Forbes - White House Vaccine Update

Plus: No planned domestic travel restrictions

Your daily Forbes Coronavirus newsletter is now renamed Forbes InnovationRx and comes with science and healthcare news from Katie Jennings on Wednesdays and Coronavirus-exclusive coverage from Leah Rosenbaum on weekdays.

Good news from the White House today: the Biden administration announced that it has completed additional agreements to purchase an extra 200 million doses of Pfizer and Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccines. This will mean the country has enough doses secured to vaccinate almost every American -- but it won’t be right away. Due to manufacturing, the new doses likely won’t get into arms until mid-to-late summer. This is the most recent step in the administration’s plans to ramp up vaccinations, which also includes opening new mass vaccination sites in New York City and Texas. It’s a contrast to the previous administration, which, according to a new report, badly fumbled the beginnings of the pandemic. 

Business

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the national debt will likely exceed the size of the U.S. economy this year. 

Zocdoc, a patient scheduling platform that is now being used to schedule vaccine appointments, raised $150 million the company announced today. 

Science & Health

Yesterday the CDC issued a new guideline saying that people who have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 can skip quarantine after a Covid-19 exposure -- with some caveats. 

A top scientist in the U.K. says that the more contagious variant that was discovered there is likely to sweep the world.

What Else We Are Reading

• Trump Was Sicker Than Acknowledged With Covid-19 (New York Times)

• ‘Willing to pay’: People on Craigslist are offering to drive elderly residents to get a COVID-19 vaccine in exchange for a shot themselves (Boston Globe)

• When Your Chance for a Covid Shot Comes, Don’t Worry About the Numbers (Kaiser Health News)