CNN -
August 5, 2021
[This] week, as the Delta variant and low vaccination rates in several southern states sent cases soaring, Biden took a new approach: Castigating Republican governors who are standing in the way of mask and vaccine requirements -- and calling out the governors of Texas and Florida in particular for enacting "bad health policy." "I say to these governors: Please help. But if you aren't going to help, at least get out of the way," Biden said…
AP -
August 3, 2021
The U.S. on Monday finally reached President Joe Biden’s goal of getting at least one COVID-19 shot into 70% of American adults -- a month late and amid a fierce surge by the delta variant that is swamping hospitals and leading to new mask rules and mandatory vaccinations around the country. In a major retreat in the Deep South, Louisiana ordered nearly everyone, vaccinated or not, to wear masks again in all indoor public settings, including schools and colleges. And other cities and states likewise moved to reinstate precautions to counter a crisis blamed on the fast-spreading variant and stubborn resistance to getting the vaccine.
HealthDay -
August 3, 2021
As of July 16, close to 9 million teens, aged 12 to 17, had received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine — the only one okayed for that age group. Among roughly 9,240 reported side effects, 91% were minor, such as soreness near the vaccination site. But 9% were serious, with 4% developing a heart problem known as myocarditis, the CDC reported Friday.
NBC News -
August 3, 2021
People at considerable risk of developing severe Covid-19, including millions of Americans with compromised immune systems, now have the option of receiving a preventive monoclonal antibody treatment if they have been or are at risk of being exposed to the coronavirus. The FDA’s action on Friday brings hope to the estimated 3 percent of Americans who are immunocompromised … This is the first time an injectable coronavirus antibody treatment has been approved for use as a prevention of Covid after someone has been exposed to the virus.
STAT -
August 3, 2021
Federal officials in the United States say that booster shots are not needed yet. But some anxious patients are nonetheless trying to get them — either by asking a health care provider willing to prescribe an extra shot, or by lying about their earlier vaccination.
AP -
August 3, 2021
But the new measures are unlikely to affect many of the millions of unvaccinated Americans. Many of the companies that are requiring shots have mostly office workers who are already largely vaccinated and are reluctant to work alongside those who aren’t. In contrast, major companies that rely on low-income blue-collar workers — food manufacturers, warehouses, supermarkets and other store chains — are shying away from mandates for fear of driving away employees and worsening the labor shortages such businesses are facing.
NPR -
August 3, 2021
As COVID-19 cases surge, the federal government and some private employers are requiring their workers to show proof of vaccination. Plus, certain cities and localities are once again requiring masks indoors. Some states, however, are not just ordering more precautions, but already moving to stop vaccination mandates in the future. … As of late last week, 9 states have enacted 11 laws with prohibitions on vaccine mandates (Arizona and Arkansas have each enacted two).
USA Today -
August 3, 2021
It is a phenomenon that perplexes sociologists, legal scholars, public health experts and philosophers, causing them to wonder: At what point should individual rights yield to the public interest? If coronavirus kills 1 in 100, will that be enough to change some minds? Or 1 in 10?
HealthDay -
August 2, 2021
New data on the outbreak, released Friday, shows there were a known total of 469 COVID-19 cases "associated with multiple summer events" among Provincetown revelers. Three-quarters (74%) of those cases occurred among people who'd gotten their COVID vaccinations an average of almost three months before. In 89% of those cases, the highly contagious Delta variant was implicated...
STAT -
August 2, 2021
Pfizer’s vaccine is currently cleared under a so-called emergency use authorization, which allows the company to sell the vaccine for as long as Covid-19 is considered a public health emergency. But with Covid-19 still raging, and its spread now fueled by the Delta variant, lawmakers and prominent health experts have urged the FDA to expedite full approval of Pfizer’s vaccine, saying it would be a powerful tool in convincing the unvaccinated to get their shots and in giving businesses and other entities a stronger legal foundation to impose vaccine mandates.
CNN -
August 2, 2021
More than 99.99% of people fully vaccinated against Covid-19 have not had a breakthrough case resulting in hospitalization or death, according to the latest data from the CDC. … The CDC reported 6,587 Covid-19 breakthrough cases as of July 26, including 6,239 hospitalizations and 1,263 deaths. At that time, more than 163 million people in the United States were fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
CNN -
August 2, 2021
The rate of Covid-19 vaccinations in the U.S. continues to rise, a positive sign amid skyrocketing cases and hospitalizations after weeks of lagging inoculations. The CDC reported that 816,203 doses were administered Saturday, the fifth straight day the agency recorded more than 700,000 shots in arms.
FiveThirtyEight -
August 2, 2021
Unvaccinated Americans tend to be younger, less well-educated and poorer; they are also more likely to be a person of color. The situation we’re in is not just because of politics but also because of access to the vaccine and broader skepticism of the health care system. Age is an even more significant dividing line for vaccinations than politics is.
Gallup -
August 2, 2021
One of the most, if not the most significant, correlates of vaccine hesitancy is partisanship. Republicans are much less likely to report getting or intending to get the vaccine than independents and Democrats. … Another significant correlate of vaccine hesitancy is education. … "Americans without a college degree are much more likely than college graduates to be vaccine-hesitant, 31% to 12%." … most frequently given reason for not getting the vaccine is worry about side effects -- coupled with a generalized lack of trust in vaccines.
The Atlantic -
August 2, 2021
In Missouri and other red states, vaccine refusal on partisan grounds has become a defining marker of community affiliation. Acceptance within some circles is contingent on refusal to cooperate with the Biden administration’s public-health campaign. Getting vaccinated is a betrayal of that group norm, and those who get the shot can legitimately fear losing their job or incurring the wrath of their families and other reference groups.
Washington Post -
July 30, 2021
The delta variant of the coronavirus appears to cause more severe illness than earlier variants and spreads as easily as chickenpox, according to an internal federal health document that argues officials must “acknowledge the war has changed.” The document is an internal CDC slide presentation, shared within the CDC and obtained by The Washington Post. …. It cites a combination of recently obtained, still-unpublished data from outbreak investigations and outside studies showing that vaccinated individuals infected with delta may be able to transmit the virus as easily as those who are unvaccinated.