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Defense Primer: The National Technology and Industrial Base [Updated February 3, 2021]
From the Document: "The National Technology and Industrial Base (NTIB) consists of the people and organizations engaged in national security and dual-use research and development (R&D), production, maintenance, and related activities within the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. The NTIB, as established by 10 U.S.C. §2500, is intended to support national security objectives of the United States, including supplying military operations; conducting advanced R&D and systems development to ensure technological superiority of the U.S. Armed Forces; securing reliable sources of critical materials; and developing industrial preparedness to support operations in wartime or during a national emergency. [...] Officials from the United States and other NTIB member countries have stated that, while coordination is moving in the right direction, the industrial bases are not meaningfully integrated. Furthermore, some contend that the NTIB currently falls short of the aspiration of a seamless integration of the 'transfer of knowledge, goods, and services' called for in the FY2017 NDAA [National Defense Authorization Act]. Potential related considerations for Congress include the following options. [1] Establish a governing body of NTIB members; [...] [2] Amend laws affecting integration of the NTIB; [...] [and 3] Increase international cooperation[.]"
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Peters, Heidi M.
2021-02-03
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Stress Test on Logistical Aspects of COVID-19 Vaccination Deployment Plans: Final Report
From the Summary: "ECDC [European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control], together with the European Commission's Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety, organised a stress test of the logistical aspects of COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] vaccination deployment plans. Twelve EU/EEA [European Economic Area] Member States participated in this stress test, a focused simulation exercise conducted in two rounds, one in mid-December 2020 and the second in early January 2021. Member States were asked to describe the deployment plans in place for delivering a vaccine with strict cold chain requirements to their target priority groups. All participating Member States were able to describe the process, albeit in varying levels of detail, reflecting that they were at different points in their planning. Most described bespoke cross-government governance arrangements where a task force had been convened to oversee the deployment. Electronic systems for logistics management and vaccination registries were described, some newly developed and others that had been used in previous vaccination programmes. Plans were also in place, or in development, to promote the vaccination campaign including using and monitoring social media to support the roll-out."
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
2021-02-03
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Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs: FY2021 Budget and Appropriations [Updated February 2, 2021]
From the Summary: "Each year, Congress considers 12 distinct appropriations measures to fund federal programs and activities. One of these is the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (SFOPS) bill, which includes funding for U.S. diplomatic activities, cultural exchanges, development and security assistance, and participation in multilateral organizations, among other international activities. On February 10, 2020, the Trump Administration submitted to Congress its SFOPS budget proposal for FY2021, totaling $44.12 billion (including $158.90 million in mandatory State Department retirement funds). None of the requested SFOPS funds were designated as Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funds. The Administration's FY2021 request was about 3% higher than its FY2020 request for SFOPS accounts but nearly 24% below the FY2020 SFOPS funding level enacted by Congress (including COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] supplemental funds, which were enacted after the FY2021 request was submitted)."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Gill, Cory R.; Lawson, Marian Leonardo; Morgenstern, Emily M.
2021-02-02
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2018 Pacific Island Disasters: Federal Actions Helped Facilitate the Response, but FEMA Needs to Address Long-Term Recovery Challenges, Report to Congressional Committees
From the Highlights: "The CNMI [Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands], Guam, and Hawaii experienced an unprecedented number of natural disasters in 2018-- including typhoons, earthquakes, mudslides, and volcanic eruptions. FEMA is the lead federal agency responsible for helping states and territories prepare for, respond to, and recover from natural disasters. Due to the remoteness of Hawaii and the Pacific territories, disaster response and recovery can be challenging. Title IX of the Additional Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief Act of 2019 includes a provision for GAO [Government Accountability Office] to review FEMA's response and recovery efforts for 2018 natural disasters, including those in the Pacific region. This report examines (1) how FEMA and its federal partners prepared for and responded to the 2018 disasters in the CNMI, Guam, and Hawaii; and (2) the extent to which FEMA assisted the CNMI, Guam, and Hawaii in recovering from the 2018 natural disasters."
United States. Government Accountability Office
2021-02
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Denver COVID-19 Initial Response: After-Action Report
From the Executive Summary: "Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious human-to-human respiratory and vascular disease that exploded across the globe infecting millions and at the time of this report, has killed well over 1.5 million people worldwide. [...] By March 17, every state in the United States, including Colorado, had recorded its first case of COVID-19. Denver leaders from public health, city government and emergency management paid close attention to trends and challenges in major cities, including Seattle, Washington, and New York City, New York. Ultimately, on March 2, the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment Department Operations Center (PHE DOC) was established. Soon after, on March 12, the Denver Emergency Operations Center (EOC) was fully activated and the Mayor declared a state of emergency. On March 13, Colorado reported its first COVID-related death and the Mayor of Denver ordered city venues to close their doors and cancel events until April 12. Also, on March 13, President Donald Trump declared the coronavirus pandemic a national emergency. [...] The scope of this after-action report (AAR) is from March 3, 2020, to June 18, 2020, encompassing the initial citywide response to COVID-19. The observations and recommendations in this AAR will inform future preparedness and response investments and planning, policy and procedure development for Denver. These findings will also help other jurisdictions enhance preparedness and response capabilities for addressing both pandemic activations and long-term operations."
Denver (Colo.); United States. Federal Emergency Management Agency
2021-02
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She-Cession in Colorado: The Impact of COVID-19 on Women in the Workforce in 2020
From the Document: "In the early months of the pandemic, the 'She-Cession' was coined as the evidence mounted that women were facing disproportionate, negative impacts through the unfolding economic upheaval. While the economy partially recovered from the worst of the downturn, the devastating impacts to women in the workforce continued. In the U.S., over 2.1 million women left the labor market entirely since the beginning of the pandemic and are not yet looking to return to work. Since July of 2020, Common Sense Institute (CSI) has issued recurring reports detailing the different ways the Colorado economy and labor force were impacted throughout the course of 2020. While both men and women faced historic impacts, a consistent CSI finding is that working women faced greater challenges and larger negative impacts."
Common Sense Institute; Executives Partnering to Invest In Children (EPIC)
Brown, Chris; Giannou, Abigail; Riehl, Nicole
2021-02
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Rejoining the World Health Organization (WHO): Reform and Related Issues [February 1, 2021]
From the Document: "The Biden Administration is working to restore U.S. involvement in the World Health Organization (WHO). On January 20, 2021, President Joe Biden sent a letter to United Nation (U.N.) Secretary-General Antόnio Guterres indicating that the United States would remain a member of WHO. The letter retracted a July 6, 2020, decision by the Trump Administration to withdraw the United States from WHO effective July 6, 2021. The withdrawal determination followed assertions by the Trump Administration that WHO failed 'to independently investigate' reports conflicting with Chinese government's accounts of the pandemic and repeated 'grossly inaccurate' or 'misleading' claims made by Chinese authorities about Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). On January 21, 2021, U.S. officials announced a resumption of regular engagement with WHO and an end to the drawdown of U.S. staff seconded to WHO. The White House also issued a directive, which among other things, directed the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs to make recommendations for reforming and strengthening WHO. The unprecedented attempt to withdraw the United States from WHO raised questions about congressional authority to inform the withdrawal process. It also reignited calls for reforming WHO, some of which conflated shortcomings of WHO with limitations of the International Health Regulations [IHR (2005)]--the rules governing responses by WHO and Member States to public health emergencies of international concern (PHEIC)."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Salaam-Blyther, Tiaji
2021-02-01
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CISA Global
From the Document: "In today's globally and interconnected world, we confront a wide array of serious risks and threats to our critical infrastructure, systems, assets, functions, and citizens. State and non-state actor adversaries and competitors seek to advance their objectives through a variety of tactics, including subtle actions that significantly weaken the foundations of U.S. power, degrade societal functions, undermine trust in institutions, and increase adversaries' ability to exploit vulnerabilities and undermine the functions of critical infrastructure. Extreme weather events, natural hazards, terrorism, and hostile state actors are among the threats to critical functions, the 'systems of systems,' and systemic risks that can have global, cascading effects. As networked devices are further integrated into lives and businesses, their vulnerabilities provide additional attack vectors for nation-states and foreign adversaries. [...] With these critical mission sets, CISA [Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency] must do more to address today's complex challenges and to prepare for future threats. CISA can leverage its global network to strengthen partner capacity and to build a better, collective practice posture and response to urgent threats that are particularly critical to U.S. national security interests. CISA is committed to promoting an open, interoperable, reliable and secure interconnected world within a global, operational and policy environment where network defenders and risk managers can collectively prevent and mitigate threats to critical infrastructure. We invite our global partners to join us in the fight to secure today and to defend tomorrow."
United States. Department of Homeland Security. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
2021-02
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Changes in the Arctic: Background and Issues for Congress [Updated February 1, 2021]
From the Summary: "The diminishment of Arctic sea ice has led to increased human activities in the Arctic, and has heightened interest in, and concerns about, the region's future. The United States, by virtue of Alaska, is an Arctic country and has substantial interests in the region. The seven other Arctic states are Canada, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark (by virtue of Greenland), and Russia. [...] The Arctic Council, created in 1996, is the leading international forum for addressing issues relating to the Arctic. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) sets forth a comprehensive regime of law and order in the world's oceans, including the Arctic Ocean. The United States is not a party to UNCLOS. Record low extents of Arctic sea ice over the past decade have focused scientific and policy attention on links to global climate change and projected ice-free seasons in the Arctic within decades. These changes have potential consequences for weather in the United States, access to mineral and biological resources in the Arctic, the economies and cultures of peoples in the region, and national security."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
O'Rourke, Ronald; Leggett, Jane A.; Comay, Laura B. . . .
2021-02-01
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Southwest Border Security: Actions Are Needed to Address the Cost and Readiness Implications of Continued DOD Support to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Report to Congressional Requesters
From the Highlights: "For decades, the U.S. southwest border has been vulnerable to cross-border illegal activity such as illegal entries, smuggling of drugs and contraband, and terrorist activities. Since 2002, DOD has supported DHS's mission to secure the nation's borders and episodically supported its efforts to manage surges in foreign nationals without valid travel documents who are seeking entry-- most recently since April 2018, when the President directed the Secretary of Defense to support DHS in securing the southwest border."
United States. Government Accountability Office
2021-02
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COVID-19 Pandemic and Trends in Technology: Transformations in Governance and Society
From the Introduction: "The COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic - the worst public health crisis in a generation - has been dubbed the 'great accelerator' of digital transformation. For countries around the world, technology has been at the forefront of their response to the crisis. Governments have employed digital technology to provide a health emergency response to their constituents, and businesses have seen an unprecedented rate of digital adoption across their supply chains. [...] There is an increased recognition that, in a post-COVID world, businesses and governments have to reinvent themselves through the further incorporation of digital technology in their ways of working, and that they must pursue long-term digital transformation in order to compete and operate both nationally and internationally. [...] At the same time, this sharp take-up of digital technology has exposed the widening digital divide not only between businesses themselves, but also between nations. According to the UN, around half of the world's population is offline. For those people who cannot, for example, access essential healthcare information, the digital divide has become a matter of life and death. [...] This paper looks at some of the trends that have emerged from this process of rapid and unplanned-for digital adoption."
Chatham House/Royal Institute of International Affairs
Hakmeh, Joyce; Taylor, Emily; Peters, Allison . . .
2021-02
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Equity in Vaccination: A Plan to Work with Communities of Color Toward COVID-19 Recovery and Beyond
From the Executive Summary: "The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had tragic and disproportionate adverse effects on Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities across the United States. The number of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths related to this disease is significantly higher in these groups. Additionally, members of BIPOC communities are among those hit the hardest by the economic and social upheavals caused by the pandemic. As the COVID-19 vaccination campaign begins, it is critical that vaccines be delivered fairly and equitably--so that everyone has the same level of access to this lifesaving technology. Just as pressing is the need to address longstanding disparities that have created the unequal situation that BIPOC communities are now in. This plan provides elected and appointed officials with the tools to create, implement, and support a vaccination campaign that works with BIPOC communities to remedy COVID-19 impacts, prevent even more health burdens, lay the foundation for unbiased healthcare delivery, and enable broader social change and durable community-level opportunities."
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Center for Health Security; Texas State University. Department of Anthropology
Schoch-Spana, Monica; Brunson, Emily K.; Hosangadi, Divya . . .
2021-02
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Counties and COVID-19: Positioning America for Recovery
From the Key Takeaways: "[1] Counties are uniquely positioned to drive economic recovery, organize vaccine distribution and execute the local public health response. [2] COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] response costs are outpacing local revenues across the nation, leaving communities short on services, programs and jobs. [3] The high demand for local public health and safety services throughout the pandemic has increased local expenditures, especially as local governments seek to respond with 1 million fewer workers. [4] Counties are essential to the national strategy to vaccinate residents throughout the U.S., and county leaders are overseeing indispensable health and human services systems. [5] Long-term unemployment is increasing at concerning levels, further placing demand on local government services and increasing costs. [6] As county governments are forced to take austerity measures due to declining revenues and increased expenditures, the economy -- and therefore local communities and residents -- increasingly suffers, and will continue to suffer for years to come. [7] Counties invest funds responsibly and efficiently, injecting a much-needed boost to GDP [gross domestic product] and providing targeted aid to residents in need."
National Association of Counties
2021-02
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Fiscal Policy and Recovery from the COVID-19 Recession [Updated February 1, 2021]
From the Summary: "The economic contraction that began in February 2020 differs from previous contractions, including the Great Depression of the 1930s and the Great Recession of 2007-2009. It was caused in large part by concerns about the spread of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and government policies aimed at limiting person-to-person contact. The health concerns of the public and the stay-at-home and shutdown orders designed to limit contact reduced cash flow to businesses and increased the number of unemployed workers."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Gravelle, Jane; Marples, Donald
2021-02-01
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Communicable Disease Threats Report: Week 7, 14-20 February 2021
This weekly bulletin provides updates on communicable disease threats monitored by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, focusing on the week of February 14-20, 2021. It details the number of multi-country cases of diseases such as COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019], influenza, and ebola, and also provides assessments and epidemiological summaries of each.
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
2021-02
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Policy for Evaluating Impact of Viral Mutations on COVID-19 Tests: Guidance for Test Developers and Food and Drug Administration Staff
From the Introduction: "FDA plays a critical role in protecting the United States from threats such as emerging infectious diseases, including the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. FDA is committed to providing timely guidance to support response efforts to this pandemic. FDA is issuing this guidance to provide a policy and recommendations on evaluating the potential impact of emerging and future viral mutations of SARS-CoV-2 [severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2] on COVID-19 tests for the duration of the COVID-19 public health emergency. This guidance describes a policy for test developers to consider the impact of emerging and future variants on their COVID-19 tests during development and post-authorization. Throughout this guidance, references to COVID-19 tests are referring to molecular and antigen tests that detect the SARS-CoV-2 virus and serology tests that detect antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 virus."
United States. Department of Health and Human Services; United States. Food and Drug Administration; Center for Devices and Radiological Health (U.S.)
2021-02
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Overview of the Implementation of COVID-19 Vaccination Strategies and Vaccine Deployment Plans in the EU/EEA
From the Key Findings: "On 19 January 2021 the European Commission set out actions to step up the response against the COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic and accelerate the rollout of vaccination campaigns across the EU, with the aim to vaccinate a minimum of 70% of the adult population by the summer of 2021. This report provides an updated overview of national COVID-19 vaccination rollout across the EU/EEA [European Economic Area], including new insights into some of the critical aspects and challenges Member States are experiencing with the implementation of national deployment plans in the EU/EEA."
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
2021-02-01
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European Surveillance of COVID-19 in Long-Term Care Facilities in the EU/EEA: Aggregate Data Reporting
From the Document: "COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] outbreaks in long-term care facilities (LTCFs), which are a relatively closed and high-occupancy setting, can have devastating effects given the increased vulnerability and other underlying health problems of residents, resulting in a high likelihood of unfavourable outcomes to infection. [...] In August, October and November 2020, ECDC [European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control] hosted webinars for EU/EEA [European Economic Area] countries in which OCPs [Operational Contact Points] and/or National Focal Points for healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) presented aspects of their surveillance of COVID-19 in LTCFs, for group discussion. ECDC also reviewed the published national reports that contained surveillance data on COVID-19 in LTCFs. On 16 November 2020, ECDC sent the draft protocol to the CCBs [Coordinating Competent Bodies] in EU/EEA countries, for national review and comments by 13 January 2021. A technical webinar was organised by ECDC on 20 January 2021 with the objective to finalise the protocol. On 29 January 2021, the metadata set was implemented in TESSy [The European Surveillance System], enabling EU/EEA countries to upload historical and prospective national aggregate data on COVID-19 in LTCFs."
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
2021-02
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Communicable Disease Threats Report: Week 8, 21-27 February 2021
This weekly bulletin provides updates on communicable disease threats monitored by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, focusing on the week of February 21-27, 2021. It details the number of multi-country cases of diseases such as COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019], influenza, and ebola, and also provides assessments and epidemiological summaries of each.
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
2021-02
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Communicable Disease Threats Report: Week 5, 31 January-6 February 2021
This weekly bulletin provides updates on communicable disease threats monitored by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, focusing on the week of January 31-February 6, 2021. It details the number of multi-country cases of diseases such as COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019], influenza, and cholera, and also provides assessments and epidemiological summaries of each.
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
2021-02
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Emergency Evacuation and Sheltering During the COVID-19 Pandemic
From the Description: "Fundamental shifts in preparedness planning are needed to ensure health, safety, and smooth operations during emergencies in the context of the COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic. To prepare for emergency events requiring evacuation, it is necessary to revise shelter planning and mass care operations, shelter staffing, and shelter design and operations with a focus on reducing virus transmission and ensuring safety. Developing effective public messaging is also critical during the pandemic and requires advance planning and familiarity with the needs and characteristics of the communities being served. This rapid expert consultation details what is known from research on evacuation behavior, social responses to disaster, and risk communication, as well as lessons learned from emergency managers, public health departments, local officials, and human service providers, as the second year of the pandemic unfolds. It includes strategies for (1) evacuation plans, (2) sheltering operations, and (3) risk communication best practices for public officials confronting hazards and disasters. The Societal Experts Action Network (SEAN) is an activity of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that is sponsored by the National Science Foundation. SEAN links researchers in the social, behavioral, and economic sciences with decision makers to respond to policy questions arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. This project is affiliated with the National Academies' Standing Committee on Emerging Infectious Diseases and 21st Century Health Threats."
National Academies Press (U.S.)
Campbell, Nnenia; Morss, Rebecca E.; Lindell, Michael K. . . .
2021-02
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Assessing the Costs and Benefits of COVID-19 Containment Strategies in Africa
"This paper explores the extent of variation in African countries' responses to the COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic, assessing the relative success of different strategies in containing the spread of disease as well as the costs containment strategies have entailed. I begin by examining the range of responses taken by different African governments, looking at the consequences for population mobility and spread of infection during the first seven months of the pandemic (March-September 2020). Using anonymized mobile phone data, I show that mobility reductions were significantly greater in countries where the government enacted more stringent measures. Statistical regression analysis indicates that such mobility reductions are significantly and negatively associated with COVID-19 growth rates two weeks later. However, the success of lockdown policies in containing the spread of disease came at a significant cost in many countries, including severe economic contraction, disruptions to essential services, and curtailing of human rights. That said, such costs do not appear to be a necessary result of enacting stringent measures. Cross-country analysis reveals a number of cases where governments acted swiftly and seriously to contain the spread of disease but did not suffer major economic or governance consequences. Highlighting the experiences of such countries is important for drawing lessons about best practices for continued management of COVID-19 and future outbreaks."
University of Gothenburg. Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Institute
Carlitz, Ruth D.
2021-02
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FEMA Preparedness Grants Manual
This is Version 2 of the 'FEMA Preparedness Grants Manual' published in February 2021. From the Foreword: "FEMA has developed this 'Preparedness Grants Manual' to guide applicants and grant recipients on how to manage their grants and other resources. Recipients seeking guidance on policies and procedures for managing preparedness grants should reference this Manual for further information on both program-specific information as well as overall guidance on rules and regulations that guide the proper management of FEMA grants."
United States. Federal Emergency Management Agency
2021-02
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MMWR: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, January 29, 2021
The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) Series is prepared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). [It] is the agency's primary vehicle for scientific publication of timely, reliable, authoritative, accurate, objective, and useful public health information and recommendations. This issue of MMWR contains the following: "Impact of COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2109] on Cervical Cancer Screening Rates Among Women Aged 21-65 Years in a Large Integrated Health Care System -- Southern California, January 1-September 30, 2019, and January 1-September 30, 2020; "Trends in Outbreak-Associated Cases of COVID-19 -- Wisconsin, March-November 2020"; "Response to a COVID-19 Outbreak on a University Campus -- Indiana, August 2020"; "Notes from the Field: An Outbreak of West Nile Virus -- Arizona, 2019"; "Allergic Reactions Including Anaphylaxis After Receipt of the First Dose of Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine -- United States, December 21, 2020-January 10, 2021"; "Implementation and Evolution of Mitigation Measures, Testing, and Contact Tracing in the National Football League, August 9-November 21, 2020"; "COVID-19 Cases and Transmission in 17 K-12 [kindergarten to twelfth grade] Schools -- Wood County, Wisconsin, August 31-November 29, 2020"; "SARS-CoV-2 [severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2] Transmission Associated with High School Wrestling Tournaments -- Florida, December 2020-January 2021"; "'QuickStats': Percentage of Women Who Have Ever Used Emergency Contraception Among Women Aged 22-49 Years Who Have Ever Had Sexual Intercourse, by Education -- National Survey of Family Growth, United States, 2017-2019." Notifiable Diseases and Mortality Tables from this issue can be accessed at the following link [http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/index2021.html].
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.)
2021-01-29
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Preventing Pandemics
From the Document: "The public health community has long known that pandemics are sure bets, that they are certain to intermittently visit upon us devastating degrees of illness, death, and economic loss. The current COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic is just the latest in a series of pandemics that historians have traced back thousands of years. Caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), COVID-19 has become the worst pandemic since the flu pandemic of 1918-1919, which killed tens of millions of people around the globe. As January 2021 was coming to a close, COVID-19 was closing in on 100 million infections and already had surpassed 2.1 million deaths worldwide, including well over 25 million infections and 420,000 deaths in the United States. [...] Just as massive wildfires can be prevented by putting out smaller fires before they spread, so too can localized outbreaks of disease be quashed or prevented before they grow into pandemics. With that dynamic in mind, DARPA [Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency] has been managing an audacious portfolio of projects designed to generate pandemic-stopping know-how and to act on that knowledge by dramatically reducing the time it takes to scale-up the means for preventing, diagnosing, and treating any infectious disease that might arise, even ones the world has never seen before. The pillars of DARPA's pandemic portfolio fall into the categories of prevention, diagnostics, and treatments."
United States. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
2021-01-29
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Tracking COVID-19 Vaccines: U.S. Data Systems and Related Issues [January 28, 2021]
From the Document: "The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Emergency Use Authorizations (EUAs) for two Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines, sponsored by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, and millions of vaccine doses are being distributed nationwide. Both vaccines require two doses, which are generally not interchangeable. Key to this effort, several existing and new data systems are in use to track, specifically [1] where the vaccines supply is: for example, whether vaccines are in a storage center or at a provider site, through the Vaccine Tracking System (VTrckS); [2] who has received a vaccine: that is, recipients who have received one or both doses of which vaccine, through jurisdiction-based Immunization Information Systems (IIS); and [3] if any new safety issues occur: several monitoring systems aim to identify new safety issues and inform public health recommendations or FDA actions."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Sekar, Kavya
2021-01-28
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EMR-ISAC: InfoGram, Volume 21 Issue 4, January 28, 2021
The Emergency Management and Response Information Sharing and Analysis Center's (EMR-ISAC) InfoGram is a weekly publication of information concerning the protection of critical infrastructures relevant to members of the Emergency Services Sector. This issue includes the following articles: "NTSB [National Transportation Safety Board] issues recommendations addressing responder safety risks from battery fires in electric vehicles"; "FEMA releases EOC [Emergency Operations Centers] Toolkit"; "ASPR [Assistant to the Secretary for Preparedness and Response] TRACIE [Technical Resources, Assistance Center, and Information Exchange] creates 2020 Resources Digest and COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] Vaccine Resources collection"; "National Fire Academy now accepting applications for course vacancies but suspends application periods for EFO [executive fire officer] and MO [managing officer] programs"; and "Cyber Threats."
Emergency Management and Response-Information Sharing and Analysis Center (U.S.)
2021-01-28
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Executive Order 14008: Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad
From the Document: "It is the policy of my Administration that climate considerations shall be an essential element of United States foreign policy and national security. The United States will work with other countries and partners, both bilaterally and multilaterally, to put the world on a sustainable climate pathway. The United States will also move quickly to build resilience, both at home and abroad, against the impacts of climate change that are already manifest and will continue to intensify according to current trajectories."
United States. Office of the Federal Register
Biden, Joseph R., Jr.
2021-01-27
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Renewed Great Power Competition: Implications for Defense--issues for Congress [Updated January 27, 2021]
From the Summary: "The renewal of great power competition was acknowledged alongside other considerations in the Obama Administration's June 2015 National Military Strategy, and was placed at the center of the Trump Administration's December 2017 National Security Strategy (NSS) and January 2018 National Defense Strategy (NDS). The December 2017 NSS and January 2018 NDS formally reoriented U.S. national security strategy and U.S. defense strategy toward an explicit primary focus on great power competition with China and Russia. Department of Defense (DOD) officials subsequently identified countering China's military capabilities as DOD's top priority."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
O'Rourke, Ronald
2021-01-27
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Federal Communications Commission: Current Structure and Its Role in the Changing Telecommunications Landscape [Updated January 27, 2021]
From the Summary: "The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent federal agency established by the Communications Act of 1934 (1934 Act, or 'Communications Act'). The agency is charged with regulating interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable. The mission of the FCC is to make available for all people of the United States, 'without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex, a rapid, efficient, Nationwide, and worldwide wire and radio communication service with adequate facilities at reasonable charges.' The FCC operates under a public interest mandate first laid out in the 1927 Radio Act (P.L. 632, 69th Congress), but how this mandate is applied depends on how 'the public interest' is interpreted. Some regulators seek to protect and benefit the public at large through regulation, while others seek to achieve the same goals through the promotion of market efficiency. Additionally, Congress granted the FCC wide latitude and flexibility to revise its interpretation of the public interest standard to reflect changing circumstances and the agency has not defined it in more concrete terms. These circumstances, paired with changes in FCC leadership, have led to significant changes over time in how the FCC regulates the broadcast and telecommunications industries."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Figliola, Patricia Moloney
2021-01-27
