Coronavirus: The Hill and the Headlines, May 17 2021

In Washington:

• President Biden announced Monday that the U.S. will share an additional 20 million doses of domestically-authorized coronavirus vaccines with foreign countries by the end of June. The U.S. will export doses of either Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, or Johnson & Johnson vaccines. The move builds on a previous commitment to send 60 million AstraZeneca doses overseas during May and June, as soon as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clears them.

• The federal government has lifted mask requirements for vaccinated people in its buildings and in national parks. A notice from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) sent to all federal government agencies ends the mask requirement for anyone two weeks post-vaccine. The move affects all 2 million federal workers, as well as any visitors or contractors in a federal facility, including post offices and national parks.

• On Monday, the Biden administration announced it will start to make monthly payments of the expanded child tax credit on July 15. The credit expansion was a key part of the coronavirus relief law Biden signed in March, the American Rescue Plan Act. Payments will be made automatically to about 39 million households, which accounts for about 65 million children, or 88 percent of children in the United States. Congressional Democrats are pushing to make the currently one-year expansion of the credit permanent.

• The Internal Revenue Service is still processing a backlog of over 29 million returns from last year’s returns during the pandemic as this year’s tax returns are due.  The agency’s employees have spent the year focusing on distributing financial relief funds to individuals, families, and businesses.

• CDC Director Rochelle Walensky says CDC’s mask turnaround was based wholly based on science rather than public pressure. “I’m delivering the science as the science is delivered to the medical journals. And it evolved,” Walensky told FOX News on Sunday, “I deliver it as soon as I can when we have that information available.”  Dr. Anthony Fauci, the chief medical adviser to President Biden, echoed that message on “Face the Nation.”   "The underlying reason for the CDC doing this was just based on the evolution of the science," Fauci said. "But if in fact, this serves as an incentive for people to get vaccinated, all the better. I hope it does, actually."  

• The CDC updated its guidance for K-12 schools on May 15, noting that reopened schools should "require universal and correct use of masks and physical distancing. Dr. Fauci said that children who have not been vaccinated for the coronavirus will need to wear masks in schools this fall. 

• The National Nurses Union and the California Nurses Association (CNA) condemned the CDC’s mask guidance, saying the protective measures helped keep health care workers safer. Other public health experts are concerned that the sudden appearance of normalcy will set back efforts to control virus spread.  The CNA is asking state officials not to follow the state guidance.

In the News:

• On Sunday the U.S. recorded almost 17,000 new COVID-19 cases and 262 deaths from the virus, according to Johns Hopkins University. CDC figures show that 47 percent of the total U.S. population has received at least one coronavirus vaccine dose and 37 percent are fully vaccinated.

• Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) on Monday announced that all remaining COVID-19 restrictions in the commonwealth will be lifted on May 29, in time for Memorial Day weekend. Meanwhile, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced on Monday that New York will adopt the CDC’s new mask recommendations, allowing fully vaccinated people to go without masks in most places.

• The European Union's top drug regulator said Monday that Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine can be stored in regular refrigeration for up to a month. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) changed its recommendation from five days of storage "in a normal fridge" to one full month after an assessment of additional study data. The U.S. FDA in February approved storing Pfizer's vaccine at standard freezer temperatures for up to two weeks. 

• The World Economic Forum on Monday cancelled its Special Annual Meeting in Singapore in August due to the coronavirus pandemic. In a statement, the Forum cited "an uncertain travel outlook, differing speeds of vaccination rollout and the uncertainty around new variants[.]” The Forum usually meets yearly in Switzerland, but in December switched locations to Singapore, a significant international financial center. 

• Nonprofit group Understood reports that more than half of parents with children with learning disabilities say their child is a year behind and may never catch up.

• Californa health officials announced that the state would wait until June 15 before it lifts its mask mandate and fully reopens its businesses.  New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy says he will not lift his state’s mask mandate. Murphy said he was uncomfortable with lifting the mask requirement at this stage in the pandemic.

Authored by Ivan Zapien