Bloomberg - Evening Briefing - China breaks the silence

It was another big day for the booster debate. A key advisory panel recommended U.S. regulators approve an extra shot of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine. It brings J&J a step closer to clearance, though government data suggests the dose is more effective when combined with an mRNA dose (Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna). Meanwhile, authorization of Moderna’s shot for adolescents was delayed to review heart inflammation risks. Sobering new numbers showed Covid-19 cut more than two years from life expectancy in 16 U.S. states over the past year, with the worst damage concentrated in the South and the Great Plains. Here’s the latest on the pandemic. —Margaret Sutherlin

Bloomberg is tracking the coronavirus pandemic and the progress of global vaccination efforts.

China’s central bank finally broke its silence on the monstrous debt crisis at Evergrande Group, arguing that risks to the financial system stemming from the developer’s 12-figure struggle to survive are “controllable.”

Apartment buildings at Evergrande Group's Life in Venice real estate and tourism development in  China. Photographer: Bloomberg/Bloomberg

Tether is paying $41 million to settle its latest fight with regulators. The U.S. said Tether misled customers over what, if any, assets backed its stablecoins. For years, the company pledged it had $1 for every token. 

While the consumer may be resilient, increasing prices could take a toll on spending and sentiment, which fell in early October. But investors saw only green on Friday, thanks in part to Wall Street’s great earnings. Here’s your markets wrap.

The Biden administration plans to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to block Texas’s abortion restrictions while it continues to challenge the law in lower courts. A three-judge panel of a federal appeals court left the statute in place in a 2-1 vote, with two Republican presidential appointees in the majority. The dissenter was appointed by a Democratic president.

Abortion rights demonstrators protest outside the Texas State Capitol in Austin during a Women’s March on Oct. 2. Photographer: Sarah Karlan/Bloomberg

President Joe Biden conceded again on Friday that his $3.5 trillion economic plan is unlikely to pass with that big of a dollar figure. Now the debate for Democrats is how much less it’ll be.

After time off recovering from Covid-19, an airline pilot forgot to start his second engine for takeoff. Another, fresh from a seven-month layoff, remembered nearly too late to lower the landing gear. Covid has meant months out of the cockpit for pilots around the world. As countries open up, potentially catastrophic mistakes are mounting.

With bodies filling refrigerated trucks during the first wave of the pandemic in 2020, many of New York City’s dead were sent to a mass grave on Hart Island, just off the Bronx. It’s been the city’s main public graveyard since the 19th century. But that’s changing— Hart Island is becoming a park.

Hart Island, New York City Photographer: Alon Sicherman & Sean Vegezzi/Courtesy L-Vision LLC

• New York is on track to vaccinate a majority of its Black residents. 
• Cathie Wood said meme stock “dinosaurs” aren’t really her thing.
• The U.S. set a date to reopen its borders. 
• Parkland High School gunman to plead guilty to murdering 17 people. 
• A U.K. parliament member died after being stabbed at a local meeting.
• Uber is testing a new “cut the line” feature for riders. 
• Paparazzi have a new tactic: suing celebrities for copyright.

The city or the country? In the Before Times, people had to make a choice. But the pandemic led many to reevaluate this lifestyle choice, upending global housing markets. Low interest rates on home loans, pandemic-era savings and a hybrid-work revolution have made it more feasible for people, not just the ultra rich, to buy second homes. 

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