Current Events in April 2021

The Federal Communications Commission is encouraging consumers to test their broadband internet speeds using its speed test app. The agency’s Acting Chair Jessica Rosenworcel says doing so will help bolster the FCC's mission of collecting more accurate information on broadband speeds in different parts of the U.S. 

“To close the gap between digital haves and have nots, we are working to build a comprehensive, user-friendly dataset on broadband availability,” Rosenworcel said in a statement. 

“Expanding the base of consumers who use the FCC Speed Test app will enable us to provide improved coverage information to the public and add to the measurement tools we’re developing to show where broadband is truly available throughout the United States.” 

Crowdsourcing speed test data

Closing the digital divide has been a top priority for the FCC in recent years. The agency is currently striving to improve the accuracy of its coverage maps in order to paint a clearer picture of where improvements are needed. 

Currently, these maps primarily feature data from ISPs like Comcast and Verizon. Studies have found that the FCC’s estimates of how many Americans lack access to a broadband connection starkly contrast other data. 

A 2019 study from Microsoft found that around 163 million people could not access the internet at or above broadband speeds. At the time, the FCC had put that number at an estimated 25 million people. The agency is now asking consumers to share their broadband speeds to help enhance the accuracy of its broadband maps. 

Using the FCC’s Speed Test app “helps crowdsource data about broadband across the country that we can use to build better maps showing where service is and is not,” Rosenworcel tweeted. 

The FCC’s Speed Test App can be downloaded from the Google Play Store for Android devices or the Apple App Store for iOS devices. The FCC says it will protect the privacy and confidentiality of consumers who decide to share their speed test results. 

A new study conducted by researchers from the University of Maryland explored how using salt in the environment can be detrimental to the global freshwater supply. 

Their findings showed that when salt is used for things like melting snow on roads, softening water, or even construction, it ultimately impacts clean drinking water, the environment, and consumers’ health. 

“We used to think about adding salts as not much of a problem,” said researcher Sujay Kaushal. “We thought we put it on the roads in winter and it gets washed away, but we realized that it stuck around and accumulated. Now we’re looking into both the acute exposure risks and the long-term health, environmental, and infrastructure risks of all these chemical cocktails that result from adding salts to the environment, and we’re saying, ‘This is becoming one of the most serious threats to our freshwater supply.’ And it’s happening in many places we look in the United States and around the world.” 

The risks of salt in the environment

After conducting a thorough review of past studies, the team learned that salt use is increasing worldwide. They found that fertilizers, decaying old buildings, and even rising sea levels contribute to the consistent increase in salt concentration. The researchers dubbed this phenomenon “Freshwater Salinization Syndrome” because using salt in the environment ultimately leads to a build-up of toxic chemicals. 

Salt can affect the integrity of roadways, and it can also change the ecosystem of natural water sources by making these habitats more hospitable for different types of species and less desirable for the original inhabitants. Perhaps most importantly, it can compromise clean drinking water; the researchers explained this is already happening in several places in the northeast, with salt infiltrating the drinking water supply at a higher rate.

“I am greatly surprised by the increasing scope and intensity of these problems as highlighted from our studies,” said researcher Gene E. Likens. “Increased salinization of surface waters is becoming a major environmental problem in many places in the world.” 

How can we combat this?

To protect the water supply, the environment, and consumers’ health, the researchers recommend stricter regulations on water monitoring systems. This would allow experts to closely watch salinity levels in drinking water supplies and ultimately reduce the chemical impact of salt use. 

Because salt is used in several ways in the environment, and it has such wide-reaching impacts, the team also suggests that experts look at the sources of the biggest salt runoffs and work to address those first. 

“Ultimately, we need regulation at the higher levels, and we’re still lacking adequate protection of local jurisdictions and water supplies,” said Kaushal. “We have made dramatic improvements to acid rain and air quality, and we’re trying to address climate change this way. What we need here is a better understanding of the complicated effects of added salts and regulations based on that. This can allow us to avert a really difficult future for freshwater supplies.” 

If you live in Houston and order a pizza from Dominos, there’s a chance it could be delivered by a robot.

The pizza restaurant, built around a delivery business model, has teamed with Nuro, a maker of self-driving delivery vehicles, to begin autonomous pizza delivery this week from a Houston-area store.

A Domino’s location in Woodland Heights is the first to test the concept. When customers order a pizza, they can choose to have it delivered by Nuro’s R2 robot. According to Dominos, Nuro's R2 is the first completely autonomous, on-road delivery vehicle with regulatory approval by the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT).

Select customers who use the website to place and pay for an order from the test location can agree to have their order delivered by R2. These customers will receive text alerts, which will update them on R2's location and provide them with a unique PIN to retrieve their order. 

Customers getting a delivery from R2 may also track the vehicle using GPS on their order confirmation page. Once R2 arrives, customers will meet it at curbside and be prompted to enter their PIN on the bot's touchscreen. That will open the vehicle’s doors and the customer can retrieve their order.

"We're excited to continue innovating the delivery experience for Domino's customers by testing autonomous delivery with Nuro in Houston," said Dennis Maloney, Domino's senior vice president and chief innovation officer. "There is still so much for our brand to learn about the autonomous delivery space.”

Improving understanding of the delivery process

Maloney said the launch of the program will help the company form a better understanding of how customers respond to the deliveries, how they interact with the robot, and how it affects store operations. 

Dave Ferguson, Nuro co-founder and president, is also interested in seeing how the experiment works out. 

"Nuro's mission is to better everyday life through robotics. Now, for the first time, we're launching real world, autonomous deliveries with R2 and Domino's," he said. 

The R2 is Nuro’s second-generation autonomous vehicle. It received USDOT approval in February 2020. The R2 was designed to carry products, not people, and to provide last-mile delivery service. Dominos is among the first companies to take it for a spin.

General Motors is recalling 10,154 model year 2021 Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana vehicles with 6.6L gasoline engines.

The positive battery cable terminals may contact a fuse block assembly attachment post and cause an electrical short circuit.

A short-circuit can increase the risk of a fire.

What to do

GM will notify owners, and dealers will remove a portion of the anti-rotation tab on both positive battery cable terminals near the fuse block assembly attachments free of charge.

If too much of the tab had been removed during prior servicing, the battery cable will be replaced free of charge.

Owners should park their vehicles outside and away from structures until the repair is complete.

The recall is expected to begin May 3, 2021.

Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at (800) 222-1020, and GMC customer service at (800) 462-8782. GM's number for this recall is N202325160.

Sabra Dipping Company is recalling approximately 2,100 cases of Classic Hummus.

The product may be contaminated with Salmonella.

No illnesses or consumer complaints have been reported to date.

The recalled product, which comes in a 10-oz plastic tub Classic Hummus with UPC 300067 and a “Best Before” date of April 26, 2021, was sold in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Indiana, Mississippi, Maine, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, New Jersey, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.

What to do

Customers who purchased the recalled product should not consume it, but return it to the place of purchase

Consumers with questions may contact the company at (866) 265-6761 Monday – Friday from 8 AM)to 8 PM (EST) or online at www.sabrahummusrecall.com for product reimbursement.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) tally as compiled by Johns Hopkins University. (Previous numbers in parentheses.)

Total U.S. confirmed cases: 31,202,818 (31,151,952)

Total U.S. deaths:  562,096 (561,783)

Total global cases: 136,181,468 (135,469,242)

Total global deaths: 2,938,829 (2,929,851)

Regeneron antibody drug shows preventive possibilities

Regeneron’s antibody drug has approval as a treatment for the coronavirus (COVID-19). It was used to treat former President Trump last year when he became infected with the virus.

The company now reports that a Phase 3 clinical trial has shown the drug cocktail is also effective at preventing COVID-19 symptoms. In other words, someone might test positive for COVID-19, but they wouldn’t get sick if they had taken the drug.

Regeneron says it will seek emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to use the drug as a preventive measure -- along with vaccines.

Study: South African variant can ‘break through’ Pfizer vaccine

Israeli health officials are expressing concern over research that suggests the South African variant of COVID-19 can overcome the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, infecting people who have received vaccinations.

The study found that the South African strain was eight times more likely to infect people vaccinated with the Pfizer product than other strains. The number of infections, however, was described as “relatively small.”

“Based on patterns in the general population, we would have expected just one case of the South African variant, but we saw eight,” Prof. Adi Stern, who headed the research, told The Times of Israel. “Obviously, this result didn’t make me happy.”

Big weekend for vaccinations

Lots of Americans rolled up their sleeves over the weekend to get a vaccination against the coronavirus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that a record number of Americans got the shots on Saturday.

“Amazing Saturday! +4.63M doses administered over total yesterday, a new record," Dr. Cyrus Shahpar, the COVID-19 data director at the White House, wrote on Twitter. "More than 500K higher than old record last Saturday. Incredible number of doses administered."

While that’s good news, health officials are expressing growing concern about the rising number of cases in a handful of states. They say many of the new cases and hospitalizations involve young adults.

Hospitalizations rise among the unvaccinated

While 25 percent of the American public has received a vaccination, that leaves a lot more who haven’t. Unfortunately, the CDC says an increasing number of them are ending up in the hospital, especially in Michigan.

"Cases and emergency room visits are up," said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky. "We are seeing these increases in younger adults, most of whom have not yet been vaccinated."

According to CNN, citing data from the CDC, nearly 40 percent of U.S. Marines have said they do not intend to be vaccinated.

BBB: Vaccine passports could be subject of new scams

There’s been a lot of talk about so-called “vaccine passports,” smartphone apps to display your vaccination status. The hospitality industry thinks they could help restart business faster.

The Better Business Bureau is warning consumers that scammers are probably one step ahead and planning schemes that offer phony passports but are designed to steal personal information and money from unsuspecting consumers.

The BBB says emails or popups offering free downloads of an “official” U.S. government vaccine passport app should be disregarded as scams. At the moment, the federal government has no plans to create a national vaccine passport. Anything presented as such is a scam.

Around the nation

• New York: Gov. Andrew Cuomo says 25 percent of New York residents have now been vaccinated against the virus. Meanwhile, hospitalizations due to the coronavirus have dropped to the lowest numbers since Dec. 2.

• Colorado: Health officials feared the worst at the start of flu season, but those fears failed to materialize. Dr. Suchitra Rao, an associate professor of pediatrics in infectious diseases with Children’s Hospital Colorado, says the prevention measures taken against COVID-19 made flu season “almost non-existent.”

• Massachusetts: Cases of the coronavirus are rising again around the state. Health officials say the number of towns and communities with the highest risk of infection has risen by 22, for a total of 77. The number has been rising for three weeks but remains below its peak in mid-January.

Consumers are apparently becoming more comfortable with ride-sharing. Uber Technologies, an industry leader in that service niche, says it doesn’t have enough drivers to make up for the surge in ride requests it’s receiving. Only a year ago, the pandemic had a sizable negative impact on sharing economy services because of social distancing measures that made people less inclined to share a ride with someone else.

In its latest filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Uber announced that total company bookings reached the highest monthly level ever in March 2021. The new high water mark could mean as much as $30 billion in annual bookings. 

The company’s Delivery business -- represented by UberEats and Uber Connect -- crossed another all-time threshold and is headed toward an estimated annual gross of $52 billion in March, growing more than 150 percent from March 2020 to March 2021.  

“As vaccination rates increase in the United States, we are observing that consumer demand for Mobility is recovering faster than driver availability, and consumer demand for Delivery continues to exceed courier availability,” Uber said in the filing.

More drivers are needed

On April 7, Uber announced that it is increasing investments in driver incentives to improve driver availability in the short-term. Its $250 million driver stimulus plan is designed to not only enhance earnings for its current fleet of drivers, but bring back drivers who pulled back on their availability during the COVID-19 pandemic. The company also hopes to attract new drivers to meet increased demand. 

“We want drivers to take advantage of higher earnings now because this is likely a temporary situation. As the recovery continues, we expect more drivers will be hitting the road, which means that over time earnings will come back to pre-Covid levels,” the company said last week.

The money’s pretty good, too. Uber reports that drivers in Philadelphia are earning $31.03 an hour, on average. In Chicago, the hourly earnings per driver are at $28.73. In Austin, Miami, and Phoenix, Uber drivers are taking in around $26 an hour. 

The company noted that those figures represent median hourly earnings, after Uber’s service fee, for all time on the Uber app (not just engaged time) for drivers spending 20 hours online per week. 

New fund gives rides to vaccination sites

The post-pandemic world got even rosier on Monday when it was announced that Uber, PayPal, and Walgreens are launching an $11 million Vaccine Access Fund -- thanks in great part to a notion recently floated by the White House.

When the Biden administration called on corporations to join in the effort to fight the pandemic and promote the use of vaccines, Uber, PayPal, and Walgreens were listening and came together to create the fund. The Vaccine Access Fund got an $11 million infusion to kickstart the fund for rides to vaccination sites. Consumers can also support the program by donating on PayPal, through the Uber app, or on the UberEats app. 

What happens to the donations when rides to vaccine sites aren’t needed anymore? “Any remaining funds will be used to advance health equity in underserved communities including helping to provide rides to medical appointments,” Uber said in a statement.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell says the U.S. economy is poised to grow rapidly, barring another wave of COVID-19. 

During an interview on CBS News’ “60 Minutes” on Sunday, Powell said the economy is at an “inflection point” right now and that the nation could see a sharp rise in new jobs in the coming months.

"What we're seeing now is really an economy that seems to be much at an inflection point, and that's because of widespread vaccination and strong fiscal support, strong monetary policy support,” Powell said. “We feel like we're at a place where the economy's about to start growing much more quickly and job creation coming in much more quickly. The outlook has brightened substantially."

However, he cautioned that the fate of the economy is still very much in the hands of the virus. 

"The principal risk to our economy right now really is that the disease would spread again. It's going to be smart if people can continue to socially distance and wear masks," he said in the interview. 

Health officials are continuing to urge people to wear masks, socially distance, and get vaccinated as soon as possible. According to CDC data, more than 183 million vaccines have been administered in the U.S. so far. 

Cyberattacks a big concern

Powell said there’s a “very, very low” chance that the economic downturn set in motion by the pandemic will be as dire as the 2008 financial crisis. However, he said cyberattacks on financial institutions remain a major concern. 

"The world evolves, and the risks change as well and I would say that the risk that we keep our eyes on the most now is cyber risk," Powell said. "There are scenarios in which a large financial institution would lose the ability to track the payments that it's making, where you would have a part of the financial system come to a halt, and so we spend so much time, energy and money guarding against these things." 

Still, the Fed chairman said he’s “highly confident" that the economy will come out of the pandemic "better and more inclusive" than it was before. 

It’s been confirmed that both Google and Apple will be headed to Capitol Hill to take place in a Senate Judiciary Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights hearing on April 21. Companies don’t always like getting these kinds of invitations, and this one has the earmarks of a grilling.

In a letter to CEO Tim Cook, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) said the committee has serious concerns about “competition issues” related to how Apple prices, distributes, and makes apps available to end users.

Klobuchar said in a statement that the hearing will delve into “whether Apple and Google are using their power as gatekeepers to charge high fees and impose restrictions that suppress competition in mobile applications and related markets, and both companies‘ participation in the hearing is necessary.” Of particular concern is Klobuchar’s perception that the companies “have the power to control how and if mobile app developers can reach app users, and ultimately, which apps become successful.”

It’s all about the Benjamins

App stores are quite the revenue spigot for Apple and Google. With a reported 1.96 million apps available for download in its App Store, the subsequent windfall for Apple is reported to be close to $500 billion. There’s also $72.3 billion made on in-app purchases, subscriptions, and premium apps. Comparatively, Google has an estimated 3.4 billion apps on its Play Store and makes about $40 billion in revenue from them. 

Much of that money comes from a 30 percent commission both companies have historically taken out of the gross receipts on an app sale. In late 2020, Epic Games -- the company behind Fortnite, one of the most popular games ever -- decided it would pick a fight. The company tried to circumvent Apple and Google’s app stores by encouraging users to pay it directly for add-ons. Epic’s hope was that the ploy would help it avoid Apple and Google’s fees and keep the extra money for itself.

That idea went nowhere fast. In response, Fortnite got kicked off both app stores. 

Let’s make a deal

Google and Apple will no doubt try to fend off the subcommittee’s ire by saying they recently reduced their benchmark 30 percent cut, reducing it to 15 percent -- albeit with caveats. In the olive branch that Apple offered, the fee reduction will apply only to developers that make under $1 million per year. After hitting a million, the rate goes back to 30 percent.

In Google’s offer, it said it would reduce its commission to 15 percent on the first $1 million a developer makes on Google Play each year. According to Google, its offer would make life better for 99 percent of Android developers, who should see a 50 percent reduction in fees.

If Europe is any indication

U.S. lawmakers may be taking their cue from their counterparts across the Atlantic. In Apple’s case, it will be heading to Capitol Hill with a fresh antitrust blemish courtesy of France, where it was slapped with a €1.1 billion fine, the country’s largest antitrust penalty ever. 

The European Union (EU) is also on Apple’s case. Last summer, it launched its own antitrust investigation against the company. Spotify has also lodged a complaint with the EU regarding the App Store’s rules on competition in music streaming and e-books/audiobooks.

"Mobile applications have fundamentally changed the way we access content. Apple sets the rules for the distribution of apps to users of iPhones and iPads,” claimed Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager, in charge of EU competition policy. “It appears that Apple obtained a ‘gatekeeper’ role when it comes to the distribution of apps and content to users of Apple's popular devices. We need to ensure that Apple's rules do not distort competition in markets where Apple is competing with other app developers.”

Users of Google’s Sheets, Docs, and Slides applications started reporting that they were unable to open new documents this morning at around 9 a.m. When trying to open a new document, users have encountered the following message: 

“Google Docs encountered an error. Please try reloading this page, or coming back to it in a few minutes. To learn more about the Google Docs editors, please visit our help center. We’re sorry for the inconvenience.” 

Google has acknowledged the service disruptions and said it’s currently investigating the glitch. 

“The affected users are able to access Google Drive, but are seeing error messages, high latency, and/or other unexpected behavior,” the company said in an update. “Affected users are unable to create new documents.”

Happening for users worldwide

The error message also appears to be popping up for users outside of the U.S. Users in Europe and India have reported being unable to create new documents, as well. 

Apart from the update on its Status Dashboard, Google has not issued an official statement explaining why the outage has occurred or when it will be fixed. ConsumerAffairs will provide updates on this story as it develops.

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Update: As of 12:20 p.m. (EST), Google says that problem with Google Drive has been resolved. Consumers who are still having issues with Google's applications are being advised to reload pages if necessary.

A new study has found that certain types of cancers -- particularly those that affect the blood, bone marrow, or lymph nodes -- could render COVID-19 vaccines significantly less effective. 

The results of an analysis of University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) patients found that people with these cancers are at a higher risk of COVID-19 vaccine failure. The risk was particularly elevated among patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). 

The researchers said these patients, as well as those who interact with them, should get vaccinated as soon as possible and keep practicing pandemic health protocols. Even after getting vaccinated, the researchers recommend that consumers continue to wear masks and practice social distancing. 

"As we see more national guidance allowing for unmasked gatherings among vaccinated people, clinicians should counsel their immunocompromised patients about the possibility that COVID-19 vaccines may not fully protect them against SARS-CoV-2," said senior author Dr. Ghady Haidar, a UPMC transplant infectious diseases physician, in a news release.

‘Equivalent of a coin flip’

The study, which has been published in the preprint server medRxiv, involved 67 patients with hematologic malignancies who had been vaccinated with either the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines. 

The researchers tested the patients’ blood three weeks after the final dose and found that more than 46 percent of the patients had not generated COVID-19 antibodies. Only 3 of the 13 patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia made antibodies, even though 70 percent weren't undergoing any cancer therapy.

Haidar said the analysis showed that the antibody response to vaccines among those with hematologic malignancies are “the equivalent of a coin flip.” He added that a negative antibody test doesn’t necessarily mean that the patient doesn’t have any protection from the virus. Still, the researchers said the lack of response was “strikingly low.” 

“We're still working to determine why people with hematologic malignancies -- particularly those with CLL -- have a lower antibody response and if this low response also extends to patients with solid tumors," said Dr. Mounzer Agha, a hematologist at UPMC's Hillman Cancer Center. 

While more research is being carried out, these patients should “be aware of their continued risk and to seek prompt medical attention if they have COVID-19 symptoms, even after vaccination," Agha said. 

"They may benefit from outpatient treatments, such as monoclonal antibodies, before the illness becomes severe,” Agha added. 

A new study conducted by researchers from Michigan Medicine explored how a popular sleep apnea treatment can be used to help lower the risk of dementia.  According to their findings, utilizing positive airway pressure in older adults to treat sleep apnea can be effective in reducing the risk of dementia long term. 

“We found a significant association between positive airway pressure use and lower risk of Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia over three years, suggesting that positive airway pressure may be protective against dementia risk in people with [obstructive sleep apnea],” said researcher Galit Levi Dunietz, Ph.D. 

Positive impacts to cognitive health

For the study, the researchers analyzed more than 53,000 Medicare claims from patients who had been diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The team tracked the study participants’ cognitive health over the course of three years and compared how positive airway pressure impacted these outcomes. 

Nearly 80% of the participants reported using positive airway pressure to treat sleep apnea. When they consistently utilized these treatments, they were less likely to develop mild cognitive impairments (MCI) and dementia than those who weren’t utilizing positive airway pressure. 

While there are countless risk factors associated with dementia, especially as consumers age, these results highlight just how important sleep is for long-term cognitive health. The researchers hope these findings can be instrumental in helping older consumers reduce their risk of developing dementia. 

“If a causal pathway exists between OSA treatment and dementia risk, as our findings suggest, diagnosis and effective treatment of OSA could play a key role in the cognitive health of older adults,” said researcher Dr. Tiffany J. Braley. 

A new study conducted by researchers from Drexel University explored the association between women’s stress levels and potential health complications. 

According to their findings, women with higher levels of psychosocial stress -- like stressors from work or social demands -- had an increased risk of developing coronary heart disease. The researchers say these findings are particularly important during the COVID-19 pandemic, as many women have taken on even more responsibilities at home over the last year that can increase stress levels. 

“The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted ongoing stresses for women balancing paid work and social stressors,” said researcher Yvonne Michael. “We know from other studies that work strain may play a role in developing CHD, but now we can better pinpoint the combined impact of stress at work and at home on these poor health outcomes. My hope is that these findings are a call for much better methods of monitoring stress in the workplace and remind us of the dual burden working women face as a result of their unpaid work as caregivers at home.” 

Health risks linked with stress

For the study, the researchers analyzed data from more than 80,000 women involved in the Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study. The participants responded to a survey that gauged their stress levels, and the study tracked the women’s long-term health outcomes. 

The study showed that women with the highest levels of psychosocial stress were more than 20 percent more likely to develop CHD. The researchers then broke down those findings to see how life stressors and general social stressors played a role in the participants’ heart health. The findings revealed that feeling strained by social relationships was linked with roughly a 10 percent increased chance of developing heart disease; life stressors like divorce or death were associated with a 12 percent increased risk of heart disease. 

While stress may seem nearly impossible to avoid for many consumers, the researchers hope these findings encourage more women to adopt healthy habits that can lower their stress levels. Finding ways to cope with the stress can help women maintain long-term heart health. 

“Our findings are a critical reminder to women, and those who care about them, that the threat of stress to human health should not go ignored,” said researcher Conglong Wang, Ph.D. “This is particularly pertinent during the stressors caused by a pandemic.” 

The concept of a “vaccine passport,” a digital record showing you have been vaccinated against COVID-19, is currently a hot topic of discussion. Some people think it’s a good idea, while others don’t.

However, scammers love the idea because it gives them one more way to mislead, frighten, pressure, and cajole consumers into revealing sensitive personal information or purchasing worthless products.

The Better Business Bureau warns that these scams are coming. The organization says emails or popups offering free downloads of an “official” U.S. government vaccine passport app should be disregarded as scams. At the moment, the federal government has no plans to create a national vaccine passport. Anything presented as such is a scam.

That’s not to say that there won’t be vaccine passports offered by other entities. New York is the first state to roll out an app that displays the user’s vaccination status. Private companies may also develop these types of apps.

Be careful

Consumers need to be careful about downloading these programs and are advised to research any offering to ensure they're dealing with a legitimate enterprise. The companies developing the passport apps hope the technology will allow industries – such as travel and events – to return to normal while minimizing the spread of COVID-19.

"It's really just digitizing a little piece of paper that has your vaccine information on it," Sharon Pinkerton, senior vice president of policy at airline trade group Airlines for America, told NPR.

In fact, people who have been vaccinated have a card proving that fact. Taking a picture of the card and leaving it on your smartphone might be all the proof you need of your vaccination status.

Go directly to the source

If you’re booked on an airline flight or attending an event, the BBB suggests checking with the company directly about whether proof of vaccination is needed.

“As with all things related to COVID-19, policies are frequently changing,” the BBB said in an advisory. “Be sure to check with your airline, sports team, event venue, etc. beforehand to get the latest details.”

If you receive an invitation to download a COVID-19 vaccine passport app, make sure it is legitimate before entering any personal information. Scammers are very creative, so be skeptical of apps that ask for your Medicare ID number, Social Security number, health plan information, or banking information.

One more thing: Don't post your vaccine card on social media. The card has your full name and date of birth, two pieces of information scammers can use to begin stealing your identity.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) tally as compiled by Johns Hopkins University. (Previous numbers in parentheses.)

Total U.S. confirmed cases: 31,006,952 (30,931,178)

Total U.S. deaths: 560,152 (559,219)

Total global cases: 134,125,854 (133,311,664)

Total global deaths: 2,905,412 (2,891,206)

Blame it on Rio: Brazilian variant drives new U.S. cases

The rise in new cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19), largely clustered in a handful of states, is likely being caused by the spread of the Brazilian variant of the virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Known as the P1 variant, the mutation that first appeared in Brazil has now been identified as the second-most common case in the U.S., with the official infection count at 434. The majority of these cases have been reported in Florida, Massachusetts, and Illinois.

While vaccinations may keep the variant under control in the U.S., it is running rampant in  Brazil. That country reported 4,195 deaths in a single day earlier this week, and health experts have called it a “biological Fukushima,” in reference to the Japanese nuclear plant that was devastated by a 2011 tsunami.

One in five Americans now vaccinated

After some initial hiccups, the U.S. COVID-19 distribution effort is rolling on, well ahead of schedule. The CDC reports that one in five Americans is now fully vaccinated and presumably protected against the virus that has claimed more than 550,000 American lives.

States are administering a seven-day average of 3 million vaccine doses per day. Perhaps because of the increased rate of vaccinations, new infections have fallen dramatically.

The rate of new coronavirus cases in the U.S. is close to 70,000, which is well below January’s peak of about 250,000 new cases per day.

Johnson & Johnson vaccine shortage looms

You may have difficulty finding an appointment for a Johnson & Johnson vaccination next week. Health officials say deliveries of the vaccine to various states are expected to fall by as much as 80%.

The CDC has cut allocations of the one-shot vaccine to just 700,000 doses, which have to be spread across the entire country. That compares to nearly 5 million doses that were sent out this week.

No reason has been given for the sudden shortage, although the distribution of all three COVID-19 vaccines has fluctuated week to week. It may or may not be linked to the production problems at a Johnson & Johnson subcontractor in Baltimore earlier this month, resulting in the loss of 15 million doses.

Small businesses still getting hammered

While many people believe the pandemic is coming to a close and Wall Street is at an all-time high, Main Street is still suffering. In fact, small businesses continue to close at a rate that’s similar to the peak of the pandemic last year.

“It continues to be a very painful time for small businesses,” John Stanford, co-executive director of the Small Business Roundtable, told CNBC

To compile the report, the Roundtable and Facebook surveyed more than 35,000 small- and medium-sized businesses worldwide and found that 22% of U.S. small businesses were closed in February. In May 2020, the pandemic had forced 23% of small businesses to close their doors.

DC’s July 4th celebration canceled

The sudden improvement in the pandemic picture, thanks to the large number of vaccinations that have already been administered, caught many planners off guard. Even though it now appears most Americans will have had the chance to be vaccinated well before July 4, the national Independence Day Parade in Washington has been canceled.

The National Parks Service, which organizes the annual event, says it takes months of planning to put everything in place. Because of the pandemic, bands and other organizations haven’t been able to prepare.

“The National Park Service and our partner, Diversified Events — who put on the National Independence Day Parade with us every year — have come to the reluctant but necessary conclusion that we’ll have to cancel this year’s parade,” National Park Service spokesperson Mike Litterst told WTOP Radio in Washington.

Around the state

• Ohio: In a sign that things are starting to return to normal -- at least to some extent -- Ohio State will allow 19,180 fans to sit socially distanced in the stands to watch the annual spring football game on April 17. However, tailgating will not be allowed in parking lots or anywhere on Ohio State’s campus.

• Wisconsin: While cases of the virus are declining in many states, Wisconsin has just reported 1,046 new cases of COVID-19, the largest total since Feb. 11. The daily average of new cases has nearly doubled in the last month. 

• Nevada: Nye County, located in a rural area of the state, is expected to lift mask mandates and business capacity limits that were enacted as pandemic prevention measures more than a year ago. County commissioners are scheduled to vote on April 20 to let businesses return to 100% capacity and make face coverings optional.

It seems like only yesterday that 533 million Facebook accounts were compromised by malicious actors. But the hacking world never sleeps, and personal information from hundreds of millions of LinkedIn accounts is now reportedly being offered on an online forum.

Cyber News reports that an archive of 500 million LinkedIn profiles was posted to a hacking forum, with the cyber thieves disclosing details of 2 million accounts to prove they have the goods. The leaked details were supposedly scraped from the site and include users’ full names, email addresses, phone numbers, workplace information, and other data.

For its part, LinkedIn says this incident was not technically a “LinkedIn data breach” because the information was “actually an aggregation of data from a number of websites and companies.” This likely means that the data collected by the hacker was information that was already viewable on the site. LinkedIn says it believes no private member account information was included.

How does this affect consumers?

There are a few different ways the information in this breach could be used for nefarious purposes. First, and perhaps most directly, any entity that buys the data from the hacking source could send spam messages to the email addresses and spam calls to phone numbers. 

While this might be annoying enough on its own, the collected data could also be used for phishing attacks. These scam attempts would be especially dangerous because consumers’ personal information could be used to make them more believable. Cyber News notes that hackers could also combine the information they collected from this leak with information from other data breaches to compromise accounts. 

Consumers should consider implementing several standard cybersecurity practices to protect themselves and their online accounts. This includes resetting email and account passwords, reviewing what information they’re making available on social media and other websites, and enabling two-factor authentication on all online accounts. 

You can learn more about how to protect your online information by reading ConsumerAffairs’ guide on how to prevent identity theft.

Push came to shove in the struggle between the cruise industry and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is behind the latest shove with a lawsuit he filed against the Biden administration in federal court. He’s seeking to overturn what he calls the unlawful “Conditional Sailing Order” enacted by the CDC.

The major head-scratcher for DeSantis is that the CDC has let amusement parks, airlines, hotels, restaurants, casinos, and bars reopen. So, why not cruises? 

“This prohibition continues notwithstanding the fact that COVID-19 vaccines are widely available, that other countries have safely and successfully resumed cruise sailings, and that other industries like airlines, bus lines, hotels, restaurants, universities, theme parks, casinos, and bars have successfully reopened,” he stated.

DeSantis says CDC is harming Florida citizens

DeSantis feels that the CDC’s Conditional Sailing Order harms Florida and its citizens in at least four ways:

Preventing numerous businesses and employees from earning a living: A recent analysis from the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) estimated that the total job loss was expected to reach 301,300 by March 2021.

Contributing to our State’s unemployment: DeSantis says that, to date, over 6,000 former cruise industry employees have filed for State unemployment.

Exacerbating the massive shortfalls in revenues experienced by Florida’s seaports: Since the CDC’s shutdown went into effect, the governor claims Florida’s seaports have suffered a decline in operating revenue of almost $300 million.

Reducing state and local taxes associated with the cruise industry: Projections show that Florida’s cruise industry could have produced over $150 million in state and local tax revenues in the 2020-2021 fiscal cruise year.

Who’s in charge?

While cruise industry groups have tried to reason with the CDC, the governor is going a step further by calling into question the CDC’s authority to impose a shutdown. 

“To be clear, no federal law authorizes the CDC to indefinitely impose a nationwide shutdown of an entire industry. This lawsuit is necessary to protect Floridians from the federal government’s overreach and resulting economic harm to our state,” DeSantis said.

DeSantis dwelled on the “authority” aspect in the lawsuit, saying that Florida is “a sovereign State and has the authority and responsibility to protect the wellbeing of its public fisc and the health, safety, and welfare of its citizens.”

The lawsuit argues that Congress should be making calls like this and that the CDC has overstepped the limits it’s been granted in federal regulations, such as the one it has to control communicable diseases. DeSantis claims that if the CDC had that much power, it would be “tantamount to creating a general federal police power.” On Capitol Hill, Congressman Carlos Gimenez supported DeSantis’ authority argument. 

“These federal bureaucrats, who have no concept of what is actually happening out in the real world, have never had to face the reality of a prolonged furlough or have had their job jeopardized by the pandemic,” he said.

What DeSantis would be happy with

In the lawsuit, DeSantis is asking the Court to do seven things. He didn’t share if it’s an all-or-nothing proposition, but he said having any of the requests granted would help the cruise industry:

• Hold unlawful and set aside the Conditional Sailing Order.

• Issue preliminary and permanent injunctive relief instructing the CDC to end its enforcement of the Conditional Sailing Order.

• Postpone the effective date of the Conditional Sailing Order.

• Declare that the Conditional Sailing Order is unlawful.

• Declare that the cruise industry may open with reasonable safety protocols.

• Award Florida costs and reasonable attorney’s fees.

• Award such other relief as the Court deems equitable and just.

“Ultimately, the CDC and the entire U.S. cruise community want the same thing— the responsible resumption of cruising from the U.S. this summer,” a spokesperson for CLIA told ConsumerAffairs.

Though consumers have expressed some skepticism about the COVID-19 vaccine, a new report released by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention found that school personnel have been proactive about the vaccination process. 

The CDC reported that nearly 80 percent of school employees across the country, including teachers, general childcare workers, and school faculty, have gotten at least the first round of a COVID-19 vaccine. 

“Our push to ensure that teachers, school staff, and childcare workers were vaccinated during March has paid off and paved the way for safer in-person learning,” said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky. “CDC will build on the success of this program and work with our partners to continue expanding our vaccination efforts, as we work to ensure confidence in COVID-19 vaccines.” 

Making teachers a priority

While vaccines first became available to consumers in mid-December, the push to get teachers and school workers vaccinated began in earnest in early March. Under the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program, all teachers, childcare workers, and other school faculty members became eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. 

The CDC surveyed school personnel about their vaccination processes and received nearly 40,000 surveys from childcare workers and 13,000 surveys from school staff. With this data, they could see just how many school employees were taking advantage of their vaccine eligibility. 

By the end of March, nearly six million school personnel had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. By utilizing the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program, many schools were able to make the vaccine available to their staff members on school grounds. This incentive made it easier and more convenient to get vaccinated, which experts believe contributed to the large number of vaccinated school workers over the last month. 

It also didn’t take long to reach these numbers, as the CDC learned that the vaccine rate shot up by 50 percent in the early weeks of March. 

By getting teachers, childcare workers, and school staff vaccinated early, health experts hope that traditional, in-person learning will resume as soon as possible. Over the last year, remote learning has proven to be difficult for nearly everyone involved -- teachers, students, and parents.