The Hill’s Coronavirus Report: INOVIO R&D Chief Kate Broderick ‘completely confident’ world will develop a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine; GOP boxed in on virus negotiations
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY
> GOP rolls out $1 trillion coronavirus relief package, but Democrats have leverage
> Arizona, Florida, Texas show signs of controlling epidemics, but concerns remain about a surge in cases throughout the Midwest
> Fauci responds to Trump: ‘I have not been misleading the American public’
> World Health Organization: Coronavirus pandemic is ‘one big wave,’ not seasonal
> Federal Reserve extends its lending programs until the end of the year
> Google to keep employees home until summer 2021 amid coronavirus pandemic
> Gates: Benefits almost always outweigh costs for younger students to return to school
> INOVIO Pharmaceuticals R&D Chief Kate Broderick ‘completely confident’ world will develop a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine, but notes it will take time
THE INTERVIEW
Dr. Kate Broderick, senior vice president, research & development, INOVIO Pharmaceuticals
INOVIO Pharmaceuticals R&D Chief Kate Broderick ‘completely confident’ world will develop a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine, but notes it will take time; praises ‘remarkable collaboration’ and says international community must come together to fast-track vaccine development; adds this pandemic is ‘not a one-off’ and future pandemics are inevitable.
Watch the full interview here.
THE HILL’S CORONAVIRUS REPORT
Welcome to The Hill’s Coronavirus Report. It’s Tuesday, July 28.
Editor’s Note.
Today I had a deep-dive discussion with Kate Broderick, the senior vice president for research and development of INOVIO Pharmaceuticals, which has one of the vaccine development candidates now part of Operation Warp Speed (OWS). Being part of OWS, or getting support from the Gates Foundation or CEPI (Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations) doesn’t guarantee success, but it certainly helps potential candidates get up to the table quickly. As everyone from the president to Anthony Fauci have stressed, the U.S. is rolling the dice and funding manufacturing capacity in advance of knowing the efficacy of drugs. Every part of the typical vaccine development process calendar is being compressed, and this should give us hope.
Whether we see successful vaccines emerge from Inovio, or Moderna, Sanofi, Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca in its partnership with Oxford University, Pfizer, and many other players, there will likely be different vaccines deployed, again a very good thing as the global demand will be through the roof. Given the unwillingness of a substantial part of the U.S. population to adjust their behavior and wear masks, distance, wash hands and maintain a high hygienic bar that does not further spread COVID-19, the vaccine answer becomes even more important.
What is clear is that investments in science are vital, and this is a time when science, empiricism, critical thinking, all of those parts of rationality that do battle against dogma have been under stress and pressure from leaders whose support for science has been wobbly. This has to be turned around because it is science that is going to save the world, again.
— Steve Clemons
Your Coronavirus Report team includes Steve Clemons, editor-at-large of The Hill, and researcher Andrew Wargofchik. Follow us on Twitter at @SCClemons and @a_wargofchik.
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CORONAVIRUS NUMBERS AT A GLANCE
There are 16,540,137 reported cases of COVID-19 throughout the world and 655,300 have died from the virus as of the time of this newsletter.
The U.S. is reporting 4,309,230 cases and 148,298 deaths. Brazil 2,442,375 cases. India 1,480,073. Russia 822,060. South Africa 452,529. Mexico 395,489. Peru 389,717. Chile 347,923. U.K. 302,290. Iran 296,273. Spain 278,782. Pakistan 275,225. Saudi Arabia 270,831. Colombia 257,101. Italy 246,488. Bangladesh 229,185. Turkey 227,019. France 220,352. Germany 207,474. Argentina 167,416. Canada 116,471.
Elsewhere throughout the world:
> The Venice Film Festival announced the lineup on Tuesday for its 77th edition, setting out precautions including temperature checks and new outdoor screening sites for one of the first large international festivals held since the pandemic began.
> Kenya has banned the sale of alcohol in restaurants and ordered bars to remain closed after cases in the East African country doubled within the past three weeks, when the government began lifting restrictions.
> Newspaper front pages in Britain on Tuesday warned of “a stampede to cancel” vacations overseas and reported widespread confusion among Britons following the government’s decision to quarantine travelers returning from Spain, a top British holiday destination.
California is reporting 463,458 cases. Florida 441,957. New York 412,344. Texas 400,336. New Jersey 179,812. Illinois 173,894. Georgia 170,843. Arizona 163,827. Massachusetts 115,926. North Carolina 115,607. Pennsylvania 112,995. Louisiana 109,917. Tennessee 96,489. Michigan 87,173. Virginia 86,994. Maryland 85,524. Ohio 85,177. South Carolina 82,417. Alabama 82,366. Indiana 62,907. Washington 53,321.
Here at home:
> A glimmer of good news: new cases leveled off Monday in Florida, Texas and Arizona.
> States to watch include Oklahoma, which has set single-day records for new cases two days in a row and will hope to avoid a third.
> Virginia, which set its single-day case record in late May but improved in June, has seen cases rising again to near-record levels.
> Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) said he has no plans to close bars and cut back on indoor dining — moments after White House coronavirus task force coordinator Deborah Birx said at a joint news conference that the state should do exactly that.
The U.S. is reporting the results of 52,252,334 COVID-19 tests and 1,325,804 full recoveries from the coronavirus.
WASHINGTON WATCH
GOP rolls out $1 trillion coronavirus relief package. Senate Republicans unveiled a roughly $1 trillion coronavirus relief package Monday, paving the way for negotiations with Democrats. The legislation caps off days of behind-the-scenes negotiations and public infighting as a group of GOP negotiators and administration officials tried to line up on key provisions. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said the package represents a “realistic” proposal for what would be “appropriate” to add to the country’s debt. (The Hill)
But, Democrats aren’t on board and have dismissed the plan as a non-starter. Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) met for almost two hours with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows in the Speaker’s office Monday evening for an initial round of negotiations but made little progress. Democrats say the GOP legislation falls short of providing enough money for state and local governments, fails to protect renters from eviction and doesn’t invest enough in lower-income communities hit hard by the pandemic. (The Hill)
Fauci responds to Trump tweet: “I have not been misleading the American public under any circumstances.” Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious diseases expert, said early Tuesday that he had not misled Americans “under any circumstances” after President Trump suggested that he had. Asked on ABC’s “Good Morning America” about Trump retweeting a post claiming Fauci has “misled the American public on many issues,” Fauci responded: “’I have not been misleading the American public under any circumstances.” (The Hill)
LAWMAKERS TWEET
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.)
@SenSchumer The Republican COVID plan doesn’t give any new money for food stamps to help families keep food on the table. But it gives a deduction for a three martini lunch for a big businessperson.
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.)
@SenatorWicker The #HEALSAct would provide support to our nation’s military suppliers, including nearly $11B to offset COVID-19 costs & $8B to acquire high-priority systems. These workers & businesses are critical to our economic recovery & national security.
Rep. Sharice Davids (D-Kan.)
@RepDavids The coronavirus is not over, and neither are the challenges that Kansans are facing. Congress must come together to pass a bipartisan relief package, one that increases access to testing and supplies, provides aid for state/local gov, extends unemployment insurance, and more.
ACROSS THE NATION
Fauci said Midwest could face same surge as Southern states. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, said Midwestern states could face surges similar to those in Southern states if they’re not careful about reopening. Fauci named Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio as states to watch and cautioned that they should follow reopening guidelines issued earlier this year if leaders are considering ways to get back to pre-pandemic ways. (Washington Post)
Gates: Benefits almost always outweigh costs for younger students to return to school. Bill Gates argued for the reopening of schools amid the coronavirus pandemic, telling CNBC on Tuesday that the “benefits outweigh the costs for younger students to return for in-person learning.” “I’m a big believer that for young children, the benefits in almost every location — particularly if you can protect the teachers well — the benefits outweigh the costs,” Gates said on “Squawk Box.” (The Hill)
A concert in the Hamptons is being criticized for a lack of social distancing. A charity concert Saturday night in the Hamptons that featured performances from the chief executive of Goldman Sachs and the D.J. duo the Chainsmokers drew outrage and a state investigation after video footage showed attendees appearing to ignore health precautions. (New York Times)
35 lifeguards were infected in an outbreak at the Jersey Shore. Long Beach Island, a popular summertime destination along the Jersey Shore, is now a different kind of hot spot. Thirty-five lifeguards from two boroughs on the barrier island — Surf City and Harvey Cedars — recently tested positive for the coronavirus, the island’s health department announced on Monday. (New York Times)
WORLD VIEW
World Health Organization: Coronavirus pandemic is “one big wave.” The World Health Organization on Tuesday said the coronavirus pandemic has taken the form of “one big wave” rather than the more common seasonal ebbs and surges experienced by most viruses. “People are still thinking about seasons. What we all need to get our heads around is this is a new virus and … this one is behaving differently,” WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris said in a virtual briefing in Geneva, according to Reuters. (The Hill)
Iran reports highest daily death toll since outbreak began. Iran on Tuesday recorded its highest number of daily deaths from the novel coronavirus since the outbreak began five months ago, the Health Ministry said, as the country grapples with a spreading new wave of infections. Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said Tuesday that 235 people had died of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. In total, more than 16,000 Iranians have died of the disease. (Washington Post)
SCIENCE
Fauci says it’s “crunch time” for vaccine development. Public skepticism toward vaccines is something officials will need to overcome once a coronavirus vaccine is ready for the public, Anthony Fauci told CNN on Monday. Fauci said there will need to be a campaign of community engagement and outreach. “If we get a widespread uptake of vaccine, we can put an end to the pandemic and we can create a veil of immunity that would prevent the infection coming back,” he told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. (CNN)
Top Chinese CDC official injected with coronavirus vaccine candidate. The director of China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention said Sunday that he has been injected with an experimental coronavirus vaccine. “I’m going to reveal something undercover: I am injected with one of the vaccines,” Gao Fu said in a webinar hosted by Alibaba Health and American scientific journal publisher Cell Press, according to The Associated Press. “I hope it will work.” (The Hill)
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BUSINESS
Markets drop as quarterly earnings disappoint. Stock markets opened down Tuesday as several major companies’ quarterly earnings fell short of expectations. The slump, which erased many of Monday’s gains, followed disappointing earnings reports from companies such as McDonald’s, 3M and JetBlue. A slew of other earnings reports are expected Tuesday morning from companies such as Starbucks, Visa and eBay. (The Hill)
The Fed is extending its lending programs until the end of the year. The Federal Reserve said Tuesday it is extending its menu of lending programs to businesses, governments and individuals to the end of 2020. Originally set to expire Sept. 30, the myriad facilities, stretching from credit to small businesses up to the purchase of junk bonds, now will stretch to Dec. 31. (CNBC)
Google to keep employees home until summer 2021 amid coronavirus pandemic. Google will keep its employees home until at least next July, people familiar with the matter said, making the search-engine giant the first major U.S. corporation to formalize such an extended timetable in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. The move will affect nearly all of the roughly 200,000 full-time and contract employees across Google parent Alphabet Inc., and is sure to pressure other technology giants that have slated staff to return as soon as January. (Fox Business)
Jeans losing out as pandemic ushers in a new era of comfort. Once the ultimate in comfort and casual wear, jeans have been usurped by more comfortable — and stretchier — options. White-collar workers who are logging in from home say they’re increasingly reaching for basketball shorts and yoga pants to pair with more professional-looking tops for video calls. Jean sales have been sluggish for five years, but the pandemic has taken a real toll: True Religion, Lucky Brand, G-Star RAW and the parent company of Joe’s Jeans and Hudson Jeans have all filed for bankruptcy since the pandemic took hold. (Washington Post)
ISSUES, CAUSES, PASSIONS
What should I do if I have COVID-19? A treatment or vaccine makes you feel better protected against an unseen viral killer, much as a fortified entrance or a guard dog makes you feel protected against a prowler. Knowing that the anti-viral drug remdesivir and the steroid dexamethasone have emerged as effective in-hospital treatments for COVID is of some comfort, but people across the country want to know what they might take as a preventative, or for early treatment in case they got sick. This is especially important as we wait for a vaccine to emerge, hopefully by the beginning of next year. (Dr. Marc Siegel for The Hill)
Trump may have power, but he still has no plan to fight the pandemic. Donald Trump has the power of the presidency but no plan to fight the pandemic. President Trump’s hope is to convince Americans to ignore the plague and return to life as normal by reopening the economy now — and schools next month — while the pandemic rages unabated. The problem is the public’s caution clashes with Trump’s willingness to risk the health, wealth and well-being of the public to advance his own personal political prospects. (Brad Bannon for The Hill)
GENEROUS SPIRITS
Mom with cancer surprised with custom wig made of friends’ hair. In the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, as she was working full-time and taking care of her two young daughters, Dana McSwain was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer that had spread to her lymph nodes. The 36-year-old from Charlotte, N.C., had no known family history of breast cancer but on top of her diagnosis, McSwain also learned she had the BRCA2 gene mutation. McSwain coped with her cancer battle by journaling at night, and one night she posted on a local Facebook moms’ group about her frustrations and received an overwhelmingly positive response. (Good Morning America)
ICYMI: STEVE’S INTERVIEWS, 15 MINUTES EACH
> Steve interviews Washington, D.C., Mayor MURIEL BOWSER
> Steve interviews NIAID Director ANTHONY FAUCI
> Steve interviews HHS Secretary ALEX AZAR
> Steve interviews 3M Chairman and CEO MICHAEL ROMAN
> Steve interviews Rep. LAUREN UNDERWOOD (D-Ill.)
> Steve interviews Rep. ANGIE CRAIG (D-Minn.)
Watch all Coronavirus Report interviews here.
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