DeWine: Vaccination is ‘ticket to freedom’
Ohio Govenor Mike DeWine said Thursday he does not expect to add new coronavirus restrictions to schools or businesses, despite the rapid spread of virus variants across the state. (April 15)
AP
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. has completely vaccinated 30% of adults, and nearly 50% of the U.S. adult population has received at least one dose.
But we are still far from herd immunity. Dr Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading expert on infectious diseases, said the number could be up to 85%.
Meanwhile, people are likely to need a third Pfizer / BioNTech survey within 12 months of being fully vaccinated, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla told CNBC on Thursday. Annual shots may also be needed, Bourla said.
COVID-19 variants will “play a key role” in determining future vaccinations, The Hill Bourla needs. The country’s primary focus at the moment is to vaccinate the population now to prevent the spread of the virus, he said.
In addition, Fauci said this week that people may have to take boost shots for the COVID vaccines within a year during an interview with MSNBC’s Medhi Hasan. Recent data suggests that Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines provide protection for at least six months, Fauci said.
Also in the news:
►Almost 6,000 ‘breakthrough cases’ of Americans infected with the coronavirus despite vaccination have been reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – far less than 1% of the 76 million fully vaccinated Americans.
► Travelers visiting Maui, the second most popular vacation destination in Hawaii after Oahu, will soon have to take a second COVID-19 test to circumvent the state’s mandatory quarantine.
►New US government data show that over a period of 13 months, the country has seen approximately 600,000 more deaths than usual. COVID-19 is blamed for most of the deaths.
► The new governor of New Hampshire says the state will lift its mask mandate on Friday, although individual communities and businesses will be allowed to continue imposing restrictions.
►Michigan’s largest hospital system is going to tents to handle emergency care because it deals with a large number of COVID-19 patients in the suburbs of Detroit. Beaumont Health said it had more than 800 COVID patients on Thursday, compared to 500 two weeks ago and 128 at the end of February.
►The break to use the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is a bump in the road to full vaccination for health workers who rely on the single dose to vaccinate more than 100,000 farm workers in Florida before migrating north. The Healthcare Network, which reached more than 430 farm workers in Immokalee, Florida, with one shot on Saturday, will now rely on the two-dose Moderna vaccine.
►France became the third country in Europe after the United Kingdom and Italy to reach the undesirable milestone of 100,000 COVID-19 deaths as new infections and deaths increased due to virus variants.
► A top official of the World Health Organization says that Europe has exceeded 1 million deaths due to COVID-19.
📈 Today’s numbers: According to Johns Hopkins University data, the U.S. has more than 31.4 million confirmed cases of coronavirus and 564,000 deaths. The global total: 138 million cases and more than 2.97 million deaths. According to the CDC, more than 250.99 million doses of vaccine have been distributed in the US and 194.7 million have been administered.
📘 What we read: The childcare industry collapsed during COVID-19, giving President Joe Biden $ 39 billion. Read the full story.
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The U.S. government’s recommended halt to the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine due to a rare side effect will remain for at least another week, after a panel on disease control and prevention centers decided Wednesday that it needed time. has to evaluate more data.
With more than 3.7 million J&J shots fired in the two and a half weeks before the April 13 strike, additional information on the rare blood clotting condition is expected. But some health experts fear it could do longer harm than prolong the break.
“If you have a long break that is not resolved quickly, it raises concerns and fears among people who are already hesitant about vaccines,” said Dr. Arthur Caplan, a professor of bioethics at the NYU School of Medicine in New York City, said.
Health experts are not only concerned that people will become more hesitant about vaccinating J&J, but that people can avoid COVID-19 vaccines altogether. The Pfizer BioNTech and Moderna vaccines that are allowed to be used in the US are a different technology than J&J and one by AstraZeneca, which is also associated with similar blood clots in Europe.
– Adrianna Rodriguez
Florida Education Commissioner recommends schools make masks optional for school year 2021-22
Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran issued a letter on Wednesday saying school districts should change their masking policies for the 2021-22 school year to make masks optional.
The education department reviewed data from across the state and found no correlation between the extensive mandates and the presence of COVID-19 in schools, Corcoran said.
“The data show us that district policies do not affect the spread of the virus,” Corcoran wrote, calling for more ‘surgical – not comprehensive’ policies.
Families should have the option to determine if their child has a face mask, Corcoran said. He added students with disabilities and those learning English are particularly hampered by the ‘one size fits all’ mask policy and some families may have chosen to withdraw their child from school due to the mandate.
His letter concludes with the request that ‘districts that are currently instructed to cover policies to voluntarily review their policies for the 2021-22 school year.’
– Ryan McKinnon, Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Contributing Contributions: The Associated Press