The White House announced its plans on Friday to invest $ 1.7 billion in genomic sequencing – the process of mapping a virus’ genetic code – to help states track and limit the spread of COVID-19 variants .
The funding comes from President Joe Biden’s nearly $ 2 trillion relief package and will be used to collect COVID samples, track the virus and share data, according to a White House fact sheet. The first part of the funding will be awarded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in early May.
The money will be used for the collection of COVID samples, the order of the virus and the sharing of subsequent data, according to a fact sheet provided by the White House.
Until recently, only a fraction of the samples in the U.S. were consecutive, but the Biden government invested $ 200 million on the order, doubling the testing process that began in mid-February.
The investment also includes $ 400 million to establish six Centers of Excellence in Genomic Epidemiology, a partnership between state health departments and academic research and development institutions, and $ 300 million to create a national bioinformatics system to share and analyze sequence data. The administration will allocate the first tranche of funding in early May, with a second tranche expected to be invested over the next few years.
– Courtney Subramanian
Also in the news:
► Michigan on Friday expanded a five-week public mask pandemic order, limiting business capacity and cap collection, as the state continues to face the country’s highest daily coronavirus infection rate.
► West Virginia’s coronavirus vaccinations are delayed as fewer people come forward to get shots, the governor said Friday. The administration rate of the vaccine supply in the state is about 85%, down from the higher figures early in the year when the state briefly led the country in most people vaccinated.
► Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday that Pfizer will double the amount of vaccines to Canada over the next month and has announced that the Red Cross is ready to be deployed in Ontario to help with vaccinations amid a record wave of coronavirus infections variants are fueled.
► An increasing number of unfinished appointments and a low enrollment among nursing home workers are early signs that vaccine hesitation is becoming a problem in Pennsylvania, prompting government officials to sound the alarm and urging residents to get their COVID-19 shots as soon as possible gain.
► Native American tribes and Alaska indigenous communities are getting more than $ 4 billion from Biden coronavirus relief legislation, the White House said Friday. The money will help address a range of issues, including getting more people vaccinated, improving testing and contact tracing, and compensating for strained health systems for lost revenue during coronavirus closure.
►There are now 77 cases in the UK of the new coronavirus variant detected in India, the first of which dates from February, reports the Guardian. This comes when India on Friday recorded 217,353 new cases, according to the Hindustan Times, the highest single day count.
►The White House announced on Friday a new site for mass vaccination in Bessemer, Alabama, which has the capability to deliver 7,000 shots weekly. By next week, there will be a total of 37 such sites in 26 states.
►Johnson & Johnson asked Moderna and Pfizer to participate in a study on the risks of blood clots, but the competing companies declined, reports the Wall Street Journal. J&J also asked AstraZeneca, which is interested in a joint study, reports the Wall Street Journal.
► Travelers visiting Maui, Hawaii’s second most popular vacation destination after Oahu, will soon have to take a second COVID-19 test to bypass the state’s mandatory quarantine.
📈 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: more than 139 million cases and 2.98 million deaths. According to the CDC, more than 255.4 million vaccine doses were distributed in the US and 198.3 million were administered.
📘 What we read: Brothers and sisters fight. Spouse in a fight. How to fix relationships damaged by COVID.
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According to the US, 30% of adults are fully vaccinated
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. reported that 30% of adults were fully vaccinated and that nearly 50% of the U.S. adult population received at least one vaccine 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.
In addition, Fauci said this week that people may need to get boost shots for the COVID vaccines within a year, during an interview with MSNBC’s Medhi Hasan. Recent data suggests that Pfizer and Moderna vaccines provide protection for at least six months, Fauci said.
Florida mayors say governors’ orders have exacerbated COVID boom in spring
The mayors of some of Florida’s most popular destinations during the spring break say they had little power to get revelers to gather in their towns last month and spread the coronavirus.
In the four weeks between March 13 and Tuesday, infections increased more in Florida’s spring spots than elsewhere in the state, an analysis by the Palm Beach Post, part of the U.S. TODAY Network, found.
DeSantis shares the blame for removing the ability of cities and provinces to enforce their anticoron virus rules, local officials said. He ordered local governments on March 10 to cancel the fines levied on businesses that violate disease measures, and he asked state lawmakers to pass legislation that would allow him to block local mask mandates.
– Chris Persaud, Palm Beach Post
COVID infection after vaccination is rare, but breakthroughs can occur.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that out of more than 75 million fully vaccinated Americans, only 5,800 had COVID-19 infections – or so-called breakthrough infections.
So far, just over 40% of the breakthrough infections were in people 60 years and older and 65% female, said Kristen Nordlund of CDC Public Affairs.
Almost 30% of those with such infections had no symptoms at all. But 7% were hospitalized, according to her, and only 1% died.
– Karen Weintraub, USA TODAY
Stimulation tests of $ 1,400 boosted retail sales by 9.8% in March
Americans, who have just been vaccinated and are armed with $ 1,400 stimulus checks, played on an issue last month. Retail sales rose a seasonally adjusted 9.8% in March after falling by about 3% the previous month, the Department of Commerce said Thursday.
The increase was larger than the 5.5% increase expected by Wall Street analysts, and the largest since May last year, when stores reopened after it closed at the start of the pandemic.
This is the latest sign that the economy is improving. Last month, 916,000 jobs were added, the most since August.
– Associated Press
Some health experts are concerned that Johnson & Johnson could cause serious damage to the perception of COVID-19 vaccines
The US 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 on 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 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 extent of mask assignments 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
This article originally appeared in the US TODAY: COVID updates: White House announces $ 1.7 billion to track variants