(Bloomberg) — The OPEC+ group of oil producers may adjust its plans to raise production next month if consuming countries go through with a coordinated release of strategic petroleum reserves, according to delegates. India became the latest major consumer to contemplate deploying its stockpiles, government officials said Monday, potentially assisting the U.S., Japan and even China in a move to assuage the inflationary threat of higher energy costs. The U.S. has sought to persuade consumers to open their reserves after OPEC+ declined to speed up production increases earlier this month. Some OPEC+ countries are unhappy about the use of state reserves, designed to be deployed in an emergency, to cool this year’s rally in prices, the delegates said, declining to be identified because the discussions are private. OPEC+, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, meets next week to discuss plans to increase production by an additional 400,000 barrels a day in December.
Biden picks Powell for second term as Fed chair
President Biden on Monday nominated Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, a Republican, for a second four-year term, opting to stick with the powerful head of the central bank who helped lift the U.S. economy out of the COVID-19 recession and who enjoys strong bipartisan support. Biden also nominated Fed Governor Lael Brainard as vice-chair of the Fed’s board of governors. The decision caps a weekslong race between Powell and Brainard, a Democrat, for the nation’s top economic post. Biden reportedly considered Brainard more seriously in recent days under pressure from progressive Democrats after Powell initially seemed a shoo-in. “While there’s still more to be done, we’ve made remarkable progress over the last 10 months in getting Americans back to work and getting our economy moving again,” Biden said in a statement. “That success is a testament to the economic agenda I’ve pursued and to the decisive action that the Federal Reserve has taken under Chair Powell and Dr. Brainard to help steer us through the worst downturn in modern American history and put us on the path to recovery.” The nomination comes at a critical juncture for the reopening economy, with inflation notching its biggest jump in inflation in three decades last month even as growth is slowing from its torrid pace earlier this year amid COVID spikes driven by the delta variant. The stock market rose following the news, with the Dow Jones industrial average rising 262 points, or 0.7%, to 35,865, in early Monday trading. The next Fed chief faces the delicate task of raising the central bank’s key short-term interest rate from near zero to fight inflation without derailing a recovery that remains solid but faces hurdles such as lingering infection waves, supply-chain bottlenecks and worker shortages. “We’re at an inflection point from a policy perspective and continuity is very important,” Tom Porcelli, chief U.S. economist of RBC Capital Markets, said of Biden’s decision to pick the even-keeled Powell. Biden is also expected to fill three more vacancies on the Fed’s board of governors by early next year. A former investment banker, private equity executive and lawyer, Powell, 68, was appointed to the Fed’s board of governors by President Obama in 2011 and nominated as chair by President Trump in 2017. Powell enjoys broad support from both Democrats and Republicans in Congress and faces a far easier confirmation in the Senate than Brainard, says Ed Mills, Washington policy strategist at Raymond James. “He will be confirmed with a strong vote,” Mills says. If Powell had replaced the Fed chair during an uncertain economy, “He owns the economic outcome of that leadership change,” Mills says. Democratic losses in this month’s election, rooted partly in Biden’s sinking approval ratings due to the inflation surge, likely solidified his choice of Powell, who may be perceived as more likely to aggressively fight inflation by raising rates next year, Porcelli says. Powell’s nomination renews a tradition of U.S. presidents retaining Fed chairs first picked by a president of the opposing party, a string that was broken when Trump tapped Powell over then-Fed Chair Janet Yellen in 2017. Republican Fed governors are often viewed as more “hawkish,” or focused on hiking interest rates to head off inflation than as “dovish,” or intent on keeping rates low to spark the economy and job growth, while the reverse is true for Democrats. But that distinction has blurred in recent years. In 2018, for example, Powell continued Yellen-led rate increases as the economy slowly improved after the Great Recession of 2007-09 despite vitriolic criticism from Trump. Powell, along with the rest of the Fed’s policymaking committee, abruptly halted the hikes the following year amid sluggish growth and a tumbling stock market. “His policies haven’t shifted” despite political pressure, Mills says. In March 2020, as the pandemic triggered more than 20 million job losses, Powell acted swiftly. He spearheaded a sharp cut in the Fed’s benchmark short-term rate to near zero and a revival of the massive Treasury and mortgage bond purchases that followed the Great Recession to hold down long-term rates. The following August, with inflation stubbornly below the Fed’s 2% target, Powell led a significant policy shift, with the Fed stating it would wait for inflation to pick up before raising rates rather than preemptively boosting them to stave off a jump in prices, as it has traditionally done. Brainard co-authored the new approach. If anything, Powell has elevated the goal of bringing millions of Americans back to work over inflation concerns. His tenure has been tainted by his monthslong insistence that the current inflation bout would be “transitory,” an assessment he recently modified, saying it could last longer than anticipated as supply-chain troubles and workers shortages persist. He also has presided over a trading scandal that led to the resignations of two regional Fed bank presidents. Last month, the Fed said it would begin scaling back the bond purchases and it’s slated to end them in June. The Fed is then expected to raise rates twice in the second half of 2022 as the economy reaches full employment, according to Fed policymakers’ forecasts. Economists believe Brainard would have taken a similar approach. Although she has been wary of some rate increases, she has stood out for her support of lifting rates at times. In 2018, with the economy picking up, Brainard backed gradual rate increased but said they might need to be accelerated if inflation surged or some frothy financial markets became overheated “I don’t see a difference in monetary policy” between Powell and Brainard, Porcelli says. Both, he says would seek to lift rate twice next year, though Powell might be more likely to move earlier. Investors, however, likely viewed Brainard as more likely to keep rates low to ensure the recovery doesn’t lose steam, says Tim Duy, economics professor at the University of Oregon and author of the FedWatch blog. That could have pushed stocks modestly higher, he says. Brainard, 59, served as an economist in President Clinton’s White House and at the Treasury Department under President Obama before joining the Fed’s board in 2014. Progressive Democrats backed Brainard in part because she has opposed a Powell-led loosening of bank regulations enacted after the 2008 financial crisis. She also has been more vocal about planning for the risks that climate change poses to the banking sector.
Spahn: Germans to be vaccinated, cured or dead by end of winter… European Commission appeals for calm…….Austria enters full lockdown….. Czechs, Slovaks target unvaccinated people in step behind Austria….. Protests erupt across Europe against new lockdown rules and mandatory vaccines….. Dutch anti-Covid unrest ‘pure violence’ by ‘idiots’: PM Mark Rutte…..
- Rage across Europe as Covid restrictions trigger riots
- Booster vaccines could be rolled out to all adults, says Sajid Javid
- Alan Cochrane: Scotland must look to England to escape Covid ghost
- Covid passports failed to persuade Scots to get vaccinated: Sturgeon’s adviser
- Comment: It’s a danger to the world that the precise origins of Covid remain a mystery
Germany’s acting health minister Jens Spahn has issued his strongest warning yet to the country’s vaccine holdouts as Europe’s largest economy desperately tries to avoid another lockdown.
“By the end of this winter, as is sometimes cynically said, pretty much everyone in Germany will be vaccinated, cured or dead,” Mr Spahn said, blaming “the very contagious Delta variant”.
“That is why we so urgently recommend vaccination,” he added.
Speaking at a news conference this morning amidst an increasingly devastating wave of infections, Mr Spahn said that only “social distancing and political resolve” can break the fourth wave.Germany is facing the reintroduction of coronavirus restrictions as cases begin to rise steeply. Germany’s vaccination uptake remains relatively low, with just 68 per cent of the population fully inoculated. Belgium’s Prime Minister Alexander de Croo has denounced an “absolutely unacceptable” outbreak of violence during a 35,000-strong Brussels street protest against tougher anti-Covid measures. Three police officers were hurt on Sunday when opponents of tougher vaccine pass rules, imposed to head off a new wave of coronavirus infections, threw stones and set fires in the city centre.
European Commission appeals for calm
The European Commission has appealed for calm after the protests against coronavirus restrictions across Europe, reports our Europe editor James Crisp. ‘We understand that on a personal level people can be tired of restrictions, but it’s important from a community level to stick together and to follow them because that’s the way out of the pandemic,’ a spokesperson said. The continent has been rocked by a weekend of violent protests, particularly in Belgium and the Netherlands.
Austria enters full lockdown…Czechs, Slovaks target unvaccinated people in step behind Austria
The Czech Republic and Slovakia banned unvaccinated people from pubs and services from Monday after a surge in Covid-19 cases filled hospitals’ intensive care wards, with most of the seriously patients not inoculated. The central European neighbours both adopted the new measures last week, a step behind Austria which first set restrictions on unvaccinated people but went for a full lockdown on Monday as the region experienced the world’s latest hotspot. The Czech government has dispatched soldiers to help at strained hospitals – which together had over 700 people in intensive care units. Later on Monday the government was due to discuss calling a state of emergency to give it extra powers to order medical students to help. The new Czech measures will only allow people who have been vaccinated or who have recovered from Covid-19 in the past six months to visit restaurants, hotels, services or public events like sports games.
Doctors’ representatives said the action was too little, too late. “As the Medical Chamber we are calling for the immediate introduction of measures that have come to be known as lockdown,” the chamber’s chief Milan Kubek said on Czech Television.
“We are calling for the quick introduction of compulsory vaccination of healthcare workers, workers in social services and we recommend it for education as well.” In large parts of Slovakia, the government ordered restaurants to close to all inhouse meals and serve-take out meals only, as well as restricting access to services for the unvaccinated. Slovakia has the EU’s third-lowest rate of people receiving one dose at 46.8 per cent, according to European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), while 60 per cent of the Czech population has at least one dose of the vaccine.
Protests erupt across Europe against new lockdown rules and mandatory vaccines
It was a violent weekend across some parts of Europe, as the reintroduction of coronavirus restrictions sparked backlash. Protests were particularly strong in Belgium and the Netherlands, with fires lit and protesters smashing police vehicles.
EU European Affairs ministers to discuss new travel restrictions
EU European Affairs ministers will discuss climbing Covid infection rates across Europe at a meeting in Brussels to prepare for next month’s European Council summit, reports our Europe Editor James Crisp. While Austria has already reintroduced a tourism ban during its return to lockdown, European Commission work on updating travel recommendations for its member states remain at a very early stage. It is possible that the idea of including booster shots on the EU coronavirus vaccine passport will be discussed but not final decision will be made on Tuesday. In any case EU recommendations are just that and national governments retain responsibility for health and border policy in most cases, meaning any decision on new travel restrictions will be made by national leaders. The December EU summit in Brussels will see heads of state and government discuss coordination of response to the Covid pandemic and measures underway to boost the bloc’s resilience to further crises.
Dutch anti-Covid unrest ‘pure violence’ by ‘idiots’: PM Mark Rutte
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has labelled a nationwide weekend of unrest “pure violence” committed by “idiots”. After the reintroduction of restrictions, which include the closure of restaurants and bars by 8pm, cities across the country were embroiled in violent protests. Riots in several cities around the country since Friday “is pure violence under the guise of protest,” the premier said. He added he would always defend the right to protest, but “I will never accept that idiots use pure violence,” he told Dutch media.
France: Daily virus cases rise 56% Week over Week…. Germany’s COVID-19 incidence jumps to 372.7 to 19,749
The number of coronavirus cases in France rose by 19,749 in the last 24 hours, marking a 56% jump compared to the prior week’s figure, according to the data published on Sunday by the country’s health authorities. During the same period, there were 15 additional deaths attributed to the virus. France’s President Emmanuel Macron previously assured that a lockdown in the country will not be necessary due to the successful use of COVID passes
Germany’s COVID-19 incidence jumps to 372.7
Germany’s COVID-19 incidence rate reached a new record high on Sunday, according to data published by the Robert Koch Institute. The seven-day average of cases per 100,000 people jumped to 372.7 from the previous record high of 362.2. The number of infections in a 24-hour period fell to 42,727 since Saturday. Since the start of the pandemic, Germany has seen 5,354,942 coronavirus cases. There have been 75 deaths since the previous daily update, a significant drop compared to 248 on Saturday. The death toll now stands at 99,062.
Italy reports 49 coronavirus deaths, 11,555 new cases
ROME, Nov 20 (Reuters) – Italy reported 49 coronavirus-related deaths on Saturday against 48 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 11,555 from 10,544.
Biden’s spending bill is a ‘disaster’ and ‘dishonest’
The Democrats’ proposed $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill is the Left’s ultimate wish-list compiled into one massive tax, borrow, and spend bill. If passed, this bill will raise your taxes, skyrocket inflation, add well over a trillion dollars to the national debt, and be the largest expansion of the welfare state since LBJ. President Biden dubs this bill as the “Build Back Better Act,” but a more accurate description is the “Bankrupt America Act.”
Taxes
Most Americans will feel the hit if the tax provisions in this bill become law. On the campaign trail last year, President Biden promised taxes wouldn’t be raised on people making under $400k. That is a lie. Even Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation, agrees that taxes will go up on families making $50k or more each year.
Here are some of the tax provisions that will directly affect working Americans’ paychecks:
- Green New Deal mandates like a methane tax for energy producers, which will raise already increased energy prices (25% over the last year).
- Increase the top corporate tax rate from 21% to 26.5%. This rate is higher than the corporate tax rate in communist China, and will reduce wages, eliminate hundreds of thousands of jobs, and slow the economy.
- Double the federal tobacco tax rate.
- Provide $80 billion to the IRS in additional funding to go after hard-working Americans. Worse, Democrats want to use this money to snoop on any bank account with over $600 in it.
- And much more.
Spending
As mentioned, this bill is poised to be the largest expansion of the welfare state since LBJ. The Biden administration claims that it is all paid for, but that has been widely debunked.
What’s worse is the topline number for the bill––$3.5 trillion dollars––is not the real cost of the package. Democrats are using a budget trick to get down to this number.
Many of the provisions in the bill expire after a few years, but a future Congress controlled by liberals would likely extend them. The true cost of this bill could end up costing well over $5 trillion.
Here are some of the biggest and most egregious spending items:
- Grant amnesty to more than 8 million illegals
- $450 billion for government-run preschools (to indoctrinate kids with CRT at an even earlier age).
- $111 billion for ‘free’ community college.
- $12 billion to electrify the U.S. Postal Service vehicle fleets.
- Expand Medicare benefits, which the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) predicted will cost $358 billion. This puts additional strain on the Medicare program, which is already predicted to become insolvent by 2026.
- Billions of dollars for climate research and initiatives, including $3.5 billion for a “Civilian Climate Corps.”
- A family and medical leave entitlement run through the Social Security Administration.
- Make monthly government payments for children under the age of 18 permanent. These payments have no work requirements and are more akin to a universal basic income, rather than a true tax credit.
- And much more.
In summary, the Democrats’ reckless $3.5 trillion delivers a one-two knockout punch. This will slow the economy, kill jobs, and increase energy prices. Then they will expand the welfare state with unprecedented spending to get more and more Americans dependent on the government.
It’s a horrible recipe for the future of our country and that’s why we need to do everything we can to stop this bill from becoming law.
Further Reading:
Heritage: Budget Reconciliation Tracker
Heritage: 4 Ways to Understand Democrats’ $3.5 Trillion Spending Bill
Heritage: 8 Things You Need to Know About Democrats’ Tax Increase Bill
Heritage: 5 Things You Need to Know About the Paid Family Leave Program in Progressive’s $3.5 Trillion Package
Heritage: Beware the Strings Attached to All That Government Spending
Heritage: $3.5T Spending Bill Would Lavish Hundreds of Billions on Nanny State Education
Heritage Action: www.SaveOurPaychecks.com
Talking Points
- Joe Biden promised he wouldn’t raise taxes on people earning less than $400k––but Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation, agrees that any family making over $50k a year will see tax increases under this bill.
- The spending in this bill is not paid for and will likely add over a trillion dollars to the national debt. After a year and a half of unprecedented government spending due to COVID, our country cannot afford trillions more.
- This bill will be the largest expansion of the welfare state since LBJ. The Democrats want to make more and more Americans dependent on the federal government, and they want entitlements like the child tax credit which have no work requirement.
- This bill imposes Green New Deal taxes and mandates that will raise your monthly gas and electric bill. President Biden wants to punish traditional energy producers and subsidize more costly and inefficient ‘green’ energy. Energy prices for EVERYONE will increase.
- Trillions more in government spending will drive up inflation and raise prices for everyday goods––a dollar just won’t go as far. The working class and retirees who are living on a fixed income will be hurt the most.
WHO: Europe could see 500,000 deaths by March
(CNN)Europe is facing a potentially devastating winter that could see half a million people die with Covid-19, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Thursday, as it sounded the alarm over a surge in cases and bemoaned stuttering vaccination rollouts on parts of the continent. Much of Europe is battling spikes in infections, with Germany on Thursday reporting its highest number of daily new cases since the pandemic began. And in a dire new warning, WHO regional director Hans Kluge said the pace of transmission across the region was of “grave concern.” “We are, once again, at the epicenter,” Kluge said in a statement. “According to one reliable projection, if we stay on this trajectory, we could see another half a million COVID-19 deaths in Europe and Central Asia by the first of February next year,” he warned, adding that 43 of the 53 countries on his patch could also see high or extreme stress on hospital beds. Large swathes of the continent are battling to beat back surges of the Delta variant, which has complicated the relaxing of restrictions in many countries. Eastern Europe is particularly badly hit; cases are at record levels in Russia and now Germany, while Ukraine’s capital Kiev introduced strict new restrictions on Monday. Germany is experiencing a ‘massive’ pandemic of the unvaccinated, says health minister Many experts have expressed concern that further rises in infections, coupled with seasonal winter colds, could place health care workers under unmanageable pressure through Christmas and in the New Year. In its latest weekly update, WHO said Europe recorded a 6% rise in cases on the previous week. That was the highest of any global region, with every other region registering “declines or stable trends.” “We are at another critical point of pandemic resurgence,” Kluge said. He blamed two factors for the new wave; the relaxation of Covid-19 measures, and a lack of vaccination coverage in the Balkans and towards the east of the continent. “Hospitalization rates in countries with low vaccine uptake are markedly higher and rising more quickly than in those with higher uptake,” he said. Germany’s health minister Jens Spahn on Wednesday warned that stricter measures are needed for those who refuse to get vaccinated. Spahn also told reporters at a press conference on Thursday that he was asked for his vaccination certificate in Rome during the G20 more often in one day than in Germany in four weeks. He was responding to a dramatic rise in infections in the country; 33,949 new cases were registered on Thursday, breaking the previous record set in December 2020. Hospitalizations and deaths remain far lower than they were in that pre-vaccine peak. Spahn said Germany was experiencing a “massive” pandemic of the unvaccinated, adding: “The truth is that there would be far fewer Covid-19 patients in [intensive care] if everyone who could do it got a vaccination.”
The UK has also been enduring a stubborn streak of new infections since the end of the summer, but has resisted implementing measure like mask mandates or vaccine passes that have become commonplace across Europe.
Greece on Thursday reported a record 6,808 Covid-19 cases — the highest daily count since the start of the pandemic as the health system faced renewed pressure due to a rise in hospitalizations.
The Greek government announced stricter restrictions for the unvaccinated in an effort to curb the spike, including unvaccinated workers undergoing two Covid-19 tests per week and negative tests to access public services, banks, shops and other venues. The government also upped the fines for the non-compliant businesses and said it will ramp up controls. “There is a growing trend of the pandemic in our country, as is the case in most European countries. The government has taken all measures in order to strengthen the national health system and to this end we have more than doubled the ICU beds,” Health Minister Thanos Plevris said on Wednesday as he urged more people to get vaccinated. The world passed a milestone of 5 million Covid-19 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic on Monday — a mark the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called “a painful new threshold.” NN: They are blaming the unvaccinated. BUT this is also a plague of the undervaccinated and the NEW mutant monster spreading in Asia Europe ans now America. As usual they are holding back vital information. If we take the WHO European projected deaths and assume the same ratio of deaths visa vie the US to Europe. I projest 1 million dead by spring…. Just make sure you are not among them.
Japan PM confirms oil reserves may be released to curb prices
TOKYO, Nov 20 (Reuters) – Japan is considering releasing oil from its reserves for the first time to curb surging oil prices, Kyodo news agency reported on Saturday, as Prime Minister Fumio Kishida signalled his readiness to counter oil price hikes following a request from the United States. However, Japan may struggle to justify such a move, as under its own laws the country can release reserves only at a time of supply constraints or natural disasters, but not to lower prices. The U.S. administration of President Joe Biden, who faces falling approval ratings and higher gasoline prices, has pressed https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/asia-looks-spr-shock-treatment-high-oil-prices-after-us-request-2021-11-18 some of the world’s biggest economies to consider releasing oil from their strategic reserves to quell high energy prices. The requests include asking China for the first time to consider releasing stocks of crude. “We’re proceeding with consideration as to what we can do legally on the premise that Japan will coordinate with the United States and other countries concerned,” Kishida told reporters. “We want to draw a conclusion after thoroughly considering the situation each country faces and what Japan can do.”
Japan has tapped its reserves in the past to deal with the fallout of the Gulf War in the early 1990s and the deadly earthquake and tsunami in 2011.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said on Thursday that Tokyo was closely watching the impact of rising oil prices on the world’s third-biggest economy. “While urging oil-producing nations to ramp up oil output, we will strive to stabilise energy markets by coordinating with major consumer nations and international organisations such as IEA (the International Energy Agency),” Matsuno said. Resource-poor Japan gets the vast majority of its oil from the Middle East. Recent surging oil prices and a weakening yen are driving up the cost of imports, dealing a double blow to a trade-dependent nation. Kishida’s government on Friday unveiled a record $490 billion stimulus plan including measures to counter higher oil prices. It plans to subsidise oil refiners in the hope of capping wholesale gasoline and fuel prices to ease the pain to households and firms from rising oil costs. “What’s important is to urge oil-producing countries to ramp up oil production,” Kishida said last month after discussions with cabinet ministers. “We will arrange concrete measures after confirming what industry sectors are being affected.” NN: The world has changed…. OPEC is taking advantage of a world still suffering with a plague….. Leaders well know the masses are in a foul mood. Their will be coordinated oil stock pile releases… and… production will ramp up the world over… You can bet on that. Come to think of it we are…..
U.S. again presses OPEC+ as it weighs reserve release
* Oil prices sink after Austria imposes lockdown
* China says it intends to release some reserves
* White House says OPEC+ needs to ensure adequate supply of oil (Updates with White House comments, recasts at top, changes oil prices, recasts, changes dateline, byline)
WASHINGTON, Nov 19 (Reuters) – The White House on Friday pressed the OPEC producer group again to maintain adequate global supply, days after U.S. discussions with some of the world’s biggest economies over potentially releasing oil from strategic reserves to quell high energy prices.
The Biden administration has asked a wide range of countries, including China for the first time, to consider releasing stocks of crude. President Joe Biden faces slipping approval figures as Americans cite inflation as a growing problem.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the administration wants to “ensure that the OPEC member countries and OPEC as an organization meets the demand needs that are out there with the adequate supply. That is something we’ve pressed them on in the past.” Oil prices were down sharply after Austria announced it would impose a full lockdown due to rising COVID cases, with Germany likely to follow. Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies have said the world economic recovery is fragile. This week, Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo said OPEC expects an oil supply surplus to begin building next month. International benchmark Brent crude was down 3.3% on Friday to $78.62 a barrel, lowest since early October. The market has been weakening as investors have anticipated an increase in global supplies. OPEC+ plans to meet on Dec. 2. The group has been raising output by 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) per month, gradually unwinding record production cuts made in 2020 when the pandemic dissipated fuel demand. Biden faces political pressure ahead of midterm congressional elections next year. A Reuters poll in October showed 67% of U.S. adults agreed inflation is a major concern. Biden recently directed the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to look into the growing disparity between unfinished wholesale gasoline futures, which have dropped sharply in recent weeks, and retail prices, which have barely budged. The average cost per gallon is $3.41 nationwide, according to the American Automobile Association. Other countries have been pressing OPEC, including China and India. OPEC+ in April 2020 cut output by more than 10 million barrels a day as pandemic lockdowns crushed fuel demand. The producer group still has about 3.8 million bpd in supply cuts that it has not yet returned to the market. Several members have been unable to meet production targets due to years of under-investment. The group fell short of its targets again in October, as several nations had difficulty reaching proposed output levels. The United States has the largest strategic reserve at more than 600 million barrels. The U.S. SPR https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/what-is-spr-emergency-oil-stash-biden-may-tap-2021-11-18 was set up in the 1970s after the Arab Oil Embargo to ensure adequate emergency supplies. In recent years, the shale boom has boosted U.S. output to rival that of Saudi Arabia and Russia, making the United States to less dependent on imports from other nations, particularly OPEC members. The United States and allies have coordinated strategic petroleum reserve releases before, such as in 2011 when supplies were hit by a war in OPEC member Libya.
U.S. expands COVID-19 booster eligibility to all adults
Breakthrough infections raise health, death risk
Nov 19 (Reuters) – The following is a summary of some recent studies on COVID-19. They include research that warrants further study to corroborate the findings and that has yet to be certified by peer review. Breakthrough COVID-19 raises risk of health problems, death COVID-19 is generally less severe in vaccinated patients but that does not mean breakthrough infections will be benign, a large study shows. Researchers analyzed data collected by the U.S. Veterans Affairs Administration from 16,035 survivors of breakthrough infections, 48,536 unvaccinated COVID-19 survivors and nearly 3.6 million uninfected people. At six months after infection, after taking their risk factors into account, people with breakthrough infections had lower rates of death and long-term lingering health problems than COVID-19 patients who had not been vaccinated. But compared to people who never had COVID-19, those who had breakthrough infections had a 53% higher risk of death and a 59% higher risk of having at least one new medical condition, particularly problems affecting the lungs and other organs. Even when breakthrough infections did not require hospitalization, the increased risks of death and lasting effects were “not trivial,” the research team reported on Monday on Research Square https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-1062160/v1 ahead of peer review. “The overall burden of death and disease following breakthrough COVID-19 will likely be substantial,” the researchers conclude. Vaccine passports would allow infections to be missed “Vaccine passports” that exempt vaccinated people from regular COVID-19 testing would allow many infections to be missed, Israeli data suggest. Researchers analyzed infection rates in citizens returning to Israel through Ben-Gurion airport, for whom PCR tests upon arrival are required regardless of vaccination status. “Surprisingly,” in August 2021, the rate of positive tests among vaccinated travelers was more than double the rate among the unvaccinated, said Retsef Levi of the MIT Sloan School of Management, coauthor of a report posted on the SSRN server https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3963606 ahead of peer review. Travelers who had received the second dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine within the past six months or who had received a booster dose were considered vaccinated. The group considered to be unvaccinated included the never-vaccinated and those whose most recent shot was more than six months prior, given evidence of waning vaccine efficacy by then. In September, when the Israeli government was recommending booster shots for all adults, the positive-test rate dropped among vaccinated travelers and was about 3.5 times lower with vaccination than without. By October, the positive-test rate in the vaccinated group, while still lower, had started to climb again, Levi said. The data suggest that limiting frequent COVID-19 testing to unvaccinated people would “pose potential risks by reinforcing the misrepresentation that vaccinated individuals are protected from infections.” Masks, social distancing still worthwhile Mask wearing and physical distancing are tied to reductions in the spread of COVID-19 and should be continued, according to researchers who reviewed 72 previous studies. When they analyzed results from eight of the studies in detail, they saw a 53% reduction in the incidence of COVID-19 with mask wearing and a 25% reduction with physical distancing. There is not yet enough data to confirm the overall benefits of more stringent measures such as lockdowns, school and workplace closures, and border closures, the researchers reported on Thursday in The BMJ https://www.bmj.com/content/375/bmj-2021-068302. Very few of the studies analyzed were randomized trials, so they cannot prove the interventions directly reduced infection rates. Still, the researchers conclude, “It is likely that further control of the COVID-19 pandemic depends not only on high vaccination coverage and its effectiveness but also on ongoing adherence to effective and sustainable public health measures.” NN: The issue they are dancing around is the fact after 6 months your vaccines is wearing off. Simple solution get the freeging booster shot….