Tag: Covid

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Business

When Covid Hit, China Was Able to Inform Its Model of the Story

When Covid Hit, China Was Ready to Tell Its Version of the Story

But Mr Rigoni, whose company is owned by former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, said he didn’t think China’s mix of media and state power was unique. “It is not the only country where major television and radio programs are controlled by the government or parliament,” he said.

And the Secretary General of the International Federation of Journalists, Anthony Bellanger, said in an email that his view on the report is: “While China is a growing force in information warfare, it is also important to respond to US pressure resist Russia and other governments around the world. “

However, there is no question which government is currently more involved in this campaign. A report by Sarah Cook last year for Freedom House, an American nonprofit advocating political freedom, found that Beijing “spends hundreds of millions of dollars a year getting its message across to audiences around the world.” .

The United States may have pioneered covert and overt influence during the Cold War, but the official channels of government have withered. The boastful CIA influence operations of the early Cold War, in which the agency secretly funded influential magazines like Encounter, gave way to American branches like Voice of America and Radio Liberty, which sought to expand American influence by broadcasting uncensored local news to authoritarian countries. After the Cold War, these became softer tools of American power.

More recently, President Donald J. Trump tried to turn these outlets into blunt propaganda tools and Democrats and their own journalists resisted. The lack of American consensus domestically about using its own media has resulted in the American government being unable to project much of anything. Instead, the cultural power of companies like Netflix and Disney – far more powerful and better funded than any government effort – has done the job.

And journalists around the world have voiced skepticism about the effectiveness of the propaganda from the often ham-handed Chinese government, a skepticism I no doubt shared when last week I recycled unread issues of China Daily that were sent to my home last week . The kind of propaganda that can work in China without a real journalistic response can barely compete in the intense open market for people’s attention.

“China is trying to get its content out in the Kenyan media, but it’s not that influential yet,” said Eric Oduor, secretary general of the Kenya Union of Journalists.

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Health

Fauci says face masks may turn out to be seasonal after Covid pandemic

U.S. will likely resume use of J&J Covid vaccine with a warning

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases, testifies on April 15, 2021 at the House Select subcommittee on the coronavirus crisis on Capitol Hill in Washington.

Susan Walsh | Pool | Reuters

WASHINGTON – The White House Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday that people might wear masks during certain times of the year when respiratory illnesses are more common.

“I think people got used to that, if you look at the data that reduces respiratory disease, if you look at the data, just because people were doing the kind of public health thing they had practically no flu season this year were mainly directed against Covid-19, “said Fauci during an interview on NBC’s Sunday program” Meet the Press “.

“So it is conceivable that in a year or two or more, if you suffer from respiratory viruses like the flu during certain seasonal periods, we will actually wear masks to reduce the chances of you spreading them through the airways transmitted diseases, “he added.

Fauci’s comments come less than a month after the Biden government announced a relaxation of federal health guidelines for wearing masks outdoors.

Visitors walk past a sign requiring face masks to stop the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on Memorial Day weekend in Bethany Beach, Delaware, May 24, 2020.

Kevin Lamarque | Reuters

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that fully vaccinated people can exercise outside and attend small gatherings without a face mask. The agency also recommends that fully vaccinated individuals wear a mask in crowded outdoor areas.

“We are just at the point where we can repeal these ordinances and allow people to resume their normal activities. Of course, we shouldn’t put any limits on gatherings in the open air and encourage people to go outside,” said Dr. Scott Gottlieb told the CBS Sunday program “Face the Nation”.

Gottlieb added that indoor public health measures should also be relaxed in states where coronavirus infections are low and vaccination rates are high.

“Covid will not go away, we will have to learn to live with it, but the risks have been reduced significantly thanks to vaccinations and immunity that people have acquired through previous infection,” said Gottlieb.

As of Saturday, more than 45% of the US population had received at least one dose of vaccine, including 33.9% who were fully vaccinated, according to CDC data.

Disclosure: Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC employee and a member of the boards of directors of Pfizer, the genetic testing startup Tempus, and the biotech company Illumina. Pfizer has signed a manufacturing agreement with Gilead for Remdesivir. Gottlieb is also co-chair of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and Royal Caribbean’s Healthy Sail Panel.

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Health

Nancy Messonnier, who warned of Covid risks, to resign from CDC

Nancy Messonnier, who warned of Covid dangers, to resign from CDC

National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases Director Nancy Messonnier speaks today during a press conference at the Department of Health and Human Services on the Coordinated Public Health Response to Coronavirus 2019 (2019-nCoV) January 28, 2020 in Washington, DC .

Samuel Corum

Dr. Nancy Messonnier, the health expert who was one of the first to raise the alarm about the coronavirus threat to the US, is stepping down from her role at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the agency’s director confirmed on Friday.

Messonnier “leaves a strong force of leadership and courage in everything she has done,” said CDC director Rochelle Walensky at a press conference. “I want to wish her all the best in her future endeavors.”

Walensky ignored a reporter’s question as to why Messonnier was recently dismissed from her role as head of the CDC’s Covid Vaccine Task Force.

Messonnier, who has served as director of the agency’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases since 2016, will be leaving the agency effective May 14, several outlets reported on Friday.

She will take on a new role as executive director of pandemic and public health systems at the Skoll Foundation, a California-based organization, she told colleagues in an email.

Walensky received Messonnier’s resignation Friday morning, CDC spokesman Jason McDonald told CNBC.

The resignation was first reported by the Washington Post.

In early 2020, when fewer than 100 cases of Covid had been reported in the US, Messonnier urged the nation to prepare for a massive outbreak that would drastically affect normal life.

“I understand that this whole situation seems overwhelming and that the disturbance of everyday life can be serious. But these things people have to think about now,” Messonnier said in February 2020.

Messonnier’s sharp warnings contrasted sharply with the news from then-President Donald Trump, prompting him to threaten her dismissal.

The former president had falsely tried to reassure the nation that the low number of US Covid cases “will go to zero in a matter of days” and will “miraculously” go away.

More than 32,606,724 Covid infections have been reported in the United States, and at least 580,076 people have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.

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Politics

Covid nonetheless weighing on jobs however confidence is coming again

Covid still weighing on jobs but confidence is coming back

Labor Secretary Marty Walsh said Friday that the Covid-19 pandemic is still weighing on jobs, but he forecasted optimism about the recovery of the US economy as vaccinations continue, saying, “We are seeing confidence return. “

Walsh’s comments on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” came shortly after the Labor Department released a disappointing April job report showing the non-farm workforce rose by 266,000. Analysts had expected more than 1 million new jobs.

“Under normal circumstances – and we certainly do not live under normal circumstances – a monthly job gain of 266,000 is a good number,” said Walsh. “Unfortunately we are still in the middle of a pandemic.”

“If you look back on the past three months, the US economy has created 500,000 new jobs a month, compared to the last three months when it was 60,000. So we’re definitely going in the right direction, but we still have one There’s no question about it. We’re still facing a pandemic, “Walsh said.

Walsh rejected arguments by Republican lawmakers and corporate groups that federal pandemic unemployment benefits encourage potential workers to stay on the sidelines.

“I still think we need unemployment, obviously we still have millions of Americans out of work. Many of those Americans have no prospects right now,” said Walsh. “I know we are making a correlation between job vacancies and unemployed people, but it’s not a fair correlation.”

Walsh cited data from the job report showing that more Americans were looking for work in April than in previous months.

“I think if we go further here hopefully in the coming months we’ll see a lot of Americans looking for jobs to find work and I’ll be able to stand in front of that camera and talk about us have made big profits, “said Walsh. “But I still think 266,000 jobs this month is a good number.”

Shortly after the job report was released, the Chamber of Commerce issued a statement calling for an end to $ 300 a week of unemployment benefits. Neil Bradley, executive vice president of the group, said the “disappointing job report shows that paying people who don’t work is dampening the stronger job market.”

President Joe Biden said at a news conference that afternoon that the added benefits did not cause a labor shortage.

Walsh, a Democrat and former Boston mayor, said reducing the rise in unemployment is no novice.

“There are millions of Americans affected by the coronavirus who have lost their jobs. Some of their work is not coming back,” he said. “We lost restaurants. We lost business. I wouldn’t say we are in the middle of a pandemic … but we are still alive and dealing with the pandemic and if we move forward here we will continue to recover . “

Barriers to potential workers include the lack of childcare facilities and schools that remain closed, according to Walsh.

“These are currently two barriers I think are keeping people out of the workforce because their children are at home, studying remotely, or their childcare facility is not open,” said Walsh. “The President has made investments in these areas, but we need to keep making those investments so that people feel like they can go back to work.”

Walsh said there were other reasons Americans had not returned to work at the level analysts expected – that it couldn’t be reduced to a single explanation.

“It’s not an easy answer,” he said.

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Health

Covid Pandemic Forces Households to Rethink Nursing Dwelling Care

Covid Pandemic Forces Families to Rethink Nursing Home Care

Even before the pandemic began 14 months ago, nursing homes had become the source of rampant, antibiotic-resistant infections. The facilities also faced systemic problems, such as the high turnover of nursing home staff and the game of the federal government’s rating system, which made it difficult for families to judge the quality of the homes.

For years, federal health officials and some insurers have been trying to encourage more home care, and the pandemic has created a sense of urgency.

“It really changed the paradigm of how older adults want to live,” said Dr. Sarita Mohanty, the executive director of the SCAN Foundation, a nonprofit group that addresses issues older adults face. The vast majority of these adults would prefer to stay home in old age, she said.

“What happened is a welcome kind of market correction for nursing homes,” said Tony Chicotel, an attorney for California Attorneys for San Francisco Nursing Home Reform. Some families, he said, “eventually agreed to a nursing home without thinking too much about it.” But after many families tried to provide home care during the pandemic, they found that leaving an elderly relative at home was a viable alternative.

Nursing homes grew out of the poor houses in England and America caring for the poor. In the United States, the passage of the Social Security Act in 1935 provided money to states that care for the elderly. Thirty years later, the Medicaid program expanded funding and made nursing homes a central part of elderly care, said Terry Fulmer, president of the John A. Hartford Foundation, an advocacy group for older adults. “If you pay the nursing homes, go there,” said Dr. Fulmer.

It wasn’t until the 1970s that some programs to fund home care began, and nursing home residents across the country slowly began to decline, with occupancy falling to about 80 percent in recent years, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

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Health

Pope Francis backs Biden name to waive Covid vaccine patents

Pope Francis backs Biden call to waive Covid vaccine patents

Pope Francis, wearing a face mask, attends an interfaith prayer service for peace with other religious representatives at the Basilica of Santa Maria in Aracoeli, a church on the Capitoline Hill of Rome in Rome, Italy, on October 20, 2020.

Guglielmo Mangiapane | Reuters

Pope Francis advocated a waiver of intellectual property rights for coronavirus vaccines on Saturday, reiterating the U.S. government’s comments earlier this week.

World Trade Organization leaders recently called on member states to reach an agreement on possible vaccine patent waivers in hopes of removing barriers to increased vaccine production in developing countries.

President Joe Biden’s team approved the idea on Wednesday. Sales representative Katherine Tai said in a statement that she “supports the lifting of this protection for COVID-19 vaccines.”

At a global fundraiser on Saturday, Pope Francis said the world was infected with the “virus of individualism”.

“A variant of this virus is closed nationalism, which prevents vaccines from internationalism, for example,” he said in comments translated by Reuters.

“Another variant is when we put the laws of the market or the intellectual market or intellectual property above the laws of love and the health of mankind,” added the Pope.

Vaccine makers, whose share prices were affected by the comments earlier this week, have spoken out against the idea. Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer, warned on Friday of unleashing a global race for raw materials that threatens the safe and efficient manufacture of vaccines.

Germany and Chancellor Angela Merkel have also spoken out against the waiver, with the country’s BioNTech being a key partner for Pfizer in developing its vaccine. Germans and other European officials argue that making and distributing vaccines faster is critical to ending the pandemic.

“The limiting factor in the manufacture of vaccines is the production capacity and high quality standards, not the patents,” a Merkel spokeswoman said in a statement.

PhRMA, a pharmaceutical industry advocacy group, has called the waiver proposal “an unprecedented move that will undermine our global response to the pandemic and put safety at risk”.

To date, there have been nearly 157 million coronavirus infections and over 3.2 million deaths worldwide, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

—CNBC’s Rich Mendez and Kevin Breuninger contributed to this article.

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Health

WHO chief urges world to observe U.S., waive Covid vaccine patent protections

WHO chief urges world to follow U.S., waive Covid vaccine patent protections

World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attends a press conference organized by the United Nations Union of Geneva Correspondents Association (ACANU) during the COVID-19 outbreak on July 3, 2020 at WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland has been.

Fabrice Coffrini | Pool | Reuters

The Director General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, on Friday called on other countries, in particular the Group of the Seven Industrialized Nations, to follow the example of the US and support a request by the World Trade Organization to temporarily waive patent protection for Covid-19 vaccines .

“The US announcement on Wednesday to support a temporary waiver of intellectual property protection for Covid-19 vaccines is an important declaration of solidarity and support for vaccine justice,” Tedros said at a press conference. “I know that this is not easy politically, so I really appreciate the US leadership and we urge other countries to follow suit.”

The USA, which is strongly committed to the enforcement of intellectual property rights around the world, has previously spoken out against the waiver of patent protection for Covid vaccines.

President Joe Biden personally made the decision to change the US stance, White House deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One on Thursday. As a presidential candidate, Biden had supported the abandonment of the intellectual property of Covid vaccines.

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, whose members include vaccine manufacturers AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson, firmly oppose the Biden government’s decision.

WHO chief Tedros on Friday also called on the G7 industrialized nations – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Great Britain, as well as the USA – to do more to facilitate the equitable distribution of Covid vaccines worldwide.

“For G-7, vaccines and vaccine equity are now the most important and immediate support we need,” said Tedros. “I think everyone knows what we should do to increase production capacity and then increase vaccination rates in all countries.”

According to the WHO chief, more than 80% of the more than 1 billion Covid vaccine doses distributed worldwide went to high-income countries, while low-income countries received 0.3%.

“That kind of gap is unacceptable,” said Tedros. “It is not only unacceptable on moral grounds, but also because we will not defeat the virus in a divided world.”

“It is in the interests of every country in this world to exchange vaccines and to contribute in every possible way to ensure the justice of the vaccines,” said the WHO chief. “Vaccine equity is not a charity. Vaccine equity is in everyone’s interest.”

The demand for the revocation of patent protection proposed by India and South Africa last October is facing an uphill battle at the WTO, which takes decisions by consensus among its 164 member states.

Germany, Europe’s largest economy, has spoken out against the attempt to temporarily forego vaccination patents. BioNTech, which developed a Covid vaccine in collaboration with Pfizer, is based in Germany.

“The US proposal to lift patent protection for Covid-19 vaccines has a significant impact on vaccine production as a whole,” said a spokesman for the federal government on Thursday. “The limiting factor in vaccine production is the production capacity and high quality standards, not the patents.”

After the US reversal, the governments of Canada, Italy, Japan and Great Britain did not take any clear public positions for or against the renunciation of the protection of intellectual property. French President Emmanuel Macron supported the US position.

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who heads the executive body of the European Union, did not accept the waiver plan and declared in a speech that she was “ready to discuss proposals for effective and pragmatic management of the crisis”.

Russia, which developed the Sputnik vaccine, has expressed support for the move and China is open to further discussion. The WHO announced on Friday that it has approved the emergency vaccine developed by China’s Sinopharm.

According to The Associated Press, which quoted a Geneva-based trade official, around 80 WTO countries, mostly developing countries, have expressed support for the proposal.

“It’s also important to remember that abandoning intellectual property must go hand-in-hand with a transfer of technology and expertise for these elusive vaccines,” said Tedros.

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Health

Biden-backed Covid vaccine patent waiver will trigger issues

Biden-backed Covid vaccine patent waiver will cause problems

Sergeant Jennifer Callender (L) of the Illinois Air National Guard administers a vaccine for Pfizer Covid-19 to Virginia Persha on February 3, 2021 at a vaccination center at Triton College in River Grove, Ill.

Kamil Krzaczynski | AFP | Getty Images

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla warned on Friday that waiving patent protection for Covid vaccines – a proposal just endorsed by President Joe Biden – would spark a global race for raw materials that would allow the safe and efficient manufacture of Covid- Shots at risk.

The Biden government said Wednesday it supports the limited intellectual property rule waiver in the service of expanding vaccine distribution to the lower-income countries currently hit by the pandemic.

But Bourla, whose company makes one of three vaccines approved for use in the United States, “categorically” believes the waiver will “cause more problems.”

“Right now, the infrastructure is not the bottleneck for us to produce faster,” wrote Bourla in a letter from a dear colleague published on LinkedIn. “The limitation is the lack of highly specialized raw materials needed to make our vaccine.”

Pfizer’s vaccine requires 280 different materials and components, sourced from 19 countries around the world, Bourla said. He claimed that companies with much less experience than Pfizer would compete for the same ingredients in making vaccines without patent protection.

“Currently, virtually every gram of the raw material produced is immediately delivered to our manufacturing facilities and is instantly and reliably switched to vaccines that are immediately shipped around the world,” wrote Bourla.

He predicted that the proposed waiver “threatens to disrupt the flow of raw materials”.

Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer, speaks after attending a press conference to monitor the production of the Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine at the factory of the US pharmaceutical company Pfizer in Puurs, Belgium, on April 23, 2021.

John Thys | Pool | Reuters

“It will create a mess for the critical inputs we need to make a safe and effective vaccine,” wrote Bourla.

“Companies with little or no vaccine manufacturing experience are likely hunting the very raw materials we need to scale our production, putting everyone’s safety at risk,” the CEO wrote.

The White House referred CNBC’s reach to Bourla’s post to the US sales representative’s office, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The leaders of the World Trade Organization recently called on member states to reach an agreement on possible waivers for vaccination patents. But even with the support of the US, an agreement is hardly guaranteed, since the decisions of the WTO are based on consensus and require the consent of all 164 members.

Germany, a WTO member and the largest economy in Europe, spoke out against the waiver proposal on Thursday. BioNTech, which worked with Pfizer to develop the vaccine, is based in Germany.

Bourla on LinkedIn also expressed concern that potential vaccination waivers “will discourage others from taking great risks”.

“The latest rhetoric isn’t going to stop us from continuing to invest in science. However, I’m not sure if the same is true of the thousands of tiny biotech innovators who are totally dependent on access to capital from investors who just do investing provided their intellectual property is protected, “wrote the CEO.

PhRMA, the pharmaceutical industry advocacy group that includes Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson, another US vaccine company, described the waiver as “an unprecedented move that will undermine our global response to the pandemic and put safety at risk”.

Meanwhile, Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel, maker of the other U.S.-approved Covid shot, said he wasn’t concerned about the possible exemptions.

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Health

WHO approves Covid vaccine made by China’s Sinopharm for emergency use

WHO approves Covid vaccine made by China's Sinopharm for emergency use

On April 24, 2021, workers at Damascus International Airport in the Syrian capital unloaded boxes of the Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine donated by China.

Loua Beshara | AFP | Getty Images

The World Health Organization announced on Friday that it had approved an emergency coronavirus vaccine developed by the Chinese state-owned pharmaceutical company Sinopharm.

Beijing’s Covid vaccine is recommended for adults aged 18 and over with a double dose, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press conference.

The new addition to the list of usable vaccine options could accelerate efforts to control the spread of Covid-19 and its variant forms, which are causing new infections in many parts of the world.

“To solve the vaccine crisis, we have to pull out all the stops,” said Tedros.

Sinopharm’s shot is the sixth to receive WHO approval for “safety, efficacy and quality,” he said.

“Vaccines remain an important tool. However, at the moment, the volume and distribution of vaccines is insufficient to end the pandemic without the sustained and tailored application of public health measures that we know work,” said Tedros.

“The pandemic has shown that everything is at risk when health is at risk. When health is protected and promoted, individuals, families, communities, economies and nations can thrive,” he said.

The state-owned drug manufacturer’s two-dose Covid shot has already been approved for emergencies in China, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

Another Chinese shot by the private company Sinovac has not yet been approved by the WHO.

In the US, vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson have received emergency approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

WHO has granted emergency validation for these three shots as well as vaccines made by Astrazeneca-SK BIO and the Serum Institute of India.

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Health

Pfizer and BioNTech start the method of searching for full U.S. approval for his or her Covid vaccine

Pfizer and BioNTech begin the process of seeking full U.S. approval for their Covid vaccine

Vials containing the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine on Thursday, February 11, 2021 at the vaccination site of the Sun City Anthem Community Center in Henderson, Nevada, USA.

Roger Kisby | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Pfizer and German drug maker BioNTech announced that they have begun filing for full approval of their Covid-19 vaccine for people aged 16 and over in the United States. This makes the companies the first in the nation to apply for full regulatory approval.

The Food and Drug Administration issued emergency approval for their Covid vaccine at the end of December. Since then, Pfizer has distributed 170 million doses in the US, with the goal of having 300 million doses by the end of July.

“We are proud of the tremendous progress we have made in working with the US government to deliver vaccines to millions of Americans since December,” said Albert Bourla, Pfizer CEO, in a statement. “We look forward to working with the FDA to complete this ongoing filing and support its review with the aim of ensuring full regulatory approval for the vaccine in the months ahead.”

Pfizer needs to demonstrate that it can reliably manufacture the vaccines in order to get full clearance. If approved, companies could market their shots directly to consumers and potentially change the pricing of the cans. It also allows the shot to stay in the market once the pandemic is over and the US is no longer considered an “emergency”.

It usually takes the FDA about a year or more to determine whether a drug is safe and effective for the general public. Due to the once in a century pandemic that killed nearly 600,000 people in the United States, the FDA allowed the gunshots to be used as part of an emergency clearance.

The permit grants conditional approval based on data for two months. It’s not the same as a biological license application that requires six months of data and ensures full approval. Companies apply for approval on a “rolling filing” basis, which speeds the review process by allowing the FDA to review new data as soon as the company receives it.

“The BLA filing is an important cornerstone in achieving long-term herd immunity and future COVID-19 containment,” said Dr. Ugur Sahin, CEO and Co-Founder of BioNTech, in a statement. “We are excited to be working with US regulators to apply for approval of our COVID-19 vaccine based on our key Phase 3 study and follow-up data.”

Early data from 12,000 vaccinated people aged 16 and over in this Phase 3 study showed that the shots were 91.3% effective at getting the disease up for up to six months after the second dose and 95.3% effective against severe Covid as defined by the FDA. The companies said on April 1st. The data also showed “a favorable safety and tolerability profile,” they said at the time.

The companies are awaiting FDA emergency approval to use their vaccine in children ages 12-15 and intend to apply for a full license once they have six months of data.

They said in late March that the vaccine was 100% effective in a clinical study involving more than 2,000 adolescents. They also said the vaccine produced a “robust” antibody response in the children that outperformed that in a previous study in older teenagers and young adults. The side effects were generally consistent with those seen in adults, they added.

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