“There are three ingredients for success—aggressiveness, timing and skill—and if you have enough aggressiveness at the right time, you don’t need that much skill.” ― Howard Marks

1. U.S. Seeks to Pause J&J Covid-19 Vaccine Use After Rare Blood-Clot Cases — the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the move Tuesday, after finding that six women between the ages of 18 and 48 years who got the vaccine had developed blood clots and one died. More than 6.8 million doses have been administered in the U.S., the agencies said.. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is one of three approved for emergency use in the U.S. along with a vaccine from Moderna as well as another from Pfizer and BioNTech. AstraZeneca ran into problems in Europe, with several countries halting use while investigating reports of blood clots. European health officials later declared the vaccine “safe and effective.”
2. Biden Says He’s ‘Prepared to Negotiate’ as Infrastructure Debate Heats Up — President Joe Biden said he is “prepared to negotiate” the size and scope of his nearly $2.3 trillion infrastructure proposal as well as how to pay for it.
Republicans argue it funds things outside the scope of infrastructure and oppose raising the corporate tax rate to fund spending. Some Democrats, such as Sen. Joe Manchin, who was not at Monday’s meeting, also oppose the higher tax rate. Others are pushing to expand the size and scope of the proposal.
3. Pfizer CEO Announces Annual Covid-19 Vaccine Booster Shots Likely Needed — Pfizer Inc. PFE 1.16% Chief Executive Albert Bourla said it is likely that people who receive Covid-19 vaccines will need booster shots within a year afterward, and then annual vaccinations, to maintain protection against the virus as it evolves. Pfizer and its partner, BioNTech SE, said recently that the shot remains highly effective six months after its second dose, and they hope to provide more information on protection beyond six months in the coming weeks.

The week ahead — Economic data from Econoday.com:

This entry was posted on Monday, April 19th, 2021 at 4:18 pm and is filed under Weekly Summary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.