Wednesday, November 10th, 2021
Boosters for All?, Supply Chain Fixes & Tickets to Space
All the news you need in about 10 min:
This episode is brought to you by Rothys.com/newsworthy and JoinCrowdHealth.com/99 (Listen for the discount code)
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 about the latest happenings…
Pfizer Seeks New Booster Authorization
All American adults might be eligible for booster shots soon. This week, Pfizer asked the FDA to greenlight a third shot for everyone 18 and older. Right now, the only people eligible for a third Pfizer shot are seniors, people in nursing homes, or certain people who are considered high risk because of medical conditions or their jobs. People who fall into those categories can also get boosters from Moderna, and anyone who got the Johnson & Johnson shot can get an extra dose, too. Americans are also allowed to mix and match. Pfizer’s latest request could open up eligibility to everyone, or at least the 182 million adults who are already fully vaccinated.
Read More: NY Times, WSJ, CNN, Reuters, Pfizer
Opioid Settlement Overturned
Oklahoma's highest court decided to throw out a landmark ruling in an opioid case. Two years ago, this was the first state lawsuit against an opioid manufacturer to go to trial. In the end, a judge ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay the state $465 million for its role in the opioid epidemic. But, J&J appealed that ruling, and this week, the Oklahoma Supreme Court sided with the drugmaker, saying public nuisance laws are for more localized problems. Oklahoma’s attorney general showed his disappointment, as his office has been wanting the settlement money to go toward drug treatment and other programs to help deal with the epidemic.
Read More: Reuters, Newsweek, NY Times, AP
Air Force Abuse Survey
A new report shows there could be some serious issues in the ranks of the Air Force and Space Force. More than half of the U.S. personnel who responded to a survey say they’ve experienced some kind of mental or physical abuse in the past couple of years, ranging from workplace bullying and hazing to rape or assault. Some leaders say these survey results are a little misleading since only about 10% of personnel responded. That said, the Air Force Secretary feels it’s still too much and said, “we need to take this incredibly seriously and act on it.”
Read More: AP, Newsweek, Stars and Stripes, Air Force
Relief Coming for Ports
There are now new efforts to fix the supply chain issues which are causing empty store shelves and worried holiday shoppers. The White House announced a new plan to ease the backlog of cargo that’s been piling up on both coasts. A lot of the plan involves $17 billion in funding included in the new bipartisan infrastructure bill Congress just passed. Administration officials say they’re working to speed up the process of handing out that money to ports and waterways. They also plan to give grants to update ports and connecting highways, and port officials will now be able to redirect leftover money from previous projects to clear the bottlenecks.
Read More: WSJ, NBC News, WaPo, CNN, White House
GE Plans to Split into Three
It was once the world’s most valuable company and became a symbol of American business and manufacturing. Now, decades later, General Electric is splitting itself up into three separate, publicly-traded companies for GE's aviation, health care, and energy businesses. The healthcare division that makes equipment for hospitals will be the first one to branch out. That will happen in 2023; the rest will split up a year later. The split is meant to focus on each division, deal with debt and get more investors on board. The brands and names of each of the spin-off units will be decided later.
Read More: Bloomberg, CNN Business, Reuters, WSJ, GE
Comcast Outages
Tens of thousands of customers were knocked offline yesterday as Comcast dealt with nationwide outages. Comcast provides internet, cable TV, and phone services under the Xfinity brand. Some of the biggest cities impacted by the outages were San Francisco, Denver, Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, and Washington, DC. Comcast has since tweeted that the network issue has been fixed, and service should be restored. But, the company is reportedly still investigating the root cause of the outage.
Read More: WSJ, USA Today, MarketWatch, Down Detector, Xfinity/Twitter
New Facebook Bullying/Harassment Data
For the first time, Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is sharing a glimpse into how much bullying happens on the platforms. The company says Facebook users saw bullying and harassment about 15 times for every 10,000 views. That’s about 0.15% of the time. Instagram users are said to have seen bullying even less often, 5-6 times out of every 10,000 views. That said, the company acknowledges it can be tough for its automated systems to know what is a bullying post or comment. So some think the numbers Meta released are an undercount.
Read More: Reuters, NPR, Engadget, Facebook
Twitter Blue Launches
Twitter just officially launched its new subscription service called Twitter Blue in the U.S. It costs about $3 a month. It comes with features that let users undo a tweet or preview a tweet for 30 seconds before sending it out. It's also ad-free. Twitter Blue has been available in Australia and Canada since this summer, but this is the first time users in the U.S. can give it a try. Twitter’s main platform is still free.
Read More: CNBC, Nieman Labs, The Verge, Twitter
Aaron Rodgers & Packers Fined
One of the best football teams in the NFL and one of its star players are now facing hefty fines for breaking Covid-19 protocol. The Green Bay Packers and quarterback Aaron Rodgers have been making headlines ever since Rodgers tested positive for Covid-19. An NFL investigation found he broke the league’s rules for unvaccinated players. Both Rodgers and wide receiver Allen Lazard went to a maskless Halloween party. They were seen not wearing masks other times, too, like at the team facility. The Packers were fined $300,000 and both players were fined almost $15,000 each.
Read More: USA Today, Sports Illustrated, NY Times, NFL
Virgin Galactic Sells Tickets to Space
If you want to take a trip into outer space, it’s going to cost you about $450,000. That's what passengers are now paying to get on board Virgin Galactic's rocket. Virgin started selling tickets last year at $200,000 a seat. It turns out that was a bargain since the price more than doubled over the summer. Still, some people are willing to pay that much. Nearly 700 people have booked reservations so far. Once this space flight service gets going next year, Virgin plans on running about three trips a month.
Read More: MarketWatch, The Verge, Engadget, Business Insider, Virgin Galactic
Work Wednesday: Salaries Lag Behind College Costs
The cost of college keeps going up, but pay for young workers has barely budged in decades. Georgetown University researchers looked into the overall college costs, along with early-career salaries. They found the price of getting a college degree has climbed 169% since 1980. But, the average salary for a recent college graduate is only up about 19%. That said, college graduates do earn on average $15,00 a year more than people without college degrees. So, it pays off eventually, but it takes a while.
Read More: CNBC, WaPo, Georgetown University, College Board