Spike in variant cases; vaccinations in CVS, Walgreens
The variety of recognized coronavirus variant circumstances in the U.S. has surged 73% in the final week alone, in keeping with figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention launched late Tuesday.
The nation now studies 944 circumstances of variants that unfold extra simply, bypass remedies and immunities, or each.
Nowhere has the rise been extra noticeable than in Florida, which now has 343 circumstances of a fast-spreading variant — up from 201 circumstances reported throughout Sunday’s Super Bowl, which was hosted in Tampa. Florida now has greater than twice as many recognized variant circumstances as another state, with California a distant second with 156 circumstances, up six from Sunday.
The overwhelming majority of the nation’s recognized variant circumstances, and all of Florida’s, are of the B.1.1.7 variant, which was first detected in the U.Ok. and has run rampant there. The CDC has stated it might turn out to be the dominant pressure in the U.S. by March. Last month, U.Ok. researchers stated there’s evidence the variant may be more deadly than others, and it is additionally thought-about no less than 50% extra transmissible than the unique pressure.
Tuesday night time’s report nonetheless reveals three recognized circumstances of P.1, a variant first noticed in Brazil that seems to bypass immunities, and now 9 circumstances of B.1.351, a variant that took over South Africa and resists some remedies and vaccines.
— Mike Stucka
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In the headlines:
►Major League Baseball and the gamers union have agreed to well being and security protocols for the upcoming season that include among the identical measures put in place final 12 months but add more penalties for clear violations. Players and different personnel at ballparks must put on digital tracing gadgets from the beginning of spring coaching.
►The United States has reported 775,975 new COVID-19 circumstances in a seven-day interval ending Monday, the primary time the weekly tally has been below 800,000 circumstances since Nov. 6. The nation peaked at about 1.75 million circumstances per week final month. The variety of deaths, which generally lag circumstances by about 4 weeks, stays as excessive as ever, averaging 21,700 per week, a mean of three,100 a day.
►Starting subsequent week, Canada would require any non-essential traveler arriving in the nation by land to point out a unfavorable PCR-based coronavirus take a look at or face a fantastic. Canada already requires folks arriving by air to point out a unfavorable take a look at.
►Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will quarantine for 14 days after a member of his safety element examined constructive for COVID-19, his chief of workers introduced. Buttigieg stated the Biden administration is contemplating a rule that might require unfavorable COVID-19 take a look at outcomes for home air journey.
►Congressional Democrats rejected calls from some average lawmakers to scale back the variety of folks eligible for $1,400 stimulus checks in President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 relief proposal, proposing an earnings threshold of $75,000 yearly, the identical as in the final spherical of $600 checks.
📈 Today’s numbers: The U.S. has greater than 27.1 million confirmed coronavirus circumstances and 467,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The international totals: More than 106.8 million circumstances and a couple of.33 million deaths. More than 62.8 million vaccine doses have been distributed in the U.S. and about 43.2 million have been administered, according to the CDC.
📘 What we’re studying: Even as the newest surge in coronavirus infections abates throughout the nation, USA TODAY analysis discovered 245 hospitals reporting full intensive care models as of Jan. 28 and 477 hospitals reporting extra COVID-19 sufferers in the ICU than the earlier week. You can find out which hospitals in your community are overwhelmed here.
1 million vaccine doses for group well being facilities
The Biden administration will start sending coronavirus vaccines on to group well being facilities because it boosts distribution and reaches out to underserved communities, the White House introduced Tuesday.
At least one heart in each state and territory will get vaccines as this system ramps as much as embody 250 of the greater than 1,300 such amenities in the nation. The collaborating facilities will obtain a mixed 1 million doses, beginning as quickly as subsequent week. In later phases, vaccines will turn out to be obtainable to all group well being facilities.
“This effort … really is about connecting with those hard-to-reach populations across the country,” stated Marcella Nunez-Smith, who heads the COVID-19 well being fairness job pressure. That consists of the homeless, residents of public housing, migrant staff and folks with restricted English proficiency.
Jeff Zients, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, additionally stated vaccine provide to states, tribal governments and territories is rising by 5% over final week. The new weekly complete of 11 million doses represents a 28% improve over the 8.6 million distributed when Biden took workplace three weeks in the past, Zients stated.
— Maureen Groppe
Vaccines at some medication shops obtainable Friday
That much-coveted vaccine shot may very well be obtainable at a close-by drug retailer this week for many who are eligible.
CVS and Walgreens, the nation’s two largest pharmacy chains, will begin vaccinating select populations in stores Friday. The CVS program will initially embody 350 drug shops in 11 states, whereas Walgreens will provide vaccinations at some areas in 17 states and jurisdictions. Appointments are required. Other pharmacies chosen to ship vaccines at sure areas embody Walmart, Ride Aid, Kroger, Publix, Albertsons, Safeway, Costco and Meijer.
Experts hope the nation’s established community of pharmacies will assist pace up distribution amid consternation over the tempo of the rollout.
— Nathan Bomey
Vaccination tempo picks up however uneven throughout states
President Joe Biden’s effort to create 100 mass vaccination websites nationwide in 100 days is underway. California and Maryland introduced new openings of a number of such websites final week, and residents of a number of different states have promptly signed up for COVID-19 photographs. The U.S. authorities at the moment administers about 1.4 million vaccines a day, and the typical variety of Americans getting second photographs hit an all-time excessive Tuesday, with 539,000 per day over the previous week.
But different states are holding again on giving vaccines whereas appointments stay vacant. In Massachusetts, there are nonetheless over 7,500 appointments obtainable at mass vaccination websites, however Gov. Charlie Baker stated they received’t go to anybody who’s not in the primary part of vaccinations or no less than 75 years outdated.
Meanwhile, the top of the World Health Organization stated Monday it was “concerning news” that some vaccines seem much less efficient towards the South African variant of the coronavirus.
Vaccine producers might want to modify their photographs and boosters will possible be essential in the long run because the virus adjustments genetically, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated.
Should employers give staff break day or different incentives to get vaccine?
T.J. Daniels hoped after working at a Petco retailer in Colorado for 11 months throughout a pandemic that the corporate would give him break day to get a COVID-19 vaccine and cope with any potential unwanted side effects. So far, nothing. And whereas Petco stated it was poised to announce a plan, most main employers, together with Amazon, Target and Walmart, are not committing to provide any extra pay or time off to workers to get their shots.
Advocates say incentives will encourage vaccinations, which can outcome in extra safety for workers and clients. It may also probably restrict downtime that may happen when staff contract the virus. Experts say a excessive proportion of the U.S. inhabitants — maybe 80% — must get vaccinated to construct herd immunity, which might restrict the coronavirus from persevering with to unfold.
Dollar General, McDonald’s and Olive Garden are among the many employers that have introduced incentives for staff to get vaccinated. But most others are saying solely that they’re strongly encouraging vaccination and basically forcing staff to do it on their very own time.
– Nathan Bomey
WHO says it should finish analysis into unlikely coronavirus lab-leak concept
World Health Organization investigators stated Tuesday they might no longer pursue research into whether the coronavirus leaked from a lab in Wuhan, China. Peter Ben Embarek, a meals security and animal ailments skilled, introduced the choice throughout a press convention to wrap up a go to by a world crew of WHO consultants to town the place COVID-19 was first recognized in 2019.
Embarek stated there was not sufficient proof to assist a speculation that the virus escaped from a Chinese biosafety laboratory in Wuhan – the Wuhan Institute of Virology – and that the WHO stood by its earlier willpower that COVID-19 most certainly entered the human inhabitants by means of an intermediate animal.
The WHO crew has spent a number of weeks on a fact-finding mission in Wuhan. Experts from 10 nations have visited hospitals, analysis institutes and a wildlife market tied to the outbreak. However, the WHO’s fieldwork and different actions in Wuhan have been intently monitored by Chinese officers and safety officers, and Beijing has repeatedly resisted referred to as for a totally unbiased investigation into the origins of the virus.
– Kim Hjelmgaard
Worrisome South African variant could change expectations about vaccines
A new examine displaying the South African variant of the coronavirus eludes safety from the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine means “we must recalibrate our expectations,” said Shabir Madhi, director of the Vaccines & Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit at the University of the Witwatersrand, who conducted the trial.
There is still much to learn about the variant, which has been detected in only six instances in the U.S. so far. We still don’t know whether it’s more transmissible and if so by how much, or whether the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine prevents severe disease from the variant, as some scientists expect.
AstraZeneca researchers say they’re working to tweak their vaccine by inserting a genetic sequence from the new variant.
The variant has diminished the extent of safety supplied by just about all of the vaccines, however most vaccines present passable efficacy in defending towards extreme circumstances and demise causes by this model of the virus, Madhi stated. Here are more answers to questions about the variant.
Facebook takes action to crack down on lies about COVID-19 vaccines
Facebook is moving more aggressively to combat vaccine misinformation, taking down debunked claims on Facebook and Instagram including that vaccines cause autism or that it is safer for people to get COVID-19 than to receive the immunization.
Facebook also warned that groups, pages and accounts on Facebook and Instagram that repeatedly share these falsehoods may be removed. Administrators of groups that have administrators or members who have violated COVID-19 policies may also be required to temporarily approve all posts.
The new policy is a departure for Facebook. Last fall, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company would not target anti-vaccination posts the same way it has cracked down on COVID misinformation.
False claims about vaccines have circulated on social media platforms for years, giving rise to a robust anti-vaxxer motion with deep roots and a protracted attain.
– Jessica Guynn
Contributing: The Associated Press
