U.S. Vaccinations Nearing Benchmark

The U.S. is nearing a nationwide benchmark of having 40% of adults fully vaccinated, which many public-health experts call an important threshold where vaccinations gain an upper hand over the coronavirus, based on the experience from further-along nations such as Israel. In an interview today with the WSJ, Dr. Anthony Fauci said: “When you get to somewhere between 40 and 50%, I believe you’re going to start seeing real change, the start of a precipitous drop in cases.”

Speed at which world’s glaciers are melting has doubled in 20 years

The melting of the world’s glaciers has nearly doubled in speed over the past 20 years and contributes more to sea-level rise than either the Greenland or Antarctic ice sheets, according to the most comprehensive global study of ice rivers ever undertaken released today, as the Guardian reports.

India Covid Deaths top 200,000

India on Wednesday reported another record number of coronavirus cases and deaths, nudging its official covid-19 death toll past 200,000, and in a new global record, Indian authorities logged 360,960 infections in a 24-hour period, bringing the total number of cases to more than 17.9 million, as the Washington Post reports.

Executive Education

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Mexico Matters

The Mexico Matters podcast series highlights key developments in Mexico and their impact on the United States. Hosted by Mariana Campero, each episode brings in-depth analysis, commentary, and conversations on an array of subjects ranging from economics, trade, and energy to national security, foreign policy, and business. Listen on Apple Podcasts & Spotify.

Video Shorts

Check out CSIS’s new series of video shorts: “Data Unpacked,” Testify,” “What's Happening,” “Preview,” and “High Resolution.” And don’t forget to subscribe to the CSIS YouTube Channel!

In That Number

94%

Pfizer and Moderna coronavirus vaccines are 94 percent effective at preventing hospitalization in fully vaccinated adults 65 or older according to a new CDC study released today.

Source: CDC

Critical Quote

“Things are changing so rapidly in the world, in science and technology and a whole range of other issues, that — the question is: In a democracy that’s such a genius as ours, can you get consensus in the time frame that can compete with autocracy?”

— President Joe Biden

iDeas Lab

CSIS expert Caitlin Welsh testified before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Global Human Rights on the effects of climate change in Africa. Watch here.

The Andreas C. Dracopoulos iDeas Lab at CSIS enhances our research with the latest in cutting-edge web technologies, design, and multimedia.

Optics

(Photo credit: Abhishek Chinnappa/Getty Images.) An employee fills oxygen cylinders inside an oxygen filling centre on April 28, 2021 in Bengaluru, India as a surging wave of Covid-19 ravages Indian cities.

This Town Tomorrow

Tomorrow, at 9:00 a.m., join the CSIS Southeast Asia Program will present the second half of "The Future of the U.S.-Vietnam Partnership," a two-part discussion on key issues in the U.S.-Vietnam comprehensive partnership.

Later, at 12:30 p.m., CSIS's Renewing American Innovation Project and America’s leading copyright experts in a discussion of one of the most consequential Supreme Court decisions on software copyrights.

Then, at 2:00 p.m., the CSIS Commission on Strengthening America’s Health Security and CSIS Economics Program convene for a panel discussion on innovative, concrete options for generating financial resources for pandemic preparedness and response in low- and middle-income countries.

Video

Earlier today, CSIS International Security Program director Seth Jones hosted conversation with Chief of the Defence Staff General Sir Nick Carter for a conversation on the UK Integrated Review, military modernization, and more. Watch here.

Podcasts

Dr. Castrucci joined the podcast to discuss his evolving collaborations with noted Republican pollster Frank Luntz to understand how best to engage conservative Republican voters who refuse or are otherwise deeply resistant to getting vaccinated against Sars-CoV-2.

Listen on SoundCloud & Apple Podcasts.

Smiles

“Alpine Valley, in the middle of the night
Six strings down
On the heaven-bound flight
Got a pick, a strap, guitar on his back
Ain't gonna cut the angels no slack
Heaven done called
Another blues-stringer back home”
Art Neville / Cyril Neville / Eric Kolb / Stacy Kelsey Smith / Jimmie Lawrence Vaughan

When I’m asked about which Jazz Fest performance I attended that was the most memorable, I have a quick answer because it’s not even close. It was this May 1990 set by Stevie Ray Vaughn four months before he perished in a helicopter crash near Alpine Valley. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqVFNAKYbqQ&t=2075s.

I invite you to email me at [email protected] and follow me on Twitter @handrewschwartz

The Evening is my daily guide to key insights CSIS brings to the events of the day. It is composed with the External Relations team: Emma Colbran, Caleb Diamond, and Kendal Gee.