Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine is safe and effective, U.S. regulators said Wednesday. It’s a key milestone toward giving Americans access to what would be the nation’s first single-dose vaccination. Emergency authorization from the Food and Drug Administration could come as soon as this week. Covid variants are expected to be a key topic during approval discussions as 4,000 cases of re-infection were found in South Africa, where a more transmissible and vaccine-resistant strain has been spreading. Moderna said it completed manufacturing doses of a new version of its Covid-19 vaccine modified to target the South Africa strain and shipped it to researchers for clinical study. Here’s the latest on the pandemic. —Margaret Sutherlin

Bloomberg is tracking the progress of coronavirus vaccines while mapping the pandemic globally and across America. 

Here are today’s top stories  

The Federal Reserve began restoring some services following widespread outages across key payment systems operated by the U.S. central bank. The financial world is understandably nervous about the disruption of critical infrastructure. The Fed is investigating.

U.S. equities reversed losses Wednesday as Fed Chair Jerome Powell reaffirmed his view that the banged up U.S. economy still needs support. During a second day of Congressional testimony, he insisted the labor market is still in trouble and signs of rising prices won’t necessarily lead to persistently high inflation. However, he deflected questions on two items near and dear to Wall Street: whether the Fed will drop restrictions on bank dividends and if it will keep giving lenders a break on capital demands due to Covid-19. Here’s your markets wrap.

Don’t look now but GameStop shares more than doubled. The trigger may have been its chief financial officer getting pushed out in a disagreement over strategy. Perhaps investors took it as a sign the video-game retailer is on the comeback trail? Shares soared 104%.

Photographer: Bloomberg

Photographer: Bloomberg

Two more top U.S. Capitol security officials plan to blame faulty intelligence for their failure to anticipate the deadly assault by Trump followers on Congress Jan. 6. In testimony before the House Thursday, they are to say assessments from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other Trump administration agencies were “muddled or contradictory.”

Goldman Sachs Chief Executive Officer David Solomon has a message about remote work: “It’s an aberration that we are going to correct as quickly as possible.” Solomon has been one of the more vocal business leaders pushing to bring employees back to offices. New York commercial landlords meanwhile are trying a new tactic to bring workers back: creating full Covid-19 testing centers for their buildings.

David Solomon 

Photographer: Bloomberg

Exchange-traded fund superstar Cathie Wood’s main ETFs whipsawed Wednesday as bond yields surged and data showed investors pulled a record amount of cash from the firm during this week’s tech selloff. 

What do you pack for a business trip? One former Glencore director said he carried a bag stuffed with 500,000 pounds to seal deals in London, just one lurid story from the commodity industry and its long history of corruption. Payments weren’t called bribery, he said: they were called a “commissions.”

What you’ll need to know tomorrow 

• Romney predicts Trump will win Republican nomination in 2024.
• White House sent 25 million masks to disadvantaged Americans.
• The U.S. and Canada are developing tougher climate change plans.
• Assailed over Covid, N.Y.’s Cuomo now faces harassment claims.
• Coronavirus wiped out 66% of arts jobs in New York City. 
• Remote work just complicated the U.S. tax season in a big way. 
• A makeover helped Mattel sell $1.35 billion in Barbies last year. 

What you’ll want to read tonight in Businessweek

How AstraZeneca’s Shot May Get Back on Track

Tens of millions of people around the world are desperately trying to get their hands on a potentially lifesaving coronavirus vaccine. But in Europe, a group of Italian doctors are appealing to the country’s health ministry to avoid taking the Covid-19 shot offered them: the one made by AstraZeneca, which they believe is less effective. Now AstraZeneca is banking on new study data to get things back on track. 

Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg

Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg

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