FS-ISAC Coronavirus Update, March 24, 2021

Headlines

In the last week alone, the US has reported 2,926 new variant cases - more than the country reported in December, January and February combined, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Centers for Disease Control data shows, with Tuesday's report including another 1,143 mutation infections just since Sunday's report, bringing the country to 7,781 cases of coronavirus that can spread more easily, dodge treatments and immunities, or both.
Nationally, nearly one in seven people - about 45.5 million people - have been fully vaccinated, and more than a quarter of the population - nearly 84 million people - have received at least one dose of vaccine, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data updated Tuesday showed, about 78% of the 164,300,795 doses delivered and around 1.7 million more reported administered since yesterday, for a seven-day average of about 2.5 million doses per day.
Officials in President Biden's administration are not confident that Johnson & Johnson will meet its self-imposed deadline to deliver 20 million coronavirus vaccines by the end of March, despite optimistic statements from the company, with officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to comment on internal discussions, saying they aren't willing to guarantee those millions will be ready within the next week, and that they're hopeful, but not positive, because the delivery schedule has not accelerated in the way officials had hoped.
Federal health officials and an independent oversight board accused AstraZeneca of presenting the world with potentially misleading information about the effectiveness of the company’s Covid-19 vaccine, an extraordinary blow to the credibility of a company whose product has been seen as critical to the global fight against the pandemic, and in a two-page letter to AstraZeneca and federal authorities on Monday, an independent panel of medical experts that was helping oversee the vaccine’s clinical trial in the US said the company had essentially cherry-picked data that was “most favorable for the study as opposed to the most recent and most complete.”
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc announced Tuesday its dual antibody treatment for Covid-19 reduced symptomatic illness by four days at any level of dose tried in its clinical trial, seemed to reduce hospitalizations and death by about 70% compared to placebo, and at any dose given significantly reduced the patient’s viral load, with the company saying it would now seek FDA emergency use authorization for its cocktail at a lower dose in light of the latest trial data, a move that could essentially double manufacturing capacity.
A majority of Covid-19 “long haulers” - Covid-19 patients with persistent symptoms - experience four or more neurologic symptoms lasting for at least six weeks or more, according to a study published on Tuesday in the journal Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology.
A new poll published Tuesday found as more people are getting vaccinated against Covid-19, Americans are going out more.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says today it hopes to enroll about 13,000 pregnant people for each of the three authorized coronavirus vaccines to see how pregnancy might affect vaccine safety, and will use existing and new safety monitoring systems, including its V-safe pregnancy registry.
The national ban on evictions is scheduled to expire at the end of this month - but there are early signals it’s likely to get extended, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sending a proposal to the Office of Management and Budget for regulatory review, which experts say indicates that the health agency is taking steps to extend the protection as coronavirus cases surge in many states and millions of Americans remain behind on their rent.
More than 540 education researchers and scholars are asking Education Secretary Miguel Cardona to reconsider his department’s decision requiring school districts to administer federally mandated standardized tests this pandemic year, saying the exams will “exacerbate inequality” and “produce flawed data.”
Counterfeit vaccine cards and what are being billed as Covid-19 vaccines are now for sale on the dark web, a new report says, with security researchers at cybersecurity firm Check Point Software finding listings for Covid-19 vaccines brands, including AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson, for up to $1,000 a dose, as well as at least 20 vaccine certificates for $200 each, with advertisements for vaccines up 300% in the past three months.

Vaccine Rollout - US

New numbers show that 43% of Americans ages 65 and older and about 18% of the population ages 18 and older are now fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki gave the latest update on vaccine doses available on Monday, saying there will be 27 million doses allocated across all channels this week, up from the 22 million sent last week.
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said the federal campaign to vaccinate Americans must “reach people where they are,” bringing vaccine-filled syringes into farm fields and onto construction sites to ease profound racial and ethnic disparities in who has been receiving the protective shots.
Catalent, the fill and finish plant in Bloomington, Indiana, that is helping to produce Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine for the past couple of months and had promised to deliver 20 million single-dose doses to the US government by the end of the March, announced Tuesday it received an OK from the US Food and Drug Administration to ship the vaccine but did not say how much it would be able to ship immediately.
More than one in five residents have been fully vaccinated in two states - New Mexico and Alaska - according to data published Tuesday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and in New Mexico, more than one third of the population has received at least one dose of vaccine.
Georgia announced Tuesday that the state will open eligibility to all residents age 16 and older to begin receiving vaccines starting this Thursday.
Oklahoma will allow anyone over 16 will be able to get shots starting Monday, and so far, health workers have administered at least one shot to about 1.1 million people, or about 35 percent of the eligible population.
Texas said today that starting March 29, the state will open access to the vaccine to all adults, with officials saying they have directed providers to prioritize people 80 years old and older, and starting next week they will launch a website to allow people to register through some public health providers and also launch a toll-free number for people who cannot use the website.
Maryland health officials on Monday offered preliminary guidance on who will qualify next week for the vaccine based on underlying health conditions, telling vaccinators to refer to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s list of ailments that put people “at increased risk for severe” illness, including smoking, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, pregnancy, cancer, Down syndrome and having a BMI above 30
New York City has vaccinated over 3.4 million, as the state opens up eligibility to those 50 years and older, and Mayor Bill de Blasio said they are expecting a “major boost” in supply starting in the first week of April which will be “crucial” in “pumping up the vaccinations.”
The Navajo Nation, with five rounds of funding under the CARES Act, was able to fully vaccinate 38% of its citizens, with more than half now having received at least one dose.
US energy companies are organizing employee vaccinations as more doses become available, officials and employees told Reuters, setting up on-site clinics or offering time off to workers to get the shot.
The Biden administration is enlisting the help of groups including the Christian Broadcasting Network Inc. and Nascar to encourage more people to get the vaccine, particularly members of communities that have been the most skeptical, aiming to use such organizations to help persuade conservatives, one of the demographic groups that polls show have significant reluctance to get the shots.
Thirteen sports leagues and organizations on Tuesday unveiled a new pro-vaccination public service announcement, the latest in a series from the Ad Council and Covid Collaborative, with the PSA, which will appear across TV and digital media platforms, featuring clips from pre-pandemic sporting events set to musician Willie Nelson singing “I'll Be Seeing You.”

Economy and Business

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said today "Congress provided by far the fastest and largest response to any postwar economic downturn, offering fiscal support for households, businesses, health care providers, and state and local governments," and since then the housing market "has more than fully recovered from the downturn," and "Business investment and manufacturing production have picked up," but spending on services remains low.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen painted an optimistic picture of the economy Tuesday, saying that while 10 million people still remain jobless, "we may see a return to full employment next year," and that “With the passage of the American Rescue Plan, I am confident people will reach the other side of this pandemic with the foundations of their lives intact and will be met there by a growing economy,”
Millions of US households are facing heavy past-due utility bills, which have escalated in the year since the pandemic forced Americans hunkered down at home to consume more power, and now, government moratoriums that for months had barred utilities from turning off the power of their delinquent customers are starting to expire in most states, and as a result, up to 37 million customers - representing nearly one-third of all households - will soon have to reckon with their overdue power bills at a time when many of them are struggling with lost jobs or income.
A recent survey by Blackhawk Network found that the strategy of offering employees incentives to encourage them to get vaccinated could be effective, with more than two-thirds of workers saying they would accept a monetary incentive ranging from as little as $10 to as much as $1,000.
Regal Cinemas will reopen in the US after six months of being shuttered in the midst of the pandemic, with the movie theater chain owned by Cineworld set to reopen around 500 locations on April 2 at limited capacity based on local guidelines, with attendance in most cases capped at 25% to 50% capacity.
Penn National Gaming is seeing a strong recovery at its properties as vaccinations continue to roll out across the country, CEO Jay Snowden told CNBC Tuesday, seeing a recovery from when the casino operator reopened its locations and attendance was well below pre-pandemic levels - although those who did show up were spending enthusiastically.