Good morning, Quartz readers!
Here’s what you need to know
India’s foreign minister attended G7 meetings via Zoom. A member of Subrahmanyam Jaishankar’s delegation was exposed to Covid-19, so he joined in virtually as the group took aim at China’s human rights abuses.
US president Joe Biden threw his support behind lifting patent protections on vaccines. The country’s support should allow more vaccines to be produced worldwide.
Facebook’s oversight board voted to uphold the Trump ban. The former US president will no longer be able to post on the platform, at least for now, but the board also said that Facebook should be examining its own policies within the next six months before reassessing.
Peloton announced a recall of all its treadmills. The child safety hazard the product poses is just another bump in the at-home fitness company’s wild ride.
Tata Steel turned a quarterly profit. The India-based steel company reported a 39% sales increase, and said debt was shaved by 28% due to the upturn in demand.
Canada authorized the Pfizer vaccine for younger teenagers. The US and European countries are currently considering clearing its jab for use in minors as young as 12.
London elects its mayor. Sadiq Khan is hoping to win a second term—retaining control of major policy areas such as policing, housing, and transportation—after the pandemic cancelled last year’s poll.
What to watch for
The vaccine money is in—and it’s pretty good. On Monday, Pfizer reported a revenue of $3.5 billion from its vaccine in the first trimester of 2021. Moderna reports before the New York market opens today, and analysts expect the company to have made about $2 billion in revenue from the shot. AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson, which have provided vaccines on a not-for-profit basis, have reported $275 million and $100 million in revenue from them, respectively.
Though we tend to refer to the vaccines by their manufacturer, most of them do have their own names. Which of the following is not a real Covid-19 vaccine name?
- Comirnaty
- Sputnik V
- Vaxzevria
- Kovimerna
- Covishield
- Hayat-Vax
- They’re all real
All shall be revealed at the end of this email.
Charting how Americans get their kicks
Consumer confidence has been rising in the US, and many shoppers are ready to burst from their homes—and they’ll need to put something on their feet before they do. At the same time, Americans are flush with cash from government stimulus or tax returns, giving them the means to spend.
There could be other factors at play too. Strong, recognizable brands are doing well, while nondescript wholesalers that import a lot of shoes and sell them to retailers at low costs are struggling.
What do you want from your career?
Initially there’s a real wish to demonstrate that you are competent, that you have legitimacy in the world, and you want to demonstrate that through your work, also as a way of establishing your own independence. Then I think later on, if you’ve managed to find your foothold and you’ve found success, there’s a way in which we start to think, “Well, is this really all there is, and is it what I hoped it would be?”—Lee Shapiro, clinical psychologist
In our April 29 workshop, part of the Quartz at Work (from home) event series, we spoke with a trio of experts who regularly help others sort out their professional goals. They offered advice to audience members with questions about when it’s time to change careers, whether it’s worth going back to school, how much emphasis to put on money, and where to find mentorship in the absence of a formal program.
✦ Read about our favorite moments or watch the whole workshop for the full experience. You’ll need a membership to do the latter, but that’s a career no-brainer—try it for free and enjoy access to all Quartz at Work (from home) workshops.
Handpicked Quartz
🤠 The global semiconductor shortage can be explained by the bullwhip effect
⭐️ The pandemic is giving Netflix its long-awaited chance to be in movie theaters
👴 Berkshire investors are ready for a future after Buffett
🐘 Zimbabwe is selling the right to shoot as many as 500 elephants
🎤 China’s latest weapon against Covid-19 is a pop girl band in Shanghai
⌚️ India’s Covid-19 vaccination program is alarmingly behind schedule
👀 Where is the foreign Covid-19 aid that has landed in Delhi going?
🚧 A real estate project has become a symbol of the Indian government’s apathy amid the Covid crisis
Surprising discoveries
US authorities want a statue bound for Kim Kardashian. The reality television star never knew the statue, which is suspected to have been looted in Italy, existed, according to her representatives
Identifiable flying objects spotted in Washington state. SpaceX’s Starlink internet satellites were to blame for the would-be paranormal sightings this week.
Some frogs have fangs. Limnonectes beloncioi, commonly called the Mindoro Fanged Frog, went undiscovered in a 100-year case of mistaken identity.
New clues to early human burials were unearthed in Africa. Researchers uncovered the 78,000-year-old burial sight of a toddler boy in Kenya.
A “Wall-E” scarecrow is keeping ducks safe. The looming-eyes buoy was piloted in Estonia, where researchers found it kept birds away from fishery nets.
Answers to the vaccine name quiz: Kovimerna was a proposed name for Pfizer’s vaccine, which ended up being officially named Comirnaty. Sputnik V was developed by Russia’s Gamaleya Institute, Vaxzevria is the name of AstraZeneca’s vaccine, Covishield is India’s Serum Insitute’s jab, and Hayat-Vax is the result of a partnership between China’s Sinopharm and the G42, a tech company in the UAE.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, vaccine name suggestions, and Disney scarecrows to hi@qz.com. Get the most out of Quartz by downloading our iOS app and becoming a member. Today’s Daily Brief was brought to you by Annalisa, Merelli, Susan Howson, and Jordan Lebeau.