COVID-19 killed more than 436,000 Americans, and infections continued to increase despite the launch of some vaccines late in 2020. USA TODAY is watching the news. Keep refreshing this page for the latest updates. Subscribe to our Coronavirus Watch Newsletter for updates to your inbox, join our Facebook group or browse through our in-depth answers to reader questions.
Are you planning public transport soon? You’ll need a mask.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an order late Friday requiring people on planes, ships, ferries, trains, subways, buses, taxis and ride-sharing to wear a face mask while waiting, boarding, traveling and boarding go. The order applies to those traveling to, within or outside the US
The agency said it reserved the right to enforce the order through criminal penalties. It takes effect on Monday at 23:59.
Meanwhile, Johnson & Johnson said data from its late trial in the US and seven other countries on Friday showed that the one-shot vaccine has an overall effectiveness of 66% in preventing moderate to severe disease.
After it was fully protected, there were no deaths in the vaccinated group, and also among the placebo recipients.
Due to the single-dose regimen, the J&J vaccine has been described as a ‘game changer’ in the campaign against the coronavirus pandemic. And the vaccine does not need to be frozen so that it can be distributed through normal vaccine supply chains without the need for new, expensive equipment.
In the headings:
►The Biden administration announced on Friday that it has reached its first vaccination target, with an average of 1.2 million shots fired per day over the previous seven days. Biden said earlier this week he hopes to get 1.5 million vaccinations a day.
► The European Union’s medicine regulator approved AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine on Friday for use in all adults, despite concerns that there is not enough data to prove it works in older people. The German vaccination advisory committee said in a draft recommendation that the vaccine should only be given to people aged 18-64 for the time being.
► Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan is appealing to the state to prevent hospital systems from giving special COVID-19 vaccine access to donors, board members or other affiliated community members following reports of various hospital systems doing so. She also asked that the state re-allocate vaccines to community health clinics that serve colored communities
► This couple from Kentucky did everything together for 56 years. Then one of them died alone of COVID-19.
► The Arizona Department of Health Services has reported that the tribe of the United Kingdom has been confirmed in COVID-19 tests of three people. The agency works with other public health agencies, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to monitor the situation.
► Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday announced stricter restrictions on travelers in response to new, probably more contagious variants of the new coronavirus – including requiring travelers to quarantine in a hotel at their own expense when they arrive in Canada and suspend the airline. service to Mexico and all destinations in the Caribbean until April 30th.
► “I cried. I begged. I screamed”: Couples clash over COVID-19 because men do not take the virus as seriously as women and are less likely to follow safety precautions, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. .
📈 Today’s numbers: According to Johns Hopkins University data, there are more than 25.9 million confirmed cases of coronavirus and more than 436,800 deaths. The global total: More than 102.1 million cases and 2.2 million deaths. About 48.4 million vaccine doses were distributed, according to the CDC, and 27.8 million were administered.
📘 What we read: COVID-19 side effects? Painkillers like Tylenol and Advil are “absolutely fine” – but only after vaccination, experts say. Read the full story.
Applications for medical schools rise among black, Latino students
According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, which represents 155 U.S. institutions, applications for the coming fall have increased by 18%. Some schools have seen 30% jumps. And many school officials specifically note that the number of applicants from Americans who are traditionally underrepresented is helping drive the boom.
Miriam Cepeda helplessly watched as her grandfather, an immigrant from the Dominican Republic who was ill with COVID-19, resisted the pleas to go to the hospital in March. “He told us that he had sad memories of hospitals in the house and that he did not trust the medical system,” said Cepeda, 19, whose grandfather later died of COVID-19. “For many minority communities, going to the doctor is not our first choice or solution.”
Cepeda, of New York City, hopes to change that. Columbia University’s second university plans to apply to the medical school in a few years’ time so that it can serve patients with color, whose inequalities in health care are highlighted by a virus that infects people in color in a make excessive number sick and kill. Read more.
– Marco della Cava
Vaccinated US Representative Stephen Lynch tests positive for COVID-19
A Massachusetts congressman who received both doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine tested positive for the virus.
The office of U.S. Attorney Stephen Lynch said Friday that the legislature had a negative test result before attending President Joe Biden’s inauguration. The office says Lynch’s positive test result came after a staff member in his Boston office tested positive earlier this week.
According to a statement, Lynch shows no symptoms of COVID-19. Lynch will post self-quarantine and vote in Congress in the coming week.
Lynch is the second member of the state’s congressional delegation to test positive in as many days. U.S. Representative Lori Trahan announced Thursday that she has tested positive after repeatedly testing negative.
Colorado Mayor compares COVID-19 restrictions to George Floyd’s death
The mayor of a Colorado town compared COVID-19 to the death of George Floyd in a statement he said was later a ‘poor choice’, according to a local outlet.
Snowmass Village Mayor Bill Madsen pleads for lighter COVID-related restrictions during a meeting of the Pitkin County Board of Health on Thursday when he drew a comparison with the death of Floyd, a black man who died after ‘ a Minneapolis police officer kept his knee. for more than eight minutes on Floyd’s neck.
“We’re creating a tremendous amount of bad will in the community,” Madsen was quoted as saying by the Aspen Daily News. “Listening back to the George Floyd scenario, we put a foot in the throat of the restaurant industry and can’t breathe.”
He later returned his comments: “I was just trying to mark the point that the restaurant industry was suffering, and that was probably a bad word choice,” Madsen said. “It was a bad choice. … I just wanted to make sure the restaurant industry was heard, and I think they did not feel that way during this whole process.”
Country leaders in Iowa beg for patience amid shortages of COVID vaccines
Leaders in some Iowa counties warned Friday that their supply of COVID-19 vaccine would remain in demand for at least a few more weeks. At the same time, the state is on track to extend the admission of vaccines to Iowans 65 years or older, as well as people in certain high-risk occupations.
“We urge you to be patient as we continue to navigate this impossible situation,” Polk County Supervisor Angela Connolly told a news conference. “It’s a tough, tough time. People want to be vaccinated, and we want to get the vaccine in their arms.”
Helen Eddy, director of the Polk County Department of Health, said her agency would have just enough vaccine to provide first doses to 2,575 residents next week, plus second doses to 4,500 people who had already received initial shots. . Provincial health officials across Iowa face challenges similar to Polk’s.
– Tony Leys, Des Moines Register
Mexican President says he recovers from COVID-19
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Friday posted a video of himself walking slowly through his offices and talking for about 13 minutes straight, saying he was recovering from COVID-19.
López Obrador did not hold his famous, hours-long daily press conferences for the first time since taking office on December 1, 2018, and he apparently misses the opportunity to speak.
The president, who has been in isolation over the weekend since testing the coronavirus positively, said: “The doctors tell me I’m going through the critical stage. I’m doing well.”
Contributing Contributions: The Associated Press
This article originally appeared in the US TODAY: COVID News: J&J Vaccine Trial; Canada tightens travel restrictions