More than 3 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine were administered for the first time on back-to-back days across the country as the rate of vaccinations in the country continues to increase.
Nearly a quarter of the entire U.S. population – and nearly a third of adults – have received at least one dose, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
But dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, warned that data on new cases and hospitalizations indicated that numbers were rising again in the Northeast and Upper Midwest.
“The apparent flattening of cases and hospital admissions, after the continued decline in early January to the end of February, is, in my view, very worrying,” she said.
A resurgence could come if Americans do not continue to wear masks but give up socially and abide by other restrictions, she said.
“Believe me, I understand, we all want to return to our everyday activities and spend time with our family, friends and loved ones,” she said. “But we need to find the strength to just hang in there a little longer.”
Also in the news:
►Krispy Kreme offers a sweet incentive to encourage vaccinations – free donuts until the end of 2021. From Monday, consumers who show a valid COVID-19 vaccination card nationwide will receive a free Original Glazed donut. The freebie is valid at all 369 Krispy Kreme stores in 41 states.
►On Sunday, Florida became the first state with more than 1,000 known cases of coronavirus variants. The U.S. has reported another 834 cases since Thursday and now has 6,638 known cases; CDC data show that almost 6,400 are of the B.1.1.7 type, the first to be found in the UK.
► Students in classrooms in California can sit three feet apart instead of six according to the new guidelines adopted by the state, which follow the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
►1 out of 4 Americans have seen in the past few weeks that someone blames Asian Americans for the coronavirus epidemic, a new US TODAY / Ipsos poll. The nationwide survey was conducted Thursday and Friday following the mass shooting of eight people in Georgia last week, six of them women of Asian descent.
📈 Today’s numbers: According to Johns Hopkins University data, the U.S. has more than 29.8 million cases of coronavirus and more than 542,000 deaths. The global total: 123.3 million cases and 2.71 million deaths. According to the CDC, more than 156.7 million doses of vaccine were distributed and 124.4 million were administered.
📘 What we read: From elementary school to graduate school, the development of young minds in the near physical proximity suddenly stopped in mid-March 2020. Here’s what happened next.
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AstraZeneca vaccine 79% effective; US Authorization Required
AstraZeneca said Monday that advanced trial data from a U.S. study on the vaccine show that it is 79% effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 and that it is 100% effective in stopping serious illness and hospitalization. The U.S. study consisted of 30,000 volunteers, 20,000 of whom received the vaccine, while the rest received dummy shots.
Investigators said no increased risk of blood clots was found. The use of the AstraZeneca vaccine was suspended last week in several European countries amid reports of blood clots in a small number of patients, but the European Medicines Agency has since said the vaccine is safe and effective.
“We are preparing to submit these findings to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and for the rollout of millions of doses in the United States, permission from the U.S. state of emergency would be granted,” said company spokesman Mene Pangalos. said.
CDC starts $ 2.25 billion for underserved communities, including rural areas
The CDC will spend $ 2.25 billion over the next two years to address the excessive impact of COVID-19 on high-risk and underserved communities, not only racial and ethnic minorities, but also rural people, the agency said. announced.
A new program will provide funding to public health departments so that they can improve their testing and contract detection, implement mitigating and preventive measures against the coronavirus, and improve their data collection, among other things.
“This investment will be monumental in anchoring equity at the heart of our country’s COVID-19 response – and it’s an important step forward in bringing resources and focus to health inequalities that have persisted in our country for far too long, “CDC’s director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in a statement.
Advice: Wuhan Laboratory’s Possible Role in Pandemic Deserves Further Investigation
The idea that more than 2.7 million deaths worldwide – so far – could be the result of a laboratory accident has been met with skepticism and ridicule by many journalists and scientists. basic rhetoric. Without a doubt, the laboratory leak theory has been politically and racially armed in ugly ways. But the rhetoric must be separated from legitimate laboratory safety questions that deserve the investigation.
Labs in Wuhan may not have played a role in the origin of the pandemic, but a year later no source was found, and the world deserves a thorough, unbiased investigation into all credible theories done without fear or favor. Read more here.
– Alison Young
Funeral Homes Knowing Something Was Wrong Before COVID Became a Crisis
Funeral services already knew in January 2020, before the CDC informed the general public, that something new was killing people. The operator knew before COVID-19 was ever listed as the cause of death, says Maine funeral director Jeffrey Pelkey.
Pelkey, 54, remembered an unprecedented day when two elderly couples, both from local nursing homes, arrived within 24 hours. Soon cemeteries are closing, worried about the risk to their workers. Funeral services became storage facilities for the dead and waited to be buried.
“It was almost as if a reality television series had hit us for which we had not subscribed,” Pelkey said.
VP Kamala Harris visits Florida to promote a stimulus package
Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to Jacksonville, Florida, on Monday to present the government’s $ 1.9 billion coronavirus stimulus plan.
This will be her first visit since Florida went through the presidential campaign last year. Harris’ stop in the Sunshine State is part of the government’s “Help is Here” tour to highlight the benefits of the U.S. bailout plan signed by President Joe Biden on March 11.
The Democratic National Committee on Monday unveiled billboards in Miami and Tampa to remind voters that Florida’s two U.S. senators, Republicans Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, opposed the measure.
– Antonio Fins, Palm Beach Post
Sen. Rand Paul rejects Fauci’s mask messages
Kent Paul, Senator Rand Paul, on Sunday clashed with dr. Anthony Fauci went on to question whether vaccinated Americans should continue to wear masks. “Sorry Dr. Fauci and other instigators, new study shows vaccinations and naturally acquired immunity neutralize COVID variants effectively,” Paul tweeted. “Good news for everyone except bureaucrats and petty tyrants!”
The GOP senator and Fauci became entangled during a Senate hearing last week, and Paul dismissed Fauci’s claim that vaccinated Americans should continue to wear masks as ‘theater’. Fauci cited questions about the impact of virus variants on vaccines. Fauci printed his case on Friday, saying on CBS This Morning that Paul’s claim that wearing a mask was unnecessary was “dead wrong”.
Miami Beach remains in a state of emergency due to the spring breakers
Miami Beach’s entertainment district will remain in a state of emergency because an influx of springbreakers flooded the city. A connecting clock went into effect at 8 p.m. Saturday and will last at least until the same time Tuesday, Miami Beach Interim Manager Raul Aguila said. All restaurants, bars and businesses must be closed by 20:00
“At the peak of the spring break, we were simply overwhelmed in the entertainment district,” Aguila said. “People, this is not an easy decision to make. We do it to protect public health and safety.”
The pressure is growing for the White House to issue guidelines for reopening borders
On the occasion of the United States’ closure of its northern and southern neighbors due to the pandemic, lawmakers and families across the country, separated by the border, continue to languish without a clear end in sight. “It’s been a year of fighting for two families,” said Devon Weber, founder of Let Us Reunite, a 2,200-family campaign campaigning for the U.S. government to increase travel exemptions for communities separated by border closures.
“Your life is in a limbo and it’s extremely frustrating. Heartbreaking is the word that comes to mind,” Weber said. Every month during the pandemic, border restrictions are re-approved, without being clear.
– Matthew Brown
Schools testing for viruses to allow personal class: ‘It’s worth it’
As part of the pressure under President Joe Biden to reopen schools, the government announced last week that it would make $ 10 billion available for K-12 schools to expand the coronavirus investigation of staff and students. Fast, fast antigen tests that provide results within 15 minutes, such as those used at McSwain Union Elementary School in Northern California, are likely to be widely accepted.
The CDC announced new recommendations this week along with Biden’s school testing initiative. Biden administration officials say more details are coming, but the lack of national coordination so far has left states and districts pointing their own ways.
Schools that have already set up test regimes have applied different practices. Medical technology companies rushed to meet their needs with testing products and services. Health experts are divided on which tests are best. And some individuals and students’ families failed to test. Even with the growing vaccination program, testing is critical to detecting new cases and variants that can make the virus more contagious or deadly.
“This is something that would have made a big difference months ago,” said Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Safety, said. “And it will make a world of difference if we can do it today.”
– Erin Richards, Ken Alltucker
Contributions: Morgan Hines and Mike Stucka, USA TODAY; The Associated Press
This article originally appeared in the US TODAY: COVID Updates: AstraZeneca Vaccine 79% Effective; Miami spring break