Some good news about a vaccine test (though it’s still early)
Here’s some good news! Early human trials of a coronavirus vaccine have shown promise, according to Moderna, the company that has partnered with the National Institutes of Health to develop and test the vaccine.
What’s the earliest it could be ready? If future studies go well, the company’s vaccine could be available to the public as early as January, Dr. Tal Zaks, Moderna’s chief medical officer, told CNN.
But stay cautious, says Dr. Peter Hotez, a vaccine specialist at Baylor.
“There was no real data presented,” he told CNN. “This was a press release that talked about eight participants in two groups each receiving two doses of the vaccine — either 25 micrograms or 100 micrograms — and it’s an interim report.”
“The most useful part of their press release and their press announcement is that it seems to not cause any immediate reaction in human volunteers except for one individual at the 100 microgram level,” he said.
Trump is taking that drug the FDA says you shouldn’t take for Covid-19 — President Donald Trump claimed Monday that he is taking daily doses of hydroxychloroquine, a drug he’s long touted as a potential coronavirus cure even as medical experts and the US Food and Drug Administration question its efficacy and warn of potentially harmful side effects.
Speaking at a meeting of restaurant executives, Trump said he began taking the antimalarial drug after consulting the White House doctor, though he stopped short of saying his physician had actually recommended the drug.
“A couple of weeks ago, I started taking it,” Trump said. He later said he’d been taking it every day for a week and a half.
Rift between White House and CDC — The Trump administration has tried to shift some blame for the early Covid-19 response to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. White House economic adviser Peter Navarro said Sunday that the CDC “let the country down.” Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, who oversees the CDC, said Monday on Fox News that those comments were “inaccurate and inappropriate.”
You don’t often see this kind of public dispute between arms of the administration.
Most states have loosened — Every state but one, Connecticut, has loosened some kind of coronavirus restriction.
Downward trends have not persisted — But only 18 states showed a downward trend of new cases on Monday, according to an analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University. That’s down from 28 states that had showed general declines as of Friday, according to CNN’s Holly Yan and Christina Maxouris.
“Successful Infection = Exposure to Virus x Time” — We’re learning more about how people get infected. Going to the grocery store is relatively low risk. Working at a grocery store may not be. Read more.
Navajo Nation surpasses New York state for the highest Covid-19 infection rate in the US.
JC Penney wants to close nearly 30% of its stores as part of a bankruptcy plan.
Uber has cut 25% of its staff.
The Trump administration keeps firing watchdogs (4 since impeachment)
It is easy to focus almost exclusively on the coronavirus and not pay enough attention to other things going on around us (there are still things going on around us).
The systematic firing of inspectors general by the Trump administration falls in that category.
Read more here about the most recent firing, of State Department IG Steven Linick, who was investigating Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s possible use of State Department staffers for personal errands.
Perhaps more importantly, Pompeo refused to cooperate with a watchdog probe into an $8 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia, a source told CNN’s Zachary Cohen.
Pompeo told The Washington Post on Monday that he had recommended the firing because, he said, Linick was “undermining” the department.
Linick also had played a part in the impeachment inquiry.
Trump has bristled at oversight since taking office and, since surviving his impeachment, he’s sending the message that he’s not interested in any more.
It’s important to view these things in their totality. Since impeachment, the Trump administration has dismissed these IGs:
- Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson (April 3) — Told Congress about whistleblower complaint that led to impeachment.
- Acting Defense Department Inspector General Glenn Fine (April 7) — Had been tapped to lead coronavirus response oversight.
- Acting Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General Christi Grimm (May 2) — A full-time replacement was nominated after Grimm had signed off on a Covid-19 report Trump publicly disputed.
- State Department Inspector General Steve Linick — (May 15) Trump announced the firing is effective in 30 days because he no longer has confidence in Linick.
A few Republicans on Capitol Hill have voiced frustration (Sens. Mitt Romney and Chuck Grassley), although most others are staying quiet about it.
Trump’s path to reelection
Chris Cillizza wrote a piece about what Trump will have to do if he wants to get reelected.
It basically boils down to two things:
- Make enough voters overlook his character flaws.
- Make Joe Biden seem unfit.
Here’s an excerpt:
Trump is, quite simply, not likeable. He says and does things on an almost-daily basis that even many of his supporters think are over the line of acceptable conduct for a president or, really, for anyone.
Nothing will change that. Or certainly nothing that he can do between now and November.
The only way he wins is to make the case that may not be your idea of what a president should look and act like but that he is someone who knows how to make change in Washington. (He also likely needs to disqualify Joe Biden, which his campaign is already working very hard to do.)
