Day 77: "Irritating." - a podcast by Matt Kiser

1/ All adults in the U.S. should be eligible to receive the Covid-19 vaccine by April 19, almost two weeks sooner than Biden’s original May 1 deadline. All but two states – Oregon and Hawaii – are already set to meet the new target date. “That doesn’t mean they will get it that day, that means they can join the line that day if they have not already done that beforehand,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said. As of last week, about half of states had already opened vaccinations to everyone 16 and older, which is expected to rise to 36 states by the end of this week. The Biden administration also said that 150 million coronavirus vaccine doses have been administered to Americans. (CNN / NBC News / NPR / Bloomberg / Associated Press)

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  ? Dept. of “We’re gonna get through this.”

  
  


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  Global: Total confirmed cases: ~132,132,000; deaths: ~2,866,000

  
  


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  U.S.: Total confirmed cases: ~30,832,000; deaths: ~557,000; fully vaccinated: ~19.0%; partially vaccinated: ~32.6%

  
  


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  Source: Johns Hopkins University / Washington Post

  
  

2/ Texas Gov. Greg Abbott banned government agencies, private businesses, and organizations that receive state funding from creating “vaccine passports,” saying Covid-19 vaccinations are voluntary and that no one should have to disclose private health information as a condition of engaging in normal activities. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order last week banning businesses from requiring customers to show proof they have been vaccinated against Covid-19 in order to get service. The Biden administration, meanwhile, has said “the government is not now, nor will we be, supporting a system that requires Americans to carry a credential” because it doesn’t want vaccine passports “used against people unfairly.” Instead, the administration will provide guidance for private-sector development of credentials. (Texas Tribune / New York Times / Washington Post / Bloomberg)

3/ The nonpartisan Senate parliamentarian ruled that Democrats could use budget reconciliation to advance more of Biden’s agenda with a simple majority. Democrats previously used budget resolution to pass the American Rescue Plan. “I always would prefer to do legislation in a bipartisan way, but we have to get big, bold things done,” Chuck Schumer said. “And so we need to have as many options as possible if Republicans continue to obstruct.” All 50 Democratic senators ...

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