Coronavirus: The Hill and the Headlines, December 16 2020

In Washington:

• The “four corners”— House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)—are reportedly very close to a deal with the White House on a roughly $900 billion coronavirus relief package as negotiations continue.  So far, the leaders have kept details of the deal close to chest, but according to specifics being shared in the press by Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R-SD) the proposal is expected to include direct payments of in the range of $600 to $700, $257 for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans to small businesses, a weekly $300 unemployment insurance increase through March.  Funding would also be provided for vaccine distribution, education, transportation and health care.   Senate Finance Chair Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said the plan may also include tax extenders but provided no further information. 

• The head of the House Democratic Caucus predicted Wednesday that the party will rally behind an emerging coronavirus relief package despite charges from progressives that the pending deal is insufficient. "It's my expectation that any ultimate agreement will have strong support within the House Democratic Caucus," Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) told reporters. Progressives, including Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), who heads the Congressional Progressive Caucus, have pushed for direct payments to individuals and families.  

• A Trump administration official pushed for a herd immunity strategy to respond to coronavirus, writing of lower-risk people, “we want them infected,” according to emails obtained by Congress. Paul Alexander, then a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) official, pushed the strategy in a July email to other HHS officials obtained by the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis. White House adviser Scott Atlas had also pushed herd immunity within the administration. A wide range of health experts has denounced the herd immunity strategy because most experts believe that it is impossible to shield vulnerable people while the virus circulates unchecked among others. The White House has denied it ever pursued such a strategy. Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC), the chairman of the select subcommittee, has threatened to subpoena more documents.

• Federal officials had to return several thousand doses of Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine in two different states after they became too cold during the transport process. Army Gen. Gustave Perna, the CEO of Operation Warp Speed, told reporters Wednesday that two trays at separate locations in California fell to minus 92 degrees Celsius. Pfizer’s vaccine requires storage at minus 80 degrees Celsius. Modern’s vaccine, whose approval is pending with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), doesn't require ultra-cold storage.

• The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Wednesday announced that it has authorized Abbott Labs’ rapid Covid-19 test for at-home use, though doctors must prescribe the test for patients. It’s the third test authorized in the U.S. “that can be used completely at home.”

• The Federal Reserve dialed back its estimates of the economic drag from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to projections released on Wednesday. The Fed now expects real gross domestic product (GDP) to fall 2.4 percent in 2020, compared to a decline of 3.7 percent predicted in September. The central bank estimates the unemployment rate to fall to 6.7 percent this year, further below the 7.6 percent previously predicted. The Fed kept interest rates unchanged in its December meeting after slashing them to near-zero in an emergency meeting in March due to the fast-spreading coronavirus.

In the News:

• California broke its single-day record coronavirus-related deaths on Tuesday, reporting 295, according to the Los Angeles Times, a 35 percent increase since last week. The record was set just after California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced that state officials had been forced to purchase 5,000 body bags and 60 refrigerated storage units in order to store corpses.

• Twitter said Wednesday it will begin labeling and removing posts with false claims about coronavirus vaccines during the coming weeks.  The social media platform will target posts that “advance harmful, false or misleading narratives” about the vaccinations. Those posts will be labeled and the platform said it may require users to remove such tweets.

• An at-home coronavirus test that recently received emergency clearance from the FDA may be on the shelves of drugstores as soon as February, according to the developer Ellume’s CEO.

Authored by Ivan Zapien