| | | | | |  | | By Myah Ward | With help from Tyler Weyant A TIME OF TESTING (FOR SOME) — President Joe Biden unveiled his don't-call-it-a-mandate vaccine mandate for 2 million federal employees today, announcing that the civilian workforce and federal contractors will be required to disclose whether they've been vaccinated against Covid or face testing once or twice a week.
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President Joe Biden talks to reporters as he walks off stage after delivering remarks in the East Room of the White House. | Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images | Workers who aren't fully vaccinated will have to wear masks regardless of geographic location and will be subject to travel restrictions and physical distancing measures. But wait a minute — is weekly Covid testing a reasonable substitute for vaccination? Nightly asked our braintrust of public health experts to weigh in. These answers have been edited. "Tests, especially those conducted only weekly, are not a suitable alternative to vaccination. An unvaccinated worker who tests negative one day may test positive the next. A negative test is not a guarantee that a person won't be contagious later in the week. "But a negative test result may give workers a false sense that they are safe to others. At a minimum, testing should be repeated multiple times a week to minimize the time an infected person can be exposing others in the workplace. "But in all circumstances, tests should not be used as a replacement for vaccines. They do not protect from Covid-19 the person who is tested and may fail to identify contagion in the workplace." — Jennifer Nuzzo, epidemiologist and director of the Outbreak Observatory at Johns Hopkins University's Center for Health Security "We have already seen numerous outbreaks in which testing was inadequate, largely because a test is a snapshot in time. The first day of the week could be when someone is just beginning to incubate virus. This could lead to them being 'cleared,' when in fact they are most contagious for the few days right after. This was well documented in a plane outbreak from Dubai to New Zealand. The index case had a negative test a few days before the flight, but was contagious while on the flight. "With more contagious variants like Delta, which have been shown to hold much higher viral loads, even vaccines alone may prove to be insufficient while we have millions who are unvaccinated, because there could be a higher risk that fully vaccinated people transmit the virus onward to unvaccinated people. "If the weekly testing option serves as a 'way out' for unvaccinated people, it will give them and others a false sense of security." — Abraar Karan, infectious disease fellow at Stanford University "While testing is important, it does not prevent you from getting Covid-19. In order to help prevent spread of the virus we need people to take up vaccination and other non-pharmaceutical interventions such as wearing masks." — Krutika Kuppalli, an infectious disease specialist at the Medical University of South Carolina "When there are multiple safe and highly efficacious vaccines in plentiful supply, all other measures are a paltry substitute. "Those who are not vaccinated are responsible for the transmission we are seeing in this country and would be responsible for the disruption they caused to the workplace if they exposed or infected somebody else. Therefore, it is appropriate to ask unvaccinated individuals to be tested to ensure that they are not a threat to the operations of the workplace." — Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security "Covid testing only tells us an individual's infection status for a point in time, and there are false negatives and false positives, as well as time periods when the test has not yet returned but a person may be infectious and exposing others. " It's inevitable that infections will occur in workplaces, schools, and other public settings as the country continues to open again. Using testing to promptly identify cases, clusters and outbreaks as they emerge, and providing Covid support services as needed can add extra layers of protection from Covid — but they do not substitute for vaccines in terms of the protection they provide from Covid." — Tom Frieden, former CDC director and president and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives, an initiative of Vital Strategies Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. A measure of the challenge for Biden: Europe just overtook the U.S. in its vaccination rate. Reach out with news, tips and ideas for us at nightly@politico.com. Or contact tonight's author directly at mward@politico.com or on Twitter at @MyahWard.
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From the SitRoom to the E-Ring, get the inside scoop on defense, national security and foreign policy.
Subscribe now | | | | | | — Senate passes Capitol security bill, heading off August shortfalls: The Senate easily passed a bill addressing Capitol security concerns exacerbated by the Jan. 6 insurrection , after weeks of deadlock. The $2.1 billion compromise bill plugs security shortfalls around the Capitol complex, fully reimburses the National Guard and Capitol Police for increased staffing needs, provides $1.125 billion in relief for Afghan nationals who assisted the U.S. war effort, and increases the number of visas set aside for the Afghans by 8,000. — Schumer says he has votes for moving $3.5T package: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said today that all 50 Democrats will vote to move forward on the party's $3.5 trillion social spending proposal. Schumer's remarks come after the Senate took the first step to advance a $550 billion bipartisan infrastructure framework Wednesday evening. The New York Democrat has long insisted that the Senate will pass both the bipartisan bill and a budget blueprint for the multitrillion-dollar legislative package before the chamber leaves for the August recess. — House Democrats pass earmark-packed $600B spending bundle: House Democrats passed a $600 billion spending package today in their bid to fund the government , approving millions of dollars in bipartisan pet projects after a decade-long ban on earmarks. The seven-bill "minibus," which passed in a 219-208 vote, would increase budgets at the departments of Labor, Education, Health and Human Services, Agriculture, Transportation and more. The House also passed two bills Wednesday night that would provide about $67 billion for the State Department, foreign aid programs and the Legislative Branch, largely along party lines. — Republicans urge Gensler to investigate Chinese companies: Senate Republicans are calling on SEC Chair Gary Gensler to investigate Chinese companies that list shares on U.S. stock exchanges after American investors suffered from a surprise crackdown on the firms by government officials in China. Seven GOP lawmakers led by Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska are also pressing Gensler to scrutinize underwriters involved in the Chinese companies' U.S. initial public offerings and index providers that include the companies in their products. — Biden to headline DNC fundraiser: Biden will headline a fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee on Monday, according to an invitation obtained by POLITICO. And, like the last one, the event won't be in person. "Let's build that bank to fuel the Democratic campaigns of 2022," Ajay Bhutoria, national finance committee at the DNC, wrote in the invitation. Ticket prices for Monday's event are $100,000, $50,000 and $36,500. — Florida officials defy DeSantis as infections spike: Local officials across Florida are bucking Gov. Ron DeSantis and his anti-mandate coronavirus strategy as infections soar in the state and nation. They're imposing vaccine and mask requirements for government workers and even declaring states of emergency. In a sign of how worrisome the new Covid-19 surge is, Disney World is ordering all guests older than 2 to wear masks indoors at its Florida theme park, regardless of vaccination status.
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Sam Ehlinger of the Texas Longhorns throws a pass under pressure at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on Oct. 03, 2020, in Austin, Texas. | Tim Warner/Getty Images | AN ACTUAL POLITICAL FOOTBALL — Nightly's Tyler Weyant emails: Move over, cicadas, there's a new cyclical terror arriving in 2021: College sports conference realignment. The University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma, two Big 12 mainstays, are seeking to join the Southeastern Conference in 2025, becoming members of an exclusive club with the likes of Alabama, Florida and Georgia. The SEC member schools voted unanimously today to extend membership invitations to the two schools . Texas and Oklahoma have both scheduled board of regents meetings Friday to accept the invitation. The move has already led to threats of legal action, with ESPN today rebuffing a claim by Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby that the network was working to "destabilize" the league. New Oklahoma State President Kaysa Shrum, in a Twitter thread earlier this week , said Oklahoma's move was "in clear breach of the bylaws of the Big 12 Conference and broke a bond of trust between our universities in existence for decades." Two Texas congressmen representing districts containing Big 12 schools told Congress they want the state Legislature to get involved. "I do not believe it is in Texas' best interest for the University of Texas to seek membership to the SEC," said Rep. Pete Sessions, a Republican who represents Baylor University's Waco as well as College Station, home to the SEC's Texas A&M. "The State of Texas has the intrinsic right, as the result of being a public university, for the state Legislature to have input. Therefore, I trust the outcome of those productive conversations." Rep. Jodey Arrington, a Republican whose district includes Lubbock and Texas Tech, echoed Sessions' remarks: "While I see no federal jurisdiction, it seems to me that state leaders have a responsibility to determine whether realignment of a taxpayer-funded university is in the best interest of the entire state of Texas, not just one school."
| | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president's ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | | | | Nightly asks you: As the Delta variant leads to increased cases around the nation, are you changing your behavior this summer? Send us your answers using our form, and we'll feature select responses in Friday's edition.
| | | SOUTH OF FRANCE'S LOVE OF LIBERTÉ — As France rushes to vaccinate its population amid a surge in infections, President Emmanuel Macron is getting tough — essentially telling people to get the jab or forfeit a return to normal life. It's a strategy that has prompted waves of indignation in the country of Liberté, with protests bringing 160,000 people onto the streets across France last weekend. But nowhere is Macron's tough-love recipe being put to a greater test than in Marseille, the Mediterranean port city that has emerged as a flagbearer for Covid skepticism. High levels of poverty, a tradition of defiance against the state and the influence of controversial virologist Didier Raoult, who touted an antimalarial drug to treat the coronavirus, make the southern city fertile ground for discontent. Near the old port, Robert Farina runs Le Vacon bar, a drinking hole that has maybe seen better days. Shirt unbuttoned, fists pressed against the counter, he quips that he is a "100 percent dissenter." "It's a dictatorship," he thundered. "Hasn't Macron read what's written on our coins? It says Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité — what happened to liberty?"
| | | | | | | | | | SUBSCRIBE TO "THE RECAST" TODAY: Power is shifting in Washington and in communities across the country. More people are demanding a seat at the table, insisting that politics is personal and not all policy is equitable. The Recast is a twice-weekly newsletter that explores the changing power dynamics in Washington and breaks down how race and identity are recasting politics and policy in America. Get fresh insights, scoops and dispatches on this crucial intersection from across the country and hear critical new voices that challenge business as usual. Don't miss out, SUBSCRIBE . Thank you to our sponsor, Intel. | | | | | | | | STICK TO BOTH — Despite the rhetoric that the Olympics are an event that rises above politics, the Games have a history of demonstrations supporting social movements and issues. Associate video producer Elise Dean interviews athletes and activists about the role of politics in sports and what we can expect to see at the rest of the Tokyo Games this summer.
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