A version of this story appeared in the July 23 edition of CNN’s Coronavirus: Fact vs. Fiction newsletter. Sign up here to receive the need-to-know headlines every weekday.
As countries around the world rush to shore up supplies of coronavirus vaccines before they have even been approved, the Trump administration on Wednesday announced a contract worth nearly $2 billion with Pfizer and a German biotechnology company to secure 100 million doses by the end of the year.
The massive investment is part of America’s Operation Warp Speed, a sprawling effort to deliver millions of safe and effective doses of a vaccine by January 2021.
To meet that ambitious target, the US government has been snapping up contracts with the candidates most likely to succeed and throwing billions in federal funding at promising programs – more than $5 billion so far.
Similar efforts are also underway in the European Union. The bloc unveiled plans to secure a vaccine in June, promising to bulk buy a Covid-19 immunization for all EU members and help subsidize costs for developers in exchange for doses.
And the race is on in China too. The country has already approved an experimental Covid-19 vaccine for military use – making it the first non-lab use of a candidate on humans.
But the Pfizer deal is among the biggest investments yet globally. And no one even knows if the vaccine will work yet (it’s still in human trials).
Under the agreement, the federal government will get 100 million doses for $1.95 billion – about $20 a dose – with the ability to secure another 500 million. Americans would receive the vaccine for free, pending approval by the Food and Drug Administration.
But even once a vaccine gets approved, big hurdles remain for distribution. In other words, not every American will be able to get it at once.
Note: There are currently 24 vaccines in human trials globally – four of which are in the US – according to the World Health Organization. You can find out the latest on some of the possible Covid-19 vaccines in development here.
YOU ASKED. WE ANSWERED
Q: Advocating for schools to reopen this fall, President Donald Trump has claimed children “don’t transmit” coronavirus, and if they catch it, they “get better fast.” Is that true?
A: While children infected with the coronavirus are less likely to develop severe symptoms than adults, not all “get better fast,” like Trump claimed in his briefing on Wednesday. Furthermore, several studies suggest that children can and do transmit the virus.
According to one recent study from the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, children between 10 and 19 years old may transmit coronavirus just as much as adults. And, even though children appear to be affected less commonly or severely than adults, returning to school still poses certain risks.
“Relatively few children with Covid-19 are hospitalized, and fewer children than adults experience fever, cough, or shortness of breath,” the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in an article for pediatric health care providers published in late May. However, the article also noted that “severe outcomes have been reported in children including Covid-19 associated deaths.”
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WHAT’S IMPORTANT TODAY
In the US, 1 million more cases in two weeks
The US coronavirus crisis is getting worse, and it’s doing so at an astonishing speed. The country reported more Covid-19 infections in the last two weeks than it did for all of June, and it’s now edging closer to a new milestone: 4 million cases. To put that into perspective, it took 14 weeks for 1 million Americans to get infected. In six weeks, that number jumped to 2 million. Four weeks later, it was at 3 million. Now, just two weeks after that, the country is on the verge of 4 million.
States in the South and West keep smashing records. California, the most populous state and the first to shut down months ago, appeared to have Covid-19 under control – only to suffer a massive resurgence and surpass New York with the most coronavirus cases in the nation this week. Now the virus is on the verge of becoming one of the leading causes of death in Los Angeles County.
And a CNN analysis of testing data from the Covid Tracking Project reveals the positive test rate – or the average number of positive test results out of 1,000 tests performed – has increased significantly in many of the current hotspots, including Florida, Arizona, Texas and Georgia. Meanwhile, more governors are requiring masks, and dozens of hospitals are out of intensive care unit beds.
Why American schools probably won’t reopen next month
Despite a push by President Trump to get students back in classroom seats this fall, it’s looking unlikely that schools will reopen in regions experiencing a surge in Covid-19 cases. Five of the nation’s largest districts will be distance learning this fall, beginning next month. Others, like New York, have pledged to implement a hybrid model – a mix of in-person and online education – but details are still in flux.
One thing is becoming increasingly clear though: School administrators are not willing to sacrifice the safety of students and teachers amid local outbreaks. When asked how his national back-to-school strategy aligns with his family’s personal view on the matter, Trump said he would be “comfortable” with his son and grandchildren returning to the classroom.
Brazil says the epidemic is under control. It’s not.
Brazil’s government has claimed that the local epidemic is “under control,” even as the country reported its highest daily case count since the outbreak began and President Jair Bolsonaro tested positive again for the virus.
Brazil is in the eye of the storm as the crisis deepens in Latin America and the Caribbean. The region had recorded more than 4 million Covid-19 cases and nearly 175,000 deaths as of Wednesday, according to a CNN tally based on data from Johns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Center.
Cases are also spiking in Argentina, which has reported a record number of new cases for the second day in a row. And Mexico has clocked up another 6,000 new cases, as well as nearly 800 new deaths – it now holds the fourth highest death toll from the virus worldwide.
South Korea enters recession, as Australia posts huge deficit
The pandemic has plunged the global economy into a sweeping and severe recession, forecasted by the World Bank to be the worst contraction since World War II. While the magnitude of the shock will vary by region, the world is still waiting to see how the crisis will evolve.
The latest: South Korea has entered a recession, recording its worst economic decline in more than 20 years as the pandemic battered exports. Meanwhile, Australia announced its economy has been severely damaged by the coronavirus epidemic, with growth falling by more than 4% in the past fiscal year.
ON OUR RADAR
- An eatery on the White House grounds has been temporarily closed after a cafeteria employee tested positive for the coronavirus, according to an email viewed by CNN. The email cautioned that the risk of transmission was low due to precautions like gloves and masks.
- Trump says he’s holding solo news conferences instead of joint briefings with White House coronavirus task force members because it is a more “concise way of doing it.” Another explanation: It means they can’t immediately fact check him.
- UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has called on the British military to prepare for a potential four-way winter crisis: A second coronavirus spike, a seasonal flu outbreak, winter flooding and disruptions caused by Brexit.
- The annual United Nations General Assembly meeting in September, featuring high-level country officials, will be virtual this year amid the pandemic.
- Southwest Airlines says its planes will carry only masked passengers – making yet another tightening of US airlines’ pandemic safety rules this week.
- The US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner said Wednesday that the Covid-19 pandemic has exposed vulnerabilities in the US food supply.
- The NFL announced Wednesday that fans who attend games will be required to wear face coverings. Meanwhile, the NBA tipped off the league’s first competition since March last night at Disney World.
TOP TIPS
As cases continue to rise, those looking to a vaccine as the way out of the pandemic should consider a more comprehensive approach – like wearing masks and social distancing – a leading medical expert told CNN on Wednesday, urging people not to underestimate the coronavirus.
“Pinning all our hopes on a vaccine that works immediately is not the right strategy,” Dr. William Haseltine, a former professor at Harvard Medical School, told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.
It’s less of a tip, and more of a reality check: The virus won’t end with the vaccine, and neither will public health measures aimed at containing the pandemic. Haseltine recommended closing bars and other places where young people congregate at night, along with banning large meetings in the worst-hit regions. Life won’t get better until people make major changes to their behavior – and until public health services come forward with more resources, he said.
TODAY’S PODCAST
“I was particularly interested to see whether the kids would be able to keep on a mask throughout the day. But even little ones were totally fine with it.” – CNN anchor Laura Jarrett
New York City’s Department of Education has been running centers for children of essential workers since the outbreak began. On today’s episode, Jarrett takes us inside one facility to find out how they’re operating safely. Listen Now.