Friday, May 6th, 2022
J&J Vax Restricted, Psaki Replaced & Mother’s Day Record
All the news you need in around 10 min:
This episode is brought to you by kiwico.com (Listen for the discount code) and Pampers.com
Story Summaries
All the news stories mentioned in today's episode are listed with links below, so you can spend as much -- or as little -- time as you want reading the latest happenings...
FDA Limits J&J Vaccine
The FDA decided to limit the availability of Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 shot. From now on, it will only be given to people who cannot take one of the other vaccines for medical reasons or who insist on getting the J&J one instead of Moderna or Pfizer. Federal regulators made the decision after taking a look at updated data about life-threatening blood clots. They found clots are still rare but serious and only happen from the J&J vaccine. The FDA still says getting the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is better than nothing. However, people should watch out for signs of blood clotting in the first two weeks after they receive a shot.
Read More: Stat, AP, Fox Business, ABC News, FDA
WHO’s New Pandemic Death Toll
The U.S. has now seen about one million Covid-19 deaths since the pandemic began. It’s the highest total officially recorded anywhere in the world. However, the World Health Organization put out a report that shows the global death toll from the pandemic is worse than what most countries are reporting. Countries report deaths in different ways, so experts say one of the most accurate ways to do it is to see how many more people died than would have been expected to in an average year. Now, the WHO says nearly 15 million more people died during the first two years of the pandemic than would have in normal times.
Read More: NY Times, AP, CNN, BBC, WHO
US Sharing Intel with Ukraine
The U.S. government says it had something to do with Russia’s main warship off the coast of Ukraine catching fire and sinking. The U.S. reportedly gave Ukraine some intelligence that helped Ukrainian troops attack that flagship. That’s what U.S. officials have told a few different news outlets. Separately, Ukrainian officials say the U.S. shared intelligence that helped their military kill Russian generals and that 12 generals have now died. However, the U.S. says that part isn’t true. Officials stressed that the goal of sharing intelligence with Ukraine is only to let Ukrainian forces defend themselves.
Read More: WaPo, NBC News, NY Times, ABC News, Axios
Historic WH Press Secretary
Karine Jean-Pierre was named the new White House press secretary. She’s taking over for Jen Psaki who is leaving at the end of next week. Jean-Pierre will be the first Black press secretary in history, and she’ll also be the first openly gay one. Jean-Pierre has already been working in the press office for a while as Psaki’s deputy. Now, she will be responsible for holding daily briefings with the news media. She will also lead a department of more than a dozen staffers who help address questions from the press.
Read More: AP, Reuters, CNN, Fox News, Politico, White House
Fewer Unruly Passengers w/o Mandates
The rate of unruly passengers on flights is going down. The FAA says the number of incidents is down to its lowest level since late 2020. Near the end of April, there were fewer than two reported unruly passenger incidents per 10,000 flights, down from 4.4 the prior. One reason for the drop could be that there’s no more mask mandate. The latest data comes after a judge ended the government mandate for public transportation. When the number of incidents was higher, the FAA said about 70% of them involved the enforcement of masking rules.
Read More: Axios, Reuters, NY Times, FAA
Stocks’ Worst Day of the Year
The U.S. stock market had its largest decline since the early days of the pandemic. The Dow and S&P 500 dropped more than 3% yesterday. It came just 24 hours after the biggest gain since 2020. The optimism investors had earlier this week seemed to disappear. One Wall Street and Federal Reserve research firm told CNN that it’s never seen anything like this in 25 years. The Wall Street Journal says it’s likely a sign of unease over the impact of the Fed raising interest rates.
Read More: CNBC, CNN, Financial Times, WSJ
TikTok Sharing Ad Revenue
For the first time, TikTok plans to share some of the money it makes from ads with some of the top creators on the app. It’s kind of how YouTube does things already: when ads run alongside certain videos, the creator gets paid. The new ad program is called TikTok Pulse. However, the company will only run ads and share revenue on the top 4% of all videos on TikTok, and creators must have at least 100,000 followers to be eligible.
Read More: Variety, The Verge, TechCrunch, Axios, TikTok
Record Maradona Jersey Sale
A soccer jersey from a game 36 years ago broke a record. It sold for $9.3 million at auction, and that’s believed to be the highest price ever paid for a sports item. It was the jersey Argentinian soccer star Diego Maradona wore during the 1986 World Cup quarterfinal game where he scored two extremely famous goals. Argentina beat England that day, 2-1. Afterward, Maradona exchanged his jersey with an English player who has owned it until now. That player spoke about the recent sale, saying, “I’m certain that the new owner will have immense pride in owning the world’s most iconic football shirt.”
Read More: ESPN, NY Times, LA Times, CNN, Sotheby’s
Mother’s Day this Weekend
This Sunday is Mother’s Day, and it seems a lot of people are planning on buying something this year. The National Retail Federation says Mother’s Day spending is expected to total nearly $32 billion in the U.S. That means the average person is expected to spend about $245. That’s a Mother’s Day record. A recent survey found that 84% of moms would rather have an experience this Mother’s Day instead of tangible gifts. Also, one out of five moms asked for gift cards.
Read More: Forbes, WFOR, The Verge, NRF
Nurses Week Begins
If your mom is a nurse, you might want to get her a little something extra this year. Today also kicks off National Nurses Week. Every year, starting on May 6th, there is a week dedicated to celebrating nurses and their hard work. If you want to spoil a special healthcare worker in your life, there are a lot of deals online for nurses’ gifts at places like Amazon and Etsy. Many restaurants are also offering nurses discounts and freebies.
Read More: Nursing World, KSAT, MLive, AACN, Census
Feel Good Friday: DoorDash Driver Saves Customer
A fast-acting delivery driver is being honored as a hero because when she dropped off a pizza, she ended up saving a life. It started when Caryn Sullivan was waiting for her delivery outside her home. She fell and hit her head on the way down. Her DoorDash driver, Sophia Furtado, found her unresponsive and bleeding. Furtado immediately called for help and stabilized Sullivan’s neck to protect her spine. Furtado didn’t leave her side until the medics got there. Doctors say if Sullivan hadn’t gotten that help, she would have died. Now, Sullivan has mostly recovered, and she’s become friends with her unlikely hero.
Read More: CNN, WaPo, NY Post, Fox News