THE VACCINATION RACE GETS EVEN MORE COMPLICATED — Health officials are racing to keep up with a pair of mutated coronavirus strains that scientists worry could spread faster or prove more resistant to vaccines than their predecessors — further complicating a pandemic response already likely to consume most of President Joe Biden’s first year, POLITICO’s Sarah Owermohle and Adam Cancryn report. Biden on Monday expanded international travel restrictions to include limits on South Africa, where one of the new Covid variants was first identified. The federal government is also collaborating with Moderna to develop new booster shots that could target new Covid variants. “We’re trying to stay a step ahead of the game, rather than waiting for something to happen and reacting,” Anthony Fauci, Biden’s chief medical adviser, told POLITICO. THE MUTATIONS aren’t unexpected — but they’re certainly unwelcome. The U.S. is still struggling to stop the common strain of Covid-19, and adding the new variants to the mix could prolong measures needed to contain the pandemic. The variant first spotted in the U.K. is more transmissible than others, while early data on the variant discovered in South Africa suggests it could be less vulnerable to existing vaccines. A third strain found in Brazil shares similar mutations with the strain found in South Africa. Health officials and drug companies now need to ensure their science keeps pace, while also juggling the ongoing vaccine rollout. THE POSSIBILITY THAT a new mutation or logistical disruption could derail the response has Biden officials on edge. The White House is increasingly confident it will keep its core promise of 100 million shots in the first 100 days — so much so that Biden effectively upped the goal on Monday to 1.5 million shots a day. Yet at the same time, the administration has spent its first days in office waging a concerted — and at times, contradictory — campaign to manage expectations for a return to pre-pandemic life. That pessimism marks a sharp departure from Biden’s pre-election declarations that he was the candidate who could “shut down” the virus. Instead, Biden officials in their first week in office have blamed the Trump administration for leaving behind a situation “worse than we could’ve imagined,” as press secretary Jen Psaki put it — despite citing few specifics or actual roadblocks. They also claim to still not know how many vaccine doses exist in the U.S. And even as Biden suggested Monday that anyone who wants a vaccine could get one by this spring, he issued a stark warning : “There’s nothing we can do to change the trajectory of the pandemic in the next several months.” STATES CLAW BACK UNUSED SHOTS FROM NURSING HOMES — Several states are reclaiming a portion of unused vaccines from CVS and Walgreens pharmacies that were intended for long-term care facilities, POLITICO’s Rachel Roubein and Brianna Ehley report. State officials say the tens of thousands of shots have been sitting idle, even as officials speed through the separate shipments meant for other priority groups. That’s prompted them to try to fix the supply mismatch on the fly: — Utah is halting new shipments for long-term care facilities and has so far redistributed 8,775 shots to local health departments and other providers. — Minnesota is diverting 30,000 doses teachers and childcare providers, newly eligible for vaccination. — Michigan is sending 120,000 shots from long-term care facilities to other providers. TODAY: ZIENTS TO BRIEF GOVERNORS — Biden administration officials, including Covid chief Jeff Zients, will hold a call with state leaders today, according to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who also chairs the National Governors Association. — The White House will begin regular Covid briefings. Biden’s Covid response team will hold its first press conference on Wednesday, Psaki announced, marking the start of thrice-weekly updates on the federal government’s pandemic efforts.
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