National

Pfizer announced Wednesday that it will sell its vaccines and medicines that are available in the U.S. or European Union at not-for-profit prices in some of the world's poorest countries.

Driving the news: The drugmaker, which dubbed the program "An Accord for a Healthier World," said it aims to provide all of the company's medicines and vaccines, including the COVID-19 vaccine and treatment, to 45 lower-income countries.

Pfizer has also committed to providing 23 medicines and vaccines that treat infectious diseases, certain cancers and rare and inflammatory disease, according to a press release announcing the decision.

Pfizer will charge manufacturing costs and "minimal" distribution expenses to deliver the products, company spokesperson Pam Eisele told the Associated Press.

The program was announced at the World Economic Forum's annual gathering in Davos, Switzerland.

The big picture: The head of the World Health Organization earlier this month urged Pfizer to make its COVID-19 treatment, Paxlovid, more available in poorer countries.

"We remain concerned that low- and middle-income countries remain unable to access antivirals," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, AP reports.

Pfizer to sell vaccines and drugs at lower price in poorer countries

Pfizer will charge manufacturing costs and "minimal" distribution expenses to deliver the products.

US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla attends a press conference on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on May 25, 2022

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla at a press conference at the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos on May 25. Photo: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images

Pfizer

Coronavirus

The U.S. faces a range of health care flashpoints — unaffordable drugs, opioids, vaping — as we debate whether to adopt universal care. For now, the Affordable Care Act is the law of the land, but Republicans want to issue it a final death blow.

Health

Health: The health care workforce shortage problem — WHO chief Tedros re-elected to second 5-year term — Broadway theaters will require masks through June — The pandemic pushed an exodus from public schools — COVID cases rise in almost every state.

Vaccines: Sweden recommends 5th shot for people at risk of severe COVID — Pfizer says COVID vaccine more than 80% effective in kids under 5 — Which age groups are eligible for the different COVID vaccines — CDC director authorizes Pfizer COVID booster for children 5-11. 

Politics: Federal judge blocks Biden from ending COVID border policy — Fauci says he won’t stay if Trump is re-elected — Biden orders flags at half-staff for 1 million deaths.

Global: Total confirmed cases as of 12:15 p.m. ET on Tuesday: 526,266,152 — Total deaths: 6,279,054 — Total vaccine doses administered: 11,480,234,618.

U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 12:15 p.m. ET on Tuesday: 83,415,561 — Total deaths: 1,002, 371.

What should I do? Axios asked the experts:

When you can be around others after contracting the coronavirus

Traveling, asthma, dishes, disinfectants and being contagious

Answers about the virus from Axios experts

Download our app and follow the Coronavirus channel to get the latest news.

Editor's note: Johns Hopkins University stopped reporting U.S. COVID-19 recoveries on its dashboard on Dec. 15, citing a Coronavirus Tracking Project post that explained the national data is incomplete since several states do not keep records of recovered patients. It stopped reporting global recoveries and began reporting doses administered in May. 

COVID-19 dashboard

The latest headlines that you need to know.

Illustration of a coronavirus cell falling into a time warp.  

Health Care

World

Politics

President Biden has made the COVID-19 crisis and a post-Trump return to national unity and traditional democratic ideals his top priorities. From vaccinations to stimulus to schools, Biden is seeking bipartisan compromise while showing a willingness to use executive authority and bare Democratic majorities in the U.S. House and Senate to implement his policies. Republican leaders are navigating deep party divisions over if and how to move beyond former President Trump.

Politics & Policy

China is becoming the most formidable rival America has faced, and the risk of confrontation with Russia, North Korea or Iran still looms. Authoritarians are rising, the chaotic Afghanistan exit revealed the limits of U.S. power, and the pandemic, climate change and other critical challenges continue to pose grave threats.

After a record economic expansion, the coronavirus pandemic sent the U.S. economy into a recession as unemployment soared to staggering heights. The country now faces urgent questions about how much stimulus is needed for reeling consumers and businesses, and what a recovery might look like.

Economy & Business

Sweden is recommending a fifth COVID-19 vaccine for people with an increased risk of severe illness, including anyone who's pregnant or over 65, health authorities said Tuesday. 

The big picture: Sweden, which has taken a more relaxed approach to the pandemic, with the government holding out on requiring masks and keeping schools, restaurants and bars open, is believed to be the first country to recommend a fifth COVID shot. 

What they're saying: "The vaccine is our strongest tool for preventing serious illness and death," Swedish Social Affairs Minister Lena Hallengren said during a press briefing on Tuesday, AP reports.

"The pandemic is not over," Hallengren added.

Details:  Sweden's public health agency said the fifth dose will be available beginning Sept. 1 and is aimed at preparing the country "for an increased spread during the upcoming autumn and winter season." 

Adults under 65 will also be allowed to receive a fourth shot, but it won't be required.

Go deeper ... Sweden's top epidemiologist defends coronavirus strategy

Editor's note: This article has been corrected to note that adults under 65 will be allowed to receive a fourth shot, not a fourth booster.

Sweden recommends 5th shot for people at risk of severe COVID

"The vaccine is our strongest tool for preventing serious illness and death."

People walk in crowds in Stockholm, Sweden on February 5, 2022

Shoppers in Stockholm early this year. Photo: Atila Altuntas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Sweden

Axios Vitals

Three small doses of Pfizer and BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine proved more than 80% effective at eliciting a strong immune response in children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years old, the companies said in a release this morning.

Why it matters: Pfizer is seeking an emergency use authorization to vaccinate children in this age group — one of the last groups of Americans still largely ineligible to receive a coronavirus shot. The companies said they will submit the trial data to the FDA this week.

How it works: A group of 1,678 children under five received a dose of about one-tenth the dosage given to adults for each injection in the Phase 2/3 study and it was "well-tolerated," the companies said.

The efficacy data from three doses was observed during a time when Omicron was the predominant variant.

What they're saying: "These topline safety, immunogenicity and efficacy data are encouraging, and we look forward to soon completing our submissions to regulators globally with the hope of making this vaccine available to younger children as quickly as possible, subject to regulatory authorization," said Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement.

What's next: The FDA has said its key advisory committee will meet in June to consider emergency use authorization requests from both Pfizer and Moderna for kids five and under.

Most recently, the CDC director authorized Pfizer's COVID booster for children 5-11 years old.

Pfizer says COVID vaccine more than 80% effective in kids under 5

Pfizer reported three doses of its vaccine in kids under five produced a strong immune response and was safe.

Photo: Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

CDC director authorizes Pfizer COVID booster for children 5-11

The shots will be immediately available for the age group.

L.A. Care Health Plan vaccination clinic.

A nurse administers a pediatric dose of the Covid-19 vaccine to a girl at a L.A. Care Health Plan vaccination clinic at Los Angeles Mission College on Jan. 19, 2022. Photo: Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images

America's in the midst of yet another coronavirus surge, setting up a high-stakes test of whether the country really is ready to live with the virus. 

Between the lines: A third of Americans say the pandemic is over, and the spike in cases hasn't prompted much noticeable policy or behavioral change. But vaccines and therapeutics are now widely available, making the virus much less dangerous — at least for people who have access to and choose to use them.

Driving the news: Biden administration officials yesterday said that a third of Americans live in areas where the risk of COVID infection is high enough that they should consider wearing a mask indoors, the NYT reports. 

But there's no sign that mask mandates are coming back, even in the bluest parts of the country. 

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said yesterday that, although the city is considered to be in the high alert level, he's not bringing back mask mandates now. 

"If every variant that comes, we move into shutdown thoughts, we move into panicking, we’re not going to function as a city," Adams said, per the NYT.

The big picture: The virus has killed more than a million people over the last two years. More than 300,000 of those deaths could have been prevented by vaccines, according to a recent analysis. 

What they're saying: "Beyond the vaccinations and boosting, which are making a very big difference, I think Paxlovid is making a very big difference as well," White House COVID coordinator Ashish Jha told reporters yesterday, pointing to the fact that hospitalizations and deaths aren't rising at the same rate as infections. 

Paxlovid is an oral antiviral that must be taken early on in a patient's coronavirus infection, but has proven to be highly effective. 

Yes, but: Congress has been gridlocked over new pandemic funding for months, and the administration is warning that it's running out of money to buy more treatments and vaccines. 

America's COVID apathy stress test

A new wave of coronavirus cases is challenging the idea that the pandemic is over.

Illustration of a weather forecast with COVID predictions. 

Change in reported COVID-19 cases per 100k people in the last two weeks

Data: N.Y. Times; Cartogram: Kavya Beheraj/Axios 

The COVID wave is accelerating across the U.S., with Maine being the only state to report a slight decline in the last two weeks.

Why it matters: A 53% jump in cases and a rise in hospitalizations reflects how case growth has moved beyond the Northeast, with metropolitan areas with high vaccination rates increasingly accounting for a higher share of disease spread. 

That hasn't appreciably changed public behavior, with one in three Americans now saying the pandemic is over, according to the latest installment of the Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index.

Concern among Americans ticked up slightly, the poll showed. 

"But there's absolutely no behavior change. If anything, behaviors are moving in the other direction," said Ipsos pollster and senior vice president Chris Jackson, pointing to more time spent with friends and family and steady rates of dining out. 

By the numbers: There were roughly 96,000 new daily cases over the last week, up more than 50% from about 62,500 two weeks ago.

The highest reported case rates continue to be in the northeast with Connecticut and Rhode Island both posting more than 76 new cases per 100,000 people. Massachusetts tallied 66 new cases per 100,000.

States with some of the biggest recent case jumps include Hawaii, Michigan, New Jersey and Delaware. 

Eight states are still reporting new case rates in below 10 new cases per 100,000 people, including Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Alabama.

Zoom in: The U.S. averaged roughly 300 daily deaths, d0wn 11% from about 340 two weeks ago.

That returns the U.S. to a trend of declining COVID deaths after a 7% increase last week.

The big picture: The U.S. COVID death toll officially surpassed 1 million this week.

The Ipsos poll found respondents are more concerned about spreading COVID-19 to others or being inconvenienced by public health restrictions than getting sick or dying — regardless of vaccination status.

"There appears to be a relatively small amount of Americans who are feeling any personal sense of risk," Jackson said. 

COVID cases rise in almost every state

The COVID wave is accelerating across the U.S.

Visuals

About 76% of patients with long COVID had not been hospitalized for their initial infection, a new study conducted by the non-profit FAIR Health released Wednesday indicates.

Driving the news: While the patients weren't sick enough to be hospitalized, they experienced "abnormalities of breathing, cough, and malaise and fatigue" months after being diagnosed, the study says. The research has not been formally peer-reviewed.

Details: The study examined over 78,000 people who were diagnosed with long COVID between Oct. 1, 2021 and Jan. 31, 2022.

Women were more likely than men to be diagnosed with long COVID, and people between ages 36 and 50 were in the most likely age demographic to get the diagnosis.

Long COVID patients had higher Department of Health & Human Services-Hierarchical Condition Category (HHS-HCC) risk scores. The score identifies patients likely to consume more health care resources and potentially incur greater care costs long term.

Between the lines: Most people who test positive for COVID will not be hospitalized, but this study suggests that people with mild cases of the disease "will end up with lingering symptoms or new post-Covid health problems," The New York Times writes.

Our thought bubble, via Axios' Tina Reed: While this is just one study, it validates the anecdotal experience patients and health professionals alike have reported. Health systems were prepared for long-term impacts among the sickest COVID patients. 

But “we've ended up seeing a lot of patients with mild or moderate, mostly stay-at-home infections that came in with a wide range of symptoms. It was bizarre," Bradley Sanville, a pulmonary and critical care physician who is part of the UC Davis Post-COVID-19 Clinic, told Axios for a Deep Dive on the long COVID crisis earlier this month.

Study: 76% of long COVID patients were not initially hospitalized

Patients that weren't initially hospitalized later suffered "abnormalities of breathing, cough, and malaise and fatigue."

Picture of a patient in a glass box taking a respiratory test

A long Covid patient takes a pulmonary function test at Hufeland Clinic's Center for Pneumology. Photo: Sebastian Gollnow/picture alliance via Getty Images

Long COVID

What is your top concern related to COVID-19 right now?

Data: Axios/Ipsos poll; Chart: Simran Parwani/Axios

One in three Americans now says the pandemic is over — despite rising cases and hospitalizations — according to the latest installment of the Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index.

The big picture: Respondents are more concerned about spreading COVID-19 to others or being inconvenienced by restrictions than getting sick or dying. 

And political affiliation is driving the thinking about how much the federal government should keep spending on the virus.

40% of those surveyed said they're already had COVID.

What they're saying: "There appears to be a relatively small amount of Americans who are feeling any personal sense of risk," said Ipsos pollster and senior vice president Chris Jackson.

"Politically, it really demonstrates the ongoing divisions in society about the pandemic and its aftermath." 

By the numbers: Overall, 31% of respondents said they believe the pandemic is over, while 69% disagree.

59% of Republicans say it's over, compared to just 27% of independents and 10% of Democrats.

55% of unvaccinated Americans said it's over, compared to just 22% of vaccinated people.

38% of white respondents, 27% of Hispanic respondents and 10% of Black respondents said it's over.

The intrigue: Americans' top COVID concern at the moment is inadvertently spreading it to others at higher risk of serious illness. That's true for 32% of respondents overall — with little difference by political affiliation.

It's also true for 38% of Americans under 30 and ages 50-64.

The concern is shared by 35% of vaccinated people, but only 22% of unvaccinated people. The top concern among the unvaccinated is dealing with restrictions such as vaccines or mask requirements.

Hospitalization remains the top concern for Americans 65 and older.

When it comes to federal spending on COVID, 33% say it's too much, 31% say it's not enough and 35% say it's the right amount.

63% of Republicans say it's too much, compared with 28% of independents and 14% of Democrats.

42% of Democrats, 33% of independents and 15% of Republicans say it's not enough.

Between the lines: Since last month, as cases have been rising, the survey found a slight softening in support for federal, state and local governments lifting all restrictions — now 51%, down from 59%.

What we're watching: In two new questions to the survey, 62% of respondents say they support the idea of local news broadcasts reporting daily on COVID rates in their area — and 57% support the idea of a the federal government funding a single national COVID monitoring system.

These numbers suggest majorities of Americans want to stay informed about the data around the virus, even if they aren't inclined to modify their behaviors any longer.

Methodology: This Axios/Ipsos Poll was conducted May 13-16 by Ipsos' KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 982 general population adults age 18 or older.

The margin of sampling error is ±3.5 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of adults.

Axios-Ipsos poll: 1 in 3 say the pandemic's over

Respondents are more concerned about spreading COVID-19 to others or being inconvenienced by restrictions than getting sick or dying.

Axios-Ipsos Coronavirus Index

Cumulative U.S. deaths due to COVID-19

About two years after the U.S. confirmed its first COVID case, more than 1 million people in the nation have now died from the coronavirus, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University that posted on Tuesday.

The big picture: The gruesome milestone comes three months after the U.S. topped 900,000 COVID deaths. The coronavirus has killed people in the U.S. at higher rates than in other affluent countries, the New York Times reports.

What they're saying: "One million empty chairs around the dinner table. Each an irreplaceable loss. Each leaving behind a family, a community, and a Nation forever changed because of this pandemic," Biden said in a statement.

"We must remain vigilant against this pandemic and do everything we can to save as many lives as possible," Biden added, ordering flags to be lowered to half-staff until sunset on May 16 to honor the Americans who have died from the virus.

Worth noting: Experts remain concerned about the Omicron subvariant, as well as future COVID variants which they say are likely unavoidable.

Go deeper ... 1 million deaths: Remembering the lives lost to COVID-19 in America

U.S. COVID death toll officially surpasses 1 million

COVID has killed people in the U.S. at higher rates than in other affluent countries.

A vigil in Lafayette Park in front of the White House for nurses who died during the COVID-19 pandemic on Jan. 13.

Americans were more vulnerable to serious illness and death from COVID in part because of our poor health status heading into the pandemic. 

Now, preparations for future public health emergencies have to include chronic diet-related illnesses, including those stemming from the obesity crisis, health experts say.

Why it matters: Obesity and related diseases like diabetes were closely linked with a far higher risk of serious illness and death from COVID.

That was particularly true among older adults, communities of color, and disadvantaged communities, Anand Parekh, chief medical adviser at the Bipartisan Policy Center, told Axios.

"Preventing chronic diseases has to come back as the top public health priority for the nation," said Parekh, while discussing a report from the center on the topic.

"The better our health status, the more resilient we can be if there is an emergency like COVID to reduce morbidity and mortality."

State of play: Obesity — which is linked to disorders like Type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, stroke and sleep apnea — was experienced by about 42% of U.S. adults in 2017–2018, or about or about 107 million adults, per data cited in the BPC report from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. That's up from 30% in 1999-2000.

Multiple studies have tied chronic conditions to poorer COVID outcomes. For instance, about 30% of COVID-19 hospitalizations were found to be attributable to obesity, with about 20% of hospitalizations linked to diabetes and about 26% linked to hypertension, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

The risks of ICU admission, mechanical ventilation and death were higher with increasing body mass index, according to the CDC, citing reviews of COVID-19 cases.

Diabetes, hypertension, obesity and smoking contributed to nearly 30% of COVID-19 deaths, another study published in BMJ Open found.

Between the lines: This is also a major equity issue, as well as an economic one, as people with lower incomes, people of color and people from disadvantaged communities are more likely to suffer from chronic health conditions.

What they're saying: "We know that diet-related diseases make people vulnerable to a lot of the ravages of this pandemic. In so many ways, it revealed the brokenness of our food system," Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., told Axios in an interview in December.

"Every time [public health officials] talked about social distancing, mask-wearing, getting a vaccine, why weren't they talking about this?" said Booker, who co-sponsored legislation last fall calling for a national White House conference on food, nutrition, hunger, and health to address nutrition insecurity and diet-related chronic diseases.

What to watch: Experts in the diabetes field are hoping the disproportionate impact of hospitalizations and deaths among diabetics may inspire more awareness and preventive care, the New York Times reported recently.

There's also renewed interest from the private investment sector to back new obesity drugs, CNBC reported.

The Bipartisan Policy Center report calls for Congress and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to reexamine laws blocking Medicare from covering FDA-approved drugs that treat obesity.

 "You don't often hear from [CMS] about obesity but you'd think, 'Boy, given these numbers, this should be a high priority,'" Parekh said.

Why America needs new urgency around diet-related diseases

Preparations for future public health emergencies must prioritize our nation's chronic illnesses, including our obesity crisis, health experts say.

Illustration of a fork with measuring tape hanging off stylized as a noodle. 

Health care costs

Data: Gholamhossein Bagheri and Eberhard Bodenschatz/Max Planck Institute; Chart: Will Chase and Annelise Capossela/Axios; Note: study examined FFP2 masks, which we denote as N95 here, given their similar performance.

With the Omicron variant causing infections to surge to record levels, masking is more important than ever — and increasing evidence indicates the quality of mask makes a significant difference.

The big picture: Fitted particle-filtering masks like N95s are up to 75 times more effective at preventing infection with COVID-19 than surgical masks, according to a study published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

This echoes recent recommendations by public health experts about the value of N95 masks, reported by the Wall Street Journal.

It will take 25 hours for an infectious dose of COVID-19 to transmit between people wearing non-fit-tested N95 respirators but if they're wearing a tightly sealed N95, they'll have 2,500 hours of protection, per a study reported by the WSJ.

The details: In the recent study by researchers at Max Planck Institute in Germany, they investigated the risk when two individuals are speaking with each other at a close distance. Their study used the most conservative estimates for simulations, meaning that any scenarios with a risk below 1% in their study can be assumed safe in a real-world environment. 

As shown in the data visualization above, only universal masking with well-fitted N95 or similar masks reduced the risk to below 1% after 20 minutes.

Surgical masks and situations where one person wore a poorly fitting mask or did not mask reduced the infection risk to between 4-10% after 20 minutes, which is still far above the acceptable risk level, they said.

This study did not investigate cloth masks, but other studies have shown that they can provide even less protection than surgical masks.

A separate experiment from the study found that social distancing barely helped, with the infection risk reaching 80% after just one minute, and 99.9% after 20 minutes.

What they're saying: While the study was conducted before the presence of Omicron, these findings should hold up given the conservative estimates they used in their simulations, study authors Gholamhossein Bagheri and Eberhard Bodenschatz told Axios.

They recommend individuals buy an N95, KN95, or FFP2 mask that has a nose piece for adjustment. 

The fit of the mask is the most important factor, Bodenschatz, said. “It turns out that leakage dominates over filtration.” Masks should have a tight fit around the face and nose to minimize any air leakage.

Between the lines: It's important to be on the lookout for true N95 or KN95 masks, meaning they are rated with a 95% filtration efficiency, as many counterfeits have flooded the market.

Experts suggest looking for the NIOSH-approved respirators approved by the CDC, or buying from reputable sources, USA Today reports.

The bottom line: The difference in risk between universal and mixed masking behavior is huge.

“We were surprised how well universal masking can reduce the risk of infection, even with these extremely conservative estimates that we considered," Bodenschatz said. "If we wear masks well the virus will have a hard time. The risk of infection without masks is very high.”

Why we need to wear better masks

A recent study shows why fitted masks like N95s are superior to surgical masks.

A look at the scientific breakthroughs changing the world, explorations in space and in worlds beyond our own and the threats posed to us by our own planet, both out of our control and of our own making.

Sections

Axios Local

Axios gets you smarter, faster with news & information that matters.

About

Subscribe

Coronavirus

The big picture

Why America needs new urgency around diet-related diseases

Why we need to wear better masks

France mandates COVID health passes for dining and travel

YouTube pulls Bolsonaro videos over COVID misinformation

While US hospitalizations are falling, COVID-19 variants concern experts

2020 was bad — but not nearly the worst

All Coronavirus stories