| | | |  | BY JOANNE KENEN | Presented by |  |
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| With help from Renuka Rayasam ARE WE THERE YET? If 2020 was the year of “It’s worse than you think,” then 2021, the second and we sure hope final year of the pandemic, is the year of “So far, so good.” The first year was a geyser of uncertainty; scientists didn’t call it the “novel” coronavirus for nothing. As knowledge grew, guidance changed — on masks, asymptomatic spread, airborne infection and on and on. Pretty much everything we thought was really, really bad turned out to be even worse. Early testing was delayed, scarce and error-prone. So in those frightening first months, confirmed cases of Covid-19 were “probably an undercount.” Hospital admissions specifically for Covid were “probably an undercount.” Deaths were “probably an undercount,” as evidenced by the work the CDC and others have done on excess mortality — the unusually large numbers of deaths that were not confirmed as the coronavirus but in retrospect were clearly coronavirus linked. This year began with a dreadful surge after the winter holidays, sometimes more than 4,000 deaths a day. But the pandemic is receding. So far. Cases, hospitalizations and deaths are falling. So far. Vaccination, though slowing, is still moving ahead. So far. The partial return to in-person learning has gone pretty well. So far. And the vaccines have been surprisingly, wondrously, luckily working better than expected against variants. That’s a great big juicy “So far.”
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People walk and ride along the boardwalk in Wildwood, N.J. | Getty Images | With optimism comes these caveats: — Vaccines do seem to offer protection against the very contagious Delta variant — but most of the world isn’t vaccinated. First seen in India, Delta is now spreading rapidly across the globe, including to the U.S. The United Kingdom, which has a pretty robust one-shot vaccination drive, is seeing such a Delta surge that it may slow its planned reopening. — As long as portions of our country remain undervaccinated, the risk of more outbreaks and a variant that can evade the virus persists. Will it get as bad as last January again? Unlikely, because tens of millions of people are vaccinated, including most Americans over age 65. Can it get bad enough to set us back ? To really hit some communities hard, to unroll the hard-won progress medically, emotionally, economically? Yes. The G-7 summit of rich Western nations will address the lag in global vaccinations in the next few days, but it won’t be an overnight fix. In the meantime, not only is the inequity in developing countries’ vaccination rates a tragedy for countries being inundated with cases, it also perpetuates a danger to us. A new variant that starts elsewhere in the world can and almost certainly will find its way here, particularly as international travel comes back. As more and more people go back into indoor workspaces or socializing — in the South, when it gets too hot in the summer, and in the North, when it gets too cold in fall and winter — risks also rise. The coronavirus spreads more easily indoors. We’re ripping off our masks and exultantly celebrating the end of a pandemic. But it hasn’t yet ended. So far. The death tolls are falling — and falling. Some big hospitals don’t have a single covid case in their ICUs. It is joyous to behold. But we still lose about 350 to 400 people a day. Like a jumbo jet crash, every single day. It’s better. So much better. But not over. So far. Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas for us at jkenen@politico.com, or on Twitter at @joannekenen.
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A message from AARP: Congress: It’s time to let Medicare negotiate for lower drug prices. The President, Congress, and the American people agree: we need to lower prescription drug prices. Americans can’t afford to pay the highest prices in the world for their prescription drugs. Giving Medicare the power to negotiate will save hundreds of billions of dollars and reduce prescription drug costs for all Americans. aarp.org/FairRxPrices | | | | | | |
“The EU agrees with the U.S. on certain concerns arising from China’s rise to be a global power,” a senior European Union diplomat said. “But China is more of a concern for Washington than for Berlin or Paris. After all, it’s the American economy that will be overtaken by the Chinese one.” — FROM STUART LAU’S POLITICO REPORT ON BIDEN’S ATTEMPTS TO WIN OVER EUROPE ON CHINA STRATEGY, COMING THURSDAY MORNING |
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| | DON'T MISS THE MILKEN INSTITUTE FUTURE OF HEALTH SUMMIT: POLITICO will feature a special edition of our Future Pulse newsletter at the 2021 Milken Institute Future of Health Summit. The newsletter takes readers inside one of the most influential gatherings of global health industry leaders and innovators who are turning lessons learned from the past year into a healthier, more resilient and more equitable future. Covid-19 threatened our health and well-being, while simultaneously leading to extraordinary coordination to improve pandemic preparedness, disease prevention, diversity in clinical trials, mental health resources, food access and more. SUBSCRIBE TODAY to receive exclusive coverage from June 22-23. | | | | | | | THE PANDEMIC HAPPINESS PROJECT — The arrival of Covid last year caused a massive disruption in our daily lives. Now we are trying to chart a post-pandemic path back to new life and work routines. Nightly’s Renuka Rayasam called up Gretchen Rubin, who writes and hosts a podcast about happiness and creating good habits, about how we can use our pandemic experience to improve our lives. This conversation has been edited. Tell me about your pandemic experience. The strange thing about being in New York City is that from the outside, hearing about it, it was so intense. Of course we all felt the weight of that. And it was very, it was scary. But to me it was the quiet that was the thing that was kind of eerie. People thought of it as being kind of chaotic with all this stuff happening. But in your own neighborhood, it was just quiet. There was no traffic. Like walking against the light, on Lexington Avenue at 3 p.m. — it was just eerie. I can hear the birds chirping. It’s like, oh my gosh, I don’t usually hear the birds chirping on Wednesday morning, you know? Thankfully, nobody in my family got sick. Now that you are vaccinated, how do you feel about being out again? It’s just delightful to be out and about. Now one thing about being in New York City is people really do wear masks. So I’m in Grand Central Station. Everybody’s wearing a mask. I’m so happy to be there. I love the bustle, I want the tourists, because to me it’s a very happy feeling. How did this past year change how you think about your own work on happiness? It underscored everything that I knew was true, but it just showed me how true it was. Ancient philosophers and contemporary scientists agree that relationships are the key to happiness. In talking to people about the pandemic experience, what everybody was thinking of, is the disruption of relationships — the inability to see people who are dear to us, not being able to be present for people when they were sick or in the hospital, how much they miss things even like being alone in a crowded coffee shop, realizing the value of friendly strangers. Many people didn’t realize how much social energy they got from just being in the office. How do you think the pandemic has changed us? At different points, we have catalysts for reflection. A lot of times people use the New Year to be a catalyst for reflection. For some people, it’s their birthday or it’s an anniversary or a big milestone that causes you to sort of step back from your life and reflect about what do I want, what do I want the future to hold? For many people, the pandemic caused this opportunity for reflection because it changed circumstances. So it’s like, this is what your life is like without a commute. This is what your life is like without extracurriculars. This is what your life is like when you’re not going to the office, when you’re not going to that coffee shop across the street from your office every day. People are too ready to generalize about the experience — there’s a wild diversity among people's experiences. Even within individuals where some things are very painful and hard and then some things have been not so bad or maybe have been good. What is your advice for people who are rethinking their lives right now? That is the million dollar question. Given what you want, what do you do? Self knowledge is a big part of that. And to remember that people are going through different things and to try to have forbearance. We need to be empathetic to other people.
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| | | | | — Biden EPA to reverse Trump’s sweeping Clean Water Act rollback: The Biden administration is moving to undo a Trump-era rule that vastly shrank the number of streams and wetlands protected by the Clean Water Act , taking on a politically combustible issue that has cost Democrats in farm country for more than a decade. EPA Administrator Michael Regan announced today that his agency will formally repeal the 2020 Navigable Waters Protection Rule, which removed federal pollution oversight from tributaries of iconic waterways and broad swaths of the arid West. EPA will then begin crafting its own, more expansive definition of waterways subject to federal water protections. — Slavitt stepping down from White House Covid-19 response role: Andy Slavitt stepped down from Biden’s Covid-19 response team today, ending his stint as a senior adviser to the White House’s pandemic response team during a vaccination campaign that has slowed in recent weeks. — U.S. warns Venezuela, Cuba to turn away Iranian ships believed to be carrying arms: The Biden administration is privately urging the governments of Venezuela and Cuba to turn away two Iranian naval ships believed to be carrying arms intended for transfer to Caracas, as the vessels make their way across the Atlantic Ocean this week, according to three people briefed on the situation. A weapons transfer from the Iranian ships to either Venezuela or Cuba would be a provocative move in direct defiance of U.S. warnings. The mere completion of a journey across the Atlantic would be a significant step for Iran’s navy, demonstrating the military’s capabilities after failed attempts in the past. — Keystone XL company officially calls it quits on pipeline: Canadian pipeline company TC Energy said today it was formally ending its bid to build the Keystone XL pipeline project, bringing the long-running battle over its construction to an end 13 years after it was first proposed. For nearly its entire history, the project had been at the center of the fight over climate change, and environmentalists had used it as a rallying cry in their campaign to block major new oil developments. — McGahn on Trump's pressure: I felt ’perturbed, trapped’: Former White House lawyer Don McGahn said he felt "trapped" by former President Donald Trump's relentless insistence that he have Special Counsel Robert Mueller ousted, according to newly released transcript of his testimony to the House Judiciary Committee. McGahn appeared before the committee last week, after years of legal sparring over whether his testimony was required. In the hearing, he discussed his role at the White House while Trump tried to stymie Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, according to the 241-page transcript published today.
| | Nightly asks you: Are you a vaccinated person who has a family member or friend who refuses to get vaccinated? Tell us your story using our form. We’ll include select answers in a future edition.
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| | JOIN THURSDAY FOR A TALK ON RESETTING INTERNET PRIVACY: Calls for some type of national privacy law have gained traction in recent years. The U.S. has no overarching national law governing data collection and privacy. Instead, it has a patchwork of federal laws that protect specific data types, such as consumer health and financial information and the personal data generated by children. Join POLITICO for a conversation on tech, data and the future of user privacy, and the most viable path forward. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | FIRST IN FRANCE, SECOND IN MULTILATERALISM — Emmanuel Macron and Trump didn’t see eye to eye on anything much. But in some ways, life was simpler for the French president before Biden entered the White House. With Trump pursuing his America First foreign policy, Macron could style himself as the world’s multilateralist-in-chief — trying to get everyone to work together for the global good. He also tried to act as Trump-whisperer, seeking to forge a macho relationship with the U.S. leader and manage his ego at global events such as the G-7 summit in Biarritz in 2019. Both roles gave Macron a central place on the world stage. But as he prepares to meet Biden for the first time at the G-7 summit in Cornwall, England, this weekend, the French president finds the leading position has been retaken by his American counterpart, an avowed champion of multilateralism, Rym Momtaz writes. That presents Macron with a more subtle challenge: how to work with Biden on their many common endeavors while holding onto the global leadership role that he enjoys and France expects, as well as trying to preserve a distinctively French and European position on some issues.
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| THE BUZZ AROUND TOWN — As Biden prepared to depart for his first foreign trip since assuming office, the commander in chief came into contact with an emergent domestic rival on the tarmac of Joint Base Andrews. Chatting with a uniformed military officer before boarding Air Force One, en route to a Royal Air Force station in England, the president could be seen swatting a sizable insect from his neck. Biden’s gesture interrupted his conversation with the service member as both men diverted their gazes to the ground, where the bug had apparently landed. The president proceeded to flash a wave to reporters before strolling over to the assembled press pool with a warning: “Watch out for the cicadas.” The episode marked the second time in less than 24 hours that the loud, red-eyed pest had intruded upon White House operations in the run-up to Biden’s European travel. On Tuesday night, the charter plane meant to carry the press corps for the president’s trip was grounded for more than five hours at Virginia’s Dulles International Airport due to mechanical problems caused by the cicadas. Reporters finally landed late this morning, POLITICO reported, after circling in their plane and temporarily unable to touch down because British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was slated to arrive in his own aircraft at roughly the same time.
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A message from AARP: Congress: Act now to lower prescription drug prices. Every year, Medicare spends more than $129 billion on prescription drugs. Yet, it's prohibited by law from using its buying power to negotiate with drug companies for lower prices. This must change. Americans are sick and tired of paying three times what people in other countries pay for the same medicine, forcing many to choose between buying the prescription drugs they need and paying for food and rent. aarp.org/FairRxPrices | | | Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. | |
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