Current Events in June 2021

Each month Charles, of Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania, got a text from Verizon notifying him that his wireless bill was scheduled for autopay. Each month the bill was just under $124. But on April 15, Charles’ text from Verizon said he owed quite a bit more -- $13,325 to be exact.

“The charge simply seemed absurd to me, almost funny,” Charles told ConsumerAffairs.

But the humor quickly disappeared. Five days later, Charles contacted Verizon customer service and explained the situation. He told the agent there was no way he could have accumulated such a large charge and hoped the issue would be resolved quickly. It wasn’t.

“The agent I spoke with admitted my bill seemed highly irregular, but then began asking me about what calls I might have made, as if the absurd charge might somehow be explained by our phone behavior,” Charles said. “I could tell he had been trained not to commit to anything implying that Verizon had made a mistake.”

Charles said he got a sympathetic hearing from the agent, who put him on hold several times to speak to a supervisor but was told there was nothing that could be done. The agent said customer service was not authorized to make adjustments to a bill over $10,000.

However, the agent told Charles he would submit a request for a credit to the April bill. The agent said Charles should hear something within seven business days.

“In the days after that call, I checked MyVerizon fairly often, expecting the charge to disappear,” Charles told us. “It didn’t. As my regular payment due date approached, I began to become agitated.”

Growing concern

Charles made what he expected his regular payment to be on the May 4 due date and received a response from Verizon, thanking him for his “partial payment” and telling him he still owed $13,200.

In early May, Charles began contacting Verizon daily, still getting nowhere after explaining that it had to be a billing mistake. In one instance, he said the agent on the other end of a chat simply disappeared. In another instance, the agent said she would submit a request for a credit -- an exercise he had just been through without success.

Increasingly concerned that the matter might never be resolved, Charles moved the numbers on his family’s account to AT&T to prevent Verizon from turning off his service. Days later, he posted a report about his experience on ConsumerAffairs and called his sister, a retired attorney, for advice.

“She told me that when she worked on in-house legal staff for a couple of very large corporate banks in New York one of the duties of the legal team was to read the complaint letters written to the CEO,” Charles said.  

Going straight to the top

Charles’ sister told him that complaints like his would be read in the C-suite. It was worth a shot, so Charles began looking for email addresses for top executives at Verizon. 

“Actually, I found the addresses very quickly,” Charles said. “A consumer advocacy group called Elliot Advocacy displays these addresses and others like them for other companies.”

Charles sent emails to Verizon’s CEO and two other senior executives, telling them about his experience. Within 12 hours, he heard back from Verizon’s senior vice president and head of sales and service. Charles said she apologized for his trouble and placed a senior analyst named Brandon on the case.

Brandon got in touch with Charles within a day and said he was investigating the matter. A few days later, Brandon emailed Charles to say the investigation had identified a billing glitch related to international data. It took a few more days, but on June 2, Charles’ Verizon bill showed a $0 balance.

Lessons learned

Charles said his experience taught him many things about trying to resolve problems with large companies. For one thing, he said “big problems can’t be solved by little people,” meaning someone very high up in the company would have to erase a mistaken $13,000 charge.

“The relatively quick personal response I got from the Verizon VP, plus my sister’s experience working as a lawyer in big corporate banks, tells me that emailing top management may be just about the best strategy there is,” Charles told us. “When you do this, though, it is important to write the right sort of email. It needs to lay out the facts in an easily comprehended narrative, show frustration without busting a gasket, not ramble into minutia, or perhaps add one or two key bits of evidence that support the claims made in the email.”

Charles attached one bit of evidence from his paper trail that may have bolstered his case. He provided a screenshot from his account showing 12 months of his Verizon bills.

“My bills were displayed as bar graphs,” he said. “Eleven were tiny, all at $124. Then, the twelfth, April’s charges, rose up like a genie out of a bottle, all the way to $13,325.”

As he looks back, Charles believes he should have acted immediately and not waited five days before disputing the bill. He learned that something so obvious to him wouldn’t be so obvious to Verizon. He also gained insight into how huge companies operate.

“I’m sure that a computer, not a person, suddenly saw fit to bill me $13,325 rather than $124,” he said. “But in 2021, and especially at a behemoth like Verizon, once a computer does something like this it is very difficult to get people to undo it. This is partly because the people you can actually talk to have very little power.”

Volkswagen has revealed that a vendor’s security oversight led to the exposure of data belonging to around 3.3 million customers and prospective buyers. The automaker said information was exposed after a supplier left the data unsecured online. 

In a customer letter, Volkwagen said most of the exposed data included names, addresses, emails, and phone numbers. In some instances, the data also included information about a vehicle purchased, leased, or inquired about, such as the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), make, model, year, color, and trim packages.

Around 90,000 potential loan clients in the U.S. and Canada also had more sensitive data exposed, including driver's license numbers. Volkswagen said date of birth and social security numbers were exposed in a "small" number of cases. 

Data left unsecured for two years

The data exposed was collected between the years 2014-2019 and was left unprotected online between August 2019, and May 2021. The company didn't name the vendor responsible for the data exposure, nor did it say whether it knows if the data has been misused by scammers. Volkswagen said it has informed the appropriate authorities about the situation. 

“We take the safeguarding of your information very seriously,” the company said. “We have informed the appropriate authorities, including law enforcement and regulators. We are working with external cybersecurity experts to assess and respond to this situation and have taken steps to address the matter with the vendor.” 

VW said in the letter that it has partnered with IDX to provide customers with free credit protection services, including monitoring, insurance reimbursement, and identity theft recovery services if any issues arise. 

Remember the issue with the Baltimore vaccine plant that was producing vaccine doses for Johnson & Johnson? The one where manufacturing issues at the plant resulted in the loss of millions of doses? The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is now giving a full explanation for why those doses were discarded.

In a memo posted over the weekend on the FDA’s website, it said the Emergent BioSolutions plant allowed production waste to be transported through an unsecured and unsealed preparation area for vaccine ingredients.

The FDA’s memorandum to Johnson & Johnson -- penned by Dr. Peter Marks, the FDA’s primary vaccine regulator -- went on to say that Emergent failed in its duty to adequately isolate vaccine production zones so that no cross-contamination could occur.  

Where the plan failed

Emergent was apparently very careful during the first phase of vaccine production. The company made sure that the plant’s workers weighed and prepared the ingredients used to produce two vaccines -- Johnson & Johnson’s and AstraZeneca’s -- in separate areas. 

However, Emergent workers started preparing materials for both vaccines in a single warehouse after production started hitting its stride. As operations continued to pick up steam, the amount of production waste started to mount and workers were allowed to wheel that waste through the warehouse. 

That was apparently a huge mistake, and it destroyed 15 million COVID-19 vaccine doses. Regulators quickly began searching for the cause behind the contamination so they could determine whether it was safe to reopen the plant and how to handle the estimated 170 million vaccine doses produced by Emergent.

“After careful review…”

After “careful review and deliberation,” the FDA said on Friday that it was authorizing two batches of vaccine drug substance manufactured at Emergent BioSolutions’ Baltimore facility for emergency use.

“Before making this decision, the FDA conducted a thorough review of facility records and the results of quality testing performed by the manufacturer. Based on this review and considering the current COVID-19 public health emergency, the FDA concluded these batches are suitable for use,” the agency said in its announcement.

The FDA isn’t re-credentialing the plant as an authorized manufacturing facility, but officials said they were working through issues with both Johnson & Johnson and Emergent BioSolutions management.

“These actions followed an extensive review of records, including the production history of the facility and the testing performed to evaluate the quality of the product. This review has been taking place while Emergent BioSolutions prepares to resume manufacturing operations with corrective actions to ensure compliance with the FDA’s current good manufacturing practice requirements,” Marks said. 

The FDA said it will share information on this issue as it becomes available so that the public can remain informed.

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

Total U.S. confirmed cases: 33,464,566 (33,457,794)

Total U.S. deaths: 599,813 (599,672)

Total global cases: 176,040,344 (175,729,104) 

Total global deaths: 3,805,713 (3,769,696)

Novavax says its vaccine is 90% effective

There may soon be a fourth coronavirus vaccine available in the U.S. Novavax reports that its recombinant nanoparticle protein-based COVID-19 vaccine demonstrated just over 90% efficacy in clinical trials in the U.S. and Mexico.

Better yet, the company said it showed 100% protection against moderate and severe cases of the disease. The trial took place amid the population’s growing exposure to the highly contagious Delta variant. The next step is to seek emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (CDC).

"Novavax continues to work with a sense of urgency to complete our regulatory submissions and deliver this vaccine, built on a well understood and proven platform, to a world that is still in great need of vaccines," said Stanley C. Erck, Novavax’s CEO.

FDA takes steps to increase Johnson & Johnson vaccine supply

With the Novavax vaccine waiting in the wings, the FDA said it is taking steps to increase the supply of Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot vaccine. It is allowing more production at a plant that had issues earlier this year.

The agency issued an order allowing the use of two batches of vaccine doses manufactured at the Emergent BioSolutions facility in Baltimore. In April, a human error caused 15 million potential doses of the vaccines to be discarded because of contamination.

“Before making this decision, the FDA conducted a thorough review of facility records and the results of quality testing performed by the manufacturer,” the agency said in a statement. “Based on this review and considering the current COVID-19 public health emergency, the FDA concluded these batches are suitable for use.”

Hospital prevails against nurses resisting vaccination mandate

A federal judge in Texas has dismissed a lawsuit against Houston Methodist Hospital that was filed by 117 nurses who sought to overturn the hospital’s requirement that employees be vaccinated against COVID-19. 

The plaintiffs claimed that they shouldn’t be fired for refusing to be vaccinated because the available vaccines have not been fully approved by the FDA. However, the judge was not impressed.

"Methodist is trying to do their business of saving lives without giving them ... COVID-19," U.S. District Court Judge Lynn Hughes wrote in the dismissal of the lawsuit. "It is a choice made to keep staff, patients, and their families safer.”

Weather can be a factor in the virus’ spread, researchers say

New research from the Yale School of Public Health (YSPH) links meteorological variables such as temperature, humidity, and ultraviolet (UV) radiation to the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

A research team investigated 2,669 counties throughout all regions and states in the U.S. from March 15, 2020, to December 31, 2020, to determine how readily the virus was transmitted. They found warmer temperatures and more UV light led to a lower transmission rate.

The research team determined that 17.5% of the virus’ reproductive number was attributable to weather-related factors. Specifically, they found that temperature accounted for 3.73%, humidity accounted for 9.35%, and UV radiation for 4.44%.

Pace of vaccinations continues to slow

Cases of the virus are declining sharply nationwide, but states where fewer people have been vaccinated are seeing case levels rise. Nationwide, the pace of vaccinations has slowed because people who want to be vaccinated have already gotten the shots.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that 143,921,222 people in the U.S. are now fully vaccinated, accounting for about 43% of the total population. But a large segment of the population -- children age 11 and under -- are still not eligible.

More than half of Americans age 12 and older have been fully vaccinated, and 62% have gotten at least the first dose. The CDC data shows that more than 76% of Americans aged 65 and older, the first age group to be eligible to receive the vaccine, are now fully vaccinated.

Around the nation

• California: Many of the state’s residents and tourists got an early start on the state’s reopening, which doesn’t occur until Tuesday. With some virus restrictions still in place, there were large crowds in San Francisco’s streets and tourist spots on Sunday.

• Texas: State health officials say COVID-19 hospitalizations have increased in the last two weeks, and they blame it on the emergence of the Delta variant that was first identified in India. Last week, it made up 2% of cases in the CDC’s Southwest region, which includes Texas. That number is now up to 10%.

• Virginia: With the state’s positive test rate plunging, Gov. Ralph Northam says he will let Virginia’s state of emergency expire at the end of the month. “With 68.7 percent of Virginia adults at least partially vaccinated and cases and hospitalizations at record lows, COVID-19 is no longer an immediate emergency in our commonwealth,” Northam’s spokeswoman, Alena Yarmosky, told WTOP radio.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is recalling 285,622 General Motors vehicles that could have a faulty airbag malfunction warning light. NHTSA says it could be a safety issue and should be repaired.

GM alerted the agency to the issue and requested the recall. The recall includes the Buick Envision, Cadillac CT4 and CT5, Cadillac Escalade and Escalade ESV, Chevrolet Corvette, Suburban and Tahoe, and GMC Yukon and Yukon XL. All are 2021 models.

GM vehicles have a communications gateway module that sends messages to the airbags. If it malfunctions while trying to process information it could cause the airbag malfunction indicator light to turn on and off inconsistently.

The problem

If the airbag warning light comes on when there is no problem with the airbag, the user could be led to incorrectly believe the vehicle airbag has malfunctioned. The bigger problem is when there is a problem and the light doesn’t come on.

GM says the fix isn’t that complicated. GM dealers will be equipped to update the software in the communications gateway module. As with all auto safety recalls, the work will be done at no charge to vehicle owners.

Vehicle owners included in the recall will get a letter from GM sometime in July. Owners who want to see if their GM vehicle is on the recall list can enter the VIN on the NHTSA database here.

It’s the second GM recall in a week. Previously the automaker recalled 2021 GMC Acadia, Cadillac XT5 And XT6 to repair a fuel line issue. 

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has charged Dr. Stephen Meis, medical director of Golden Sunrise Nutraceutical, with advertising a $23,000 COVID-19 “treatment” plan using unsubstantiated health claims. 

The FTC said Meis falsely stated that the plan was “scientifically proven” to treat COVID-19. Now, the agency has barred him from continuing to advertise in this deceptive manner. Meis will also pay $103,420 to the agency, and that money will be used to refund consumers who bought into the claims. 

"We rely on doctors to follow the scientific evidence when making claims about health products and conditions,” said Daniel Kaufman, Acting Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement. “Helping to spread false and unproven claims about treating COVID and other diseases is that much worse when done by those in positions of trust.”

Advertised ‘disappearance’ of symptoms

In its complaint, the FTC said Golden Sunrise started advertising its COVID-19 treatment plan in March 2020. The ads went up on billboards, websites, and social media at the start of the pandemic. 

Meis claimed that the supplements, given as part of Golden Sunrise’s Emergency D-Virus plan, were “uniquely qualified to treat and modify the course of the Coronavirus epidemic in CHINA and other countries.” The advertisements also claimed that users could expect COVID-19 symptoms to simply go away.

“With increased use of one of the supplements included in the Emergency D-Virus treatment plan, disappearance of viral symptoms is expected within two (2) to four (4) days,” one advertisement stated. 

Mainly herbs and spices

The company’s supplements included ImunStem, Aktiffvate, and AnterFeerons. Advertisements for the products claimed that the supplements “are available now and once they are started, they will help alleviate the people immediately [sic] with the acute illness of the Coronavirus.”

Meis also promoted supplements that he said would help treat cancer and Parkinson’s disease, among other health conditions and diseases. Some treatments cost as much as $170,000 to $200,000. However, the FTC said the supplements consisted almost entirely of common herbs and spices and that the health claims are unsubstantiated. 

Have you received your 2019 tax refund or your stimulus check on time? If not, then you’re not alone. In fact, a new report given to Congress by the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) Taxpayer Advocate division says you’re one of millions who experienced that setback. Unfortunately, you may also be one of the many who felt like they were being left in the dark.

The report gave the IRS kudos for managing the 2020 filing season and accurately paying the significant majority of Economic Impact Payments (EIPs), but it also noted that some taxpayers experienced major problems and that the agency didn’t do everything it could have done when it came to being transparent about its struggles. 

One of those struggles was operating during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result of the coronavirus, paper tax returns and correspondence from taxpayers sat unopened in trailers for months. Taxpayers had a difficult time getting through to the IRS by phone, and they couldn’t get in-person assistance at Taxpayer Assistance Centers.

The bad news

The Taxpayer Advocate Division said the IRS was unable to open and process roughly 16 million 2020 paper tax returns in a timely manner. Its report found that the majority of those taxpayers likely were entitled to refunds, yet they had to wait longer than usual to receive them.

According to an update posted on the IRS website, there were still 7.1 million unprocessed individual returns and 2.3 million unprocessed business returns as of November 24, 2020, with some dated as early as April 15.

The second major issue stemmed from the IRS’ fraud detection filters. The report noted that the IRS’ fraud filters have been generating high false-positive rates for many years, leading to refund delays. Overall, the IRS’ fraud filters flagged 5.2 million returns claiming refunds, many of which took as long as 120 days to verify identity or income.

Adding to the IRS’ challenges was the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which put the responsibility of delivering more than 160 million stimulus checks squarely on the agency’s shoulders. 

“This was no easy task. Eligibility was subject to an income phaseout based on filed tax returns, yet millions of individuals who did not file tax returns were also eligible to receive EIPs,” the report said. 

The good news 

Not all taxpayers were affected by the slowdown. The report stated that taxpayers who filed returns electronically had a much easier time securing refunds and stimulus payments.

“Despite these unprecedented challenges, the IRS generally performed well. In most cases, the IRS can effectively handle whatever it can automate, and this year was no exception. As of November 20, 2020, the IRS had received about 169 million individual income tax returns, and of those, about 153 million (91 percent) had been e-filed,” the report said.

“For taxpayers who e-filed, the IRS processed the overwhelming majority of returns timely and issued the resulting refunds timely. The same was generally true of EIPs — most eligible individuals received their stimulus payments timely and in the correct amounts. The IRS deserves much credit for its overall performance in 2020.”

Novavax said today that its COVID-19 vaccine is 90% effective in preventing the virus. 

In a trial involving 29,960 people across the U.S. and Mexico, the company said there were 77 cases of COVID-19: 14 in people who had received its two-shot vaccine and 63 in the group that got a placebo. In the placebo group, ten cases were moderate and four were severe, which meant that the shots were effective in preventing serious cases of the illness. 

Novavax’s vaccines work by delivering parts of the coronavirus spike protein, prompting the body to generate antibodies against them. The company said preliminary safety data from the study showed that the vaccine was “generally well-tolerated.” 

“Serious and severe adverse events were low in number and balanced between vaccine and placebo groups,” the biotechnology company said in a statement. 

The most common “local” symptoms after the second shot were injection site pain and tenderness, and those symptoms were generally mild to moderate in severity. Fatigue, headache, and muscle pain were the most common symptoms, and Novavax said they lasted less than two days. 

Seeking regulatory approval

Three COVID-19 vaccines are already available in the United States, and supply levels are comfortable enough that the Biden administration has started sending doses to other countries. Still, Novavax says it plans to submit its vaccine to regulators in the U.S. and around the world in the third quarter of this year. 

Upon receiving regulatory approval, the company said it’s aiming to reach manufacturing capacity of 100 million doses per month by the end of the third quarter and 150 million doses per month by the end of the fourth quarter of 2021.

"Today, Novavax is one step closer to addressing the critical and persistent global public health need for additional COVID-19 vaccines. These clinical results reinforce that NVX-CoV2373 is extremely effective and offers complete protection against both moderate and severe COVID-19 infection," Stanley Erck, the company’s CEO, said in a statement. 

"Novavax continues to work with a sense of urgency to complete our regulatory submissions and deliver this vaccine, built on a well understood and proven platform, to a world that is still in great need of vaccines."

A new study conducted by researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital explored how low levels of vitamin D can impact consumers’ addiction behaviors. 

According to the team, a lack of vitamin D may increase the likelihood of opioid addiction. They also found that being deficient in the vitamin may make consumers more likely to also become addicted to UV rays; they explained that spending time in the sun produces endorphins, which is a similar brain response that occurs after taking opioids. 

“Our goal in this study was to understand the relationship between vitamin D signaling in the body and UV-seeking and opioid-seeking behaviors,” said researcher Dr. Lajos V. Kemény.  

The link between vitamin D and addiction

The researchers analyzed the vitamin D levels in mice to see if there was a link to addictive behaviors. One group of mice were fed a vitamin D-deficient diet for two months, while another group was given a vitamin D-rich diet for the duration of the study. The team then analyzed their response to opioids and UV radiation. 

“We found that modulating vitamin D levels changes multiple addictive behaviors to both UV and opioids,” said Dr. Kemény. 

A vitamin D deficiency was associated with a greater response to opioids for the mice in the study. After being exposed to the drugs, the mice on the vitamin D-deficient diet experienced withdrawal symptoms, which the mice on the regular diet didn’t experience. However, the researchers learned that these bodily responses weren’t permanent; after changing the mice’s diets to give them more vitamins, the addiction symptoms subsided. 

“When we corrected vitamin D levels in the deficient mice, their opioid responses reversed and returned to normal,” said researcher Dr. David E. Fisher. 

The researchers found that these findings held up when they compared them to human health records. They hope that experts can use the study results to better handle the growing opioid epidemic. 

A new study conducted by researchers from Mount Sinai Hospital may have consumers rethinking how much caffeine they’re drinking. According to their findings, frequent caffeine consumption was associated with a higher risk of glaucoma -- especially for those with a family history of the disease. 

“We previously published work suggesting that high caffeine intake increased the risk of high-tension open angle glaucoma among people with a family history of disease,” said Dr. Louis R. Pasquale. “In this study we show that an adverse relation between high caffeine intake and glaucoma was evident only among those with the highest genetic risk score for elevated eye pressure.” 

The link between caffeine and eye health

The researchers analyzed data from more than 120,000 participants enrolled in the U.K. Biobank. Participants were between the ages of 39 and 73, and they all completed questionnaires about their vision histories and overall diets, including their caffeine intake. The researchers also analyzed DNA samples to understand their genetic likelihood of developing glaucoma and administered vision exams three years into the study. 

The study showed that high caffeine consumption was most harmful to the participants’ vision when they were genetically predisposed to glaucoma. The researchers found that a family history of glaucoma was associated with higher intraocular pressure (IOP). IOP scores were lower among those with no genetic association to the eye disease, and high caffeine consumption wasn’t associated with vision changes. 

Those who drank four cups of coffee per day -- or the caffeine equivalent -- and had a family history of glaucoma were at the highest risk of developing glaucoma themselves. Drinking three cups of coffee per day increased the risk of glaucoma by nearly four times for those with the highest IOP levels and family ties to the disease. 

The researchers hope that these findings can be helpful to those with a genetic predisposition to glaucoma. They believe these consumers can have better long-term vision health by reducing caffeine consumption.

“Glaucoma patients often ask if they can help protect their sight through lifestyle changes, however this has been a relatively understudied area until now,” said researcher Dr. Anthony Khawaja. “This study suggested that those with the highest genetic risk for glaucoma may benefit from moderating their caffeine intake."

Volvo Car USA is recalling 85,550 model year 2019-2020 V90s, XC60s, S60s, V60s, V60CCs, S90s, V90CCs, S90Ls and XC90s. The low-pressure fuel pump can blow a fuse and fail.

Failure of the low-pressure fuel pump can cause a stall, increasing the risk of a crash.

What to do

Dealers will replace the fuse free of charge.

Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed August 1, 2021.

Owners may contact Volvo customer service at (800) 458-1552. Volvo's number for this recall is R10100.

Natural Balance Pet Foods of San Diego, Calif., is recalling Natural Balance L.I.D. Limited Ingredient Diets Green Pea & Chicken Formula Dry Cat Food.

The product may be contaminated with Salmonella.

No customer complaints or illnesses have been reported to date.

The following product, sold in retail stores nationwide and online, is being recalled:

• 5-lb bag, Natural Balance L.I.D. Limited Ingredient Diets Green Pea & Chicken Formula Dry Cat Food, UPC code 2363300233, lot code 1008080 06:42N811202:20 and “Best if Used by Date 10-Mar-2022.
• 10-lb bag, Natural Balance L.I.D. Limited Ingredient Diets Green Pea & Chicken Formula Dry Cat Food, UPC code 2363300235, lot code 1008080 06:42N811202:20 and “Best if Used by Date 10-Mar-2022.

What to do

Customers who purchased the recalled product should stop feeding it to their cats and discard immediately or return it to the place of purchase for a refund. Return information may be found on the back panel of each bag.

Consumers with questions may contact the firm at (833)558-0908, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. (PST), or online at www.naturalbalanceinc.com/contact-us.

Ford Motor Company is recalling 1,796 model year 2021 Super Duty F-350 and F-450 trucks with a fifth wheel left-hand mounting bracket that may be cracked.

A cracked mounting bracket could result in the fifth wheel detaching from the vehicle while towing, increasing the risk of a crash.

What to do

Dealers will inspect the mounting bracket, and replace the bracket if necessary free of charge.

Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed June 21, 2021.

Owners may contact Ford customer service at (866) 436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 21S23.

General Motors is recalling 285,622 model year 2021 Buick Envisions, Cadillac CT4s, CT5s, Escalades, Escalade ESVs, Chevrolet Tahoes, Corvettes, Suburbans, and GMC Yukons & Yukon XLs.

The communications gateway module incorrectly processes a loss of communication with the sensing diagnostic module (SDM), causing the airbag malfunction indicator light to illuminate inconsistently.

As a result, the airbag malfunction indicator light may fail to warn the driver of a problem with the airbag, increasing the risk of injury.

What to do

Dealers will update the software in the communications gateway module free of charge.

Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed July 19, 2021.

Owners may contact Buick customer service at (800) 521-7300, Cadillac customer service at (800) 458-8006, Chevrolet customer service at (800) 222-1020, or GMC customer service at 1(800) 462-8782. GM's number for this recall is N212338110.

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

Total U.S. confirmed cases: 33,427,925 (33,415,911)

Total U.S. deaths: 598,797 (598,342)

Total global cases: 174,952,718 (174,496,166) 

Total global deaths: 3,775,330 (3,759,196)

Two cruise passengers test positive for COVID-19

It wasn’t the best way to kick off a resumption of cruises following a 15-month moratorium forced by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Two passengers aboard a Celebrity ship tested positive for the coronavirus at the end of the first cruise in North America since 2020.

“Today two guests sharing a stateroom onboard Celebrity Millennium tested positive for COVID-19 while conducting the required end of cruise testing,” the company said in a statement.

The company said both people are asymptomatic and currently in isolation and being monitored by the cruise line’s medical team. The company also said it is conducting contact tracing, expediting testing for all close contacts, and “closely monitoring the situation.” 

CDC calls emergency meeting on vaccine side effect

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has called an emergency meeting next week to discuss reports of heart muscle inflation in some people who received the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

The side effect is very rare. The CDC has identified 226 reports that might meet the agency's "working case definition" of myocarditis and pericarditis following the shots.

Most of the cases involve teenagers and young adults, and they began showing up when vaccination eligibility was opened to younger Americans. The CDC said most of the people who had the reaction have recovered, but more than a dozen are still in the hospital.

Death toll in 2021 already surpasses last year’s

With the pandemic and its effects receding in the U.S., it may come as a surprise that deaths from COVID-19 this year already exceed all of last year.

A Wall Street Journal analysis of official data shows that it took less than six months for deaths to exceed 1.8 million. That’s slightly more than the total number of deaths recorded in all of 2020.

The U.S. has recorded more cases and deaths than any other country, but those numbers have fallen sharply in recent weeks. At the same time, the virus has surged in other countries, including India and Brazil.

Study links COVID-19 to dementia

Many people who have become infected with the coronavirus have described symptoms where they had difficulty thinking clearly. A new Cleveland Clinic-led study suggests that the virus can affect brain function. 

Researchers say there is an overlap between COVID-19 and brain changes common in Alzheimer’s disease. Their discovery may help inform risk management and therapeutic strategies for COVID-19-associated cognitive impairment.

Reports of neurological complications in COVID-19 patients and “long-hauler” patients whose symptoms persist after the infection clears are becoming more common, suggesting that the virus may have lasting effects on brain function. However, it is not yet well understood how the virus leads to neurological issues. 

“While some studies suggest that SARS-CoV-2 infects brain cells directly, others found no evidence of the virus in the brain,” said Feixiong Cheng, Ph.D., assistant staff in Cleveland Clinic’s Genomic Medicine Institute and lead author on the study. “Identifying how COVID-19 and neurological problems are linked will be critical for developing effective preventive and therapeutic strategies to address the surge in neurocognitive impairments that we expect to see in the near future.” 

59% of Americans planning post-pandemic vacations

Americans plan to make up for lost time. After more than a year of staying close to home, a new survey by Hilton shows that 59% are planning to begin traveling again.

The top destinations included international and domestic landmarks like the Grand Canyon, the Eiffel Tower, Niagara Falls, the Statue of Liberty, the Colosseum in Rome, and the Las Vegas Strip. Sixty-four percent of Americans said they are in desperate need of a vacation, especially since 26% have not taken a vacation in over a year. 

"It's no surprise 30% strongly agree they will book a dream vacation that they normally wouldn't have considered – our guests are looking for those authentic, one-of-a-kind experiences, especially after more than a year without making travel memories," said Jenna Hackett, global brand head, Curio Collection by Hilton. 

Around the nation

• New York: The state’s COVID-19 numbers are still moving in the right direction, but one statistic is causing concern among state health officials. The Delta variant of the virus, first identified in India, accounts for 5% of New York’s new cases.

• Illinois: They’re celebrating in Illinois. Gov. J.B. Pritzker says the state moved into Phase 5 today, removing the last of the COVID-19 restrictions. The state has eliminated all capacity limits on businesses, large-scale events, conventions, amusement parks, and all other venues.

• Ohio: Gov. Mike DeWine has expressed his opposition to a measure in the statehouse that is widely seen as an anti-vaccination bill. Among its provisions, it would block employers from mandating vaccinations as a condition of employment.

Has the U.S. learned enough from the COVID-19 scourge to be in a better position when another pandemic comes along? The second-in-command official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says no. 

In an interview with The Hill, Anne Schuchat, the CDC’s principal deputy director, said the U.S. was ill-prepared for COVID-19 due to years of inadequate investment in public health infrastructure. She said the country won’t be ready for a pandemic repeat performance unless it makes funding public health a long-term commitment. 

"I think the critical learning about how to do better next time is the need to greatly invest in public health, and not just respond to emergencies," Schuchat said. "This is a big job, and it can't be like Ebola or H1N1 where there's emergency funding and then everything goes away. This needs to be sustained or we will be exactly where we were last year."

While Schuchat isn’t a household name like Dr. Anthony Fauci, she knows her stuff. When the H1N1 influenza outbreak happened in 2009, she led the federal government's response to the virus and oversaw the distribution of the H1N1 vaccine. Her resume also includes work on a wide number of CDC initiatives ranging from Alzheimer’s to vaping. 

A “wake-up call”

On top of a lack of consistent funding, Schuchat said the people in charge of the nation's Strategic National Stockpile were asleep at the wheel and unprepared to handle the sudden surge in demand for personal protective equipment and ventilator supplies. This caused the Trump administration to invoke the Defense Production Act to secure ventilator production from General Motors and other companies.

"It's been a wake-up call," Schuchat said. While such shortages are still a concern, she noted that she’s grateful that Congress is now paying attention to the issue.

"I think that this is one of those big issues that we're already seeing major progress on that we were not ready for," Schuchat said.

Despite the country not being ready for COVID-19, Schuchat thinks the U.S. is in a "good place" right now thanks to the declining numbers for infections, deaths, and hospitalizations. However, it’s important for the country to stay the course when it comes to mitigation efforts.

Schuchat urged Americans to stay vigilant and get vaccinated against the coronavirus. That might be more important now that another strain of COVID-19 is starting to spread throughout the country.

Vertical Aerospace, a U.K.-based air taxi startup, said Thursday that it has secured investments from American Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, and Microsoft. The company is aiming to make zero-emissions on-demand travel in flying taxis a reality. 

Vertical Aerospace said it has pre-orders for up to 1,000 of its VA-X4 vertical takeoff aircraft and plans to go public via a deal with Broadstone Acquisition Corp. The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2021.

"This is the most exciting time in aviation for almost a century," Vertical Aerospace CEO and co-founder Stephen Fitzpatrick said in a statement. "Electrification will transform flying in the 21st century in the same way the jet engine did 70 years ago.” 

Zero emissions flying taxis

The firm’s aircraft will travel at speeds of over 200 miles per hour and be “near silent” when in flight. Its first test flight is slated to take place later this year. American Airlines has agreed to order at least 250 aircraft.

"Emerging technologies are critical in the race to reduce carbon emissions and we are excited to partner with Vertical to develop the next generation of electric aircraft," said Derek Kerr, chief financial officer of American Airlines.

Although there’s a great deal of hype surrounding flying taxis, analysts say it could take several years for electric aircraft to be certified by aviation authorities. Last month, Europe’s top regulator said the region could see the first flying taxis in use as early as 2024. 

“Today’s announcement brings together some of the largest and most respected technology and aeronautical businesses in the world and together we can achieve our aim of making the VA-X4 the first zero carbon aircraft that most people will fly on,” Fitzpatrick said. “The United Kingdom is already a global leader in aerospace innovation and we believe Vertical Aerospace will be the British engineering champion to drive the aviation industry forward.”

Two passengers on a 7-day Royal Caribbean cruise from St. Maarten tested positive for COVID-19, officials said Thursday. The cruise was the first to sail out of North America since the pandemic began in 2020. 

In a news release, Celebrity Cruises (which is owned by Royal Caribbean) said the individuals who tested positive were sharing a room and haven’t exhibited any symptoms. The passenger’s COVID-19 test results came back positive during the end-of-cruise round of testing, which was done three days before the ship’s scheduled return to the U.S. 

"Today two guests sharing a stateroom onboard Celebrity Millennium tested positive for Covid-19 while conducting the required end of cruise testing," the company said. "The individuals are asymptomatic and currently in isolation and being monitored by our medical team."

Cruise lines taking precautions

The CDC recently cleared Royal Caribbean to begin test voyages with volunteer passengers in June. The positive cases were reported on Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Millennium ship. Under the CDC’s Framework for Conditional Sailing Order, all guests were required to show proof of vaccination and a negative COVID-19 test 72 hours before the ship’s departure. 

"Celebrity Millennium is sailing with fully vaccinated crew and guests and following comprehensive protocols that align with our destination partners and exceed CDC guidelines to protect the health and safety of our guests," Celebrity Cruises said. 

The company said it’s testing all close contacts of the individuals who tested positive for the virus. The individuals are in isolation and being monitored by medical professionals. The ship has two doctors and 11 nurses on board, as well as dedicated isolation cabins. It was at 30% capacity to allow for social distancing. 

“This situation demonstrates that our rigorous health and safety protocols work to protect our crew, guests and the communities we visit,” the cruise company said. 

Electronic Arts (EA) -- the game developer responsible for video games like Star Wars Battlefront, The SIMS, Need for Speed, Madden NFL, and Apex Legends -- has been gamed itself. According to Motherboard, EA has become the victim of a cyberattack.

Not only did hackers swipe the source code for FIFA 21 and the Frostbite engine (which is the backbone for EA’s soccer/football series as well as Battlefield), but they are reportedly advertising that the data they stole is for sale on hacking forums. Motherboard reports that the hackers will only consider offers from well-known, marquee hackers.

An EA spokesperson confirmed that while hackers stole “a limited amount of game source code and related tools,” they did not gain access to player data. The company said it is confident that the hack won’t impact other games or its business as a whole. Nonetheless, it’s putting additional security in place. 

Source code is like gold in the video game industry

Luckily for EA, the hack isn’t one of the ugly ransomware kinds that targeted JBS and the Colonial Pipeline. The developer said it’s working with law enforcement to investigate the incident.

When companies like EA lose control over their source code, things can spiral out of control. “Source code is a big deal in programming, so it’s a big deal when companies lose control over it,” remarked The Verge’s Mitchell Clark.

Clark says EA’s not alone. Recently, the gaming industry has seen similar source code thefts for Cyberpunk 2077, The Witcher 3, and Super Mario Kart. Nintendo was also involved in a “gigaleak” that led to the loss of an unreleased Zelda game.