| | |  | BY RENUKA RAYASAM | Presented by McDonald's | With help from Myah Ward FLAG OFF THE FIELD — This won’t be the first time a Super Bowl has been played during the pandemic. A year ago, the last time the Kansas City Chiefs traveled to Florida for a Super Bowl, more than 62,000 fans were in the stadium. After the Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers on Feb. 2, 2020, winning quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw footballs from the back of a double-decker bus during a celebration parade a few days later to thousands of adoring Kansas City fans. Nearly all of the players and fans were blissfully unaware that Covid-19 was already spreading in the United States. This year — with Mahomes and the Chiefs back in the Super Bowl, this time against Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — there will be no sold-out stadium, no filled-to-capacity bars and no huge parades. The NFL is limiting attendance at this Sunday’s game in Tampa to about 22,000 fans, including 7,500 vaccinated health care workers. Every attendee will get a KN95 mask, hand sanitizer and wipes. The mayors of Kansas City and Tampa have taken action to try to prevent the Super Bowl from becoming a superspreading event. Tampa Mayor Jane Castor issued an outdoor face covering order to the areas surrounding Raymond James Stadium as well as the city’s entertainment districts. Kansas City, Mo., has stepped up enforcement at bars, making sure they limit capacity and shut down at midnight. A handful that violated orders during the AFC Championship game last week have been shut down, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas told Nightly today. And if the Chiefs win, they won’t get another big downtown parade any time soon. “This team is so good that they’ll probably be back in the Super Bowl next year,” Lucas said, “so we can hold some of our more dramatic celebrations.” Kansas City and Tampa aren’t putting a complete stop on the celebrations. There will be a weeklong outdoor fan event at Tampa’s riverwalk. Both mayors have acknowledged that people will meet up in both cities to drink beer, eat seven-layer dip and critique the halftime show. Castor and Lucas just want people to wear masks and distance to keep celebrations from boosting cases at a time when deaths are still high and the vaccine rollout is slow going. If fans do that, then talk about the spread at the game can be contained to the number of points the Chiefs are favored by: 3, according to most gambling sites.
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An aerial view of Raymond James Stadium ahead of Super Bowl LV in Tampa, Fla. | Getty Images | About one-quarter of the people polled across the country in one survey said they plan to gather with others outside their homes to watch the game. For avid fans, which certainly includes a larger share of the people who live in Kansas City and Tampa, the number is even higher, 40 percent. There will be a spike in cases in both cities, said Edwin Michael, an epidemiologist at the University of South Florida. Cases have slowed dramatically in Tampa after a holiday spike, and the reproductive rate is now just below 1 in the area. Still, if there’s a 25 percent reduction in mask wearing and social distancing this weekend, cases would spike 10 percent in Tampa next week, Michael said. A 50 percent reduction in mask wearing and social distancing would lead to a 25 percent increase in cases. After the Bucs won the NFC title game, a local TV crew captured fans celebrating mostly maskless, outside but with little distancing. Kansas City mayor Lucas said he doesn’t want to be “your high school principal shutting everything down.” A Super Bowl is supposed to be fun. It gives people a chance to think about something other than the virus, social injustice and the “weird time” that has been the pandemic, he said. Best of all it’s a chance to gang up against Tom Brady, whose playing career seems likely to outlast the pandemic. (Full disclosure, your Nightly author is still traumatized by Super Bowl 51 .) “I would love nothing better than to retire Tom Brady,” said Lucas, who said that he and Castor haven’t officially announced their wager, but it will likely involve cigars and barbecue. “Maybe he gets to smoke some cigars and finally is done terrorizing not just the AFC, but the entire league. And we’ll do our part.” Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Excited to watch The Weeknd but prefer the original. Reach out at rrayasam@politico.com or on Twitter at @renurayasam. | |
| | A message from McDonald's: Ron started as a crew member at McDonald’s in Oakland, CA where he found an exciting path. Thanks to college tuition assistance from McDonald’s, Ron became the first college graduate in his family, and today works in Operations at McDonald’s headquarters. Learn how Ron and others succeed at McDonald’s. | | | | | | 
| JUST 5 PERCENT OF VACCINE DOSES WENT TO BLACK AMERICANS — Black and Latino Americans are falling behind in the nationwide race to get vaccinated against Covid-19, even in blue states and localities praised for championing racial equity during earlier phases of the pandemic, health care reporters Joanne Kenen and Tucker Doherty write. So far, the U.S has racial and ethnic data for only about half of the vaccine doses given. Among those, just 5 percent have gone to Black Americans and only 11 percent were given to Latino recipients, according to the CDC. A POLITICO analysis of the available data suggests the disadvantaged and underserved communities are being bypassed, including in those states that have not yet publicly broken out data by race and ethnicity. Washington, D.C.’s predominantly Black neighborhoods have lagged behind wealthier wards, with vaccination rates between 7 to 9 percent among residents age 65 and over, compared to 25 percent in the northwest part of the city. In Michigan, Detroit is falling behind rural counties in the state’s upper peninsula, despite policymakers’ efforts to make the city a priority.
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| | TRACK FIRST 100 DAYS OF THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION: The Biden administration hit the ground running with a series of executive orders his first week in office and continues to outline priorities on key issues. What's coming down the pike? Find out in Transition Playbook, our scoop-filled newsletter tracking the policies, people and emerging power centers of the first 100 days of the new administration. Subscribe today. | | | | | | | ONE GOOD MASK BEATS TWO BAD ONES — Nightly’s Myah Ward talked to Abraar Karan, an internal medicine physician at Harvard Medical School’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, about the latest mask recommendations. This conversation has been edited. Some experts are now suggesting people double-mask for added protection against more contagious Covid variants. What are your thoughts on this? I think that wearing two, well-fitted masks — so a surgical mask and a cloth mask — is actually going to be helpful, because it will help with both fit and it will also help with filtration. With the surgical mask, you get a meltblown fabric, which has filtration capacity against aerosol. And with the cloth mask, you’re getting a more well fitted mask that can help with the leakages. But I think this is a backstop. This is not the be-all-end-all solution. What masks should we be wearing? A high-quality mask. I would consider a mask that’s actually been tested and verified by some place like the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, which verifies N95 — they put them through rigorous testing. Try to get a mask that’s been verified and certified, whether that’s N95, KN95 or KF94. And the CDC also has a list online of vendors who have dealt with counterfeits. So you can contact that vendor and ask them if the shipment for masks that you got, was that in a verified shipment or not. This is tedious, right? This is like you’re having to go do detective work on one of the most important verified protections that we have against a respiratory pathogen. How could the government make it easier for people to get better masks? I think that the CDC, NIOSH and FDA should collaborate on a standard for a face mask for the general public, which they can verify and certify that this material provides this level of protection and these products have gone through some level of quality approval. Because the FDA generally just has to say that your product cannot harm anybody. But it is harming somebody if they’re using a product that isn’t working as well against deadly viral pathogens. So I think that this really comes down to our public health agencies verifying products for us, and then helping us get those products. Just like we’re doing for vaccines. How are other countries doing this? Countries like South Korea bought KN94s and sent them at a subsidized cost to pharmacies all over the country. Or Hong Kong and Singapore, which actually had sort of mask deployment programs using masks that they verified and worked on with the private sector. And then they delivered them via post offices and vending machines. And now in Europe, we’re seeing this move towards requiring people to use medical grade masks. We’re seeing that in Germany. In Bavaria, they’re going as far as to say you have to use FFP2, which is equivalent to N95, in public transit and grocery stores. They’re sending them to seniors at a subsidized cost or even free. Austria is doing the same thing. And then France has just banned the use of homemade cloth masks. So as usual, we’re following way behind in the U.S.
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| | | | | VACCINES TAKE A SNOW DAY — A sprawling winter storm crippled Covid-19 vaccination sites across the Northeast today, further complicating an undertaking that’s been marred by repeated delays and delivery problems, Shannon Young and Amanda Eisenberg write. Officials halted distribution efforts from Washington to Maine as the storm marched up the East Coast, where it’s expected to leave as much as 2 feet of snow in some areas. The delays come just as health officials warn new, more easily transmissible strains of the virus could be identified throughout the region. All Covid-19 vaccine appointments in New York City were canceled today and Tuesday, Mayor Bill de Blasio said. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy likewise canceled appointments today. Governors and mayors were taking similar actions in other states across the mid-Atlantic and New England.
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People walk through the snow in Manhattan. Schools, public transportation and vaccine centers across the region are being impacted by the storm. | Getty Images | | | A PRESCRIPTION FOR THE COVID ECONOMY — Biden wants $1.9 trillion. Republicans want a lot less. In the latest POLITICO Dispatch, financial services reporter Victoria Guida breaks down what would really save the Covid economy — and why we shouldn’t care too much about the price tag … for now.
| | | | DONALD WHO? During the White House briefing today, press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters the White House wasn’t setting aside too much of their schedule to worry about the 45th president. “This may be hard to believe, we don’t spend a lot of time talking about or thinking about President Trump here. Former President Trump, to be very clear,” Psaki said, answering a question on how Trump’s social media absence was affecting Covid-19 relief negotiations. “I can’t say we miss him on Twitter.”
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| | | COVID COURT IN SESSION — Are you in the middle of a Covid safety argument? Do you have an unresolved disagreement over Covid risk management with a relative or colleague? Ask Renu to issue a ruling! Email your pandemic disputes to nightly@politico.com.
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| | JOIN TUESDAY - THE FUTURE OF AMERICAN ENERGY: President Joe Biden is pushing for an ambitious agenda to tackle the climate crisis amid a gridlocked Washington. Biden's signature plan "Build Back Better" includes a $400B investment in clean energy research, establishing a new agency to focus on climate, among other initiatives. Join POLITICO for a virtual conversation to explore policy proposals and practices to help communities with economies that rely on fossil fuels to navigate the energy transition. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | BIDEN’S 1ST FOREIGN POLICY CRISIS — Ryan Heath wrote in POLITICO’s Global Translations newsletter this morning on Myanmar’s military seizing power from the country’s civilian leadership, kicking off the Biden administration’s first foreign crisis and setting the stage for an urgent United Nations Security Council debate, with the possibility of democratic allies imposing sanctions. The West speaks out: Biden said today his administration is considering resuming sanctions on Myanmar after the apparent military coup. And European leaders were quick to condemn the events in Myanmar, but it looks likely to take them significantly longer to agree on any action against the junta. What’s next: Ryan emails us: The United Nations Security Council will meet behind closed doors Tuesday to debate the military coup in Myanmar, but few diplomats expect the body to agree on a common position. The United Kingdom is leading the Security Council through February, and keeping every option open in the hope of getting a consensus statement approved. U.K. Ambassador to the U.N. Barbara Woodward said that while “everyone has agreed that the meeting should go ahead,” that’s where the consensus ends. “At the moment we don’t have specific ideas on the measures. We will discuss whatever measures we think will be helpful,” Woodward said. “I wouldn’t expect any serious Council product. This sort of closed meeting is really a chance for the diplomats to probe each other a bit and signal if they are open to more serious U.N. discussions,” said International Crisis Group’s Richard Gowan. The stumbling block is China, according to European and American diplomats. British officials say that Vietnam, a fellow member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations alongside Myanmar, will play a critical role in the debate.
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5.3 percent The projected unemployment rate for 2021, according to a new CBO forecast today. The economy is expected to grow “rapidly” at 4.6 percent this year, continuing to expand over the next decade. The unemployment rate is projected to drop from 6.8 percent in 2020, with the number of employed people returning to pre-pandemic levels by 2024, CBO predicted. |
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POLITICO illustration / senate.gov and house.gov photos | THIS WASN’T ON THE SYLLABUS — Meet the House freshman class of the 117th Congress: nearly 60 ambitious dreamers and cynical opportunists, hard-nosed businesswomen and local potentates, establishment rising stars and complete outsiders. They’ve entered a historic body at a historic low point — at odds with itself and torn over Trump. Yet after a few tension-filled weeks, some semblance of normalcy is emerging as these new members begin to figure out the kind of lawmakers they aim to be. A natural sorting among the freshman class has begun to take shape. The 44 GOP freshmen are split between a raft of more diverse, mainstream recruits and a vocal band of Trump-backed hard-liners, while the 15 new Democrats include both vocal progressives and a contingent of moderates. Olivia Beavers breaks down the diverse group newly arriving in D.C.
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| | A message from McDonald's: Ron always knew he could go places, he just didn’t know where to start. So he applied for a job at McDonald’s, where he found an exciting path and free college tuition assistance. Ron’s drive to succeed and support from his Manager helped make him the first in his family to graduate college. Today, he puts his college degree to work as an Operations Associate at McDonald’s headquarters.
There are tens of thousands of stories like Ron’s at McDonald’s, where restaurant employees take multiple paths to learn and grow. We offer programs and benefits like Archways to Opportunity®, which has expanded access to education for more than 60,000 crew members and managers while providing more than $125M in tuition assistance.
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