Today’s edition of quick hits:
* FDA: “Covid-19 antibody drugs from Regeneron and Eli Lilly should no longer be used because they don’t work against the omicron variant that now accounts for nearly all U.S. infections, U.S. health regulators said Monday.”
* In related news: “Pfizer and BioNTech announced Tuesday that they have started a clinical trial testing a modified Covid-19 vaccine to protect against the supercontagious omicron variant of the coronavirus.”
* In geopolitical terms, this is one of the day’s biggest developments: “The Biden Administration announced on Tuesday that it was working with gas and crude oil suppliers from the Middle East, North Africa and Asia to bolster supplies to Europe in coming weeks, in an effort to blunt the threat that Russia could cut off fuel shipments in the escalating conflict over Ukraine.”
* A huge announcement from GM: “In a big win for Michigan, General Motors will invest $7 billion in four manufacturing facilities, making the state the ‘hub’ of electric vehicle development and manufacturing. GM said Tuesday it will spend $2.6 billion to build a new battery factory in the Lansing area and $4 billion to convert its existing factory in Orion Township to make electric pickups. It will also spend about half a billion dollars to make upgrades to its two existing vehicle assembly plants in Lansing.”
* A worthwhile White House initiative: “Pharmacies and health centers around the country have begun distributing the first of the 400 million N95 masks the White House is sending out to combat the fast-spreading omicron variant of the coronavirus.”
* ISIS: “American ground forces have joined the fight to retake control of a prison in northeast Syria where Islamic State fighters are holding hundreds of boys hostage, the Pentagon said Monday. After four days of American airstrikes, the fight has become the biggest known American engagement with ISIS since the fall of its so-called caliphate three years ago.” * Bernie Kerik: “A former member of President Donald Trump’s legal team told the Jan. 6 committee that former Army colonel Phil Waldron first came up with the idea of Trump issuing an executive order to seize voting machines, according to a person familiar with the matter.” * This remains amazing to me: “After traveling nearly one million miles, the James Webb Space Telescope arrived at its new home on Monday. The spacecraft’s arrival checks off another tricky step as scientists on Earth prepare to spend at least a decade using the observatory to study distant light from the beginning of time.” See you tomorrow.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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