NPR -
May 24, 2021
New coronavirus cases across the United States have tumbled to rates not seen in more than 11 months, sparking optimism that vaccination campaigns are stemming both severe COVID-19 cases and the spread of the virus. As cases, hospitalizations and deaths steadily dropped this week, pre-pandemic life in America has largely resumed. … The average number of deaths over the last seven days also dropped to 552 — a rate not seen since July last year.
BBC -
May 24, 2021
The Pfizer and AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccines are highly effective against the variant identified in India after two doses, a study has found. Two jabs of either vaccine give a similar level of protection against symptomatic disease from the Indian variant as they do for the Kent one. However, both vaccines were only 33% effective against the Indian variant three weeks after the first dose.
HealthDay -
May 24, 2021
Vaccines approved for use in the United States and Europe show protection against all of the more infectious coronavirus variants known to be circling the globe, the World Health Organization said Thursday. ... "All COVID-19 virus variants that have emerged so far do respond to the available approved vaccines."
ABC News -
May 24, 2021
California’s top health official says the state no longer will require social distancing and will allow full capacity for businesses when the state reopens on June 15.
AP -
May 24, 2021
New York City schools will be all in person this fall with no remote options, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Monday. … The roughly 1 million students who attend traditional public schools will be in their classrooms with some version of the coronavirus protocols that have been in place in the current academic year, including mask wearing and COVID-19 testing, de Blasio said.
CBS News -
May 24, 2021
The study compared K-5 schools in Georgia that took these preventive measures with similar schools that didn't, from November 16 through December 11, 2020. Schools that required teachers and staff to wear face masks reported 37% lower COVID-19 incidence, according to the study. Schools that said they used one or more methods to improve ventilation had 39% lower incidence.
Kaiser Health News -
May 21, 2021
KHN’s analysis shows that only 22% of Black Americans have gotten a shot, and Black rates still trail those of whites in almost every state. … Hispanics in eight states, DC and Puerto Rico are now vaccinated at higher rates than non-Hispanic whites. Yet 29% of Hispanics are vaccinated nationally, compared with 33% of whites. While 45% of Native Americans have received at least one dose, stark differences exist depending on where they live. And Asian vaccination rates are high in most states, with 41% getting a shot.
Axios -
May 21, 2021
The first Americans to be vaccinated against the coronavirus could require a third "booster" shot as early as September, the CEOs of Pfizer and Moderna told Axios. Driving the news: "The data that I see coming, they are supporting the notion that likely there will be a need for a booster somewhere between eight and 12 months," Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said yesterday during an Axios event.
AP -
May 21, 2021
A month after every adult in the U.S. became eligible for the vaccine, a distinct geographic pattern has emerged: The highest vaccination rates are concentrated in the Northeast, while the lowest ones are mostly in the South. Experts say the gap reflects a multitude of factors, including political leanings, religious beliefs and education and income levels.
CNN -
May 21, 2021
New York and Maryland both announced lotteries on Thursday for people who get vaccinated against Covid-19, joining Ohio, which last week announced drawings to give away millions of dollars in a bid to boost flagging vaccination rates in the state.
HealthDay -
May 21, 2021
A small but significant percentage of Americans take medications that can hamper their immune system and its response to COVID-19 vaccines, researchers say. Their analysis of data from more than 3 million adults under 65 with private insurance found that nearly 3% take immunosuppressive drugs. … Growing evidence suggests that immunosuppressive drugs may reduce effectiveness of COVID vaccines, increasing patients' risk of severe illness and hospitalization if they get infected.
ABC News -
May 21, 2021
A plan to rapidly reopen schools in Texas may have contributed to thousands of COVID-19 cases and hundreds of deaths, according to an analysis by economists and public policy experts from the University of Kentucky. The analysis, which has not yet been peer reviewed, used a statistical model to estimate that roughly 43,000 people contracted COVID-19 and 800 people possibly died in Texas two months after schools reopened statewide, when virus transmission already was high.
NPR -
May 21, 2021
Starting late summer, several marathons in big cities will be back. Plans have been made, and people have signed up for those 26.2-mile races in Boston, London, Tokyo, Chicago and other locales.
AP -
May 21, 2021
China said Thursday it is providing COVID-19 vaccines to nearly 40 African countries, describing its actions as purely altruistic in an apparent intensification of what has been described as “vaccine diplomacy.”
AP -
May 21, 2021
Hospitals in Osaka, Japan’s third-biggest city and only 2 1/2 hours by bullet train from Summer Olympics host Tokyo, are overflowing with coronavirus patients. … As cases surge in Osaka, medical workers say that every corner of the system has been slowed, stretched and burdened. And it’s happening in other parts of the country, too.
The Hill -
May 21, 2021
Researchers analyzed samples from 301 people treated for pneumonia at a hospital in Sarawak, Malaysia, in 2018. They discovered evidence of a coronavirus similar to one found in dogs in eight of the patients. While the study suggests the virus jumped from dogs to humans, there’s no evidence yet of transmission from human to human.