Tag Archives: trump administration

Health and Lifestyle, National

EXCLUSIVE: Delays in Pfizer COVID shipments due to second dose concerns

[SEATTLE] (Malcontent News) – Malcontent News obtained a memo from state officials indicating the federal decision to reduce vaccine allocations is to preserve the supply for second injections. The Pfizer COVID vaccine requires two doses, 28 days apart, to become effective. Pfizer has stated that 28 days is relative and can be moved by a couple of days, but there isn’t a clear understanding of the impact of a longer delay. If the period between the first and second injections is too long, all initial doses will go to waste.

Late last week, confusion emerged across the United States as multiple governors reported their vaccine allocations were being reduced 30% to 50%. Health and Human Services clarified that some states such as Iowa and Texas would see no such reduction, while other states such as Florida and Washington would. In Washington state, King County will receive no vaccine shipments for the week of December 21. King County was the first location in the United States to have a mass outbreak of COVID, and includes the cities of Seattle and Bellevue. 

On Saturday, General Gustave Perna, the chief operating officer for Operation Warp Speed, took full responsibility for the delay. He cited FDA regulations requiring all batches to be certified, followed by a 48 hour waiting period as the source of uncertainty. “At the end of the day, I accept responsibility for the miscommunication,” Perna said during a press conference. In contrast, Pfizer indicated they have millions of doses sitting in warehouses waiting for shipping instructions.

The Trump Administration, Health and Human Services officials, and leadership within Operation Warp Speed have issued contradictory and muddled messages since mid-November. In another worrying sign that a long winter awaits Americans, officials identified two new strains of COVID in the U.K. and South Africa. Both appear more contagious than current widespread strains, and the South African variant seems to be targeting younger people. Despite other nations banning travel to and from the U.K. and South Africa to prevent transmission, the United States has taken no such action. 

BIPOC, Local, National

Thousands face end of unemployment benefits on December 26

Update: An edit was made to reflect that the SBA estimates one-third of all small businesses will fail by June of 2021.

With growing signs that the economic recovering is stalling out and a fresh set of COVID-based lockdowns across the United States, federal benefits will end on December 26 with no extension in sight. The Federal CARES Act provided additional unemployment benefits in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC). For thousands of Washingtonians depending on these lifelines, the looming deadline is a body blow.

PUA provides for an additional 13 weeks of unemployment compensation above and beyond state benefits. PEUC provides unemployment compensation for gig workers, the self-employed, and others who rely upon 1099 pay. Recipients of PEUC typically would not be eligible for traditional unemployment compensation, with millions of Americans dependent on the “gig economy” for work.

Congressional leaders, the White House, and the Federal Reserve have been bickering over a new COVID stimulus package since the summer with no progress. The White House has favored a $2.4 trillion package, including small business and individual relief, which the House has supported. The Senate prefers a far smaller package of $500 billion, which provides almost no individual relief and corporate protections that are a non-starter for the House.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome H. Powell issued a very rare rebuke to Treasury Secretary Mnuchin, who ordered the Fed to wind down CARES Act programs and return all unspent funds to Treasury. Chairman Powell indicated that the economy is still fragile, and ending these programs prematurely as COVID surges could extend the ongoing recession. Despite the public dust-up, the Fed agreed to wind down these programs over the weekend in a letter to Mnuchin.

The unemployment rate has dropped to 6.9% in October. However, the U3 unemployment figure doesn’t include people who have exhausted their unemployment benefits. The broader U6 unemployment figure consists of those who have used up unemployment compensation, given up looking for work, or, most critically, are underemployed. The U6 for October was 12.1%, down from a high of 18% earlier in the year.

White House and GOP leaders are distracted, attacking the national election results with baseless fraud claims, indicating they have no interest in focusing on economic security. The Small Business Association estimates one-third of all small businesses will fail by June of 2021. So far, in 2020, 40% of all black-owned small businesses have collapsed.

Also looming in early 2021 is the end of eviction, foreclosure, and energy bill deferments. Over 12 million American households are $5,000 or more behind on rent or mortgage payments.

BIPOC, National

Trump Makes proclamation on “National Day of Remembrance for Americans Killed by Illegal Aliens”

The White House released more election red meat for a segment of his base who find racist language appealing. The “Proclamation on National Day of Remembrance for Americans Killed by Illegal Aliens” released Friday is full of loaded race-baiting and misleading language.

“Our Nation solemnly stands alongside the mothers and fathers who are no longer able to see their children grow up and have families of their own and for the sons and daughters who have lost a parent or loved one at the hands of someone who never should have been inside our country in the first place.”

Donald Trump – President of the United States

Viewed as a slap in the face by the Mexican community November 1 is also Dia De Los Muertos holiday and the day picked by the Trump Administration to recognize National Day of Remembrance for Americans Killed by Illegal Aliens.

Dia De Los Muertos, literally translated to The Day of the Dead, blends pre-Columbian Mesoamerica and Aztec rituals, with European pagan and the Catholic Church All Souls Day. The celebration honors deceased family members. Celebrants believe the border between the spirit world and the real world dissolve one day a year. The souls of the dead return to be among the living to feast, drink, play music, and dance with those they loved. To honor their presence, family members treat the souls as cherished guests leaving favorite foods at their gravesites and gifts and offerings on an ofrenda, or offering.

This isn’t the first time that the Trump administration has picked a date to coincide with significant events in the Black, Indigenous, and Persons of Color (BIPOC) communities. Early this year, Trump initially picked June 19, also known as Juneteenth, for his Tulsa, Oaklahoma rally. That rally turned into a superspreader event for COVID-19. The proclamation is also riddled with falsehoods and exaggerated facts. The statement there is 400 miles of new fence along the Mexico border is factually accurate, but almost all of that is a replacement fence that was budgeted before Trump took office.

Trump did his photo opportunity at Saint John’s Episcopal Church on June 1, the same day Black Wall Street was burned and hundreds killed in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1921. The administration initially picked June 19, also known as Juneteenth, as the date for a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The event was moved after pressure from the GOP and Oklahoma officials.

The declaration has echoes of fascist regimes such as Nazi Germany, where Adolph Hitler made similar proclamations against Jews and would publish the list of Jewish crimes in state-owned newspapers.

David Obelcz contributed to this story.