duet above.

Categories
Business

Perez Hilton Was Banned From TikTok. Why?

Perez Hilton Was Banned From TikTok. Why?

Mr. Hilton’s TikTok posts fall into a loose category in the TeaTok or MessyTok app, as they often consist of gossip, celebrity drama analysis, and comments. Similar accounts, including Drama Alert and TikTok Room, have become monetized media companies with employees or contributors. (Mr. Hilton also made approximately $ 3,000 per month on TikTok’s Creator Fund program.)

“I think the reason I got permanently banned without warning is because I talked about a lot of developers on TikTok,” said Hilton in a video posted on YouTube and Twitter. “But I didn’t harass or bully and TikTok said it was me.”

Mr Hilton posted several tearful videos on YouTube and Twitter, refuting the idea that he had ever broken any guidelines, and asking Ms. D’Amelio and her family to lift the ban.

In emails received from the New York Times between Mr. Hilton and Anthony Fernandez, a content partnerships manager at TikTok, Mr. Hilton also asked the company to restore his account, claiming that the ones he shared Content, including those related to Black Lives Matter and so-called “Karens”, had newsworthiness. “I share this for a valuable asset. And they are never removed from another platform, ”he wrote.

“There’s nothing I can do right now,” Fernandez replied. “Our community guidelines apply to everyone and everything that is shared on TikTok. You have violated several community guidelines, some of which even have a zero tolerance rule. Thank you for understanding and respecting our commitment to the safety of the TikTok community. “

In a previous email to Mr. Hilton, Mr. Fernandez alleged that Mr. Hilton violated several community guidelines, “including posting content that contains fuzziness and hate speech, sexual behavior and nudity, and bullying”. Mr Hilton denied this, noting that he posted many of his TikTok videos on YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram and that none of those sites ever removed his videos.

“No matter what, I’m still Perez Hilton,” he said on the phone on Sunday. “I’m bigger than any app or anything. People will still find me and hire me and let me do things. I am excited about the future. “

Categories
Business

UAW union settles corruption probe with Justice Division

UAW union settles corruption probe with Justice Department

UAW President Rory Gamble (left) and US attorney Matthew Schneider announce a settlement agreement in Detroit on December 14, 2020 to end a year-long corruption investigation into the union.

Michael Wayland / CNBC

DETROIT – The federal prosecutor has agreed to end a multi-year corruption investigation into the United Auto Workers as part of a proposed civil settlement that includes an independent monitor that will oversee the American union for six years.

US attorney Matthew Schneider and UAW President Rory Gamble said Monday that the deal, which has yet to be formally approved by the government, comes after months of negotiations between the two sides, including several voluntary reforms by the union.

Other requirements under the contract are that the union hold a nationwide vote to potentially reform its voting process and make certain repayments, including a $ 1.5 million payment to the Internal Revenue Service. The UAW has already repaid approximately $ 15 million to training centers for improper chargebacks uncovered by officials.

“Today we are joining forces to announce that the UAW, one of the largest and most respected unions in the world, is now on its way to being free from corruption,” Schneider said during a joint press conference on Monday in the US Detroit District Attorney’s Office. “During our five-year investigation we have uncovered a staggering level of corruption and fraud by a number of senior UAW leaders.”

The investigation has led to convictions of 15 people, including two former UAW presidents, three Fiat Chrysler executives and a former General Motors board member who was a union leader. The prison terms for those involved ranged from 60 days to 6½ years. A handful of people are still waiting to be sentenced.

Schneider said the deal ended the UAW’s investigation, but more people could be charged if other illegal activities were exposed. He stressed that gambling is not a goal. He said the investigations into Fiat Chrysler and Ford Motor are still ongoing. He reaffirmed that GM is no longer a target of the probe.

“This is for our members,” Gamble said during the press event. “Today is about them. Today is about justice for their very hard-earned dues and the things they provide not just in society but in their individual communities as a whole.”

UAW President Rory Gamble (left) and US attorney Matthew Schneider clash after a settlement agreement was announced in Detroit on December 14, 2020 to end a year-long corruption investigation against the union.

Michael Wayland / CNBC

Schneider thanked Gamble for their cooperation and leading the union to reach the settlement. Gamble called the US attorney “brother” at least twice, a term that is often used in the union among members. The two ended the press conference with a punch.

The independent observer, who must be approved by the government, will not be involved in collective bargaining between the union and the companies in which its members work. The six year period can be shorter or longer depending on the needs and recommendations of the monitor.

“We are determined to make the work of the monitor very boring,” said Gamble, adding that members of the union’s highest board of directors agreed to the settlement. “We will continue to do everything in our power to ensure that past mistakes are never repeated.”

When the union’s federal investigation was published in July 2017, it focused on a training center jointly operated by the UAW and Fiat Chrysler. But it was quickly expanded to perform similar operations with GM and Ford.

Categories
Health

Not all seniors will get Covid vaccine rapidly. Most should wait

Not all seniors will get Covid vaccine quickly. Most will have to wait

Ergin Yalcin | E + | Getty Images

For the nation’s oldest seeking protection from Covid, the waiting game has begun.

Shipments of 2.9 million doses of the first U.S.-approved coronavirus vaccine began on Sunday and resulted in hundreds of locations across the country. Because initial supply is limited – the total US population is around 330 million – the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that priority be given to healthcare workers and residents of long-term care facilities during this first phase.

In other words, without the elderly in these facilities – including nursing homes and the like – the 65-year-old and the elderly may need to be patient.

“Seniors might start vaccinating in the first quarter, but it really will depend on how quickly the supply increases,” said Jennifer Kates, senior vice president and director of global health and HIV policy for the Kaiser Family Foundation.

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The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved Pfizer and BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine for emergency use in people aged 16 and over. One from Moderna could also get similar approval from the FDA in the coming days.

“If the Moderna vaccine gets approved this week, it will help because there will be more coverage,” Kates said.

According to a CDC advisory committee, demand is expected to outstrip supply in the first few months of the vaccination program. Although the vaccine will be phased out and administered to prioritize the most vulnerable populations, it is not certain how long it will take to cover each of these audiences.

According to a new Kaiser study, 19.7 million adults work in the healthcare sector, of which 15.5 million have direct patient contact. Around 2 million people live between nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

Introducing the Pfizer vaccine is a complex federal and state undertaking. Not only does the vaccine need to be stored at subzero temperatures and handled according to strict protocols, but it also requires two doses three weeks apart.

While Medicare – which insures a large proportion of the 65-year-olds and the elderly – recently changed its rules to fully cover a fast-moving vaccine, individual states are tasked with actually distributing the doses and identifying priority populations to be vaccinated. All states generally follow federal recommendations for their initial audiences, Kates said, adding that some have an expanded list of priorities.

What [the advisory committee] In reflection it has been said that they are very likely to recommend that key workers come next, then seniors and those with existing medical conditions.

Jennifer Kates

Senior Vice President at the Kaiser Family Foundation

It is uncertain which groups the CDC will recommend for prioritization after the first round of reporting or whether an earlier target of 20 million people vaccinated by the end of the year will be achieved. However, the Agency’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices last month suggested that the next priority population should be people 65 and over, critical workers, and those with underlying medical conditions who are at higher risk for Covid complications.

“What [the advisory committee] has said on reflection that they are very likely to recommend that key workers come next, and then seniors and those with existing medical conditions, “Kates said.

If these three populations focused on health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities, an estimated 87 million vital workers, more than 53 million people aged 65 and over, and 100 million would be targeted with high-risk medical conditions, Kaiser finds in new research.

Availability also depends on how many doses each state is receiving, which is currently based on each state’s adult population. However, there aren’t the same proportions of audiences across all states – for example, some have more health care workers while others have more nursing home residents, Kates said.

“It’s possible that some of the initial assignments might not match,” Kates said.

According to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University, the pandemic has killed at least 299,191 people in the United States, with the number of cases over 16.25 million. These numbers account for around 19% of the 1.6 million Covid deaths worldwide and 23% of the 72.3 million cases worldwide.

CDC data shows that of approximately 262,000 Covid deaths as of December 9, more than 209,000 people were 65 years of age or older. Overall, residents of long-term care facilities have caused about 40% of deaths in the United States from Covid to date, according to the CDC.