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Vaccines including varicella, hepatitus A, prevnar and measles, mumps and rubella at Lurie Children's Primary Care — Town & Country Pediatrics on Oct. 18, 2022, in Chicago.
Hard Numbers: Measles returns to US, Finland remains happy, Ukraine ramps up drone-making, Italian PM seeks damages in deepfake porn case, Biden announces major climate regulation
>58: We love a good comeback story — just not this one. Cases of measles, which is a (checks notes) preventable disease, are rising in the US, thanks largely to unvaccinated travelers. The CDC has already tallied more cases of measles in the US this year than the 58 recorded throughout 2023 (full data will be released in the coming days). Though measles is highly contagious, it’s not expected to spread across the country, but the CDC is encouraging folks to stay up to date on their immunizations.
7: Are saunas and reindeer the key to a happy life? The annual World Happiness Report was released Wednesday, coinciding with the International Day of Happiness. For the seventh year in a row, Finland ranked as the world’s happiest country. Meanwhile, the US dropped out of the top 20 for the first time since the report was first launched over a decade ago – to No. 23, down eight spots from 2023.
2 million: Ukraine says it could make up to two million drones a year — if its Western pals provide more funding. Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s minister for digital transformation, says the country is already on track to produce over a million drones this year. Drones have played a major role on the battlefield in Ukraine, and Kyiv has frequently used them to launch strikes against targets in Russia. Kyiv sees domestic manufacturing as crucial to its war effort, but it’s facing financial hurdles, and internal disputes in Western countries are holding up much-needed aid.
100,000: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is seeking damages to the tune of €100,000 ($109,000) in a defamation case linked to deepfake pornographic videos of her that were uploaded online. Two men are under investigation over the videos, which were viewed millions of times. Meloni’s legal team says that if their pursuit of damages is successful then the Italian leader will donate the money to a fund supporting female victims of male violence.
56: President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced a major new regulation to curb climate change that aims to ensure a majority of vehicles in the US (56%) are all-electric or hybrids by 2032. The ambitious rule increasingly restricts levels of pollution allowed from tailpipes each year. The EPA says the regulation will prevent more than seven billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions from entering the atmosphere over the next three decades.
How can the world build back better public health after COVID?
Every year, over ten million people globally die from high blood pressure, more than all infectious diseases combined. Dr. Tom Frieden, former director of the Centers for Disease Control, is tackling this massive problem in public health, among many others, as CEO of Resolve to Save Lives.
He told GZERO’s Tony Maciulis that ensuring easy access to three drugs — amlodipine for blood pressure, metformin for blood sugar, and atorvastatin for cholesterol — could save tens of millions of lives over the next quarter century for just a penny per pill.
It’s part of a set of goals Frieden calls the three Rs: Renaissance in public health, robust primary healthcare and resilient populations. But as the developing world takes on more and more public debt, where will the money come from?
See more from Global Stage.
The myth of feeling safe from the pandemic: former CDC chief Tom Frieden
Although COVID will likely become endemic sometime this year in some parts of the world, the virus will still rage on everywhere else.
On GZERO World, Ian Bremmer catches out on the pandemic's state of play with former CDC chief Tom Frieden, who has a message for everyone who hasn't gotten vaxxed yet: do it, since new variants could emerge and make the virus more deadly.
Frieden says he's stunned by how infectious COVID is compared to other diseases — and that's why those who claim they can predict what's going to happen in a few weeks don't know what they're talking about.
Frieden thinks China should get better vaccines to the most vulnerable, and accept "almost" zero-COVID, like Singapore.
If we've learned anything from COVID, it's that we need to invest a lot more in public health. And now that many parts of the world have moved on from COVID, should we be worried about monkeypox?
Certainly, but we need to know more about the disease, Frieden tells Bremmer.
"We need to invest in public health," says former CDC director, lessons that "we better learn"
If we've learned anything from COVID, former CDC chief Tom Frieden says it's that we need to invest a lot more in public health.
"We need a renaissance in our public health system. We need a robust primary care system. And we need resilient populations," he tells Ian Bremmer on GZERO World.
Without good primary care, we can't get detect outbreaks, diagnose, treat, or vaccinate properly. Resilient populations means those that can withstand the shock of a pandemic because, for instance, chronic diseases are under control.
Trust is also an issue — and that's why Frieden wants the CDC to stay in Atlanta, far away from the White House.
Watch the GZERO World episode: How depoliticizing the US health response will save lives (COVID isn't over)
How long can China's zero-COVID policy last?
China's tough pandemic response likely saved a million deaths, but former CDC chief Tom Frieden believes the Chinese have two big problems now.
First, their vaccines don't work, he tells Ian Bremmer on GZERO World. And second, hesitancy rates — especially among the elderly — remain high.
So, what should China do now? Get better vaccines to the most vulnerable, and accept "almost" zero-COVID, like Singapore.
If the Chinese can test cities of more than 10 million people in a few days, Frieden says distributing effective jabs to those who need them "is certainly within their grasp."
Watch the GZERO World episode: How depoliticizing the US health response will save lives (COVID isn't over)
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"Stunningly infectious" COVID demands better preparation, says Former CDC director
Many people are done with the pandemic, but the pandemic ain't done with us yet.
Why? There's long COVID, and also we can't predict how the virus will play out in the future, former CDC chief Tom Frieden tells Ian Bremmer on GZERO World.
Still, he points out, the best way to "keep yourself out of the hospital and, quite frankly, out of the morgue" is to get vaxxed and boosted.
Frieden says he's stunned by how infectious COVID is compared to other diseases — and that's why those who claim they can predict what's going to happen in a few weeks don't know what they're talking about.
Watch the GZERO World episode: How depoliticizing the US health response will save lives (COVID isn't over)
Podcast: How we overcome infectious disease with a public health renaissance
Listen: Former CDC chief Tom Frieden says he's stunned by how infectious COVID is compared to other diseases. The pandemic isn't over yet, he tells Ian Bremmer on the GZERO World podcast, thanks to long COVID plus the fact that we can't predict how the virus will play out in the future. Frieden's advice for everyone is to get vaxxed and boosted, to "keep yourself out of the hospital and, quite frankly, out of the morgue," since new variants could emerge, making the virus more deadly.
He also shares his thoughts on why China needs to transition to "almost" zero-COVID, the post-pandemic need to invest more in public health, and whether we should worry about monkeypox. Until we put more money toward research, he adds, we won't be able to control infectious diseases — rather, they will continue to control us.
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Biden team extends eviction moratorium despite SCOTUS ruling
Jon Lieber, Managing Director of the United States for Eurasia Group, shares updates on recent COVID-19 policy developments:
The Biden administration extended an eviction moratorium even after the Supreme Court said they couldn't, what's next?
Well, the CDC imposed a nationwide eviction moratorium in light of increased risk from evicted people because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Supreme Court in June ruled that they (CDC) overextended their authority in doing so and mandated that the moratorium expire on schedule in July. A group of progressive activists weren't happy about this and raised a huge stink in Congress, but Congress recessed for their August vacation before they could solve the problem, putting big pressure on President Biden to extend the moratorium even though he said he didn't think that it would pass constitutional muster. The CDC did it anyway, extending the moratorium until October 3rd, which is a time that's short enough to probably avoid it being overturned by lawsuits, but long enough that Congress has time to figure out how to either extend it on a bipartisan basis or put more money into a rental assistance fund that few people have taken advantage of so far. This whole incident shows the power of progressive activists in the Biden administration who were able to elevate the profile of this issue and potentially prevent millions of people from losing their homes this summer.
The CDC recommended indoor masking even for vaccinated people, but few jurisdictions are following suit. What gives?
Officials at the CDC are very worried about the spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus, which they say is more infectious and spreads more easily, including from vaccinated people to the rest of the population. CDC guidance now says that areas where there's significant or high levels of transmission should wear masks while they're indoors. But very few jurisdictions are following suit, with only a handful of states that have mask mandates not creating exemptions for vaccinated people. After a year of mixed messages and reversals from the CDC, it looks like some of their authority to deal with and be listened to in the pandemic has gone away, which could be a very big problem for future public health crises. Even the Biden administration went out of their way to counter the message, the implicit message from the CDC that vaccinations were not effective at stopping the coronavirus, by emphasizing the 164 million Americans who are fully vaccinated and the incredibly rare number of breakthrough infections there are in that group. The Biden administration also urged Americans to get vaccinated and they really want to hit this message that once you're vaccinated, you're protected and in theory, you no longer need masks. Vaccines are going to be the only way out of this pandemic for President Joe Biden, these mask mandates aren't effective anymore, partially because people aren't following them. And the CDC is going to have a very tough time going forward.