Wisconsin has been called for Joe Biden, but the Trump campaign has already asked for a recount. We dig into what happens next with WisconsinWatch reporter Nora Eckert, who says that the "irregularities" alleged by the Trump campaign are a misunderstanding of how the state's process works.
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May. 17, 2021 11:06AM EST
Sanofi, GSK COVID vaccine shows strong immune response in phase 2 trials
Sanofi and GSK announcedthis morning their COVID-19 vaccine candidate demonstrated a strong immune response in adults in a phase 2 clinical trial.
Why it matters: Sanofi and GSK say their recombinant protein-based vaccine candidate could ultimately serve as a universal COVID-19 vaccine booster, able to boost immunity regardless of the vaccination first received.
- It could also ultimately help ease the ongoing global supply needs for vaccines.
Details: Sanofi and GSK said the vaccine triggered an antibody response in 95% to 100% of all the trial participants, ages 18 to 95, who got the vaccine.
- The companies also observed a "high immune response after a single dose in patients" who previously recovered from COVID-19, which shows the vaccine has strong booster potential.
- It's a promising development after the companies had to delay their vaccine in December to improve immune response in older adults. Still, it's also important to point out this is a phase 2 clinical trial, a relatively small study with 722 volunteers in the U.S. and Honduras.
A global Phase 3 trial with more than 35,000 participants from various countries is expected to start in the coming weeks to test the efficacy of two vaccine formulations against variants, officials said.
- In parallel, the companies also plan to conduct booster studies.
- Should the candidate prove successful in clearing Phase 3 testing and other regulatory hurdles, officials said a vaccine could be approved by the end of 2021.
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Jun. 13, 2021 05:29PM EST
"Starfield” is Microsoft’s blockbuster Xbox game for 2022
“Starfield,” the next big game from the makers of “Fallout” and “The Elder Scrolls” will be released on Nov. 11, 2022 for Xbox consoles and PC — and not for PlayStation, according to a new trailer.
Why it matters: “Starfield” is about as big as it gets in terms of upcoming blockbuster games and will likely be ace for Microsoft commercially.
- The science fiction role-playing game was first teased by development studio Bethesda in 2018 and has been greatly anticipated ever since.
- It served as Microsoft's first big announcement during itsE3 showcase Sunday.
Between the lines: Bethesda used to be a third-party publisher, meaning its games tended to be released for PC, PlayStation, and Xbox (plus on Nintendo platforms, at times).
- Microsoft purchased Bethesda for $7.5 billion last year, with the intent to use the company’s line-up to boost its growing all-you-can-play Game Pass subscription service.
- That led to speculation as to whether future Bethesda games would be exclusive to Xbox or at least, crucially, exclude PlayStation.
- Today’s trailer revealed “Starfield”'s exclusivity.
What they’re saying: “It’s a next-generation role-playing game where you’ll be who you want, go where you want, experience our stories and forge your own,” Bethesda lead game developer Todd Howard said in a behind-the-scenes video that was accidentally published early by the Washington Post.
- “More than that, 'Starfield' is about hope, our shared humanity and searching for the answers to life’s greatest mystery," he added.
What’s next: Somewhat vague teasers being what they are, we still don’t know much about what “Starfield” is and how it plays, but will no doubt find out more in the year and a half until it launches.
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Jun. 27, 2021 08:45PM EST
Mark Warner emerges as moderates' dealmaker-in-chief
As Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain navigate the legislative minefield of the next few months, they'll often turn to a moderate Democrat who gets far less ink than Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) or Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.).
The big picture: Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) has become a pivotal player in the multi-trillion-dollar negotiations that will shape the Democrats' electoral prospects, Joe Biden's presidency and the future of the country.
- Warner was an effective negotiator in the group of 10 Republican and Democratic senators who compromised last week on a roughly trillion-dollar infrastructure deal blessed by the president.
- And now he'll be the most powerful moderating force on the Senate Budget Committee.
- That panel is led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and is expected to be the arena in which Democrats battle over their next dream: a multi-trillion-dollar deal on social programs paid for with an overhaul of the tax code.
Behind the scenes: Centrist Democrats and Republicans involved in the negotiations tell Axios that Warner is well-positioned for this dealmaking role.
- Besides his committee seat, he's played a key role in previous bipartisan deals, including the COVID-19 relief package passed in December.
- A Republican source in the room for the recent infrastructure negotiations said Warner's private-sector background — he's a wealthy former tech investor — has positioned him well to speak the GOP language on numbers and financing.
- The source said Warner also lightened the mood in stuffy Capitol Hill hideaway offices by bringing along expensive bottles of wine.
White House legislative affairs director Louisa Terrell said the president was grateful Warner effectively argued against one proposed solution: raising the gas tax.
- Warner also helped Democrats win the argument to use dynamic scoring to estimate the budget impact of the infrastructure package.
- Last Tuesday, the group was fighting about whether to factor expected economic benefits into their costs.
- Warner showed up the next day with a paper, co-written by one of the GOP's favored economists, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, arguing the case for dynamic scoring. The method made it into the deal.
Between the lines: Sanders wants to spend $6 trillion on a vast expansion of the social safety net. Many Senate Democrats see that number as exorbitant.
- Several sources told Axios they'll rely on Warner as their proxy on the Budget Committee to pull Sanders back to a "Goldilocks" figure that would be tolerable both to progressives and centrists.
- Legislative directors for moderate Democrats are already funneling information to his office.
Between the lines: Warner wouldn't say where he thought the sweet spot would be for these negotiations, but he did say Sanders' proposal involved too much spending with too little raised to pay for it.
- "Bernie's got out, basically, a two-to-one (spending to pay-for ratio)," Warner told Axios. "I don't think I can go that high."
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Jul. 08, 2021 07:35PM EST
Latin America and the Caribbean wait for COVID-19 vaccines
Data: Our World In Data; Map: Axios Visuals
Latin America and the Caribbeanhave the highest weekly death rate per capita of any region in the world, and it could climb, with vaccinations difficult to come by and hospitals still short on staff and equipment like ventilators and oxygen tanks.
Why it matters: Fewer than 10% of the people of Latin America and the Caribbean have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 since immunization campaigns started in December, mostly due to the low availability of doses.
- The lags mean little protection against an oncoming third wave from existing variants and the newly detected, highly contagious delta variant. Countries like Brazil, Peru and Mexico have been pandemic hot spots for almost a year.
- Latin America and the Caribbean make up the most urbanized region in the world, with more than 80% of its residents packed into cities. Housing is cramped and public transportation crowded, conditions that allow COVID-19 to spread quickly.
- Highly infectious variants like lambda, which originated in the Andes, and gamma, which began spreading in Brazil, have been tearing through the area.
- Several countries have admitted there's an undercount in official infection rates and death tolls, partly due to a lack of testing.
What they’re saying: “The region is an epicenter for COVID-19 suffering. It should be an epicenter for vaccination, too,” says Carissa Etienne, head of the Pan American Health Organization.
In Colombia, a vaccination brigade wades through jungle areas to reach rural inhabitants on July 3. Photo: Guillermo Legaria/Getty Images
Details: Latin America and the Caribbean mostly depend on vaccine donations and purchasing the more affordable and easier-to-store Chinese, Russian and AstraZeneca vaccines.
- Inadequate supplies and delivery delays are common, and initial studies suggest vaccines like Sinovac are slightly less effective against variants like lambda.
- Highly efficient mRNA vaccines are costly to store and transport, leaving them mostly out of reach, while Pfizer’s response to some Latin American requests to buy the company’s vaccine was characterized as “bullying."
- The U.S. has begun sharing some of those vaccines through COVAX, which could be key for Latin America’s immunization.
- Most governments are trying to control the virus by advocating social distancing, the use of hand sanitizer and the wearing of masks in public.
The intrigue: Vaccination campaigns in Chile and Uruguay have managed to get at least a first dose to more than 50% of their populations, making their programs some of the most successful in the world, yet contagion per capita in those countries remains high.
- Experts point to a false sense of security, with people using masks less and holding clandestine massive parties.
State of play: Many wealthier Latin Americans have skirted the lack of vaccines in their countries by traveling to the U.S. for immunization, so-called vaccine tourism.
- The PAHO states this “disparity of access” will worsen health inequities while the virus continues circulating and beyond.
The latest: Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Honduras, Guatemala, Brazil and Uruguay have now reported cases of black fungus or mucormycosis, an infection that can make COVID-19 cases deadlier.
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