Hello Quartz readers,
Watching coronavirus vaccines is sort of like watching the Domino’s app pizza tracker: On the one hand, it’s comforting to know which vaccines are at what stages of progress, and to have visibility into the process. (Likewise, to know that “John” is giving your toppings a quality check.) On the other hand, the most important vaccine/pizza is the one at your fingertips, and there’s both relief and misery in keeping tabs on developments you can’t control.
This week, those developments included promising results from CanSino, and from a combined effort by Oxford and AstraZeneca. The US health department also said it will pay Pfizer and BioNTech $2 billion for 100 million doses of their vaccine—to be distributed for free—should it prove effective.
We put together a vaccine status report in one clear graphic, or you can track the nitty gritty here. But we’ll let you know when the most important development is imminent, i.e. when your pizza arrives.
Vaccine and not heard
The race for a vaccine has a fresh face: North Korea. On July 18, the country’s State Commission of Science and Technology announced that government scientists had started on the first stage of human trials for a vaccine candidate, according to the Korea Herald.
Just one hiccup: To test the shot’s effectiveness, scientists would have to conduct trials abroad, the statement said, “since there is no case of Covid-19 in DPR Korea.” To learn whether a vaccine actually works, it needs to be tested on hundreds or thousands of exposed people.
Why would North Korea—a country with a struggling healthcare system that relies on the World Health Organization for vaccines—invest in a vaccine that isn’t affecting its citizens? The short answer: It probably wouldn’t.
Several public health experts told the New York Times they were skeptical of the country’s claim to have zero cases of coronavirus back in March. Kee Park, a lecturer at Harvard Medical School who has worked in North Korea, suggested the country may be able to claim zero cases because it doesn’t have enough testing capacity to detect the disease. “So they can say, ‘We have not confirmed it,’” he told the Times.
North Korea closed its borders on Jan. 30, making it difficult to determine what’s happening inside the authoritarian state. Its early closures and quarantines—as well as its general isolation—may have mitigated any outbreaks there. But despite the government’s claims to the contrary, there are reports of deaths seemingly caused by coronavirus, including more than 200 North Korean soldiers.
The country isn’t alone in its obfuscation. Mexico is failing to report hundreds, if not thousands, of cases in Mexico City, according to the New York Times. In June, Brazil’s government briefly stopped sharing data on coronavirus until it was ordered to resume by its Supreme Court. And inadequate testing means the true coronavirus count is lower than the official total in the United States.
Mistakes were made
As the US Congress races to approve another round of coronavirus aid—everything’s a race these days—we’re still unpacking round one. Earlier this month, the government released data on which companies took money as part of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
In short: It’s a mess. While there is rarely a dataset that doesn’t suffer from some methodological dirtiness, definitional quirks, or collection bias, this data is already notorious for its failings:
- Bad data entry. There are at least 35 different spellings of Chicago.
- Bad data translation. The most common street address for a business receiving a loan is “PO BOX” without a street address or box number.
- Missing fields. There are 224 loans that don’t have a zip code listed, 247 without a city, and 210 with the state listed as XX.
- Retaining more jobs than are likely to exist. In 35 industries, the number of jobs retained is greater than official counts of total workers in that industry.
- Improbable wages. There are 209,558 loans where the minimum possible per-person annual payroll is greater than the income that qualifies for PPP.
- Conspicuous employee counts. Seven loans have a negative number of “jobs retained.”
- Conspicuous loan amounts. The value of loans based on monthly payroll should have more random qualities since it’s determined formulaically. Yet 94% of the 4.9 million loans under $150,000 end with the digit zero.
- Ghost applicants. A number of companies that are listed as loan recipients are now denying that they applied or received one.
A few CHICARGOs may not seem like a big deal, but remember: This is a $670 billion program. If well known variables like cities are misspelled, we can assume there are more important mistakes too. Garbage in, garbage out.
Return to spender
As countries around Europe emerge from lockdown, shoppers are getting back to shopping.
In May, total retail trade jumped 17.8% in the Euro area of 19 countries compared to the month before. Business could only increase from the plunge recorded in April, and retail trade remained down 5% versus the same time last year. But some forecasters have taken it as reason to be hopeful about the prospects for economic recovery in Europe.
The comeback isn’t evenly distributed. Germany, which began to reopen in April, has seen sales growing strongly. The UK, on the other hand, only started its reopening in June, though early indications are positive.
If you have to mask
Humans have an old habit of turning utility products into decorative ones, so it was perhaps inevitable that face masks would become fashion accessories. Within the mask market, a small high-end segment has emerged (✦ Quartz member exclusive) in the form of pricey designer masks and sought-after styles that trade at a premium on resale sites.
Maybe the most popular face coverings in fashion come from Off-White, the company created by Virgil Abloh, who is also men’s creative director at Louis Vuitton. In April, fashion search engine Lyst ranked a $95 Off-White mask printed with diagonal intersecting arrows the hottest men’s product of that quarter.
What else is useful, modern, stylish, and all-weather? A Quartz membership, of course. Members get unlimited access to qz.com (including dark mode! très chic!) and our iPhone app, which lets you save articles to read later. With our summer sale, you can take 50% off your first year—a steal compared to the price of a luxury face mask.
Pull up a chair
As reality sets in that many workers will be stuck at home for the foreseeable future, some have found themselves pining for a proper ergonomic chair.
Here’s the bad news: None of the big commercial furniture manufacturers have designed a convincing high-performance chair that blends in with the rest of our homes. For Quartz at Work, Anne Quito examined why that is (✦) and who’s on a quest to change it. She also offers pro tips for would-be chair buyers.
Ironically, Anne herself works from a wooden step ladder. “This ladder is painful to sit in, it kinda motivates me to do what I have to do as quickly as possible,” she says. “I alternate between the step ladder and the bed. Extremes! Sometimes the couch when life gets really boring.”
Have you figured out this whole “always sitting in my house” thing? Have you not figured it out and the results are amusing?
Essential reading
- The latest 🌏 figures: 15.3 million confirmed cases; 8.7 million classified as “recovered.”
- Unsafe as houses: Amid lockdowns, domestic violence complaints are up in India.
- Face it: There’s evidence to suggest masks protect those wearing them, too.
- Fly right: What it’s like for Americans traveling internationally these days.
- Autumn is coming: 50 million US parents are headed toward a childcare crisis.
- Coolcoolcool: Half of cruise travelers plan to book again in the next 18 months.
Our best wishes for a healthy day. Get in touch with us at reply@qz.com, and live your best Quartz life by downloading our app and becoming a member. Today’s newsletter was brought to you by Olivia Goldhill, Amanda Shendruk, David Yanofsky, Marc Bain, Anne Quito, Katie Palmer, and Kira Bindrim.