WEBVTT - Bloomberg Businessweek Weekend-February 5, 2021 0:00:00.960 --> 0:00:05.000 This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and Bloomberg 0:00:05.080 --> 0:00:08.680 Quick Takes Tim Stinnoby from Bloomberg Radio. H I am 0:00:08.720 --> 0:00:11.920 Carol Masser and I'm Tim Stanavack of Bloomberg Quicktake. Welcome 0:00:11.960 --> 0:00:15.040 to the weekend edition of Bloomberg Business with Lusen count him. 0:00:15.040 --> 0:00:17.360 But it is week forty seven. Working from home still 0:00:17.400 --> 0:00:20.000 for many because of the pandemic. But remember also this 0:00:20.040 --> 0:00:22.680 week we had a snowstorm in the Northeast. Yeah, it 0:00:22.720 --> 0:00:25.400 was an interesting week where markets settled down after last 0:00:25.400 --> 0:00:29.520 week's frenzy over those memes stuff. Yeah right, we did. 0:00:29.520 --> 0:00:31.280 We even talked about this throughout the week. It felt 0:00:31.320 --> 0:00:33.199 like things calmed down a little bit. It did, but 0:00:33.240 --> 0:00:36.080 the story is not over, Carol. No, and one company 0:00:36.080 --> 0:00:38.640 in particular that was in the spotlight, Amazon on the 0:00:38.680 --> 0:00:41.320 news that the man who created it all, Jeff Bezos, 0:00:41.320 --> 0:00:44.080 stepping down a CEO. Look, this left me speechless on 0:00:44.120 --> 0:00:47.400 Tuesday afternoon, and I wasn't the only one. I uttered 0:00:47.400 --> 0:00:50.200 a loud expletive when I saw the news. This hour, 0:00:50.200 --> 0:00:52.960 we're gonna hear from Bloomberg's Brad Stone, who literally wrote 0:00:53.040 --> 0:00:55.760 the book about Amazon, on why Now and the new 0:00:55.800 --> 0:00:58.880 era at the company. He definitely was speechless. Also this hour, 0:00:59.040 --> 0:01:01.880 Ja and Jays chief scientific officer on their one shot 0:01:01.880 --> 0:01:05.200 COVID vaccine. We have to stay very vigilant and we 0:01:05.240 --> 0:01:07.080 have been able to do that for the single dose. 0:01:07.200 --> 0:01:11.120 Plus speaking of the vaccine continues to be at challenge. 0:01:11.240 --> 0:01:13.559 I think it's something that we're going to be working 0:01:13.600 --> 0:01:16.720 on the first and second quarter of the year, Bishop 0:01:16.760 --> 0:01:19.800 td Jake's and getting black minorities to actually take it. 0:01:19.880 --> 0:01:22.440 We begin with this week's cover story, and we've lost 0:01:22.440 --> 0:01:25.440 count on how many COVID related cover stories Bob Langrath 0:01:25.480 --> 0:01:28.360 has done for Business Week. As the world continues to 0:01:28.400 --> 0:01:31.040 try to get COVID nineteen under control, Bob's story this 0:01:31.080 --> 0:01:33.319 week reminds us that it's never too early to start 0:01:33.360 --> 0:01:36.920 planning for the next pandemic. I can't believe already thinking 0:01:36.920 --> 0:01:38.840 about that, Carol, Yeah, and he's not kidding. We've got 0:01:38.920 --> 0:01:41.399 to start planning now. Here's Bob Langrath, who is Healthcare 0:01:41.400 --> 0:01:43.560 report at Bloomberg News, who joined us along with Bloomberg 0:01:43.600 --> 0:01:46.720 Business Week editor Jill Weber. We need a plan for it, 0:01:46.840 --> 0:01:49.360 and you know that the cover line they're ready for 0:01:49.400 --> 0:01:51.720 the next one. It ends with the question mark like 0:01:51.800 --> 0:01:55.480 ready for the next one, and right now we are not. 0:01:55.720 --> 0:01:59.000 And um, what Bob did um and reported out here 0:01:59.000 --> 0:02:01.840 and I've lost track of how any cover stories Bob's 0:02:01.840 --> 0:02:03.640 done over the course of the last year for us, 0:02:04.040 --> 0:02:07.559 it's been truly amazing. UM. But what he really maps 0:02:07.600 --> 0:02:10.160 out here is the five point plan. And if we 0:02:10.160 --> 0:02:13.680 were to get on it and you know, jump all 0:02:13.680 --> 0:02:17.359 over this five point plan, we might find ourselves, um, 0:02:17.800 --> 0:02:20.600 in a pretty decent place, certainly a better one than 0:02:20.639 --> 0:02:24.000 we found ourselves in a year ago right about now, um, 0:02:24.600 --> 0:02:27.280 and Bob, along the way, you also got some exclusive 0:02:27.280 --> 0:02:31.280 reporting about you know, how close we were to actually 0:02:31.320 --> 0:02:36.480 maybe having a leg up on on viruses like this. Um, 0:02:36.560 --> 0:02:39.880 So walk us through what you learned as you reported 0:02:39.880 --> 0:02:44.440 out your cover story. Yeah, so it turns out if 0:02:44.480 --> 0:02:47.080 they're supporting you know that there were a lot of 0:02:47.080 --> 0:02:50.919 people thinking about this and interested, you know, years didn't 0:02:50.919 --> 0:02:52.960 know it was going to be a coronavirus, but everyone 0:02:53.040 --> 0:02:56.240 knew something was coming eventually the infections of these experts, dude, 0:02:56.240 --> 0:02:57.880 and there were people that were thinking about how to 0:02:58.080 --> 0:03:00.640 say on how to do things, but it just wasn't 0:03:00.639 --> 0:03:02.720 the WheelPower and energy to get it done. And one 0:03:02.760 --> 0:03:04.960 company in Gladsow Smith Client I found out the very 0:03:04.960 --> 0:03:10.080 importing actually proposed a whole uh kind of epidemic preparedness 0:03:10.200 --> 0:03:14.680 vaccine research center. They proposed this to the US government TOBARDA, 0:03:15.160 --> 0:03:17.040 which is what's funding a lot of the vaccines now 0:03:17.080 --> 0:03:19.320 at a small agency funding a lot of the vaccines now, 0:03:19.360 --> 0:03:21.800 And they opposed a research center that would have looked 0:03:21.800 --> 0:03:25.600 in specifically into messenger RNA vaccine that's one of the 0:03:25.639 --> 0:03:28.679 successful vaccines, and anno virus space sexcin that's the other 0:03:28.680 --> 0:03:30.880 type of vaccine has been successful. And the idea was 0:03:30.919 --> 0:03:33.760 they would have taken like everything uh that you know, 0:03:33.840 --> 0:03:37.200 looked worrisome and gotten prototype vaccines into early trials so 0:03:37.240 --> 0:03:39.480 they could be ready to go and invent the next epidemic. 0:03:39.520 --> 0:03:42.080 But it just didn't happen, so we weren't quite as prepared, 0:03:42.200 --> 0:03:43.720 you know as we should have been right, and we 0:03:43.760 --> 0:03:45.760 should have been right, we could have been That's the 0:03:45.800 --> 0:03:48.880 whole point. And the cost of this thing, Yeah, it 0:03:48.920 --> 0:03:51.800 would have been five million over ten years, which I 0:03:51.800 --> 0:03:53.520 guess sounded like a lot, you know, three or four 0:03:53.560 --> 0:03:56.360 years ago, but compared to the cost he's had to 0:03:56.400 --> 0:03:59.040 bear now through this pandemic. Uh you know, it's just 0:04:00.240 --> 0:04:02.160 you know, nothing like that. Now people are kind of 0:04:02.240 --> 0:04:04.920 dusting off versions of the proposal and saying, let's let's 0:04:04.920 --> 0:04:07.160 do it again, let's do something similar, And then some 0:04:07.200 --> 0:04:08.960 of these ideas are out there is what you know, 0:04:09.080 --> 0:04:12.440 we need is the willpower to do it. Another idea 0:04:12.560 --> 0:04:15.040 that out there is to form me And one of 0:04:15.080 --> 0:04:17.400 the problems they had is is good you know, data 0:04:17.520 --> 0:04:20.720 on the right these key moments when epidemics are starting 0:04:20.720 --> 0:04:23.680 to emerge. You know, it's sort of like a early 0:04:23.760 --> 0:04:25.479 in a forest fire. You got to identify it and 0:04:25.560 --> 0:04:28.640 identify the threats really soon and act. And for that 0:04:28.720 --> 0:04:31.200 you need really really good surveillance and really really really 0:04:31.200 --> 0:04:33.120 good data. And one of the ideas of out there 0:04:33.480 --> 0:04:36.320 is to form a sort of a national weather uh 0:04:36.400 --> 0:04:40.839 service style agency that would model uh, you know, upcoming 0:04:40.839 --> 0:04:43.480 emerging viruses and pandemics, to come up with forecasts or 0:04:43.520 --> 0:04:47.039 more reliable uh you know, to to tell out, to 0:04:47.080 --> 0:04:49.200 warn people, tell them you know what's coming or what 0:04:49.320 --> 0:04:52.560 might be coming, and give politicians kind of the fortitude 0:04:52.560 --> 0:04:55.360 and cover to act. What about when you find amustriction 0:04:55.680 --> 0:04:58.080 was looking into what about when it comes to international 0:04:58.120 --> 0:05:01.880 cooperation and making sure they is international cooperation for the 0:05:01.920 --> 0:05:05.880 next pandemic. One of the key themes that you highlight 0:05:05.960 --> 0:05:10.240 is repairing and augmenting the w h oh. Yeah, and 0:05:10.279 --> 0:05:12.120 this is probably you know, this is an area that 0:05:12.160 --> 0:05:15.520 people are talking about and it's probably the twickiest, most 0:05:15.560 --> 0:05:19.320 difficult area to to to fix or improval reform because 0:05:19.400 --> 0:05:22.000 the basic problem we have is, you know that the 0:05:22.120 --> 0:05:25.599 viruses they cross borders, they don't care about you know, countries, 0:05:25.640 --> 0:05:27.760 and isn't not the national borders or you know which 0:05:27.760 --> 0:05:30.600 political regime is in power, that they go everywhere. And 0:05:30.640 --> 0:05:34.200 that's what we found. Uh And yet uh So we 0:05:34.279 --> 0:05:37.160 want companies countries to cooperate as much as possible in 0:05:37.480 --> 0:05:39.919 reporting the early stages of pandemic. But the problem is 0:05:39.960 --> 0:05:43.040 no one really has the authority uh to do that too. 0:05:43.200 --> 0:05:46.039 And and and if countries that don't report on time 0:05:46.040 --> 0:05:47.880 because they don't want to admit the scope of the problem, 0:05:47.920 --> 0:05:50.200 that might hurt their economy, etcetera. And we've seen this 0:05:50.240 --> 0:05:53.640 again and again. Then the world isn't step behind. And 0:05:53.680 --> 0:05:56.080 the w h O, you know, it doesn't have a 0:05:56.080 --> 0:05:58.279 lot of teeth. That's just the way structured. So there's 0:05:58.320 --> 0:06:00.960 there's rumblings and discussions of what else can we do? 0:06:01.040 --> 0:06:02.640 You know, what can can we give a w HR 0:06:02.720 --> 0:06:04.520 more teeth? But we can can we add to it 0:06:04.600 --> 0:06:08.280 to give some other group? Uh sort of it's called 0:06:08.320 --> 0:06:11.160 like a you know, a NATO for bridging emerging viruses, 0:06:11.240 --> 0:06:14.799 your biological NATO have you know, a little more of power, 0:06:14.920 --> 0:06:17.160 maybe a group of like minded nations to prepare. So 0:06:17.200 --> 0:06:19.560 that's that's kind of ideas out there that people are 0:06:19.720 --> 0:06:21.640 trying to formula and trying to figure out what to do. 0:06:21.680 --> 0:06:25.120 But that's probably a single most difficult area. So five 0:06:25.160 --> 0:06:27.599 points in that story about how we could start planning 0:06:27.600 --> 0:06:30.320 for the next pandemic. That was Bob Langreth, healthcare reporter 0:06:30.360 --> 0:06:32.600 at Bloomberg News and Bloomberg Business, we get it or 0:06:32.680 --> 0:06:35.400 Jill Weber, Look, planning for the next pandemic is certainly important, 0:06:35.400 --> 0:06:37.799 but also getting out of this one is very important 0:06:37.839 --> 0:06:40.000 to Carol. Yeah, absolutely, we're going to hear from J 0:06:40.120 --> 0:06:43.320 and J's chief scientific officer on that company's vaccine that 0:06:43.360 --> 0:06:47.160 has complete protection against hospitalizations and depths. That was something 0:06:47.200 --> 0:06:49.960 that really cut your attention. Yeah, I mean, it doesn't 0:06:50.000 --> 0:06:53.040 get much better than that. You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week. 0:06:53.080 --> 0:07:03.159 This is Bloomberg. This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol 0:07:03.200 --> 0:07:07.559 Masser and Bloomberg Quick Takes Tim Stellovic from Bloomberg Radio. 0:07:07.839 --> 0:07:10.160 So the virus and vaccine rollout continue to be front 0:07:10.160 --> 0:07:12.800 and center toon. We know that this week we saw California, 0:07:12.840 --> 0:07:15.400 New York announcing plans for new stadium sites for mass 0:07:15.440 --> 0:07:18.880 inoculations and more. Drug companies continuing to work on their 0:07:18.920 --> 0:07:22.120 experimental vaccines and also figure out how to take those 0:07:22.160 --> 0:07:25.440 existing vaccines to defeat new mutation. Well, just about one 0:07:25.480 --> 0:07:28.120 week ago, Johnson and Johnson made news by saying that 0:07:28.160 --> 0:07:31.920 it's one shot vaccine generated strong protection against COVID nineteen 0:07:31.920 --> 0:07:35.960 in a large late stage trial, including preventing sixty of 0:07:36.040 --> 0:07:40.400 moderate zero cases of the virus, of severe infections, and 0:07:41.560 --> 0:07:44.720 of hospitalizations and death. This is great news. And then 0:07:44.720 --> 0:07:46.920 this week J and J filed with the FDA for 0:07:47.000 --> 0:07:51.840 emergency use authorization for their experimental COVID nineteen vaccine. Now 0:07:51.920 --> 0:07:54.920 one week ago, we caught up with Paul Staffles, he's 0:07:54.960 --> 0:07:57.920 vice chairman of the Executive Committee and chief scientific officer 0:07:58.040 --> 0:08:01.600 over Johnson and Johnson to talk about their vaccine findings 0:08:01.680 --> 0:08:04.520 and production ramp up. We did a very large study 0:08:04.600 --> 0:08:07.880 of forty five thou people in the US, South America 0:08:07.960 --> 0:08:10.920 and Latin America in a totally different environment where now 0:08:11.400 --> 0:08:15.040 huge transmission but also many variants of presents. And what 0:08:15.160 --> 0:08:18.640 we saw is that in in the high in the 0:08:18.800 --> 0:08:21.560 in the severe disease, we've got a very high protection 0:08:22.200 --> 0:08:25.320 percent against severe disease as well as hundred percent for 0:08:25.440 --> 0:08:30.480 debt and hospitalization. And that across the entire study, including 0:08:30.480 --> 0:08:33.000 the South African study. And why is that important? We 0:08:33.120 --> 0:08:36.080 did six thousand people in South Africa and we found 0:08:36.200 --> 0:08:39.720 that the strains where the South African strains, and we've 0:08:39.720 --> 0:08:41.720 got even a better that We've got an eighty nine 0:08:41.760 --> 0:08:45.520 percent protection in South Africa against the severe disease, that 0:08:45.960 --> 0:08:49.680 und percent against hostitalization and under pains percent against debt. 0:08:49.760 --> 0:08:53.439 So that shows that the vaccine is applications in severe 0:08:53.440 --> 0:08:56.920 disease as well as against significant new strains. Given the 0:08:56.960 --> 0:08:59.160 results of this study, do you expect new and even 0:08:59.160 --> 0:09:04.120 more powerful variants to emerge in the future. Yeah, we 0:09:04.320 --> 0:09:07.640 have to stay very vigilant. Uh, there's so much vital 0:09:07.960 --> 0:09:10.640 virus application in the world, and now new vaccines being 0:09:10.760 --> 0:09:14.120 used and the viruses following the Darwin principles, the fittest 0:09:14.400 --> 0:09:17.559 survive and they will take over as in in that race, 0:09:17.880 --> 0:09:22.280 and so you will see probably more variants, but strong immunity, 0:09:22.720 --> 0:09:26.719 antibody immunity and seller immunity probably can overcome that. But 0:09:26.760 --> 0:09:29.600 we have to stay very vigilant and we have been 0:09:29.640 --> 0:09:31.760 able to do that with a single dose, and I 0:09:31.800 --> 0:09:34.280 think that is going to be very effective in faster 0:09:34.360 --> 0:09:37.160 roll out. As we are making a billion doses in 0:09:37.200 --> 0:09:39.040 the course of the year. Well let's talk about that, 0:09:39.080 --> 0:09:41.480 because when you talked with our David weston last fall, Paul, 0:09:41.520 --> 0:09:44.679 that's exactly what you talked about. A billion doses you anticipated. 0:09:45.800 --> 0:09:48.040 So that's a real number you expected. And can you 0:09:48.080 --> 0:09:51.040 give us an idea of that billion dose rollout? What 0:09:51.080 --> 0:09:55.400 does it look like over the next few months. So 0:09:55.480 --> 0:09:57.800 at the moment we are we are setting up many 0:09:57.880 --> 0:10:00.960 manufacturing plans. In late stage, we are geting approval from 0:10:00.960 --> 0:10:03.760 different regulators in the world on that. So it's in 0:10:03.840 --> 0:10:06.720 full up scaling and as we will deliver a billion 0:10:06.800 --> 0:10:09.760 over the year, it will be region by region, country 0:10:09.760 --> 0:10:12.640 by country. We work with the government to discuss on 0:10:12.679 --> 0:10:15.680 how much will be available when and will communicateate that. 0:10:16.640 --> 0:10:18.640 But we are confident that we will be able to 0:10:18.720 --> 0:10:21.280 make to provide a billion in the course of the year. 0:10:21.400 --> 0:10:23.439 But what does that mean then, I mean, obviously you've 0:10:23.440 --> 0:10:25.520 got to get the emergency approval. So give you an 0:10:25.559 --> 0:10:27.280 idea of what the timeline is. I think we're all 0:10:27.400 --> 0:10:30.920 kind of fixated on getting the vaccines so that our 0:10:31.000 --> 0:10:32.920 life can get back to normal. So what does the 0:10:32.920 --> 0:10:35.480 emergency approval process look like? And then when do you 0:10:35.520 --> 0:10:38.960 actually anticipate getting vaccines into arms? And then at what rate? 0:10:39.720 --> 0:10:44.360 So we will submit filing, so we noted the data. 0:10:44.400 --> 0:10:47.319 Now we are we worked on it, that we finalized, 0:10:47.679 --> 0:10:49.480 and then the f d A and m I will 0:10:49.480 --> 0:10:51.840 have to do their work. The European as well as 0:10:51.840 --> 0:10:55.480 the Use US Agency will start their work and most 0:10:55.520 --> 0:10:58.360 likely towards the end of February will have an advisory 0:10:58.400 --> 0:11:00.959 panel spending of course the decision of the f d A, 0:11:01.080 --> 0:11:05.200 and then we'll see getting approval emergency use approval, and 0:11:05.200 --> 0:11:08.400 then in March will be able to start the living vaccine. 0:11:08.440 --> 0:11:10.640 So you think a realistic timeline for us to actually 0:11:11.000 --> 0:11:14.520 receive Johnson and Johnson single dose vaccine would be March. 0:11:16.880 --> 0:11:19.160 It will start in the amount of March. They are 0:11:19.240 --> 0:11:22.000 also with US government. We have made an agreement over 0:11:22.040 --> 0:11:25.400 this for several for four hundred million vaccines to start with. 0:11:25.760 --> 0:11:28.000 I will keep up to that agreement to be able 0:11:28.040 --> 0:11:30.679 to deliver that. I'm wondering how you see this shot 0:11:30.760 --> 0:11:33.200 being used in the context of this as you call 0:11:33.280 --> 0:11:36.600 pandemic recovery tool kit, you know, especially fitting in with 0:11:36.640 --> 0:11:38.600 the m R and A vaccines that we see from 0:11:38.760 --> 0:11:42.640 Derna and Visor as well. The rollout of those has 0:11:42.760 --> 0:11:44.880 has been really tough here in the United States. There's 0:11:44.880 --> 0:11:47.400 been a lot of speed bumps. But you don't have 0:11:47.440 --> 0:11:50.240 to keep this one at a temperature for a very 0:11:50.559 --> 0:11:53.080 very cold temperature for a significant period of time. I mean, 0:11:53.080 --> 0:11:54.319 there are a lot of differences here. How do you 0:11:54.360 --> 0:11:59.600 see the rollout working in the context of these other vaccines. Well, 0:11:59.640 --> 0:12:02.280 it's it's your point of the right thing. It's a 0:12:02.280 --> 0:12:05.000 single though. So with one shot you get this protection 0:12:05.040 --> 0:12:08.920 starting day fourteen and and the immune matures at twenty 0:12:08.960 --> 0:12:11.520 eight and even a lot longer, so that that goes 0:12:11.600 --> 0:12:15.520 fast and then it um it has two to eight celsius, 0:12:16.400 --> 0:12:20.360 which is normal refrigeration and temperature for stability for three months, 0:12:20.440 --> 0:12:24.120 so we can distribute in the country at normal refrigeration 0:12:24.440 --> 0:12:27.959 which allows to get vaccinated almost in every health care 0:12:28.040 --> 0:12:32.480 center pharmacy in a very simple way. Um. So, and 0:12:32.520 --> 0:12:34.960 that that will help. And the single shot combined with 0:12:35.080 --> 0:12:38.679 that and the high efficacy for for severe disease, that 0:12:38.880 --> 0:12:43.200 and hospitalization can have a very important effect. In addition, 0:12:43.640 --> 0:12:47.439 very short, very clean safety profile. We have we have 0:12:47.480 --> 0:12:52.120 not observed serious adverse events, no anaplectic shock, so further 0:12:52.200 --> 0:12:55.280 to be evaluated by the regulators. But that will also 0:12:55.360 --> 0:12:59.680 be an attractive feature with a very favorable safety profile. 0:12:59.760 --> 0:13:01.600 So that means that people who perhaps have not been 0:13:01.800 --> 0:13:05.840 who had been advised against getting m R and a vaccine, uh, 0:13:05.960 --> 0:13:09.640 this could be an option for them. It would be 0:13:09.679 --> 0:13:12.080 an option, but it will be determined by the authorities 0:13:12.120 --> 0:13:15.640 who will get access first as this is a emergency 0:13:15.760 --> 0:13:20.600 use application. It's uh, it will be distributed by the government. Hey, Paul, 0:13:20.640 --> 0:13:22.280 do you see this as a vaccine that's going to 0:13:22.360 --> 0:13:24.440 help with some of the logistical challenges that we've seen 0:13:24.520 --> 0:13:27.720 in the vaccine rollout because there's two dose, you know, 0:13:27.840 --> 0:13:31.040 often having to be refrigerated at extreme temperatures has has 0:13:31.120 --> 0:13:34.000 complicated the process. Do you see this che a vaccine 0:13:34.080 --> 0:13:41.400 maybe easing those logistical hurdles. It will simplify logistics significantly 0:13:41.440 --> 0:13:45.760 because it can also for follow normal pharmaceutical distribution centers. 0:13:46.440 --> 0:13:50.359 We don't need in fact any special, any special circumstance 0:13:50.400 --> 0:13:52.600 to bring this vaccine to the places where it can 0:13:52.640 --> 0:13:54.800 be used. So that is going to be good. And 0:13:54.800 --> 0:13:59.199 then uh, and yeah, the normal refrigeration will make it simple. 0:13:59.240 --> 0:14:01.719 Single dose will get simple. So one thing I want 0:14:01.720 --> 0:14:02.880 to ask it and I just want to go back 0:14:02.880 --> 0:14:05.880 to because you talked about a billion doses, so um, 0:14:05.920 --> 0:14:08.040 I'm just curious how many of you guys have already 0:14:08.120 --> 0:14:10.240 manufactured at this point and that are kind of ready 0:14:10.280 --> 0:14:12.880 to go once the FDA says go ahead J and J. 0:14:13.200 --> 0:14:17.600 We have vaccines ready, a lot of upscaling is ongoing, 0:14:17.800 --> 0:14:19.960 and in the weeks and months to follow, we will 0:14:20.000 --> 0:14:24.560 be able to to uh communicate all about quantities and deliveries. Well. 0:14:24.560 --> 0:14:26.520 It certainly as all hands on deck at Johnson and 0:14:26.600 --> 0:14:29.600 Johnson and around the world in getting vaccines developed. That 0:14:29.680 --> 0:14:33.000 was Paul Staffles, vice Chairman of the Executive Committee and 0:14:33.040 --> 0:14:35.800 Chief Scientific Officer at J and J. That full interview, 0:14:35.800 --> 0:14:38.600 though you can also hear on our podcast feed you're 0:14:38.640 --> 0:14:42.080 listening to Bloomberg Business Week, Tim, as pharmaceutical companies work 0:14:42.120 --> 0:14:45.400 on getting out those COVID nineteen vaccines. Well, the other battle, Carol, 0:14:45.520 --> 0:14:48.560 is convincing people to actually get the shots, especially in 0:14:48.640 --> 0:14:51.400 minority communities. That's next, and a little bit later on 0:14:51.480 --> 0:14:54.440 Jeff Bezos delivering a shocker as he steps down from 0:14:54.440 --> 0:15:01.120 the top spot at Amazon. This is Bloomberg. This is 0:15:01.120 --> 0:15:05.120 Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Bloomberg Quick Takes 0:15:05.160 --> 0:15:08.920 Tim Stenovy from Bloomberg Radio. Carol, we're learning more and 0:15:08.960 --> 0:15:11.600 more about who's taking the vaccine in different parts of 0:15:11.600 --> 0:15:14.360 the country, and we're getting some distressing figures. New York 0:15:14.400 --> 0:15:18.200 City initial vaccine data show a deep racial disparity. So 0:15:18.280 --> 0:15:20.200 let's go through some of these numbers here, because they're 0:15:20.240 --> 0:15:23.040 pretty stark. White residents made up almost half of the 0:15:23.080 --> 0:15:26.640 people who have received at least one dose, despite consisting 0:15:26.680 --> 0:15:28.880 of only a third of the population here in New 0:15:28.920 --> 0:15:30.880 York City. This is according to a great story we 0:15:30.920 --> 0:15:32.720 had last week in Bloomberg. Yeah, Tim, I feel like 0:15:32.760 --> 0:15:34.200 this has been a story that we've been talking about 0:15:34.240 --> 0:15:38.160 a lot during the pandemic, how it has disproportionately affected 0:15:38.160 --> 0:15:41.520 certain communities, especially minority and black communities and what you 0:15:41.560 --> 0:15:44.000 talk about what's going on in New York City, we're 0:15:44.000 --> 0:15:46.480 seeing that more broadly around the country. The AP, the 0:15:46.520 --> 0:15:49.520 Associated Press did an analysis and they found that an 0:15:49.520 --> 0:15:52.440 early look at the seventeen states and two cities that 0:15:52.480 --> 0:15:55.960 have released racial breakdowns through the twenty fifth of January 0:15:56.120 --> 0:15:59.240 found that Black people in all places are getting inoculated 0:15:59.520 --> 0:16:01.920 at level is below their share of the general population, 0:16:02.000 --> 0:16:04.800 and in some cases significantly below. And we know that 0:16:04.840 --> 0:16:07.120 there have been leaders in the black community that are 0:16:07.160 --> 0:16:10.400 really trying to reach out to their populations to get 0:16:10.400 --> 0:16:13.200 the vaccine. And here in New York City, Carol, the 0:16:13.240 --> 0:16:16.280 lowest ratio, indeed was among black residents, even though they 0:16:16.280 --> 0:16:19.440 make up almost a quarter of the city's population. In 0:16:19.560 --> 0:16:21.720 according to this recent data released by the city, they 0:16:21.720 --> 0:16:24.760 only accounted for eleven percent of those who had been vaccinated. 0:16:24.840 --> 0:16:26.560 One of the leaders we caught up with was Bishop 0:16:26.600 --> 0:16:29.520 TD Jake's. He's a pastor and author, filmmaker. He's got 0:16:29.600 --> 0:16:32.080 quite a following. He's got some four point four million 0:16:32.360 --> 0:16:35.240 followers on Twitter. He's chairman of the T. D. Jake's Foundation, 0:16:35.600 --> 0:16:37.960 and he's really been tim over the last year, been 0:16:37.960 --> 0:16:39.920 a go to voice for us when it comes to 0:16:40.000 --> 0:16:42.440 the multiple crises of the past year. We've talked to 0:16:42.520 --> 0:16:45.440 him about racism in the past, we've talked about the election, 0:16:45.520 --> 0:16:48.120 and of course we've talked about the pandemic and now 0:16:48.240 --> 0:16:50.920 the vaccine and on that. He has been concerned about 0:16:50.920 --> 0:16:54.000 the disproportionate impact that the pandemic has had on minorities 0:16:54.080 --> 0:16:57.360 and their access to vaccines. Bishop Jake's recently hosted a 0:16:57.400 --> 0:17:01.360 conversation that included Dr Anthony Faucci and leading medical professionals 0:17:01.360 --> 0:17:05.240 involved directly in COVID vaccine research. We did an extensive 0:17:05.960 --> 0:17:11.920 conversation with Dr Kisamikia Corba and Dog from your university 0:17:12.320 --> 0:17:15.640 and she's from the Institute of Biology and Infracious Diseases, 0:17:15.880 --> 0:17:19.800 and of course Dr Croucy, just to aggregate information and 0:17:19.960 --> 0:17:23.720 ask some questions that would help to alleviate some concerns 0:17:23.960 --> 0:17:27.280 or address some of the concerns that are prevalent in 0:17:27.320 --> 0:17:31.400 the African American community. Do you think those concerns Bishop 0:17:31.440 --> 0:17:35.520 Jake's are are being addressed? Are are you hearing that 0:17:35.760 --> 0:17:38.239 those concerns are are shifting as we learn more and 0:17:38.280 --> 0:17:43.240 more about the vaccines. I think that they are gradually 0:17:43.280 --> 0:17:46.560 shifting in certain pockets. Of course, African American community is 0:17:46.600 --> 0:17:49.600 not a monolith, and so depending on your age and 0:17:50.440 --> 0:17:54.240 who you congregate or coalesce with, h your perception of 0:17:54.280 --> 0:17:57.560 the situation might be varied according to your age group 0:17:57.600 --> 0:18:01.320 of how closely associated you With's a tremendous amount of 0:18:01.359 --> 0:18:05.000 deaths that we are saying. Being a pastor, also, I'm 0:18:05.119 --> 0:18:09.160 abundantly aware of how many funerals were conducting and really 0:18:09.200 --> 0:18:12.440 have a front row seat on the families behind the numbers. 0:18:12.440 --> 0:18:15.399 So it's very apparent to me that we are definitely 0:18:15.800 --> 0:18:19.560 losing live at a much larger rate than our white counterparts. 0:18:19.640 --> 0:18:22.080 And I so it was really important to maybe use 0:18:22.080 --> 0:18:25.240 our platform to level the plane for and get out 0:18:25.920 --> 0:18:29.600 adequate and accurate information. Right, the CDC did come out 0:18:29.680 --> 0:18:32.320 and they've talked about Black, Hispanic and Native American people 0:18:32.440 --> 0:18:34.640 dying from coven nanteen it almost three times the rate 0:18:34.680 --> 0:18:37.680 of white people. So, Bishop Jakes, do you feel like 0:18:38.119 --> 0:18:40.640 things are improving, that there's more information out there, maybe 0:18:40.760 --> 0:18:44.320 education to put the Black community maybe more at ease 0:18:44.359 --> 0:18:48.040 so that they will up in terms of their numbers 0:18:48.160 --> 0:18:52.080 for getting the vaccine. My biggest concern is that even 0:18:52.160 --> 0:18:56.359 where the attitude is improving, the access is not, but 0:18:56.520 --> 0:19:00.080 we're only having about ten percent penetration into the like 0:19:00.280 --> 0:19:04.720 community where it is accessible, particularly to our older citizens, 0:19:04.760 --> 0:19:07.200 where they can easily get into one and then come 0:19:07.240 --> 0:19:10.879 back and get the second UH fascination that's necessary to 0:19:11.440 --> 0:19:15.480 UH secure some relative safety from from being infected, and 0:19:15.520 --> 0:19:18.480 so that that is a problem. Accessibility is a problem, 0:19:18.520 --> 0:19:21.879 and then dispelling miss continues to be at challenge. I 0:19:21.920 --> 0:19:24.919 think it's something that we're going to be working on 0:19:25.440 --> 0:19:28.080 all through first and second quarter of the year, probably 0:19:28.240 --> 0:19:31.679 into the third quarter, getting them comfortable, just due to 0:19:31.680 --> 0:19:35.800 the fact that they've had so many historical discouraging UH 0:19:36.080 --> 0:19:40.719 incidents that have occurred between health professionals, government officials, and 0:19:40.760 --> 0:19:43.680 the black community that have continued to call for and 0:19:43.840 --> 0:19:48.960 angstent and anxiety amongst people of color and trust associated 0:19:49.040 --> 0:19:53.879 with taking the vacilation. I think that the community most 0:19:53.920 --> 0:19:58.600 trust its own leadership that are various leaders. The faith 0:19:58.640 --> 0:20:02.160 community is one act by to live, but also personalities 0:20:02.160 --> 0:20:06.080 of interests that also have coalesced huge followings of people 0:20:06.520 --> 0:20:09.760 UH that they trust their motives. I think that's one 0:20:09.800 --> 0:20:12.400 aspect of the I think people every day tho below 0:20:12.400 --> 0:20:15.800 off the street influence people more than even personality too, 0:20:16.040 --> 0:20:18.400 So I think they have to use the multiple approach 0:20:18.720 --> 0:20:22.160 in order to this film miss And unfortunately, you're also 0:20:22.359 --> 0:20:27.920 fighting the onslaught of social media and wrong information being pratentuated. Yeah, 0:20:27.920 --> 0:20:30.320 that fight is a reminder from officials that we really 0:20:30.359 --> 0:20:32.159 need to focus on the science and medicine when it 0:20:32.200 --> 0:20:34.840 comes to the virus and vaccine. That again was Bishop 0:20:34.840 --> 0:20:38.760 TD Jake's pastor, author, filmmaker, chairman of the TV Jake's Foundation. 0:20:39.160 --> 0:20:41.880 As we've heard, leaders in the faith based community are 0:20:42.040 --> 0:20:46.560 integral in reducing COVID vaccine skepticism and hesitancy. But look, Carol, 0:20:46.560 --> 0:20:48.600 when you think about this in the historical context of 0:20:48.720 --> 0:20:54.560 like the Tuskegee experiment, the staccine hesitancy absolutely makes sense. Yeah, 0:20:54.640 --> 0:20:57.760 you understand the fear that's out there totally. You're listening 0:20:57.760 --> 0:21:01.320 to Bloomberg Business Week still ahead. Bezos delivers quite a 0:21:01.359 --> 0:21:06.320 surprise this week. That's next. This is Bloomberg. This is 0:21:06.359 --> 0:21:10.320 Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and Bloomberg Quick Takes. 0:21:10.400 --> 0:21:13.679 Tim Stellovan from Bloomberg Radio. All right, Tim, let's get 0:21:13.720 --> 0:21:15.640 to the blockbuster story of the week. It was about 0:21:15.640 --> 0:21:18.760