Bloomberg - Evening Briefing - Booster shot ban

One-fifth of one billion. That’s how many coronavirus infections have been confirmed since the pathogen began spreading in earnest 20 months ago, with the actual number almost certainly much higher. More than 4.2 million are dead. A big part of new waves, evolving variants and breakthrough infections is the huge gulf between rich and poor nations. While wealthy countries are considering booster shots for the already vaccinated, billions worldwide have yet to get even one shot. The World Health Organization is calling for a ban on booster shots so as to free up as many doses as possible for the unvaccinated. Meanwhile, the delta variant is wreaking destruction everywhere. In Indonesia, more than 100,000 deaths have been recorded as a result of Covid-19, while in Israel, a full reversal toward work-from-home has begun. But with huge unvaccinated populations across the globe, the arrival of variants more easily transmitted than even delta—and more able to circumvent vaccines—is only a matter of time. “All viruses want to do is reproduce themselves. The ones that do become the dominant virus,” an infectious disease expert told the Washington Post, adding that “variants are likely to get more efficient as time goes on.” In the U.S., while some persist in talking about the pandemic in the past tense, White House adviser Anthony Fauci sounded the alarm about a rising fifth wave of infections: U.S. cases could double in the next two weeks, he said. Even more darkly, Idaho is suffering a surge in Covid-19 infections among babies and toddlers. But in some parts of America, keeping children unvaccinated and maskless has taken priority over keeping them safe from a disease that’s killed 614,000 in that nation alone. Some 668 Americans died from the coronavirus just yesterday. Here’s the latest on the pandemic. —David E. Rovella

Bloomberg is tracking the progress of coronavirus vaccines while mapping the pandemic worldwide. 

A Fed official said interest rates may rise—in 2023. Still, it was enough to send Wall Street investors into a tizzy. U.S. equities slumped after the statement by Vice Chair Richard Clarida. It also didn’t help that July data showed U.S. companies adding far fewer jobs than expected. Here’s your markets wrap.

Enthusiasm from small-time investors, options trading, Cathie Wood’s endorsement—all the ingredients that make for crazed, meme stock-style trading have come together for Robinhood. And all this just a week after the day trader-fave face-planted in its public trading debut. So what’s behind a surge that’s boosted its shares by as much as 125% in two days?

Global funds accelerated the purchases of Chinese government debt, the best-performing bonds in the world this year, as expectations of policy easing put China ahead of other nations that are moving toward withdrawing pandemic-induced financial supports.

The Biden administration has approved its first arms sale to Taiwan in a potential $750 million deal. It calls for selling Taiwan, which faces increasingly strident talk and nearby maneuvers by Beijing, 40 new M109 self-propelled howitzers and almost 1,700 kits to convert projectiles into more precise GPS-guided munitions.

You’re forgiven if this sounds to you like a video game, but in some ways it is. Cryptocurrency Bitcoin SV was under a blockchain attack Wednesday that appeared to have inflicted some damage to the network. The “51% attack,” an invasion on a blockchain by miners who gain control of more than half a network’s computing power, could enable the intruders to prevent new transactions from gaining confirmations.

Uber spent heavily to lure drivers back during the second quarter after the pandemic caused many to park their cars. The expenditure resulted in a wider loss than expected and raised doubts about the reliability of its labor model long-term. Shares plunged as much as 6%.

The recovery in global air traffic is heading back to the gate. Airline seat capacity is dropping, and is now just 68% of what it was in 2019. 

• Remember “March of the Penguins”? Emperor penguins are doomed. 
• Big Seafood is getting nervous about plant-based fish substitutes.
• These are the highest paid chief executive officers in America.
• Facebook blocks research into paid political ads posted on Facebook.
• Bloomberg has your preview of the “Sopranos” prequel.
• Trump follower Nunes sues again: This time it’s Rachel Maddow.
• New York’s Andrew Cuomo is now under criminal investigation.

Those television ads featuring shiny cars racing down city streets, or deep voices touting steroidal pickups to wannabe-tough dads? They sell. The problem is, both speeding and those oversized gas guzzlers kill, too. In 2019, speed was a contributing factor in at least one-quarter of traffic fatalities. Crashes in which pedestrians or other drivers are crushed by massive SUVs or pickup trucks have also skyrocketed. Bloomberg CityLab reports on who is to blame.

Track which countries are winning the most gold. Keep tabs on the latest results at the Tokyo Olympics. We've removed this feature from behind our paywall so you can check in on the Games whenever you'd like.

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