Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, said B.1.1. The var variant has resulted in increased transmission in countries with vaccination efforts, such as the United States.
“Right now our only hope is that we as a country take this seriously and do everything we can to limit transmission, as this was what other countries tried to do,” he said at an event hosted by Axios.
“And, yet, at the same time I will sit here and tell you that from the very first days of the epidemic we have never been more open as a country.”
Osterholm said efforts to reopen schools are “disappointing” because of recent guidelines that allow schools to maintain a social distance of three feet as opposed to six feet.
“Transmission dynamics are changing, and it won’t be the same as it was.” Osterholm said. “We’re opening up everything at the local, state and federal levels, in the sense that we’re not paying attention.”
More governors are easing the ban
Since the beginning of the month, at least a dozen state leaders have eased Covid-19 sanctions.
On Tuesday, Indiana Governor Eric Holcombe announced that the state’s face-painting order would become the state’s mask adviser from April 6. Masks will be mandatory at state buildings and facilities as well as Covid-19 testing and vaccination sites, the governor said.
Starting April 6, decisions on the capacity of the venue will be in the hands of local authorities, Holcombe said, and customers of restaurants, bars and nightclubs will no longer need to sit. A distance of six feet between the tables is still recommended, he added.
Vaccination rates doubled in less than two months
In less than two months, U.S. The pace of vaccination has doubled.
It’s about 7 a.m. Tuesday. More million doses are reported to be administered, a seven-day average, about 2.5 million doses a day.
A month ago, the seven-day average was about 1.5 million daily doses, according to a CNN analysis of CDC data. On January 29, the seven-day average was 1,253,815 doses per day.
CDC figures show that about 26.26 million people – about .585 million people have received at least one dose of the vaccine, and more than 46% – are fully vaccinated, according to CDC data. A third of adults and about 70% of seniors have received at least one dose.
Philadelphia canceled at least 11,000 invalid vaccine appointments
Philadelphia canceled thousands of Covid-19 vaccine appointments at its FEMA-administered vaccination site, while some residents used Qline-transmitted QR codes to schedule for invalid appointments, according to the city’s public health department.
The department has canceled about 11,000 vaccination appointments for this week and is in the process of reviewing appointments made for the next two weeks, spokesman James Garrow said. All told, the city could cancel as many as 30,000 visits after its internal review.
It was decided to give the first dose to the vaccination site for the first three weeks, then only the second dose for the following three. The city was warned for invalid visits after the site moved to the second phase. Staff checked the vaccine database and “saw that the names didn’t match,” Garrow told CNN.
Site staff members shared the QR code with those receiving their first dose so they could schedule a second appointment. That QR code was later found online, according to Gero.
Gero is a C.N. Email to CNN “We are going through the appointment database and matching the vaccine database to see who qualifies for the second dose and to cancel all other appointments after that,” he said.
“Most Philadelphians follow the rules and wait in line at their turn. We understand how frustrating this wait is and are working as fast as possible to get everyone vaccinated,” Garrow warned. The first dose at their site is “should not be expected to be vaccinated by walking up.”
Polls show more Americans going out
As more Americans are vaccinated, the number of people going out is also increasing, according to Axios-Ipsos, published Tuesday.
Compared to a month ago, the number of people who went to eat or meet friends and family was 12 and 9 percent, respectively, according to the poll – which was conducted from March 19 to 22 and was made up of 995 Americans. 18 and older.
The number of people who believe that eating poses a great risk to health and well-being has risen to 23% from 33% a month ago.
Those who have visited friends or relatives -% 48% – October is the highest since October. In addition, 54% of non-grocery retailers visited – the highest number since May.
Experts worry AstraZeneca confusion could lead to vaccine hesitation
In a news release Monday, AstraZeneca said its vaccine contains U.S. Based new clinical trials have shown %%% efficacy and 100% efficacy against severe disease and hospitalization symptom disease.
But the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said in a statement Tuesday that the independent body reviews the data of many vaccine candidates and is concerned about the company’s announcement.
The NIAID statement said the board “expressed concern that AstraZeneca may have included outdated data from the trial, which may have given an incomplete look at the effectiveness data.”
Speaking on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Tuesday, Dr. Anthony Fawcett said the AstraZeneca news release may contain misleading information about its vaccine effectiveness – “an uncapped error” that could cast doubt on what a potentially good vaccine is.
“The data is really good, but it wasn’t entirely accurate when they put it in a press release,” FK said.
AstraZeneca said in a statement that it would immediately engage with the Independent Data Security Inspection Board (DSMB) to share our preliminary analysis with state-of-the-art effectiveness data, “adding that it intends to release the results of the preliminary analysis within 48 hours.
Covid cases are rapidly declining among seniors
CNN Analysis shows that cases of Covid-19, as well as hospital admissions and deaths, are rapidly declining among seniors in the U.S.
The population aged 65 and over has seen a significant decline in case rates, mortality and hospital admissions compared to other age groups, and they are accounting for a smaller fraction than the hospital admissions a few months ago, according to an analysis of data from the CDC. .
CDC data show that among people aged 65 and over, weekly hospital admissions have been declining significantly since the beginning of the year, down 83% in the nine weeks from January to mid-March, CDC data show.
More than half of those aged 65 and over were in early January, but by mid-March it had dropped to about 37%.
Hospitalization data from CDC’s COVID-NET surveillance system is preliminary.
Additional data obtained by the CDC shows that in the first week of March, Covid-1 rates among seniors were lower month%%, and mortality rates were about 96% lower, both of which were lower than other age groups. .
“Now, as the weeks go by, we increasingly see that these vaccines are not only effective, but in the community they are extremely effective in preventing infection with SARS-CV-2,” Foi said during a White House briefing on Wednesday. .
CNN’s Rebecca Rise, Didre McPhillips and Naomi Thomas will contribute to the report.
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