Here are the headlines you Need2Know for Friday, January 29, 2021:
VACCINES VS. VARIANTS
The South Africa variant is here. South Carolina has two confirmed cases of the mutated strain, which is both more contagious and at least somewhat more resistant to the current vaccines. Novavax said for the first time that its vaccine candidate is 90 percent effective, but much less so against the South Africa variant. A study found Pfizer’s vaccine to be somewhat less effective against that variant, which would jive with what Moderna has said about its similarly made shot. Both those companies are considering tweaking their shots to respond to the new mutations. APSure it’s more contagious and resistant to vaccines but man does it have a cool accent.
MARKET CHAOS
What do Ted Cruz, AOC and Elon Musk have in common? They all came down hard against the decision by Robinhood and other online brokerages to temporarily block investors from buying shares of GameStop. The weirdest week on Wall St. in recent memory is ending with small investors up in arms against that decision, which led to shares of GameStop plummeting from their highs. Robinhood says they had to institute trading curbs for regulatory reasons, but the effect meant that individual traders were blocked from buying, while institutional investors like hedge funds could keep selling out of their positions or buy the dip. Investigations have been launched, Congressional hearings have been scheduled, and Robinhood is under fire for appearing to turn on the very small-time investors that made it so wildly popular. CHEDDAR
COVID RELIEF BILL
President Biden and Democrats in Congress are preparing to push through his new economic aid bill next week with or without the buy-in of Republicans. Dems still hope to procure at least some bipartisan support for the massive, $1.9 trillion package, but are not waiting to try to rally the 60 votes needed for a clean passage in the Senate. Instead, they will begin a process known as budget reconciliation that only requires a simple majority. Even then, the scope of the bill will almost certainly need to be trimmed to get the support of some moderate Dems, given that every Democrat senator would need to be on board to get the 51 votes. POLITICO
SMOKING RATE
The smoking rate in the U.S. has stopped sliding for the first time in decades. Cigarette sales were flat in 2020 after years of falling at an accelerated rate, according to data from Marlboro parent Altria. The pandemic has created more opportunities -- and more disposable income -- for many smokers to light up, and health concerns about vaping led some former smokers to switch back to cigs. WSJTar or heavy metals. Pick your poison. Literally.
ECONOMIC SHRINKAGE
Last year, the U.S. economy contracted on an annual basis for the first time since 2009. GDP shrank by 3.5 percent, the widest margin since WWII, even as the fourth quarter showed some signs of growth. (In another somewhat encouraging sign, jobless claims last week came in a bit better than expected.) Economists largely expect the economy to continue to stall until widespread vaccinations end the pandemic. YAHOO FINANCE
GM ALL IN
In one of the biggest signs yet that the business world sees the switch to renewable energy as not just a foregone conclusion but a profitable goal, General Motors said it would phase out the internal combustion engine by 2035 and sell exclusively electric cars and trucks by then. GM is the largest automaker to commit to such an ambitious timeline for electrification, and it is likely to pressure other American car companies to follow suit. CHEDDARNot we just have to make it to 2035.
FACEBOOK SUPREME COURT
Facebook’s Oversight Board has handed down its first rulings, overturning a handful of content decisions in test cases related to hate speech and misinformation. This new body, essentially the Supreme Court of Facebook and made up of human rights experts and lawyers from around the world, will become an important part of how the platform operates. The board’s decisions on what Facebook should do with divisive content are binding and must be followed. The first real test starts today, when it begins accepting public comments for the review of Donald Trump’s Facebook account. A decision in that case will come by April. POLITICO
SPOTTED...
...Kim, Kourtney, Khloe and the rest of the Kardashian family/business empire, maskless and crying, in the trailer for the final season of their reality show, premiering March 18: WATCHKardashians don’t get Covid. They get Kovid. ...the new Jersey Devil rollercoaster, finishing up construction at Six Flags Great Adventure ahead of its grand opening later this year. Once opened, the Devil will be the world’s tallest, fastest and longest coaster: SEE PICWe look forward to throwing up on this when it’s safe to do so.
IN MEMORIAM: CICELY TYSON
Cicely Tyson, the pioneering actress of the stage and screen, has died at 96. Tyson won Emmys, a Tony and an honorary Oscar over the span of her seven-decade career, in which she famously refused to play any role that would demean Black women, even if it meant going without work for long stretches. She worked up until her death, releasing a memoir just this week. OBIT
SUNDANCE FROM YOUR SOFA
Park City may be quiet but the Sundance Film Festival is in full swing online. This year, the film festival is not only all virtual, but open to the public for the first time. For $15 a pop, you can stream all 73 of the feature films making their premiere. Among the buzziest this year is Land, Robin Wright’s directorial debut. DEADLINEHas anyone checked on the paparazzi during the pandemic?
LEFTOVERS: HIGHWAY TO VACCINATION
A group of Oregon healthcare workers who got stranded on the highway in a blizzard on their way back from a coronavirus vaccination event went car-to-car giving out vaccine doses that were about to expire. The health workers had half a dozen doses that were going to go bad within hours, so they offered them up to others stuck in the same traffic jam -- who enthusiastically accepted: SEE PICS
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