This is our daily update on the recent COVID-19 news for Monday, January 18, 2021. Previous daily updates can be found here, en up-to-date statistics are here.
New York City is in Phase 4 of reopening now, which includes zoos, botanical gardens, museums, en gymnasiums. Governor Andrew Cuomo cites rising hospitalization figures suspended indoor dining room in NYC from December 14th. After he closed for a few weeks, NYC public schools partially reopened on December 7 for students of 3K-5, with students with special needs returning on December 10th. Certain parts of Staten Island remain under a zoned closure.
Get answers to your questions can have with our series “Ask an epidemiologist”, or learn more about NYC COVID-19 Test Options with Our Explainer. Here are some local hotlines for more information: NYC: 311; NY State Hotline: 888-364-3065; NJ State Hotline: 800-222-1222.
Here is the latest:
In an effort to increase the supply of the COVID-19 vaccine in New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo on Monday sent a letter to Pfizer in New York to buy their vaccine directly from them, which the federal government is sidelining.
‘Pfizer is not bound by a federal agreement because they did not get engaged [in] the federal government’s Operation Warp Speed, where they gave money to drug companies to speed up the vaccine, “Cuomo said during a briefing Monday.” Pfizer is a company based in New York. They have their headquarters here. ‘
The letter, addressed to Pfizer’s CEO, dr. Albert Bourla, was sent out of frustration over the reduced distribution of the vaccine to the federal government to New York, which according to Cuomo was originally to be maintained at 300,000 a week. The governor said the number of vaccines provided to the New York by the federal government was 239,625.
At that rate, Cuomo said, it would take more than 7 months to vaccinate those currently eligible for the Phase 1a and 1b category vaccine. To date, one million New Yorkers have received the first dose of the vaccine, about 5 percent of state residents.
“Seven months is a lifetime. So I don’t really qualify if there is no stock,” Cuomo said. “The federal government is in charge of supply. They need to increase supply.”
But even with such a shortage, Cuomo reported that hospitals still have not distributed the vaccine to health workers who qualify for the two-dose shot. The hospitals include New York City Health + Hospitals, he said.
Mayor Bill de Blasio also called on the federal government to increase the supply of vaccines, and warned that the city could run out of doses in the coming week. The Brooklyn Army Terminal, which opened last week as one of the city’s first 24/7 vaccine distribution sites, has been closed since Friday due to the shortage, according to the de Blasio administration.
An inquiry to Pfizer has not been returned.
Another new variant found in California, concerned health officials
Another new variant of the coronavirus appears more frequently in California, which is causing some health officials concern as the state continues to face an onslaught of new cases and hospitalizations.
The strain, known as L452R, differs from the highly transmissible variant first found in the United Kingdom. Officials said Sunday that they have identified the L452R variant in a dozen provinces and linked it to significant outbreaks in Santa Clara County, the Los Angeles Times reported.
“The fact that this variant has been identified in several major outbreaks in our country is a red flag and it needs to be further investigated,” said Santa Clara County health official, Dr. Sara Cody, said in a statement. “This virus continues to mutate and adapt, and we can not wait.”
The California Department of Health said it is unclear whether the new strain is significantly more contagious, or more identifiable due to laboratory techniques. Several variants of the virus have been documented throughout the pandemic.
A recent sequencing effort at the University of California, San Francisco, found that the variant was present according to a quarter of their samples, up from 3.8% last month, according to the NY Times.
Los Angeles also reported its first confirmed case on Saturday of the variant first found in the UK, and it is more contagious, though not more deadly.
In a report published on Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned that the British variant could become the dominant tribe in the United States by March.