Axios

Most Americans will be able to get their coronavirus vaccines between the middle of May and early June, President Biden's chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci told CNN on Tuesday.

Why it matters: That timeframe is slightly delayed from Fauci's previous projection of late March to early April, and it comes after Johnson & Johnson failed to meet its promised supply timetable due to lags in production.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on Tuesday launched its first mass COVID-19 vaccination sites in Los Angeles and Oakland, the AP reports.

Why it matters: The sites are going up as the Biden administration is working to speed up vaccine distributions. However, inclement weather throughout the U.S. is delaying vaccine deliveries and power outages forced officials in Texas to give out shots before they went bad.

U.S. airlines carried about 60% fewer passengers in 2020 compared with 2019, according to Department of Transportation data released Tuesday.

Why it matters: The drop underscores the dramatic impact that the coronavirus pandemic — and the travel restrictions and stay-at-home orders that hallmarked much of the year — had on the travel industry.

Centessa, a Cambridge, Mass.-based pharma platform formed via the merger of 10 startups backed by British biotech VC firm Medicxi, raised $250 million in Series A funding led by General Atlantic.

Why it matters: Centessa's management team boasts a pedigree that includes CEO Saurabh Saha (ex-EVP of R&D and head of translational medicine for Bristol-Myers Squibb) and chief scientific officer Moncef Slaoui (ex-chief scientific officer to Operational Warp Speed).

A low percentage of Iowa's COVID-19 vaccine supply has gone in the garbage, according to IDPH data provided to Axios.

By the numbers: About .05% of the state's vaccine supply has gone to waste, according to tracking data by IDPH.

The giant surge of coronavirus cases over the fall and winter hit white Americans disproportionately hard, narrowing the racial disparities in COVID deaths.

Yes, but: When age is factored in, Americans of color still have a significantly higher death rate than white Americans, meaning people of color are dying at younger ages.

CEOs — more trusted than government — want a larger role in what may be the biggest countrywide undertaking of our lifetimes: the mass rollout of coronavirus vaccines.

The big picture: A slew of big businesses are offering up the resources they have, including technical expertise and physical space. But there's no coordinated effort at the federal level to tap the full potential of the private sector’s muscle.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said Monday he took responsibility for his administration's delay in releasing data of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes and admitted it "created pain," but added "nothing was hidden from anyone."

Why it matters: Some state lawmakers are looking to repeal the governor's emergency powers amid allegations of a cover-up over the data.

The World Health Organization on Monday granted emergency authorization to the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine.

Why it matters: WHO's authorization "should trigger the delivery of hundreds of millions of doses to countries that have signed up for the U.N.-backed COVAX effort, which aims to deliver vaccines to the world’s most vulnerable," AP writes.

Industrial "forever chemicals" found in hundreds of consumer goods and linked to adverse health effects may face new regulations under the Biden administration.

Why it matters: Environmental groups and members of Congress are calling on President Biden to follow through with his promise to designate the long-ignored and largely unregulated synthetic chemicals, which can last for hundreds of years without breaking down, as hazardous substances.

32 million of 142 million rapid coronavirus tests distributed to states by the federal government have gone unused as of early February, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Why it matters: Health officials and researchers have found that widespread testing is necessary to control cases, that COVID-19 testing can save lives as an early positive test leads people to self-isolate, and that more tests performed relative to a country's caseload is linked with reducing virus transmission rates.

Many people who have filed workers' compensation claims following COVID-19 infections are being denied, a Wall Street Journal analysis of state data shows.

Why it matters: Rejected claims from office employees, front-line workers, and airline staff suggest that it's hard to prove where an infection occurred and that returning to the workplace prior to widespread vaccination could present more danger — and less of a safety net — than previously thought.

President Joe Biden reopened the federal health insurance marketplace on Monday for three months, citing the importance of access to health care when more than 1 out of every 12 Americans has been infected with the coronavirus.

Why it matters: Nearly 15 million Americans are uninsured at the coronavirus pandemic rages on.

President Biden's chief medical adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci, tells "Axios on HBO" that despite the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines, emerging variants could pose a "stumbling block" and Americans shouldn't become complacent.

Driving the news: The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases also shared his thoughts on contemplating his own mortality, working with Biden, and talking to teachers about returning to school before everyone's been vaccinated.

Guinea's Ministry of Health on Monday declared an Ebola epidemic after three people died from the virus and four others became infected in the West African country.

Why it matters: West Africa is still struggling with COVID-19 cases. Guinea's Ebola epidemic follows fresh cases of the disease in the Democratic Republic of Congo, three months after the DRC's last outbreak was declared eradicated, per the New York Times.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Monday it was "absolutely right" for New Zealand's most populous city to lock down, after genome sequencing linked a COVID-19 outbreak in an Auckland family to a more virulent strain.

Why it matters: It's the first time the B.1.1.7 variant first detected in the U.K. has been found in NZ. Auckland locked down late Sunday for three days over the three community cases amid concern it might be a more contagious strain.