Good morning, Quartz readers!
Here’s what you need to know
It’s “Super Thursday” in the UK. Millions of people are heading to the polls to vote in elections for the Scottish parliament, the Welsh Senedd, 143 English councils, and 13 mayors.
The UK-France fishing row escalated. The UK sent two Royal Navy ships to the Channel island of Jersey after France threatened to cut off electricity to the British crown dependency over the post-Brexit fishing rights dispute.
China halted a high-level economic dialogue with Australia. Accusing Canberra of “ideological discrimination,” Beijing’s indefinite suspension comes as the two countries’ ties have deteriorated amid disputes over Covid-19 origins and trade.
Joe Biden supported lifting patent protections on Covid-19 vaccines. The US president said the proposal at the World Trade Organization would allow more shots to be produced worldwide.
Canada authorized Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine for those aged between 12 to 15. It’s the first country to do so, and the US is expected to follow suit very soon.
Joshua Wong was jailed over a banned Tiananmen massacre vigil. He and three other Hong Kong activists were sentenced to four to 10 months in jail for participating in the assembly last year, which the police banned citing pandemic fears.
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.
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, suspected to have been looted in Italy, existed, according to her representatives.
Identifiable flying objects were 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 Jane Li, Mary Hui, Annalisa, Merelli, Susan Howson, and Jordan Lebeau.