“More people in the United States are being vaccinated at an accelerated rate every day,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said during a Covid-19 briefing in the White House on Monday.
“On the other hand, cases and hospitalizations are increasing in some parts of the country, and cases among younger people who have not yet been vaccinated are also increasing.”
In the past seven days, the U.S. has reported an average of more than 67,000 new Covid-19 infections daily, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. This is almost a 25% increase from the seven-day average a month ago.
“People are tired,” Matthew Budd, director of Personal and Preventive Health Services in Jackson County, Michigan, told CNN over the weekend. “We went through all these locks, we’ve been refurbished and … now that it’s getting hotter, people are saying, ‘You know, we’m just tired, we want to be outside, we want to be around other people.
John Fox, CEO of Beaumont Health – Michigan’s largest healthcare system – also recently told CNN it does not help that states, including Michigan, have recently eased restrictions on Covid-19.
In addition, Fox said that some people have deviated from security measures that help combat the spread of the virus.
“I think people have given up their infection control problems, they don’t wear their masks as much as they should, (or) social distance, hand hygiene,” Fox said.
What the CDC now recommends for the J&J vaccine
To date, more than 132 million Americans – nearly 40% of the population – have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine and more than 85 million – about 25.7% of the population – have been vaccinated according to the complete vaccine. . and CDC data.
These can include sudden and severe headaches, back pain, new neurological symptoms, severe abdominal pain, shortness of breath, swelling in the leg, small red spots on the skin and new or easy bruises.
The break-in recommendation comes across six reported U.S. cases of a rare and serious type of blood clot among more than 6.8 million Americans who received the J&J vaccine. While the vaccine is still approved, scientists are taking the time to review data and determine if the vaccine is actually linked to the blood clots, and if so, whether recommendations on who should receive it should change.
The CDC says any side effects should be reported through the vaccine reporting system.
Walensky said Monday the agency is looking into a “handful” of reported adverse events following the use of the J&J vaccine reported by the system.
“It was a handful of cases, not an overwhelming number of cases,” she said. “We work through and evaluate them and verify that this is a real case.”
Colleges requiring Covid-19 vaccinations in the fall
According to a CNN version, more than 40 have already announced the requirement.
Yale University officials said in a letter to the university community on Monday that all undergraduate, graduate and professional school students are expected to be vaccinated before they arrive on campus. If they are unable to receive a vaccine before returning, the university said they will help arrange vaccinations.
“Although the course of the COVID-19 pandemic over the coming months is uncertain, vaccination is the strongest tool to prevent the transmission of the virus,” a letter from Peter Salovey, president of Yale University, and trial Scott Strobel said.
“There is ample evidence of the efficacy of the vaccines and the growing confidence that vaccines will be widely available by early summer,” the letter added.
Columbia University made a similar announcement Monday, saying it would help provide vaccinations to students who have not yet been vaccinated.
“We consider this decision to be essential to the health of Columbia students and the wider University and surrounding communities, and to the spread of the virus in New York City, one of the worst-hit areas in the country over the past 13 years. “limited ‘months,” said a letter from Columbia’s senior executive vice president Gerry Rosberg and the university’s Covid director Donna Lynne.
The university said there are websites offering the Pfizer and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines.
Another ban on Covid-19 vaccine passports
The university announcements come amid ongoing debates in different parts of the country over whether to vaccinate in certain spaces.
“The residents of our state should not be forced by the government to share their private medical information,” the governor said in a statement. “While we strongly recommend all Arizonans to get the COVID-19 vaccine, it is not mandatory in our state – nor will it ever be. Vaccination is up to each individual, not the government.”
“It is completely unacceptable that either the government or the private sector requires you to show proof of vaccine in order to simply participate in normal society,” DeSantis said earlier.
CNN’s Deidre McPhillips, Elizabeth Stuart, Maggie Fox, Virginia Langmaid and Ryan Prior contributed to this report.