Author: Gloria Cote

Categories
Politics

Joe Biden selects Pete Buttigieg as Transportation secretary

Joe Biden selects Pete Buttigieg as Transportation secretary

U.S. 2020 Democratic Presidential Candidates Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Former Vice President Joe Biden, pose on the second night of the first Democratic Presidential Candidate Debate in Miami, Florida on June 27, 2019.

Carlo Allegri | Reuters

President-elect Joe Biden has elected former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg to be his transportation secretary, three people familiar with the discussions told NBC News.

Buttigieg, who opposed Biden in the 2020 primary, is expected to play a central role in the future president’s plans to restore and repair roads and bridges in the United States

The president-elect has said for months that smart, climate-friendly infrastructure projects can help the US emerge stronger from the coronavirus recession and support thousands of jobs.

A spokesman for the Biden transition team did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

The 38-year-old Buttigieg quickly became a household name in the 2020 elections as the younger but still moderate option for Democrats hoping to prevent a second term for President Donald Trump.

Although Buttigieg was eliminated from the race in March 2020 despite winning in Iowa, the openly gay politician soon approved of Biden as president.

The president-elect has often lauded Buttigieg as a symbol of the next generation of Democrats and was widely expected to be appointed to a senior administrative post.

A Biden business ally told CNBC that Buttigieg could have a huge impact on the government’s infrastructure proposal as it is not tied to stagnant talks in Congress about paying for such a plan.

“He’s not inhibited by the restrictions on Capitol Hill,” the person said. I “haven’t spoken to him yet, but I’ll be sure when it happens.”

This person declined to be named in order to speak freely.

Among the many proposals made by the Biden campaign was a $ 2 trillion plan that, coupled with its climate goals, would “build new American infrastructure and a clean energy economy.”

The expansive plan includes more general investments in roads and bridges, as well as more specific proposals like providing high-quality, zero-emission public transportation to any American city of 100,000 or more residents.

Buttigieg, a military veteran, is perhaps best known in politics for his two terms as Mayor of South Bend from 2012 to 2020.

During his tenure, the city embarked on extensive urban development and revitalization projects similar to those that Biden campaigned for to revitalize American infrastructure.

Critics of his time as mayor said his revitalization plans for South Bend did not necessarily have helped racist minorities as much as hoped.

For example, many were optimistic about his plans to demolish or repair almost all of the city’s vacant houses, a demanding initiative that experts believed was impossible. The program focused on the city’s low-income black and Hispanic neighborhoods, where homes were in disrepair.

And while many said they were glad that derelict structures were removed, they complained about the lack of planning of what would fill the space.

– CNBC’s Brian Schwartz contributed to the coverage.

Categories
World News

The primary Covid-19 vaccines deliver People hope in small doses.

The first Covid-19 vaccines bring Americans hope in small doses.

Some of the medical centers that have seen the worst coronavirus outbreak in the United States found the darkness that has long filled their corridors replaced with exhilaration and hope on Monday as healthcare workers first participated in a targeted mass vaccination campaign at the end of the pandemic.

Hundreds of those who have been on the front lines fighting Covid-19 – a nurse from an intensive care unit in New York, an emergency doctor from Ohio, a housekeeper in Iowa – received vaccinations in emotional ceremonies watched by people around the country .

“I have a feeling healing is coming,” said Sandra Lindsay, an intensive care director who was among the first health workers to be vaccinated on Monday morning at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens.

The vaccinations came when the nation topped 300,000 coronavirus deaths, a higher number than any other country. Even when there was applause in hospitals, many intensive care units remained almost full.

Doctors, nurses, aides, cleaners, and at least one manager who said he would get the vaccine early to encourage all staff to do the same.

Dr. Jason Smith, the first Kentuckian to receive the Covid-19 vaccine, showed off the smiley face patch a health care worker put on his arm. “I didn’t even feel it,” he said.

A group of nuns in Sioux Falls, SD, blessed the vaccine upon arrival before it was placed in a freezer.

Seth Jackson, an Iowa City nurse, cried on the way to the hospital to get his shot. Robin Mercier, a Rhode Island nurse, was delighted to be one step closer than she could kiss her grandchild.

For many Americans who lost loved ones to Covid-19, the introduction of vaccination has been bittersweet. It didn’t come soon enough for Mary Smith’s husband Mike, who died of the virus in November at the age of 64.

“It was so close,” said Ms. Smith, who lives outside of Peoria, Illinois, on Monday.

She expressed frustration with people who said they did not trust the vaccine. “These people who say, ‘I don’t get it,’ all I can say is, ‘Why? Have you lost your mind? Added Ms. Smith. “Didn’t you see how many people died? That is real.'”

Categories
Entertainment

Sundance Goes Digital With a Extra Accessible 2021 Lineup

Sundance Goes Virtual With a More Accessible 2021 Lineup

The movies still feel like Sundance. But without the snow, parties and all the full premieres, will Sundance still feel like Sundance?

That is the question hanging in the air Tuesday after the Sundance Film Festival announced a 2021 program that will feature intriguing independent film titles, including the racial drama “Passing,” starring Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga, the documentary “ Rebel Hearts, “And Sundance’s only curiosity,” Cryptozoo, “a bizarre animated film about a zoo inhabited by mythological creatures with the voice of Michael Cera.

But the sprawling festival, which usually winds up over a cold week and a half in Park City, Utah, had to go largely online this year amid a still raging pandemic. This is a unique challenge for Tabitha Jackson, who this year became the festival’s new director after six years as director of the Sundance Institute’s documentary program.

When Jackson took the position of outgoing director John Cooper last February – a promotion that made her both the first woman and the first black person to lead Sundance – she wondered what made her the most revered independent film festival in the world World could bring. “I looked at an incredible machine that is almost 40 years old,” she said in an interview, “and thought,” What role will I play in it? “

Just a month later, it was clear that Jackson’s opening year was going to be far from typical. In March, the rapidly growing Covid-19 pandemic forced the South-by-Southwest Festival to be canceled just days before the planned event. Cinemas across the country soon closed, and some of the most talked-about titles from Sundance 2020, such as the rough-and-tumble comedy “Zola,” have been removed from the calendar with no release date.

By June, Jackson knew that she had to schedule a Sundance, which was mainly played on the Internet. “The core of the festival, being digital, seemed necessary only to our public health and our health, so that we could have some certainty about what we were up to,” she said. And much to the surprise of the programmers, the flood of submissions largely kept up with the previous year.

Program director Kim Yutani said, “The difference was negligible, which was really scary and very encouraging.”

Even so, Jackson was determined to downsize the sometimes crowded Sundance cast: the 2021 program consists of 72 features, down from the usual 120, and the festival has contracted a bit and now runs from January 28th to February 3rd. “Other festivals have chosen to go longer – we have chosen to be shorter and more concise,” said Jackson. “It’s a more intense burst of energy.”

In addition to an online platform that will make these films more accessible to audiences outside Park City than ever before, Sundance will add a virtual hangout where viewers can talk to each other and recommend things they’ve seen. That sense of excitement, Jackson said, “is such a value that we have at the personal festival where people in shuttle buses talk about movies they have just seen and liked. We wanted to recreate that. “

High-profile films designed to make people chat include the suicide pact comedy “On the Count of Three” by actor-director Jerrod Carmichael, “CODA”, a drama about a young woman with deaf parents, and “Land”, the directorial debut of actress Robin Wright from the “House of Cards”. (Of the films selected for the festival’s two narrative competition lineups, 50 percent are made by women.)

Sundance has a robust documentary series too, and Jackson is particularly high in “Summer Of Soul (… Or When The Revolution Couldn’t Be Televised),” a musical documentary about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, an event celebrating Africa – American music that took place the same summer as Woodstock. Directed by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson.

Jackson even put together a contingency plan for in-person premieres: depending on the curfew level and public health guidelines in late January, some of these Sundance films could also be seen at drive-in screenings in major cities and in independent cinemas across the way the country. “We still hope that audiences across the country can go somewhere to see a movie together,” she said. “We’ll plan until we can’t anymore.”

However, if that plan fails, Jackson hopes a virtual Sundance can still convey the same magic from a laptop or TV in the living room. And if the audience is really eager to simulate the Sundance experience, they can always put on a woolen hat or thick coat before they hit play.

“We want people to get dressed for Sundance, whatever that means,” Jackson said with a laugh. “So if you want to be wrapped in warm winter clothes, take a picture of it and we will put it on the online platform.”

The full list is available at sundance.org.

Categories
Business

One Wild Mink Close to Utah Fur Farms Exams Optimistic for the Coronavirus

One Wild Mink Near Utah Fur Farms Tests Positive for the Coronavirus

A wild mink in Utah tested positive for the coronavirus. Mink on fur farms in the area became infected with the virus, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, along with other government agencies, tested wildlife for possible infections that could spread from those farms.

The division reported the case to the World Organization for Animal Health, noting that it appeared to be the first wild animal to naturally become infected with the virus that has infected mink in a number of fur farms around the world.

The virus has spread from people to mink and in some cases back again. A mutant strain of the virus that jumped back to humans from the mink caused Denmark to kill all of its mink and wiped out a large industry. No further evidence has supported initial concerns that the mutated variant of the virus might affect the usefulness of vaccines, but scientists are still concerned about how easily the virus can spread on mink farms.

“This is an important reminder that farm (and human) resorting to wildlife is also a real thing and needs to be on our radar,” said Jonathan Epstein, vice president of science and outreach for the EcoHealth Alliance, of the positive test in wild mink. Dr. Epstein and other scientists and conservationists have warned of the possibility that the coronavirus could establish itself in some wildlife species.

ProMed, an information site for the International Society for Infectious Diseases, published a note from Thomas DeLiberto and Susan Shriner of the Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Phytosanitary Inspection Service describing the test results.

They said that the positive test showed a virus with the same genome that had been found in infected mink, but that a test did not mean the virus was now spreading in the wild. “There is currently no evidence that SARS-CoV-2 was circulated or established in wild populations around the infected mink farms. Several animals from different wild animal species were sampled, all the others tested negative, ”the statement said.

“Finding a virus in a wild mink but not in other nearby wildlife likely indicates an isolated event, but we should take all of this information seriously,” said Tony L. Goldberg of the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine -Madison. He added, “Controlling viruses in humans is ultimately the best way to prevent them from spreading to animals.”

Categories
World News

Dow rebounds, rising greater than 100 factors as new stimulus proposal unveiled

Dow rebounds, rising more than 100 points as new stimulus proposal unveiled

Shares traded higher on Tuesday as Congress resumed negotiations on another economic bailout package and rolled out Covid-19 vaccines across the country.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 100 points, or 0.3%. The S&P 500 was up 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.7%.

Apple led the Dow up 3.5% after Nikkei reported the company will increase iPhone production by about 30% in the first half of 2021. Technology and energy were the top performing sectors in the S&P 500, up 1.2% each.

Legislators released the latest proposal for another round of economic relief on Monday evening, splitting an earlier bipartisan proposal into two parts.

The new plan sees $ 748 billion in spending on programs popular on both sides of the aisle, including an additional $ 300 a week on federal unemployment benefits and another $ 300 billion on more under-line loans of the paycheck protection program.

A second $ 160 billion bill would cover the more controversial areas of corporate liability protection and financial assistance to state and local governments.

In addition, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin discussed the stimulus proposal and broader government funding negotiations on Monday evening, Pelosi spokesperson Drew Hammill said on Twitter. The couple “discussed the urgency of the committees to finish their work as soon as possible,” said Hammill.

The most recent move towards a business cycle deal is for investors and Americans as a whole to grapple with bleak near-term prospects but prospects for economic growth and the possible end of the pandemic in 2021.

The first round of shooting with the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech was conducted in the United States on Monday. However, according to the Johns Hopkins University, the country has also recorded 300,000 deaths from Covid-19. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio also warned residents that a complete shutdown might be needed to protect the city’s hospitals.

Luke Tilley, chief economist at Wilmington Trust, said another stimulus package was needed to keep the economic recovery from stalling before the vaccine can be distributed.

“With cases continuing to rise and mass vaccinations that are still ongoing, we could see further weakness in jobs and even a flattening where we’re not creating any new jobs at all … that’s absolutely an opportunity for this next job report. ” Said Tilley. “And if we didn’t get another stimulus package, 10 to 11 million people would immediately fall off the unemployed list, and that would also weigh on spending.”

On Tuesday morning, the Food and Drug Administration announced that Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine data is in line with emergency expectations, a crucial step ahead of full approval. If the FDA gives the vaccine the green light, it will be the second after Pfizer to be approved for use in the United States. Moderna shares were down 3.4%.

The move in stocks follows a mixed session on Monday, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and small-cap Russell 2000 rising, while the S&P 500 and Dow falling. The S&P 500’s 0.4% decline was the fourth consecutive negative day.

Despite the recent weakness in the S&P 500 and the Dow, the three major indices are trading near record highs that have risen sharply for the year. David Waddell, chief investment strategist at wealth advisory firm Waddell and Associates, said this could mitigate the normally bullish seasonal trend for stocks.

“We might have a little Santa Claus rally already,” said Waddell. “Ordinarily the markets would accelerate from here until the end of the year, and they could do it again, but the run has been so strong that I would not be surprised, and actually I would prefer the market to consolidate its gains. A. . little bit.”

The Federal Reserve will begin its two-day December meeting on Tuesday with a policy statement and press conference for Chairman Jerome Powell on Wednesday.

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Categories
Health

Moderna Vaccine Is Extremely Protecting and Prevents Extreme Covid, Knowledge Present

Moderna Vaccine Is Highly Protective and Prevents Severe Covid, Data Show

WASHINGTON – Newly released data confirmed on Tuesday that Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine offers high levels of protection and sets the stage for this week’s emergency approval from federal regulators and beginning its spread across the country.

The Food and Drug Administration intends to approve use of the vaccine on Friday, said people familiar with the agency’s plans. The decision would give millions of Americans access to a second coronavirus vaccine as early as Monday.

The FDA review confirms Moderna’s earlier assessment that the vaccine had an efficacy rate of 94.1 percent in a study of 30,000 people. Side effects, including fever, headache, and fatigue, were uncomfortable but not dangerous, the agency found.

The success of Moderna’s vaccine has become all the more important to fighting the pandemic as other vaccine efforts have stalled. The hopeful news comes at a time with a record number of coronavirus cases overwhelming hospitals and an ever-increasing death toll that hit a bleak milestone of 300,000 on Monday.

The data release is the first step in a public review process that includes a one-day meeting on Thursday by an independent panel of experts. You will hear from Moderna, FDA scientists, and the public before they vote on whether to recommend approval. The panel is expected to vote yes and the FDA generally follows the experts’ recommendations.

Distribution of about six million doses could then begin next week, significantly adding to the millions of doses already developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, the companies that only released the first emergency coronavirus vaccine last Friday . Healthcare workers received the first shots of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine Monday with an efficacy rate of 95 percent.

The introduction of vaccines has been eagerly anticipated and is one of the most ambitious vaccination campaigns ever carried out in the United States.

Last summer, the federal government signed contracts with Moderna and Pfizer to dispense a total of 200 million cans in the first quarter of 2021. Since both vaccines require two doses, these contracts guaranteed enough doses for 100 million people.

Last week the government announced that it had bought an additional 100 million doses of Moderna for the second quarter, bringing the number of Americans who can be vaccinated to 150 million. That leaves the question of how and when the 180 million or so other Americans will be covered.

Both vaccines are made available to the public free of charge.

Moderna’s vaccine has become a symbol of government scientists’ successes during the pandemic. After China released the genetic sequence of the new virus in early January, scientists from Moderna and the National Institutes of Health were able to focus on designing a vaccine in just two days. Unlike Pfizer, Moderna has a close relationship with Operation Warp Speed, the federal program that seeks to get a vaccine to market quickly. Nearly $ 2.5 billion federal funding helped Moderna buy raw materials, expand its factory, and increase its workforce by 50 percent.

Moderna’s success contrasts with two other high profile projects the US had hoped would increase vaccine supply: one from pharmaceutical companies Sanofi from France and GlaxoSmithKline from the UK and one from Anglo-Swedish drug maker AstraZeneca and the Oxford University.

AstraZeneca and Oxford used two different doses in clinical trials in the UK and Brazil. The effectiveness was 62 percent at one level and 90 percent at the other. These jumbled results have made it unclear when AstraZeneca will have enough data to obtain an emergency clearance.

Meanwhile, Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline received disappointing results with their vaccine in early clinical trials. While it produced a promising immune response in volunteers under the age of 50, it did not do so in older people. The companies are now planning a series of new studies with a different version of the vaccine. Due to the delay, they are unlikely to provide vaccines before the end of 2021.

Moderna’s vaccine worked equally well in white volunteers and in color communities. There was also no significant difference between protecting men and women or between healthy volunteers and those at risk for severe Covid-19 who developed conditions such as obesity and diabetes. For people aged 65 and over, the study found an estimated effectiveness of 86.4 percent, which is below the overall estimate of 94.1 percent. However, the apparent difference was not statistically significant.

So far, FDA reviews have shown two possible differences between vaccines, but the results may reflect a lack of data more than real differences. The Pfizer BioNTech study showed that the vaccine began protecting against the coronavirus within about 10 days of the first dose. The experiment with the vaccine from Moderna, however, did not show such a noticeable effect after the first dose.

However, in the early days of the Moderna study, there were fewer cases of Covid-19 among study participants, making it more difficult to measure the differences between the vaccinated group and the placebo group. In either case, health officials have said that for both vaccines, two doses are essential for complete protection.

Updated

Dec. 15, 2020 at 9:31 am ET

A second difference concerns the ability to prevent serious diseases. Moderna presented more evidence that its vaccine can, according to the review. In his study, 30 volunteers developed severe cases of Covid. All of them belonged to the placebo group, with no cases among the vaccinated people.

In the Pfizer BioNTech study, the results were less convincing. There were 10 severe cases in the placebo group and one in the vaccinated group. These numbers are too few to assess the vaccine’s ability to prevent serious diseases.

“The data available for these results did not allow firm conclusions,” said the FDA.

The documents released on Tuesday made it clear that side effects were particularly common after the second dose, but usually lasted only one day. Experts say people may need to take a day off after the shot.

During the Moderna trial, researchers also kept an eye out for volunteers who developed new disorders. In a multi-month study of 30,000 volunteers, it is normal for some to have conditions unrelated to the vaccine, health experts say. Comparing the rates between people receiving the vaccine and placebo, as well as general background rates, can help identify serious concerns and eliminate coincidences.

During the Moderna study, three vaccinated participants developed a form of temporary facial paralysis called Bell’s palsy, while one participant on the placebo experienced the same. Bell’s palsy, which can last weeks or longer, can be triggered by viral infections and other causes. Around 40,000 people develop the disease in the United States each year. Years of intensive research have found no evidence that any vaccine routinely recommended in the US causes Bell’s palsy.

In the review released Tuesday, the FDA said, “There is insufficient information currently available to establish a causal relationship with the vaccine.”

The Pfizer BioNTech study identified four cases in the vaccine group, including one in a person with a history of the disorder and none in the placebo group.

Dr. Peter Marks, the FDA’s lead vaccine regulator, said in an interview with JAMA Monday that the cases of Bell’s palsy in the study were most likely not caused by the vaccine and that the apparent difference between the two groups of volunteers was only one reason Random question.

“Our working hypothesis is just that this is an imbalance in the background rates, as we’ve seen in other studies,” he said.

In its analysis of the Moderna vaccine released Tuesday, the FDA said it plans to recommend prosecuting Bell palsy cases when the vaccines are rolled out.

“We’re going to ask about this just to wrap up that question,” said Dr. Marks on Monday.

The FDA’s analysis did not reveal any serious allergic reactions to the Moderna vaccine. The same was true for the Pfizer-BioNTech clinical trial, but when vaccinations began in the UK outside of that study, two people with a history of serious allergies had a severe and potentially life-threatening reaction called anaphylaxis.

UK health officials have said people with a history of anaphylaxis should avoid the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine.

In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has stated that people with serious allergies can be safely vaccinated, with close monitoring for 30 minutes after receiving the shot.

Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines are similar in their ingredients, but not identical. Therefore, it is not clear whether an allergic reaction to one vaccine would occur with the other. Both are made up of genetic material called mRNA that is enclosed in a bladder made of a mixture of fats. The two companies use different fats.

Moderna has applied for approval to vaccinate people aged 18 and over, as in its study. The Pfizer BioNTech vaccine was approved for people aged 16 and over because the study included a number of younger volunteers. Both companies are conducting experiments with children aged 12 and over and plan to also study younger children.

Sharon LaFraniere contributed to the coverage.

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Categories
Business

Smartphones and algorithms may rework the upkeep of cities

Smartphones and algorithms could transform the maintenance of cities

Potholes can be a dangerous hazard for road users around the world.

georgeclerk | E + | Getty Images

From street lights and crossroads to trash cans and sidewalks, the cities we live in require constant maintenance and upkeep to ensure they are functioning properly.

Roads are no different: Large cracks and potholes pose a number of potentially dangerous hazards for drivers, pedestrians, cyclists and local authorities.

According to the 2020 edition of the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) annual road maintenance survey, preventing such deterioration can have significant financial implications.

In FY 2019/20, the “reactive” repair of filling a single pothole in England, London and Wales cost an average of £ 70.91 ($ 94.86). When this repair was scheduled, the AIA report puts the average cost at £ 43.10.

Given the above, it may come as no surprise that a number of companies and organizations are currently working on systems and processes to identify problems on the road before they become a major problem.

Earlier this year the UK Department of Transport announced that it would be working with local motorway authorities, digital mapping company Gaist and companies such as Uber, Deliveroo and Ocado to identify what are known as “pothole hotspots” in England.

And on Monday, Statkraft Ventures, backed by the state-owned Kraftkraft Group, a Norwegian state-owned energy company, announced that it has invested in Vialytics, a German company that uses windshield-mounted smartphones and algorithms to monitor road conditions.

Put simply, the system that Vialytics uses includes a specially adapted smartphone that is attached to the windshield of a vehicle.

The user opens an app on the phone that collects road-based data such as markings, cracks and manholes. This information is passed on to the company’s system, which uses an algorithm to analyze the images for damage.

Any problems detected by the system are then georeferenced and uploaded to the company’s web GIS – a visual tool that allows users to see where maintenance may be required.

Statkraft Ventures said the new investment – the announcement did not reveal the amount – would allow Vialytics to “further accelerate its expansion as a partner for cities and towns”.

Back in England, the University of Liverpool announced in October that it had launched a new company focused on commercializing research related to road faults.

The overall goal of Robotiz3d Ltd is to use robotics and other technologies to improve how problems such as cracks and potholes on roads are detected and then corrected.

Going forward, the company – a joint venture established by the university in collaboration with A2e Ltd – will seek to develop its Autonomous Road Repair System (ARRES).

At the time, Paolo Paoletti, Robotiz3d’s chief technology officer, said the proposed system “would be able to autonomously detect and characterize road defects such as cracks and potholes, assess and predict the severity of such defects, and repair cracks with it they don’t develop. ” in potholes. “

Categories
Politics

‘Religion in Our Establishments Held’

‘Faith in Our Institutions Held’

The electoral college votes and confirms Biden’s victory. Now it’s official again. It’s Tuesday and this is your political tip. Sign up here to receive On Politics in your inbox every weekday.

Stacey Abrams, Chair of the Georgian Electoral College, spoke to voters at the Georgia State Capitol yesterday.

“I’m afraid we would lose our country forever.”

These were the stark and unwavering words of Republican Speaker for the Michigan House of Representatives, Lee Chatfield, when making a statement yesterday just a few hours earlier he and Mike Shirkey, the Republican majority leader in the Senate, confirmed Michigan’s 16 votes for Biden.

“I can’t believe risking our norms, traditions and institutions to pass a resolution that will change voters retrospectively for Trump, simply because some believe there has been enough widespread fraud to make him win to bestow, “wrote Chatfield.

Trump had called him and Shirkey to the White House last month trying to convince them to replace the state’s voters with a vote in the state legislature. As supporters of the president, with their own political ambitions and representing a state where Trump is still very popular with Republicans, Chatfield and Shirkey were ready to meet and listen to him.

But they ultimately rejected his plan, becoming canaries in the mine for other Republicans at the state and national levels across the country who are now trying to balance their loyalty to the president with unwillingness to follow his undemocratic behavior.

It’s not an easy political task: More than two-thirds of Republican voters across the country believe Trump was unjustly deprived of his election victory, according to a poll by Fox News last week. Sixty-six percent of Republicans said the president’s election challenges actually helped American democracy, and even more – 71 percent – wanted him to run again in 2024.

For Democrats and Independents, who overwhelmingly believe that Biden won fair and fair, things are very different.

In Washington, Republican leaders are beginning to let go of their long-standing unwavering loyalty to Trump as top senators stepped forward after the electoral college vote yesterday to recognize Biden as president-elect and Kamala Harris as vice-president-elect.

“I understand there are people who take the outcome of this election very seriously, but in the end you have to face the music at some point,” said Senator John Thune, the No. 2 Republican in the Chamber, at the Capitol. “And I think once the electoral college has resolved the problem today, it will be time for everyone to move on.”

That change of tone didn’t come soon enough for Michigan Republican Paul Mitchell, who was so disgusted by his party’s refusal to confront Trump about his disinformation campaign that he quit the GOP

Mitchell, who did not run for re-election this year and was already planning to retire from Congress, announced the news yesterday in a letter to senior Republican officials. He warned that they would help Trump “do long-term damage to our democracy” by believing his unfounded allegations of election fraud.

Mitchell plans to spend the remainder of his tenure as an independent.

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Is there anything you think we are missing? Do you want to see more? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at onpolitics@nytimes.com.

Categories
Health

London to maneuver into prime tier of restrictions

London to move into top tier of restrictions

Commuters walk the Thames Path with a view of Tower Bridge in London, UK on Monday 14 December 2020.

Hollie Adams | Bloomberg via Getty Images

LONDON – London is being placed in England’s toughest coronavirus restrictions on Wednesday morning from midnight after a rapid surge in Covid-19 infection rates.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock confirmed the move on Monday when addressing lawmakers in the House of Commons. He said UK authorities had identified a new variant of the virus that could be linked to the faster spread of cases in the south-east of England.

“Initial analyzes indicate that this variant is growing faster than the existing variants,” said Hancock, adding that 1,000 cases of the new variant have been identified in England so far.

“There is currently no evidence that this variant is more likely to cause serious illness and, based on the latest clinical recommendations, it is highly unlikely that this mutation will not respond to a vaccine.”

Hancock said similar variants of the coronavirus had been identified in other countries in the past few months and that UK health officials had notified the World Health Organization. Public health experts would continue to analyze the newly identified variant of the virus in the UK, Hancock said.

Earlier this month the government put in place a three tier system of public health measures across England to contain the spread of the outbreak after a month-long lockdown.

At the time, millions of people across the country were placed in “Tier 3” but the UK capital was placed in the second highest level of restrictions.

A nationwide review of the tiered system was originally scheduled for December 16.

In addition to London, parts of Essex and Hertfordshire will move into “Tier 3” from 00:01 London time on Wednesday.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock arrives at the BBC Broadcasting House in London to appear on the Andrew Marr Show.

Aaron Chown | PA Images via Getty Images

“I know this is difficult news and I know that it will disrupt plans and that it will be a severe blow to the companies affected,” said Hancock.

“But this measure is absolutely necessary, not only to keep people safe, but because we have seen that taking action early can help prevent more damaging and longer-lasting problems later,” he added.

What does tier 3 mean?

Under Tier 3 restrictions, people cannot mix indoors, in private gardens, or in most outdoor locations.

Shops, gyms, and personal care services such as hairdressers are allowed to stay open, but bars, pubs, and restaurants must be closed except for takeaway and delivery.

“I know these steps are difficult, but we mustn’t waver when we hit the final stretch. When we look back on this period of crisis we can all say we played our part,” said Hancock.

Last week, the UK became the first country to vaccinate people with a coronavirus treatment that has been fully tested.

Margaret Keenan, then 90, made history as the first person in the world to receive the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine outside of the experimental conditions.

It is now being given out to front-line health workers, nursing home workers and those over the age of 80 before it becomes more widespread among the UK population.

It is hoped that a safe and effective vaccine can help end the coronavirus pandemic.

To date, more than 72.3 million people worldwide have become infected with Covid-19, with 1.61 million deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.

– CNBC’s Holly Ellyatt contributed to this report.

Categories
Business

Why Paying Folks to Be Vaccinated May Backfire

Why Paying People to Be Vaccinated Could Backfire

The approval of the first Covid-19 vaccine in the US was celebrated over the weekend as the beginning of the end of the pandemic. However, the road between giving off the first doses and getting widespread vaccination at rates that inhibit the spread of the coronavirus is far from easy. In addition to the logistical challenges of distributing the vaccine, people also need to be ready to take it. A new poll found that more than a quarter of Americans hesitate.

Two prominent economists, N. Gregory Mankiw and Robert Litan, and politicians John Delaney and Andrew Yang have proposed or supported paying Americans for the vaccine. At first glance, this seems like a reasonable idea; The economy teaches us that people respond to incentives. However, behavioral research suggests that this strategy could backfire.

Humans do not respond to incentives like rats pull levers for food. You are trying to interpret what it means to be offered. In this case, there is a risk that the vaccine will not be a valuable asset.

Studies cited in an article titled “Tom Sawyer and the Construction of Value” (referring to a famous section in the Mark Twain book where Tom convinces his friends that whitewashing a fence is a desirable activity ) have found that people are unsure whether something is good or bad, the prospect of payment helps them make negative decisions.

In one of the studies, a professor asked his students if they would attend a reading of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, and offered half of the students payment to attend the reading while the other half asked if they would would pay to attend. Those who were offered payment reported less interest in participating. For those who are unsure of whether to get vaccinated, like those who are unsure of whether to attend the poetry reading, paying will most likely send the message that this is something you are not want to do without compensation.

It’s also likely that people will conclude from the payment that the vaccine could be risky. In our research with Kevin Volpp and Alex London, we found that people naturally assume that payments are a risk. In a series of experiments, we have described clinical studies that offered different payment amounts for participating in a study with an unfamiliar test procedure. We found that when the payment was higher, people believed that the risk of a study was greater, even though the descriptions of the study procedures were otherwise identical. Paying people to be vaccinated could also lead them to conclude that it is riskier than they would otherwise assume.

Data so far suggests that Pfizer and Moderna’s early Covid-19 vaccine candidates are safe and effective – evidence that has already led to the Pfizer candidate’s emergency approval. Although direct payments for vaccinations could increase acceptance for some people in the short term, the effects just described could ultimately produce the exact opposite of the intended effects, especially for those unsure whether the risks of vaccination are outweighing the benefits.

Payments not only make the vaccine appear riskier, but they may also reduce the likelihood that people will be vaccinated for the selfless goal of helping others. Research shows that paying people for altruistic measures often backfires. In one study, Israeli students who raised for charity on a given day of the year raised less money than they were paid a small commission.

The report on the study, entitled “Pay Enough or Not Pay at All,” argued that the amount paid was too little to motivate students but enough to ask questions about students’ motives for doing have raised a lot of money in the minds of the people watching these students, and possibly even on the part of the student collectors themselves. The same logic would suggest that paying people for vaccination might decrease the motivation of those who are or like to be altruistic would do.

A more promising approach might be to make desired activities such as travel dependent on vaccination. Australian airline Qantas reports that it and other airlines are considering making vaccination compulsory for international air travel. When vaccination is associated with positive results, such as B. Travel and access to large public events, the vaccination itself is rated positively. When people see the various benefits of vaccination, skepticism will likely go away for at least some.

Ultimately, the circumstances surrounding the introduction of the vaccine can affect attitudes towards it. Given the complexities of making and distributing the vaccine, it is almost certain that it will be in short supply for months. The silver lining is that much research in marketing has shown that scarcity can be a huge demand stimulator. Seeing others want to be vaccinated and desperately waiting to get to the top could increase the likelihood that people will see the value of the vaccine and want it for themselves.

George Loewenstein is the Herbert A. Simon Professor of Economics and Psychology at Carnegie Mellon University. Cynthia Cryder is an Associate Professor of Marketing at Washington University’s Olin Business School in St. Louis.