When Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced this week that the federal government would begin releasing coronavirus vaccine doses held in reserve for second shots, no such reserve existed, according to state and federal officials briefed on distribution plans. The Trump administration had already begun shipping out what was available beginning at the end of December, taking second doses directly off the manufacturing line.
Now, health officials across the country who had anticipated their extremely limited vaccine supply as much as doubling beginning next week are confronting the reality that their allocations will not immediately increase, dashing hopes of dramatically expanding access for millions of elderly people and those with high-risk medical conditions. Health officials in some cities and states were informed in recent days about the reality of the situation, while others are still in the dark…
…These officials were told that Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration’s initiative to speed the development of vaccines and therapeutics, stopped stockpiling second doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at the end of last year, instead taking second doses directly off the manufacturing line. The last shots held in reserve of Moderna’s supply, meanwhile, began shipping out over the weekend.
As The Washington Post reports in a separate story, expect more problems with the rollout of a COVID-19 vaccine because Trump administration officials are literally REFUSING TO CONSULT with staff for President-elect Joe Biden.
► As The New York Times reports, Vice President Mike Pence is doing his best to pretend to be President since Donald Trump is no longer interested in the work:
Vice President Mike Pence telephoned Vice President-elect Kamala Harris Thursday to congratulate her and offer his belated assistance — filling a leadership role all but abdicated by President Trump, who is planning to fly out of the capital shortly before Joseph R. Biden Jr. is sworn in next week.
The Pence-Harris conversation, relayed by two officials briefed on the call, was described as gracious and pleasant. The discussion is the first time Mr. Pence and Ms. Harris have spoken since they debated each other last fall.
It also represents the only one-on-one interaction between the dueling 2020 presidential tickets: Mr. Trump has refused to call President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. and has not even fully conceded defeat.
As for Trump, he plans to leave Washington D.C. the morning before Joe Biden’s inauguration because he has the emotional stability of a toddler.
► Senator Michael Bennet (D-Denver) says that the U.S. Senate can “walk and chew gum at the same time” in response to questions about handling both President Trump’s impeachment and confirmation of President-elect Joe Biden’s top appointees.
► The Aurora Sentinel reports on how the Colorado legislature is wrapping up a brief return to the State Capitol before taking a recess until February 16.
More political (and coronavirus) news is available right after the jump…
As Promised, More Words…
► Earlier this week we mentioned the bizarre brain functions of freshman State Rep. Ron Hanks (R-Fremont County), who was in Washington D.C. during last week’s attack on the Capitol. As Saja Hindi reports for The Denver Post, Hanks has since gone AWOL:
A newly elected Colorado Republican lawmaker who attended the president’s Jan. 6 rally has been absent for the majority of the three-day legislative session that started Wednesday.
Rep. Ron Hanks, who is from Penrose, arrived at the state Capitol on Wednesday morning and was sworn in. He then left and did not participate in the remainder of that day’s session in person or remotely and was not in attendance Thursday or Friday.
Hanks has not returned multiple requests for comment by phone, email and text message. Although his campaign website is still up, his Facebook page has been removed. He was elected in November to the House District 60 seat, representing parts of Fremont, Custer, Chaffee and Park counties — all south and west of Colorado Springs.
House leaders excused Hanks, but it is unusual not to attend the first days of session as a new lawmaker, particularly since the first part of the 2021 session is only three days.
►Chris Cillizza of CNN wonders if Donald Trump will go down as the worst President in American history. Even without reading anything Cillizza wrote, we can confidently say: “Yes.”
► If you’ve been wondering about the fate of Cardboard Cory, this is for you:
Gentle readers: Today my handlers were honored to meet @SenatorHick & pass *me* on to him 🤗
► As Ernest Luning reports for the publication formerly known as the Colorado Statesman, right-wing Republican activist Kristi Burton Brown is officially running to be the next Chairperson of the State Republican Party. KBB currently serves as the Vice-Chair of the State GOP.
►A bipartisan group in Congress wants to award the Congressional Gold Medal to
Officer Eugene Goodman, the Black Capitol Police Officer who was shown in a viral video luring insurrectionists away from the Senate chambers during last week’s attack on the Capitol.
► Congressman Joe Neguse (D-Boulderish) talks to 9News about his role as one of nine House Impeachment Managers. Neguse will be joined in prosecuting Trump’s second impeachment by Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Denver).
► The Colorado National Guard will send 200 troops to Washington D.C. to assist with security in advance of Joe Biden’s inauguration on Wednesday.
► As Colorado Public Radio reports, Rep. Lauren “Q*Bert” Boebert is not exactly making Western Colorado residents proud. The Colorado Times Recorder, meanwhile, has more on another wacky theory from Q*Bert.
► The Colorado Times Recorder looks at how Colorado right-wing conspiracists helped ignite election fraud nonsense about Dominion Voting Systems.
► Congresswoman Lauren “Q*Bert” Boebert is not interested in even pretending to take her job seriously. She seems to think that Congress is like a sequel to the movie “Mean Girls”:
Um, I’ve never said your name in public, @RepBoebert. Never. Not once. (If you’re going to be a gun nut, you probably shouldn’t go off half cocked.) I’ll tweet the transcript so you can see…but that might be like “a fact”, so might not help you. https://t.co/a0weTQvIp0
► President Trump is banning the words “Richard Nixon” in his final days in the White House. Trump bristles at comparisons to Nixon, though maybe he shouldn’t; Nixon looks like a saint compared to Trump.
ICYMI
► Vox.com digs deep into President-elect Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 stimulus plan.
► As Ryan Young writes for Fortune, it’s time to raise the cost of supporting wacko conspiracy theories.
► Don’t miss the latest episode of The Get More Smarter Podcast, featuring an exclusive interview with Rep. Jason Crow (D-Aurora), who takes us through a minute-by-minute account of the attack on the Capitol:
Don’t forget to give Colorado Pols a thumbs up on Facebook and Twitter.
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They will probably be greeted warmly by their friends at MAGPUL.
NYAG Letitia James has vowed to not let the NRA escape any amount of accountability with this cheap stunt and it is still to be seen if Biden's pledge to deflate PLCAA actually happens and is impactful.
At one point, Trump was going to have problems living a Mar-a-logo. He’d signed agreements with the planning commission not to live there back when he conned them into allowing him to convert the residence to a private club.
Uh, oh. This article discusses a new Covid variant in Brazil that makes our current vaccines 90% less effective.
That’s because this new variant carries a mutation to the spike protein known as E484K. That mutation has been previously seen in a handful of cases, notably in Japan. There are already documented cases of people who had COVID-19, and have still been infected by the versions of the virus carrying this mutation. This mutation is directly on the region of the spike protein that attaches to the ACE2 receptor in human cells. It’s by blocking this region that current vaccines halt the entry of the virus, but laboratory tests suggest that the E484K mutation makes neutralizing antibodies over 90% less effective at binding to the virus. While that is not a complete measure of the effectiveness of a vaccine, the combination of factors: the high incidence of disease in an area already thought to have reached essential herd immunity, the demonstrated connection between this mutation and reinfection, and the laboratory tests all point to a new version of the virus that could deliver a follow-up punch to a world that is still reeling from COVID-19.
This should be sounding a global red alert at the highest level. In a very real sense, this might be considered a whole new disease: COVID-21.
It’s not that the mutation will render existing vaccines useless, scientists stress. The vaccines authorized so far and those in development produce what’s called a polyclonal response, generating numerous antibodies that home in on different parts of the virus. Changes to any of those target sites raise the possibility that the vaccines would be less effective, not that they won’t work at all.
January 15, 2021 11:29 AM UTC
6 Comments
Happy “
The NRA has filed for bankruptcy; moving its headquarters from New York to Texas (where they'll enjoy the accommodations of a friendlier state AG).
They will probably be greeted warmly by their friends at MAGPUL.
NYAG Letitia James has vowed to not let the NRA escape any amount of accountability with this cheap stunt and it is still to be seen if Biden's pledge to deflate PLCAA actually happens and is impactful.
Where do rats run when they're in trouble?
At one point, Trump was going to have problems living a Mar-a-logo. He’d signed agreements with the planning commission not to live there back when he conned them into allowing him to convert the residence to a private club.
I suggest Trump look at purchasing San Clemente.
You may spot him someday in an orange jumpsuit sweeping the forest floor.
Uh, oh. This article discusses a new Covid variant in Brazil that makes our current vaccines 90% less effective.
That’s because this new variant carries a mutation to the spike protein known as E484K. That mutation has been previously seen in a handful of cases, notably in Japan. There are already documented cases of people who had COVID-19, and have still been infected by the versions of the virus carrying this mutation. This mutation is directly on the region of the spike protein that attaches to the ACE2 receptor in human cells. It’s by blocking this region that current vaccines halt the entry of the virus, but laboratory tests suggest that the E484K mutation makes neutralizing antibodies over 90% less effective at binding to the virus. While that is not a complete measure of the effectiveness of a vaccine, the combination of factors: the high incidence of disease in an area already thought to have reached essential herd immunity, the demonstrated connection between this mutation and reinfection, and the laboratory tests all point to a new version of the virus that could deliver a follow-up punch to a world that is still reeling from COVID-19.
This should be sounding a global red alert at the highest level. In a very real sense, this might be considered a whole new disease: COVID-21.
New virus variant may not be stopped by current vaccines, as American lifespans drop by 1.1 years (dailykos.com)
I like this source for all things covid:
There's more to read there. It's all good info.