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No vaccine will help us in this Covid winter

November 11, 2020
Bloomberg Opinion Today
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Today's Agenda

Apres Le Covid Deluge

First, the bad news: Covid-19 is running wild again in the U.S., and the head of the White House coronavirus task force is going on vacation. 

Source: CovidExitStrategy.org

The good news is Pfizer and BioNTech have a very strong vaccine candidate coming soon to a syringe near you. But please see the first paragraph and the chart above: Given the enormity of the pandemic's current wave and the time needed to make vaccines widely available, we must be as masked and vigilant about distancing as ever, warns Bloomberg's editorial board. It would also help if President Donald Trump and the vacationing Vice President Mike Pence could work with President-elect Joe Biden to ensure a smooth transition of Covid-fighting power so Americans don't die, but have you heard any good jokes lately?

Trump's energy is mainly focused on disputing election results, which he partly blames on Pfizer not announcing its vaccine news before the election. But Max Nisen explains Pfizer has actually been pretty aggressive about reporting early trial data and has no real motive to antagonize Trump or favor Biden.

In another hopeful sign the pandemic may someday end, Eli Lilly got emergency FDA approval for an antibody treatment called bamlanivimab, which may or may not be the result of Ned down in Eli Lilly's Naming Things Department falling asleep on his keyboard. Anyway, bawitdaba or whatever it's called seems to help some patients, Max Nisen writes, but there are still many questions about how it will be distributed. This is another one of those Covid problems that could really use some White House focus.

Also on the bad side of the news ledger, did you realize America's hospitals still lack enough personal protective equipment, more than eight months into this pandemic? Trump and Pence have vacationed on this problem, too, writes Joe Nocera. Solving it should be a high priority for Biden. It's just too bad health-care workers will have to wait until at least Jan. 20 for that good news.

Further Vaccine Reading:

Trump Is Having Himself a Normal Transition

To be fair, Trump is doing more than just ignoring coronavirus and rage-tweeting. He is also rage-firing people who have wronged him, starting with Defense Secretary Mark Esper. More heads around him will likely roll, Eli Lake reports, as Trump seems bent on finishing his term just as he lived it: lashing out recklessly. 

His refusal to give Biden a regular transition is another example. The system our government has built to ensure an orderly handoff of power depends a little too much on the good graces of the vanquished party, writes Stephen Mihm. Trump, lacking in such graces, is taking advantage of that now. If and when we get out of this mess, the system needs reform.

More Advice for Joe Biden

There is still at least a 50-50 chance Biden, having won overwhelming popular-vote and Electoral College majorities, will actually become the 46th president. If and when that happens, he will be 78 years old, and some might doubt he'll seek a second term. Heck, maybe even Joe Biden doubts it. But he must govern as if he will, writes Jonathan Bernstein. Otherwise he'll lose influence as an instant lame duck, which everyone knows is the least delicious kind of duck. 

One easy economic layup Biden can score without a Republican Senate's help is ending Trump's trade wars with developed allies, writes Noah Smith. These were straight-up self-destructive. Biden should also end some of Trump's tariffs on Chinese goods and rejoin the trade pact formerly known as TPP. This will keep pressure on China, but more strategically.

Further Biden-Policy Reading:

Telltale Charts

Yesterday's neck-breaking market reversals must have slammed some quant funds, writes John Authers.

Further Reading

Biden's win makes it even more imperative for Boris Johnson to strike a Brexit deal or risk souring relations with the U.S. — Therese Raphael 

Amazon.com is now in the EU's regulatory crosshairs, but this could be good for Amazon if it helps it change its ways. — Alex Webb 

Office REITs could be a low-key back-to-normal trade that pays off quicker than travel stocks and the like. — Brian Chappatta 

ICYMI

John Roberts and Brett Kavanaugh signaled they will preserve the ACA.

Pfizer's vaccine funding came from Germany, not Washington.

Restaurants, gyms and hotels are the biggest Covid super-spreader sites.

Kickers

Work stress and burnout are mutually reinforcing.

Long-acting antiviral injection prevents HIV in women.

A pacifist's plan to survive prison.

Inside the secret math society Nicolas Bourbaki.

Note: Please send math and complaints to Mark Gongloff at mgongloff1@bloomberg.net.

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