DIPLOMATS WANT A DECISION ON BIDEN’s GLOBAL VACCINE PLAN — American officials around the world have watched in frustration as China and Russia donate millions of doses to needy countries, strengthening their global reputations in the process, POLITICO’s Erin Banco reports. China, for example, has pressured more than 50 countries to recognize its sovereignty over Taiwan in exchange for vaccines. And Russia is using its vaccine to shore up its relationships in South America. The U.S., meanwhile, is moving far more slowly — even as it sits on a massive stockpile of shots. Of the billion-plus shots the U.S. has ordered from drugmakers, 60 million doses are scheduled to go out in the next two months, and it remains unclear which of the dozens of countries that have sought out American aid will get them. Biden officials across several agencies are still debating when and how to begin sharing a greater proportion of the U.S. vaccine supply. One idea: Ask a drugmaker to begin producing doses for foreign countries in exchange for the U.S. subsidizing the cost of each vial. Another option is to devote all future doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine — which has not been authorized for use in the U.S. — to shipment abroad as soon as they’re ready. But U.S. diplomats are already exasperated. They’ve fielded desperate requests for weeks from countries across South Asia, the Middle East and Africa, some of which have ended up getting Chinese Covid shots in the interim. THE MASKS ARE COMING OFF — States and cities across the country are dropping their mask mandates after the Centers for Disease Control said Thursday that it’s safe for fully vaccinated Americans to go unmasked in a variety of settings, including indoors and in big group gatherings. It’s a jarring turnaround from just six weeks ago, when CDC Director Rochelle Walensky warned of “impending doom” amid an uptick in Covid cases. But case counts and hospitalizations have dropped off since then, and the administration has instead come under mounting pressure to be more permissive about what immunized people can do. Officials have framed the CDC’s maskless guidance as the latest reward for getting the shot: “If you are not fully vaccinated, you are not fully protected and so you need to be continuing to wear your mask and practicing all of the mitigation strategies,” Walensky said. Some inside the administration are still wary, Erin and David Lim report. Some officials argued against relaxing public health precautions for fear it will fuel the spread to new variants. And recommendations to mask up are still in place for travel and in health care settings. Businesses could also face new dilemmas, as they grapple with how and whether to enforce mask requirements without any reliable way of telling who’s vaccinated and who’s not. But in the hours after CDC’s announcement, state and city leaders raced to follow suit — and use it as a fresh opportunity to push their citizens to get vaccinated. "This is a heck of a benefit for people who have been annoyed by this mask," Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said Thursday. "This is a ticket to freedom.” REVEALED: HEALTH OFFICIALS’ BITTER CLASH OVER A TRUMP-ERA TREATMENT — Top officials at the FDA and NIH battled repeatedly over convalescent plasma in the run-up to its controversial authorization for use in Covid patients last summer — a period marred by leaks and bitter complaints, emails obtained by PULSE show. The August 2020 emails shed new light on the intense disagreement that forced the FDA to hold off on authorizing plasma for days, even as then-President Donald Trump attacked the agency for moving too slowly. The standoff centered on NIH Director Francis Collins — who argued there wasn’t enough evidence to greenlight the treatment — and top FDA vaccine official Peter Marks. In the emails, Marks worried that Collins’ public comments would cast doubt on the data supporting the plasma treatment’s efficacy, and implied he was to blame for the delayed authorization. Collins and Marks had a private confrontation around the same time that grew so heated that Marks later complained to then-FDA chief Stephen Hahn about the severity of the language Collins used toward him. Later, the NIH later blindsided the FDA when a senior NIH official confirmed to The New York Times that the plasma authorization was on hold, angering Marks and others and prompting a scramble at the FDA to respond, the emails show. Also detailed by the emails: the frenzied effort to finalize Hahn’s talking points for the now-infamous presser where he vastly overstated plasma’s benefits, claiming the treatment would save the lives of 35 out of 100 Covid patients. The episode, which damaged FDA’s reputation and forced Hahn to apologize, occurred just hours after an FDA drug center official emailed Hahn to suggest he refer to a “35% increase in survival” tied to the therapy. | 
