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I am updating before I publish this as a personal journal to reflect upon. Although covid is still around and comes and goes, life is back to normal as far as concerts, stores, restaurants, etc. At least in Florida it is. Post-pandemic, the cost of living has soared, but wages have not. Average houses in our area are half a million dollars, cars average $800/month, grocery prices have soared to the point where we spend over $300 a week on what used to cost $200. Wages have not gone up. Young people graduating college, middle, and lower class families can barely afford to pay their bills. Thousands of people are moving to Florida from up north because of political reasons and good weather. This summer has been hotter than ever, and I fear climate change. Oceans are recording temperatures at 101 degrees and extreme heat, tornados, and wildfires have been ravaging places all around the world. Places of business are still short-staffed and blame shortages on covid although no one wants to work for an unlivable wage. Christie is starting nursing school in 2 weeks, I just graduated with my master’s degree as a Family Nurse Practitioner, J is starting high school in 2 weeks, and Andrew will be starting 7th grade! They are all healthy and happy, yet Christie and I still suffer with anxiety around large crowds and the boys don’t like to be around people or large crowds. They haven’t found new friend groups that they are close to yet. Andrew talks to kids from school on social media, but James does not and neither one sees friends outside of school. They prefer to be home and close to me.

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June 28, 2022

We took our masks off in March. We are done. The anxiety I have over our lives revolving around this virus is taking over my life. So we took our masks off and went back to life as normal. I had anxiety that worsened and worsened. I was afraid of crowds and going far from my safe spaces which include my car and my house. I feel like those 2 spaces kept me safe for 2 years. I feel like something bad might happen to me if I go far from them. I have avoided stores and the mall and pretty much anywhere and when I do go somewhere, all I feel is panic and I can’t relax. I have hidden it well from most people. My workplace, the hospital, is one of my main anxiety triggers and I am not sure how to deal with that. I am fine once I am in the NICU but walking into the building makes me nauseous and shaky and my heart pounds. I cancelled a spring break trip to New Orleans because of my fear of venturing too far from my main safe space-my home. In April, I saw a doctor for this and was diagnosed with post-covid, or covid-related anxiety.  I was prescribed an anti-anxiety medication that I started taking mid- May and am happy to say that as of today, it has greatly helped. I have not had a panic attack since early May and I have been venturing out to more stores and not hiding from people for fear of panicking. I feel less anxious and am reading a lot on how to create a new mindset. I just had this constant fear that this virus would take me away from my children or my children away from me. I feared something bad happening to everyone I loved. I had nightmares about receiving that first covid vaccine back in December 2020 being terrified to inject myself with this non-approved MRNA vaccine that no one had ever received before. Since the last major outbreak in the winter, covid is still around but there hasn’t been a huge outbreak. Numbers are climbing right now though. The kids wore masks through the end of school but are not now. Andrew received his fist covid vaccine 3 weeks ago and gets his second this Friday. He had no side effects. We attended family camp in SC in May and had a wonderful time. We went to Venice Beach last weekend and had a wonderful time. We are enjoying a summer of just hanging out and enjoying having free time with each other. The boys finished school in late May and are loving having long days with nothing to do and nowhere to go. As far as world news, Russia did invade Ukraine and a war has been going on since my last post. 2 days ago, Roe v. Wade was overturned sparking outrage in the country.

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Juno Beach

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Peace River fossil digging for Christie's birthday

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Andrew's sick bed for 10 days

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My sick baby

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Andrew's Honor Roll School Ceremony

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Fossil digging for Andrew's birthday in the Peace River

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Christmas morning!

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Christmas Eve in Mom's garage and driveway since 3 of us were really sick.

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Our new family addition...William

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James's school pic

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Christmas camping at Disney's Fort Wilderness

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Ice Skating in TN

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Cold Mountain Morning

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Annakeesta

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Our cabin in TN Mountains

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Christmas In Tennessee

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Christmas in Tennessee

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Thanksgiving 2021

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Fall Trip in North Carolina

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Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Orlando

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View of the crowd at Magic Kingdom as we left the resort on the monorail.

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News Channel 5

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Roughly 1 in every 500 Americans have died of COVID-19

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The U.S. has reached another startling milestone in the COVID-19 pandemic.

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News Channel 5

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In another bleak reminder of the toll the COVID-19 pandemic has taken on the U.S., Johns Hopkins reported Wednesday that the country had surpassed three-quarters of a million deaths from the virus since early 2020.

The U.S. reached the grim milestone Wednesday - the same day that tens of millions of children across the country became eligible to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, deaths from the virus remain elevated but have fallen significantly since the delta variant's peak this summer. Currently, about 1,100 Americans are dying of the virus each day, down from a 2021 high of 1,200 in mid-September.

Health officials say that the current COVID-19 death toll is largely avoidable. The vast majority of those who have died in recent months were unvaccinated, according to the CDC.

The agency says that unvaccinated people are 4.5 times more likely to contract COVID-19 and 11 times more likely to die from the virus compared to those who are vaccinated.

Worldwide, the U.S. and Brazil (608,000) are the only other countries that have recorded more than half a million COVID-19 deaths. India currently has seen about 460,000 COVID-19 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

The U.S. also leads the world in confirmed COVID-19 cases with more than 46 million.

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US surpasses 750,000 COVID-19 deaths, Johns Hopkins says

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In another bleak reminder of the toll the COVID-19 pandemic has taken on the U.S., Johns Hopkins reported Wednesday that the country had surpassed three-quarters of a million deaths from the virus since early 2020. The U.S. reached the grim milestone Wednesday - the same day that tens of millions of children across the country became eligible to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

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News Channel 5

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The U.S. said Friday that it would restrict travel from South Africa and seven other countries amid fears that a newly-discovered COVID-19 variant could lead to a surge of worldwide cases and deaths.

The White House says that it would also suspend travel to Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi in addition to South Africa.

The White House's announcement came hours after the World Health Organization declared the newly-discovered omicron strain a "variant of concern."

In addition to the U.S., several other countries have suspended travel to southern Africa. The EU on Friday agreed to impose a ban on travel to countries in southern Africa over fears of the recently-discovered variant, which was originally denominated B.1.1.529.

According to The Associated Press, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said flights "should be suspended until we have a clear understanding about the danger posed by this new variant, and travelers returning from this region should respect strict quarantine rules.

"She insisted on extreme caution, warning that "mutations could lead to the emergence and spread of even more concerning variants of the virus that could spread worldwide within a few months."

According to NPR, it's not yet clear if the new variant is more infectious or causes a person to contract a more severe infection.

CNN reports that genomic scientists say the new variant has an "unusually high" number of mutations that cause the virus to have more of the key spike proteins it uses to get into the healthy cells it attacks.

NPR says the new variant also has twice as many mutations as the delta variant, which caused a new surge in cases this summer.

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US suspending travel to South Africa, other African nations over fear of omicron strain of COVID-19

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The U.S. said Friday that it would restrict travel from South Africa and seven other countries amid fears that a newly-discovered COVID-19 variant could lead to a surge of worldwide cases and deaths. The White House says that it would also suspend travel to Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi in addition to South Africa.

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News Channel 5

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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - A new report said a majority of residents in Florida will contract COVID-19 as a result of the latest wave brought on by the omicron variant.

A team of researchers from the University of Florida released the study Tuesday.
MORE: Omicron spreading quickly in Florida
The study found that the omicron wave in Florida is likely to cause many more infections than occurred during the delta wave last summer, potentially infecting most of the state's population in this wave alone.

"Probably 70 to 80% of the state will either get infected in this wave or have been infected in a prior wave," Ira Longini, a University of Florida professor and one of the researchers who worked on the report, told WFLA in Tampa.

Their data suggested that omicron infections may be less severe than those caused by delta, particularly among vaccinated people.

So, despite causing more infections, their research team said it is possible that there will be substantially fewer deaths from omicron. The study estimated that omicron will cause about a third as many deaths as were caused by delta.

Due to limitations in testing capacity, milder infections in those who are vaccinated and reduced sensitivity of some tests to the omicron variant, researchers believe that a smaller fraction of infections will be detected as cases compared to previous waves.

Infected health care workers, combined with a rapidly increasing number of COVID-19 patients, may substantially strain the health care system, the study said.

Children under the age of five, who are not eligible for vaccination, may be more likely to experience severe omicron infections than adults, according to the study.

Researchers said they believe the latest spike in COVID-19 cases will peak in the first half of January.

The first known case of the omicron strain was identified in Florida on Dec. 7. Since mid-December, Florida has experienced a rapid spread of the strain.

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Omicron wave will 'potentially' infect most of Florida's population, study says

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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - A new report said a majority of residents in Florida will contract COVID-19 as a result of the latest wave brought on by the omicron variant. A team of researchers from the University of Florida released the study Tuesday.

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News Channel 5

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During an appearance on CNN Tuesday, White House medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci said people using cloth masks should consider upgrading to surgical-grade masks as the highly transmissible omicron variant spreads.

"I recommend you get the highest quality mask that you can tolerate and that's available to you," Fauci said to CNN's Anderson Cooper.

Guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, most recently updated in October, noted that surgical-grade masks and N95 respirators should be reserved for medical personnel. However, Fauci said Tuesday that such masks are no longer in short supply.

"Right now, there doesn't seem to be any shortage of the masks that were some time ago were not available," Fauci said. "If you can tolerate an N95, do it. If you want to get a KN95, fine."

Fauci's comments come as Biden administration officials weigh taking more steps to encourage Americans to upgrade their COVID-19 masks. The Washington Post has reported the CDC is considering changing its guidance, and Politico reports that the White House is considering offering free N95 masks to anyone who would like one.

When asked Wednesday about making high-quality masks more accessible, White House COVID-19 response team coordinator Jeff Zients said the Biden Administration is "strongly considering options right now to make high-quality masks available to all Americans," though did not go into detail about those options.

Fauci added Tuesday that while cloth masks don't offer as much protection as surgical-grade masks, they still limit the spread of COVID-19.

"What the CDC has said - and it gets misinterpreted - they're saying wearing any mask is better than no mask at all," Fauci said. "But there is a degradation of capability of preventing you from getting infected and preventing you from transmitting it to someone else. So, we should be wearing the best possible mask that we can get. That's a fact."

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Dr. Fauci says to wear the 'highest quality mask that you can tolerate' as omicron spreads

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During an appearance on CNN Tuesday, White House medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci said people using cloth masks should consider upgrading to surgical-grade masks as the highly transmissible omicron variant spreads. "I recommend you get the highest quality mask that you can tolerate and that's available to you," Fauci said to CNN's Anderson Cooper.

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News Channel 5

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Florida becomes third state to pass 5 million coronavirus cases

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Florida became the third state in the nation to pass 5 million cases Saturday, taking 18 days to add more than one million with the daily increase 49,339 posted Saturday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The death toll is at 63,090.

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January 13, Christie woke me up in the middle of the night crying that she didn’t feel well. She had a sore throat, runny nose, cough, and felt terrible. The next day she rested and in the evening took a home covid test I had managed to buy from Target at 7am that morning when they restocked. It was positive. She had covid again. She went into her room and couldn’t be around us without an N95 mask on for another 10 days. She stayed in her room and watched tv and went for car rides or walks on the beach. I kept the Lysol spray and bleach wipes on a table outside her room door. Friday morning, the 21st, I went to wake up Andrew for school and noticed that he was burning up. I took his temperature and it was 103 degrees. He was scared and cried. I made him a bed on the couch and let him sleep. We hung out on the couch and watched movies all day. His fever was high all day and  never went below 101. I gave him a home covid test and it was negative but I also scheduled a PCR test at Walgreens for the next day. He was still really sick the next day and that lasted for about 2 days and then he felt better but was really tired. His PCR was positive. My baby had covid and he had worked so hard to stay healthy over the last 2 years. Luckily, he was fine quickly and back to his normal self. He missed school from the 21st to the 31st and loved every minute of it. He stayed out of the bedroom he shares with his brother and slept on the couch with me. He wore a mask when other people were around him. Strangely, me, J, and James did not get covid and we were the three that were really sick at Christmas. Now, almost 2 years later, I am so done with covid. I have anxiety now over covid and have had some panic attacks when being around a lot of people or being in a situation related to covid such as getting a vaccine or taking my child to get one. I plan on speaking to a counselor about it when I am ready. Many, many people feel the same way. Luckily, my kids are good. They are happy and healthy. As far as the world, well it keeps getting more expensive. Prices for everything have gone up. Miami is now more expensive for living then NYC. House prices are booming here, hotel prices are outrageous. Everything has basically doubled or tripled in price. Gas is almost $4/gallon. My wages haven’t gone up though. It almost unaffordable to live. So many people have moved to this area that traffic is unbearable and it takes me 35-40 minutes to drive 12 miles to my kids school in the morning. Disney is a place you can’t even go now. Prices are insane and everything that used to be a free perk isn’t free anymore. National Parks require reservations just to drive on the roads through the parks. I really don’t like the world the way it is right now. At work, we now are mandated to wear N95 masks at all times. It’s hard to breathe in them for 12 hours. There are still shortages of things. We couldn’t get valentine exchange cards, Rice Krispies are hard to find, paper products are still limited. If you want an item for a holiday, you better order it a long time in advance. Building materials and furniture are on a 5-9 month delay. The Queen of England tested positive for covid today. Russia is trying to invade the Ukraine. I started clinicals for school in a doctors office and like it. Monoclonal antibody use in covid was stopped 2 weeks ago by the FDA. Vaccines for those under 5 have not been approved yet. Covid restrictions worldwide are starting to ease up again.

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Time for a covid update. I can’t believe I have been keeping this journal for almost 2 years. Here we are in a new year and covid is worse than ever. People aren’t dying as much as with the first wave but more people are sick and the long term complications are bad. So going back to October…Christie was asymptomatic but still in quarantine for 4 more days when we went on our fall trip. We drove to North Carolina and hiked and saw the fall leaves. She stayed home with her dad and in quarantine and went back to work on day 10 after symptoms. Halloween was good this year. We had family and friends over but outside. I put food outside and we had a firepit out and everyone stayed out in the fresh air. We did go trick-or-treating and most of the houses were participating but distancing. Thanksgiving was good this year. We had mom and dad over and cooked a feast. That night we went to a movie theater to see the new Ghostbusters. There were only 2 other families there and we wore our masks. The day after Thanksgiving we saw a news report that a new and extremely contagious covid variant was detected and spreading in South Africa and flights from the country had been stopped. That night while picking out our Christmas tree, Christie got a call from her boyfriend that his grandma, who they had gone to diner with the night before and who had gotten back from South African 2 days before, was sick and positive for covid. Christie put on an n95 mask while we picked out and decorated the tree. She stayed away from people for 5 days and was fine. . I did my Christmas shopping really early because things in the stores were selling out fast and cargo ships with some items were still stuck offshore due to no workers. Michael’s Crafts, where I usually get all of my decorations, never got their 2021 Christmas décor in. Wal-Mart closed their Christmas department on Black Friday due to staffing shortages. Saturday we had a bonfire with friends on the beach and we went looking at Christmas lights on Sunday. We had decorated our house a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving. By early December, the variant was all over the world and infecting more people a day than with the original virus. In December we went camping at Disney and stayed away from other people. We rode out golf cart around, cooked at our campsite, and enjoyed sitting by the fire. Prices for groceries and basically everything started going way up. Gas prices went over the $3 mark. There were more and more food and product shortages. The week before Christmas we drove up to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee and stayed for a night at the Christmas hotel and it was beautiful. It was really cold outside and cloudy and gray and we watched Christmas movies and ate good food. The next day we checked into a cabin in the mountains in Sevierville and stayed for 4 days. We spent our days relaxing, soaking in the hot tub and enjoying the mountain views, having a bonfire and cooking on the grill, and playing pool. It was 22 degrees one night and mostly in the 30’s the rest of the time. We went on a hike and it was freezing! We went to a movie hile waiting for our cabin to be ready and wore our masks. We went on a ski lift to the top of a mountain to the village of Anakeesta and went ice skating at a resort. On our last day there little James started feeling bad during the middle of the day. He said he had a headache and was really tired. He slept all afternoon. He had a temp of 101 after we ate dinner at a restaurant so we took him back to the cabin. In the middle of the night his fever got up to 104.3 and I was up all night with him giving him medicine and making sure his fever didn’t get too high. I tried booking appointments for covid testing but there were none in Florida until January 7th and the urgent care appointments were all booked. There were also no appointments in towns along our route home. We managed to get a home covid test and he was negative for covid. That next morning when he woke up his fever was 101 and he felt terrible. We got him all comfortable in the backseat and started on out 12 hour drive home. A few hours later my throat was scratchy and I felt a cough coming on. By mid day I was coughing and my throat was sore. By nightfall I felt cold and achey and exhausted. At one bathroom break my legs were shaking badly and I was so cold and my muscles ached. When we got home 14 hours later I had a temperature of 103. Big James was sick also. I went straight to bed and when I woke up the next morning I had a horrible headache and felt terrible. I took the other home covid test from TN and it was negative. We were really sick for about 2 days and didn’t feel well for about 2 weeks. It lasted until January 1. There was nowhere to get another covid test and no home tests available. We sat outside my mom’s house on Christmas Eve and exchanged gifts and ate. Christmas night I cooked dinner but no one came over since we were sick. We stayed home snuggled under blankets and watched tv all evening. We spent New Year’s Eve outside around a fire with friends. By the first week in January, there were 70,000 + cases a day in Florida of covid. There were empty shelves in the stores again and toilet paper shortages. You still can’t get a covid home test or an appointment for at least 2 weeks out to get tested. The CDC now says everyone needs to wear an N95 when they go out. People in Florida pretend that there is no pandemic. I have literal panic and anxiety around a large group of people or if they are close to me. The 3rd covid vaccine booster is now approved as is the regular vaccine for ages 5 and up. Andrew will get his soon. I don’t want the booster as the experience of being one of the first in the nation to get the first vaccine was traumatizing to me and I am not ready yet. A real problem everywhere is staffing shortages because everyone is sick. Restaurants, stores, and daycares are closing for weeks at a time. Hospitals have critical nursing shortages. The last day I worked, 2 nurses in my unit went home in the middle of the day with covid. Nurses are also quitting like crazy to take travel jobs that are paying $6000 a week. One day in December, I made $158/hour to work. This week the PICU in my hospital had to close because all of night shift quit to go travel and pediatrics is short because all of the nurses have covid. My NICU unit is short also due to the same issues.

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Well, after almost 2 years of doing everything right and trying to live a life as normal as possible but as careful as possible, one of us has covid. Christie started feeling weird in the middle of the night Thursday with congestion, sore throat, and chills. Friday, she went to work thinking it was just her normal allergies but she must have had a feeling something was wrong because she bought a home covid test that night and I gave it to her. Her boyfriend’s mom notified her that she has covid and Christie had been at her house Monday night for dinner. Both of the home covid tests were positive and she was really scared. She’s fully vaccinated and it makes me mad that she still got it and now we have to worry about everyone in the house getting it, especially Andrew who is too young to be vaccinated. All of us wear our masks everywhere in public, we don’t go in crowds, and we are careful. At the same time, I am thankful that she had the vaccine so her immune system is ready for the fight and she won’t be that sick. She is in isolation for at least 10 days and as a mother, that is hard because I am not supposed to hug her or be near her. She is going to be very lonely and isolated and I am sad for her. I never realized until now what a lonely disease this is. She has zinc, vitamin d and c, 1mg of melatonin, and baby aspirin to take every day, Lysol wipes and spray, hand sanitizer, and n95 masks for when she has to come out to the bathroom. I sent snacks and drinks to her room and I bring her all of her meals. She texts me when she needs something. I told her that it’s important when she feels well to get up and go outside or for a ride in her car. She gets paid for 14 days to bee off work. The boys and I have appointments to test tomorrow according to CDC guidelines for exposure. She drove James to school twice this week and picked up Andrew at school once so they were all in the car together at one point. Her boyfriend tested negative twice but I told him to retest in 3-5 days. I feel like I haven’t processes the fact that she has covid yet. I feel kind of numb about it like it’s not real. I also feel very angry about it.

Going back to where I left off on my last post, things are going well with the boys in school. They haven’t had any exposure notices in a long time and are getting settled into a good routine. Both boys like their new schools. My job has been in desperate need of nurses to work and is paying nurses regular salary plus $50/hour for any extra shift worked. According to my contract, I only have to commit to 2 days a month and I usually work 8 so I get bonus pay for the extra days. Nationwide, travel nursing is booming paying as much as $8000/week for jobs and people are quitting regular jobs to travel. James’s birthday was August 28th and we rented a golf bay at the Top Golf place and went to Roadhouse Grill for dinner wearing masks. Labor Day weekend we spent Saturday through Monday at Disney’s All Star Movie Resort and had an amazing time. Family came with us and the boys had a great time with their little cousin. Saturday we went to the pool all afternoon and had lunch poolside. The arcade money system was broken so all games were free and the kids played for about 2 hours and did every game in the place. That evening we went to the balcony at the Contemporary Resort that overlooks Magic Kingdom and watched one of the last showings of the Wishes Fireworks. Leaving there, we had to take the monorail to the buses to get back to the hotel and the park was closing and looking over at the Disney gates, there were thousands and thousands of people pouring out of the park. We quickly made it to our bus and sat alone in the back and got back to our hotel avoiding the crowds. The next day we went to Kelly Park Springs for the day and went swimming and tubing in the spring and had a BBQ. Some friends drove up and joined us. That night we ordered pizza to the pool and went swimming until late. Monday we got Mickey waffles and sausage to the room and then spent a few hours at the pool before going home. Most of our evenings during the week were spent hanging out at home, taking evening walks, and watching tv. On the weekends we went to the beach, saw a few movies, and ordered takeout. On September 30th, all 3 kids and I headed up to Cabana Bay Beach Resort at Universal and spent the afternoon in the lazy river. We went to Halloween Horror nights and walked around the scare zones, went in 2 haunted houses, rode the rides, spent a lot of time casting spells in Diagon Alley, and drinking butter beer. We had a fantastic time. We got back to the hotel around midnight and got dinner form the restaurant. The hotel was only still half open and there weren’t that many people there. The next day we slept really late, had a late checkout at noon, spent a few hours at the pool, got lunch and drinks at the bar, and then drove home.  Next week we are supposed to drive up to the North Carolina mountains to see fall but we aren’t sure if we will be able to go now with Christie’s situation.

In other news, our economy is not doing so great. House prices are sky high and unaffordable. Gas prices are soaring. There are shortages of everything from Gatorade to school uniforms, lunchables, medical supplies, cars, and many many other things. There are people quitting jobs and choosing not to work and places are closing, short staffed, and begging for help. There are dozens of cargo ships off the US coasts with supplies but no workers at the ports to unload the ships and get the supplies to us. There are long waits at restaurants due to staffing shortages and anywhere you go, there are extended waits or no appointment times available. There are still limited hours in most businesses (Walmart hasn’t been open for 24 hors a day since March 2020). Our governor made a law that businesses can’t demand proof of vaccination and also made a rule that kids who have family members in their house who are positive for covid are not required to quarantine even though that goes against CDC guidelines. All entertainment facilities, cruise ships, planes, etc are requiring proof of vaccination or a negative covid test taken within 48 hours. Some schools are being punished financially for mandating masks.   Some people in high risk groups are being told to get booster vaccines.

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The Food and Drug Administration on Monday issued full approval to the two-dose Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.

"The FDA's approval of this vaccine is a milestone as we continue to battle the COVID-19 pandemic," acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock said in a statement. "While this and other vaccines have met the FDA's rigorous, scientific standards for emergency use authorization, as the first FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccine, the public can be very confident that this vaccine meets the high standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality the FDA requires of an approved product."

The full approval for the vaccine, which will now be marketed under the name "Comirnaty," applies to people 16 and older. The vaccine is still available for kids aged 12 through 15 under emergency use authorization.

In prepared remarks Monday afternoon, President Joe Biden urged those who have been waiting for the vaccine to be granted full approval by the FDA to seek out a shot.

"If you're one of the millions of Americans who said that they will not get the shot until it has full and final approval of the FDA, it has now happened. The moment you've been waiting for is here," Biden said.

Full approval also opens the door for more government departments and businesses to issue vaccine mandates. For example, the Pentagon earlier this month said it would require all military members to get vaccinated by Sept. 15, though Sec. of Defense Lloyd Austin said he would issue an order making the shots mandatory " immediately upon licensure" by the FDA.

Biden added in his remarks that he hoped full approval would result in more local governments and private sector businesses adopting their own vaccine mandates, noting that it's been commonplace in the past to adopt vaccine mandates for diseases like polio and mumps.

"It only makes sense to require a vaccine that prevents the spread of COVID-19," Biden said.

Two other COVID-19 vaccines - the two-dose Moderna vaccine and the single-dose Johnson & Johnson shot - are still widely available in the U.S. under emergency use authorization.

The full approval of the Pfizer vaccine comes amid a spike in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths caused by the more contagious delta variant. Health experts say that the current spike is driven by those who remain unvaccinated.

All three COVID-19 vaccines have proven to be safe and highly effective in fighting severe and deadly cases of the virus. Earlier this month, the CDC reported that 99.99% of fully vaccinated people had avoided a severe or deadly COVID-19 infection.

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FDA grants full approval to Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine

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The Food and Drug Administration on Monday issued full approval to the two-dose Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. "The FDA's approval of this vaccine is a milestone as we continue to battle the COVID-19 pandemic," acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock said in a statement.

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Sunday night J got his 2nd covid vaccine. I was nervous as we went into Walgreens. I asked him if he wanted the vaccine and he said yes and signed his consent. He said he didn’t even feel the injection. We sat together for the required 15 minutes for him to be monitored and I kept him occupied by researching Iceland on Google. That night around 10 he started to feel really tired and sore. When I woke him up for school Monday morning, he had a temperature of 99.6, said he was dizzy and had a headache and complained that he felt weird but didn’t know how to describe it. I kept him home from school and he slept all day long after I gave him some Motrin for the pain. That afternoon we got another email from his school that he was exposed to covid on Friday in one of his classes. Last night his fever reached 101.6 and he was miserable. He hurt and didn’t feel well. I gave him more Motrin and he slept and watched TV. As his mother, it’s horrible seeing him that way knowing that he isn’t sick but it’s an immune response and at the same time knowing that it’s to protect him from getting covid. The Pfizer vaccine was granted full approval from the FDA in people ages 16 and up today. I am still very nervous that I gave my child a vaccine not approved by the FDA yet except for under emergency use. Then, I found out that at work the next day I would be floated elsewhere in the hospital to help out and the thought of going to the ER gave me even more anxiety than I was already having. I felt horrible last night. J slept the rest of the night and I checked on him at 12 and again at 3 and his temp was still 100 so I called out of work and stayed home with him since he couldn’t go to school. He will have missed 2 days now only in the 3rd week of school but I keep telling myself that life isn’t normal anymore. I wish life were normal again. I miss life before covid when you didn’t have to worry about contracting a deadly virus constantly. I try and tell myself to stop worrying about it because it’s a way of life now but it doesn’t help with the worry. Andrew has decided to become an epidemiologist when he grows up and is fascinated with viruses and bacteria and how they work. Christie starts her first day of on campus classes today at Florida Atlantic University where they have a mask mandate for the safety of all students.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
What we covered here

As US students go back to schools, Covid-19 cases among kids have been on the rise in the US since early July.

Dr. Anthony Fauci says the continued spread of the virus could allow new variants to emerge and spread if more people don't get vaccinated.

As the Delta variant grips the US, infections caused by the Lambda variant have also been emerging.

Our live coverage has ended for the day. Follow the latest on the pandemic .

Rosalind Osgood, the chair of the Broward County School Board, said she and other board members are prepared to risk their own salaries in defying Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' executive order that effectively prohibits mask mandates in school districts.

"We are not looking to back down," said Osgood, following an 8-1 board vote to make masks mandatory for students and staff on school property. "We are committed to protecting the lives of our students and our staff at any cost. We believe that their lives are invaluable."

Osgood then responded to the threat from DeSantis' office that suggested the state's Board of Education could withhold the salaries of superintendents and school board members who disregard the governor's executive order.

"We did receive that letter," Osgood told CNN's Wolf Blitzer. "...I was very surprised that the punitive threats continue to come and be directed toward our school."

"If it means that our salaries are taken away, we would rather have those salaries taken away than take a risk at having one of our kids or one of our staff people come down very ill," she said.

It's possible that a Covid-19 vaccine will be available for kids under the age of 12 before the end of 2021, US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek said Wednesday.

"If everything were to go well, and everything were to fall into place, I think it's possible that we could see a vaccine before the end of the calendar year for kids under 12," Murthy told CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

"Make no mistake, the FDA will move quickly on this because they recognize what's at stake. It's the health of our children, and there's really nothing more important than that," he added.

Murthy said that the US Food and Drug Administration is prioritizing the evaluation of Covid-19 vaccines.

"This is the top priority for the FDA, but in order for the FDA to evaluate a vaccine for under 12's, it has to get an application first from the companies - which means they have to complete their trials, put the data together and submit them to the FDA," Murthy told CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

Those trials of children under the age of 12 are still ongoing, Murthy noted.

"My hope is that they will come to a conclusion soon, and that we will get that application from the companies to the FDA, because I will tell you that they will move fast to evaluate that," Murthy said.

Some more background: Currently, none of the three Covid-19 vaccines used in the US are available to children under the age of 12. With many schools across the country set to reopen soon for the fall semester, Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are still conducting clinical trials to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the vaccines in children under 12.
CNN's Betsy Klein and Naomi Thomas contributed reporting to this post.

More than 2,500 medical personnel will be deployed to hospitals around Texas to care for the growing number of Covid-19 patients, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Wednesday.

The governor's announcement comes days after he indicated the Texas Department of State Health Services (TSHS) would be utilizing staffing agencies to bring in out-of-state medical personnel to help counter the surge in Covid-19 cases.

"The State of Texas is taking action to ensure that our hospitals are properly staffed and supported in the fight against Covid-19," Abbott said in Wednesday's news release.

The governor did not offer details regarding where the additional medical staff would be coming from nor where they will be deployed.

"Texans can help bolster the state's efforts to combat the virus by getting vaccinated. The Covid-19 vaccine is safe and effective, and it is our best defense against the virus," the governor added.

There are only 368 intensive care unit beds currently available throughout the state of Texas and at least 10,463 lab-confirmed Covid-19 patients in hospitals across the state, according to the most recent data from TSHS.

The US Food and Drug Administration is expected to announce within the next 48 hours that it is authorizing Covid-19 vaccine booster shots for some people who are immunocompromised, according to a source familiar with the discussions.

This would be a third shot of the current two-dose Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. That announcement could slide, the source cautioned, but this is the current timing.

"The FDA is closely monitoring data as it becomes available from studies administering an additional dose of the authorized COVID-19 vaccines to immunocompromised individuals," an FDA spokesperson told CNN. "The agency, along with the CDC, is evaluating potential options on this issue, and will share information in the near future."

NBC News was first to report on the expected announcement.

The FDA must give authorization for the vaccines to be used in new ways outside the existing authorization. All three Covid-19 vaccines being used in the US are given under emergency use authorization by the FDA, but full approval is pending for Pfizer's vaccine. After FDA grants approval or authorization, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention then advises on whether to actually use a vaccine as authorized by the FDA.

Vaccine advisers for the CDC will meet on Friday to discuss booster doses of Covid-19 vaccines and additional doses for some immunocompromised people, according to a meeting agenda posted by the agency on Monday.

A recent study by Johns Hopkins University researchers found that vaccinated immunocompromised people are 485 times more likely to end up in the hospital or die from Covid-19 compared to the general population that is vaccinated.

Based on an estimate by the CDC, about 9 million Americans are immunocompromised, either because of diseases they have or medications they take.

It has been known for months that Covid-19 vaccines might not work well for this group. The hope was that vaccination rates overall would be so high so that the "herd" would protect them.

But it didn't work out that way, because about a third of eligible people in the US have not received even one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.

A motion to require proof of vaccination to enter most indoor public spaces in Los Angeles has been pushed one step closer to reality by city council members.

In a unanimous vote Wednesday, the Los Angeles City Council approved a measure to have the city attorney draw up an ordinance that could require the public to show proof of receiving at least one Covid-19 vaccination to enter indoor spots like retail stores, restaurants, bars, gyms, movie theaters, and concert venues.

The legislation goes beyond the requirement announced last week in New York, adding retail stores to the list of indoor public places where residents would need to present proof of vaccination. The draft ordinance will include information on the city's vaccination campaign and solicit feedback from teachers, parents and pediatricians on how to best protect children.

"Instead of fighting science, we should be fighting the virus," said Councilmember Mitch O'Farrell, co-author of the proposal. "The data is clear: vaccines are safe and effective. We have endured 18 months of mass illness and death, with the latest variant wreaking havoc across the globe. Free vaccinations are widely available for all who are eligible. This is a necessary and sensible step that will broadly protect the health and safety of Angelenos. It could very well ward off another economic shutdown, which would be devastating to our city and our nation."

"Frankly, I'm tired of our politicization science and public health. And while people outside this building are protesting that this is a violation of their civil liberties, Angelenos are dying unnecessarily," Councilmember Paul Koretz said.

In recent weeks, new Covid-19 cases in Los Angeles County have increased 20-fold, but local public health data in the past few days has shown promising signs of a slowdown of the surge.

"Not being vaccinated leads to death. It leads to a prolonged pandemic. It has an impact on others. It is not a personal choice. It is a public health issue," insisted Councilmember Bob Blumenfield.

Councilmember Paul Krekorian urged the city attorney to work closely with the Los Angeles County supervisors in drafting the ordinance in an effort to ensure that the rules apply beyond city limits. The city of Los Angeles is home to about 4 million residents. Another 6 million reside outside of city limits and still within L.A. County.

"We need to stop fighting science and start fighting the virus," said O'Farrell, as he advocated for protecting retail and other workers. "I think it's high time to move this forward. We can do this."

Global Covid-19 cases could surpass 300 million in early 2022 if they continue at the current trajectory, said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization.

Although there are several effective vaccines available for Covid-19, deaths and cases continue to rise, Tedros said.

"Last week, the 200 millionth case of Covid-19 was reported to WHO, just six months after the world passed 100 million reported cases," Tedros said during a news briefing in Geneva Wednesday. "And we know that the real number of cases is much higher."

"Whether we reach 300 million, and how fast we get there, depends on all of us," he continued. "At the current trajectory, we could pass 300 million reported cases early next year. But we can change that. We're all in this together, but the world is not acting like it."

Santa Fe South Schools has announced that they will require masks at school beginning Thursday, defying a state law the Oklahoma legislature passed a law last year which says they cannot do so unless the governor issues an emergency declaration for their area.

"Exemptions will be made only for those who have a physician's documentation stating that wearing of a mask is not recommended for that individual," Superintendent Chris Brewster said in a letter posted on the district website.

The requirement applies for any guests and all activities, according to the school district.

"We will strictly enforce this at all times. Again, this is a requirement, and should not be considered optional for anyone at any time, unless they have confirmation from their physician that mask-wearing is not required."

Stewart said those who refuse to wear masks will have a virtual option for instruction.

Santa Fe South Schools is home to 3,500 charter school students who live in the Oklahoma City area.

On Monday, Democrats filed their own legislation to try and overturn the statewide mask mandate ban, saying it "cripples" the ability of localities to control Covid-19 spread.

"Needs across Oklahoma are different, and schools need to be able to make decisions about safety based on local data rather than waiting for the Governor to declare a state of emergency," State Rep. Melissa Provenzano, a Democrat from Tulsa, said in a statement. "I've been contacted by more parents than I can count asking how to keep their kids safe at school when they return. So many of us have witnessed the awful reality of Covid up close and personal. Enough is enough. It is time to protect our children."

Some school districts in Arizona, Texas and Florida are currently in the middle of battles with their governors with regards to their ability to mandate masks in schools.

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby says he does not anticipate a vaccination requirement for travel within the United States, but said it is possible for some international travel.

When asked by CNN's Victor Blackwell if passengers will need to get vaccinated as a condition to fly Kirby said "it's a government question, but I suspect that it won't happen domestically."

President Biden on Wednesday met with Kirby and other executives from companies that are mandating that workers get vaccinated. United announced Friday that all its 67,000 employees in the United States would need to get vaccinated by Oct. 25 or face getting fired.

Kirby says through increased employer mandates, he thinks that the United States could see an 80% to 90% vaccination rate. Kirby said Biden "asked us to do everything we could with fellow CEOs or anyone we were in contact with to encourage others to do the same thing."

Intelligence officials are nearing the end of a 90-day investigation into the origins of Covid-19 that was ordered by President Biden, and have drafted a classified report that is now in the preliminary review process, according to three sources familiar with the probe.

Sources familiar with the initial report say that after three months of poring over data and raw intelligence, the intelligence community is still divided over two theories - one suggesting the virus originated from a lab in Wuhan, China, and the other suggesting it jumped naturally to humans from animals, the sources said. The report as it stands now contains "nothing too earth shattering," one source explained.

In May, Biden told US intelligence agencies to "redouble" their efforts to investigate how the virus originated, including the possibility that it emerged from a lab accident. Biden ordered the investigation after receiving an earlier report on the origins and asking for follow-up information, he said in a statement. The 90-day clock that Biden set for this investigation will be up in late August.

It's possible that the draft report could undergo significant revisions during the remaining review process. Biden also tasked the intelligence community with declassifying as much of the report as possible, a process now underway as it undergoes initial reviews.

The intelligence community's inability to present one theory with high confidence after three months of intense work underscores just how hard it is to probe the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The National Security Council did not return requests for comment.

Last week, CNN reported that intelligence agencies had gotten their hands on a trove of genetic data drawn from virus samples at the lab in Wuhan that some officials believe could have been the source of the outbreak. It's unclear whether officials have finished analyzing that data.

Intelligence officials have also taken a fresh look at signals intelligence, like intercepted communications and satellite imagery, that could provide clues.

But ultimately, China's refusal to share information from the early days of the outbreak and the country's lack of transparency has been a major hurdle, and officials had been broadly pessimistic about finding a smoking gun during the 90-day push.

The report - which was done without any Chinese participation - is now being reviewed by the intelligence community and outside experts for feedback before it is finalized later this month, the three sources said. Once the classified version is finalized, an unclassified version will also be developed so that the Biden administration can share something with the public, one source explained.

What we covered here

As US students go back to schools, Covid-19 cases among kids have been on the rise in the US since early July.

Dr. Anthony Fauci says the continued spread of the virus could allow new variants to emerge and spread if more people don't get vaccinated.

As the Delta variant grips the US, infections caused by the Lambda variant have also been emerging.

Our live coverage has ended for the day. Follow the latest on the pandemic .

Rosalind Osgood, the chair of the Broward County School Board, said she and other board members are prepared to risk their own salaries in defying Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' executive order that effectively prohibits mask mandates in school districts.

"We are not looking to back down," said Osgood, following an 8-1 board vote to make masks mandatory for students and staff on school property. "We are committed to protecting the lives of our students and our staff at any cost. We believe that their lives are invaluable."

Osgood then responded to the threat from DeSantis' office that suggested the state's Board of Education could withhold the salaries of superintendents and school board members who disregard the governor's executive order.

"We did receive that letter," Osgood told CNN's Wolf Blitzer. "...I was very surprised that the punitive threats continue to come and be directed toward our school."

"If it means that our salaries are taken away, we would rather have those salaries taken away than take a risk at having one of our kids or one of our staff people come down very ill," she said.

It's possible that a Covid-19 vaccine will be available for kids under the age of 12 before the end of 2021, US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek said Wednesday.

"If everything were to go well, and everything were to fall into place, I think it's possible that we could see a vaccine before the end of the calendar year for kids under 12," Murthy told CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

"Make no mistake, the FDA will move quickly on this because they recognize what's at stake. It's the health of our children, and there's really nothing more important than that," he added.

Murthy said that the US Food and Drug Administration is prioritizing the evaluation of Covid-19 vaccines.

"This is the top priority for the FDA, but in order for the FDA to evaluate a vaccine for under 12's, it has to get an application first from the companies - which means they have to complete their trials, put the data together and submit them to the FDA," Murthy told CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

Those trials of children under the age of 12 are still ongoing, Murthy noted.

"My hope is that they will come to a conclusion soon, and that we will get that application from the companies to the FDA, because I will tell you that they will move fast to evaluate that," Murthy said.

Some more background: Currently, none of the three Covid-19 vaccines used in the US are available to children under the age of 12. With many schools across the country set to reopen soon for the fall semester, Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are still conducting clinical trials to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the vaccines in children under 12.
CNN's Betsy Klein and Naomi Thomas contributed reporting to this post.

More than 2,500 medical personnel will be deployed to hospitals around Texas to care for the growing number of Covid-19 patients, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Wednesday.

The governor's announcement comes days after he indicated the Texas Department of State Health Services (TSHS) would be utilizing staffing agencies to bring in out-of-state medical personnel to help counter the surge in Covid-19 cases.

"The State of Texas is taking action to ensure that our hospitals are properly staffed and supported in the fight against Covid-19," Abbott said in Wednesday's news release.

The governor did not offer details regarding where the additional medical staff would be coming from nor where they will be deployed.

"Texans can help bolster the state's efforts to combat the virus by getting vaccinated. The Covid-19 vaccine is safe and effective, and it is our best defense against the virus," the governor added.

There are only 368 intensive care unit beds currently available throughout the state of Texas and at least 10,463 lab-confirmed Covid-19 patients in hospitals across the state, according to the most recent data from TSHS.

The US Food and Drug Administration is expected to announce within the next 48 hours that it is authorizing Covid-19 vaccine booster shots for some people who are immunocompromised, according to a source familiar with the discussions.

This would be a third shot of the current two-dose Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. That announcement could slide, the source cautioned, but this is the current timing.

"The FDA is closely monitoring data as it becomes available from studies administering an additional dose of the authorized COVID-19 vaccines to immunocompromised individuals," an FDA spokesperson told CNN. "The agency, along with the CDC, is evaluating potential options on this issue, and will share information in the near future."

NBC News was first to report on the expected announcement.

The FDA must give authorization for the vaccines to be used in new ways outside the existing authorization. All three Covid-19 vaccines being used in the US are given under emergency use authorization by the FDA, but full approval is pending for Pfizer's vaccine. After FDA grants approval or authorization, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention then advises on whether to actually use a vaccine as authorized by the FDA.

Vaccine advisers for the CDC will meet on Friday to discuss booster doses of Covid-19 vaccines and additional doses for some immunocompromised people, according to a meeting agenda posted by the agency on Monday.

A recent study by Johns Hopkins University researchers found that vaccinated immunocompromised people are 485 times more likely to end up in the hospital or die from Covid-19 compared to the general population that is vaccinated.

Based on an estimate by the CDC, about 9 million Americans are immunocompromised, either because of diseases they have or medications they take.

It has been known for months that Covid-19 vaccines might not work well for this group. The hope was that vaccination rates overall would be so high so that the "herd" would protect them.

But it didn't work out that way, because about a third of eligible people in the US have not received even one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.

A motion to require proof of vaccination to enter most indoor public spaces in Los Angeles has been pushed one step closer to reality by city council members.

In a unanimous vote Wednesday, the Los Angeles City Council approved a measure to have the city attorney draw up an ordinance that could require the public to show proof of receiving at least one Covid-19 vaccination to enter indoor spots like retail stores, restaurants, bars, gyms, movie theaters, and concert venues.

The legislation goes beyond the requirement announced last week in New York, adding retail stores to the list of indoor public places where residents would need to present proof of vaccination. The draft ordinance will include information on the city's vaccination campaign and solicit feedback from teachers, parents and pediatricians on how to best protect children.

"Instead of fighting science, we should be fighting the virus," said Councilmember Mitch O'Farrell, co-author of the proposal. "The data is clear: vaccines are safe and effective. We have endured 18 months of mass illness and death, with the latest variant wreaking havoc across the globe. Free vaccinations are widely available for all who are eligible. This is a necessary and sensible step that will broadly protect the health and safety of Angelenos. It could very well ward off another economic shutdown, which would be devastating to our city and our nation."

"Frankly, I'm tired of our politicization science and public health. And while people outside this building are protesting that this is a violation of their civil liberties, Angelenos are dying unnecessarily," Councilmember Paul Koretz said.

In recent weeks, new Covid-19 cases in Los Angeles County have increased 20-fold, but local public health data in the past few days has shown promising signs of a slowdown of the surge.

"Not being vaccinated leads to death. It leads to a prolonged pandemic. It has an impact on others. It is not a personal choice. It is a public health issue," insisted Councilmember Bob Blumenfield.

Councilmember Paul Krekorian urged the city attorney to work closely with the Los Angeles County supervisors in drafting the ordinance in an effort to ensure that the rules apply beyond city limits. The city of Los Angeles is home to about 4 million residents. Another 6 million reside outside of city limits and still within L.A. County.

"We need to stop fighting science and start fighting the virus," said O'Farrell, as he advocated for protecting retail and other workers. "I think it's high time to move this forward. We can do this."

Global Covid-19 cases could surpass 300 million in early 2022 if they continue at the current trajectory, said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization.

Although there are several effective vaccines available for Covid-19, deaths and cases continue to rise, Tedros said.

"Last week, the 200 millionth case of Covid-19 was reported to WHO, just six months after the world passed 100 million reported cases," Tedros said during a news briefing in Geneva Wednesday. "And we know that the real number of cases is much higher."

"Whether we reach 300 million, and how fast we get there, depends on all of us," he continued. "At the current trajectory, we could pass 300 million reported cases early next year. But we can change that. We're all in this together, but the world is not acting like it."

Santa Fe South Schools has announced that they will require masks at school beginning Thursday, defying a state law the Oklahoma legislature passed a law last year which says they cannot do so unless the governor issues an emergency declaration for their area.

"Exemptions will be made only for those who have a physician's documentation stating that wearing of a mask is not recommended for that individual," Superintendent Chris Brewster said in a letter posted on the district website.

The requirement applies for any guests and all activities, according to the school district.

"We will strictly enforce this at all times. Again, this is a requirement, and should not be considered optional for anyone at any time, unless they have confirmation from their physician that mask-wearing is not required."

Stewart said those who refuse to wear masks will have a virtual option for instruction.

Santa Fe South Schools is home to 3,500 charter school students who live in the Oklahoma City area.

On Monday, Democrats filed their own legislation to try and overturn the statewide mask mandate ban, saying it "cripples" the ability of localities to control Covid-19 spread.

"Needs across Oklahoma are different, and schools need to be able to make decisions about safety based on local data rather than waiting for the Governor to declare a state of emergency," State Rep. Melissa Provenzano, a Democrat from Tulsa, said in a statement. "I've been contacted by more parents than I can count asking how to keep their kids safe at school when they return. So many of us have witnessed the awful reality of Covid up close and personal. Enough is enough. It is time to protect our children."

Some school districts in Arizona, Texas and Florida are currently in the middle of battles with their governors with regards to their ability to mandate masks in schools.

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby says he does not anticipate a vaccination requirement for travel within the United States, but said it is possible for some international travel.

When asked by CNN's Victor Blackwell if passengers will need to get vaccinated as a condition to fly Kirby said "it's a government question, but I suspect that it won't happen domestically."

President Biden on Wednesday met with Kirby and other executives from companies that are mandating that workers get vaccinated. United announced Friday that all its 67,000 employees in the United States would need to get vaccinated by Oct. 25 or face getting fired.

Kirby says through increased employer mandates, he thinks that the United States could see an 80% to 90% vaccination rate. Kirby said Biden "asked us to do everything we could with fellow CEOs or anyone we were in contact with to encourage others to do the same thing."

Intelligence officials are nearing the end of a 90-day investigation into the origins of Covid-19 that was ordered by President Biden, and have drafted a classified report that is now in the preliminary review process, according to three sources familiar with the probe.

Sources familiar with the initial report say that after three months of poring over data and raw intelligence, the intelligence community is still divided over two theories - one suggesting the virus originated from a lab in Wuhan, China, and the other suggesting it jumped naturally to humans from animals, the sources said. The report as it stands now contains "nothing too earth shattering," one source explained.

In May, Biden told US intelligence agencies to "redouble" their efforts to investigate how the virus originated, including the possibility that it emerged from a lab accident. Biden ordered the investigation after receiving an earlier report on the origins and asking for follow-up information, he said in a statement. The 90-day clock that Biden set for this investigation will be up in late August.

It's possible that the draft report could undergo significant revisions during the remaining review process. Biden also tasked the intelligence community with declassifying as much of the report as possible, a process now underway as it undergoes initial reviews.

The intelligence community's inability to present one theory with high confidence after three months of intense work underscores just how hard it is to probe the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The National Security Council did not return requests for comment.

Last week, CNN reported that intelligence agencies had gotten their hands on a trove of genetic data drawn from virus samples at the lab in Wuhan that some officials believe could have been the source of the outbreak. It's unclear whether officials have finished analyzing that data.

Intelligence officials have also taken a fresh look at signals intelligence, like intercepted communications and satellite imagery, that could provide clues.

But ultimately, China's refusal to share information from the early days of the outbreak and the country's lack of transparency has been a major hurdle, and officials had been broadly pessimistic about finding a smoking gun during the 90-day push.

The report - which was done without any Chinese participation - is now being reviewed by the intelligence community and outside experts for feedback before it is finalized later this month, the three sources said. Once the classified version is finalized, an unclassified version will also be developed so that the Biden administration can share something with the public, one source explained.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.authors[].name
By Melissa Mahtani, Meg Wagner, Mike Hayes, Melissa Macaya and Veronica Rocha, CNN

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
What we covered here As US students go back to schools, Covid-19 cases among kids have been on the rise in the US since early July. Dr. Anthony Fauci says the continued spread of the virus could allow new variants to emerge and spread if more people don't get vaccinated.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Where things stand now

The Taliban have moved swiftly to crush early opposition to their hold across Afghanistan, undermining their repeated attempts to convincethe world that their rule will be more inclusive than it was two decades ago.

Desperate Afghans trying to flee have surrounded Kabul's international airport, but Taliban fighters are stationed outside, some firing shots to control the crowd.

President Biden defended the US' chaotic evacuation efforts and assured Americans and Afghan partners his country "will do everything" it can to provide safe evacuation.

Our live coverage has ended for the day.

8:19 p.m. ET, August 20, 2021
CNN correspondent Clarissa Ward boards flight out of Afghanistan

Following days of reporting from the ground in Afghanistan, CNN's Clarissa Ward boarded a flight out of the country Friday.

Ward shared a photo from the packed plane on Twitter after waiting hours for a flight.

"On our flight and getting ready for takeoff," she tweeted.
Read the tweet:

The US military used helicopters to evacuate a group of Americans from a hotel near the Kabul airport, according to the Pentagon spokesperson who provided new details about the mission that was first revealed by President Biden in his speech on Friday.

The 169 Americans were retrieved after another country informed US commanders that citizens had gathered at the Baron Hotel near the airport, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Friday evening.

Three CH-47 Chinook helicopters flew from the military side of the airport to the Baron Hotel, just off the southern side of the airport, to collect the Americans and bring them onto the field, Kirby said. He did not know if the Chinooks flew multiple flights to bring the Americans over.

"It was a very quick, safely performed operation," Kirby said.

The original plan had been for the Americans to walk through the Abbey Gate, located approximately 200 meters from their hotel, Kirby said. But a large crowd had gathered at the gate, and some of the Americans felt unsafe trying to work their way through the crowd.

Kirby clarified his earlier remarks that this crowd had walked onto the field with the assistance of some US troops. He said there have been a few instances of Americans arriving at the airport and being escorted onto the field by US troops. But he said this is the only instance of which he is aware where US helicopters have left the field to collect American citizens.

The Associated Press was first to report about this mission.

The decision to launch the helicopters was made by the commander on the ground "on the spot."

"He executed a mission that he believed was in the best interest of helping these Americans, and he did," Kirby said. A third country, which Kirby would not identify, had established security at the hotel and informed the US that its citizens were there.

Colombia has agreed to take Afghans who worked with the US government temporarily as they wait for the US to process their paperwork, Colombia's President Ivan Duque said Friday.

In a joint video statement with US Ambassador to Colombia Philip Goldberg, Duque and Goldberg both reiterated that Afghans will only stay in Colombia temporarily and will eventually move to the US.

Goldberg thanked Colombia's efforts and said that the US will contribute to the costs incurred during this operation.

The Colombian president's office declined to answer how many refugees will move to Colombia or the timeframe of this operation.

The first few US military evacuation flights from Afghanistan have landed at Ramstein Air Base, a United States Air Force base in Germany, carrying approximately 350 passengers, Senior Master Sergeant Stacia Zachary told CNN Friday.

According to Zachary, the first plane landed at approximately 7 p.m. local time (1 p.m. ET) - the first in a series of flights that have evacuated hundreds of people of different nationalities, including Afghan nationals.

"We are making sure that everyone getting off the plane is getting the medical attention they need," said Zachary, noting that medical personnel were on site to receive the first arrivals and provide health checks, as well as stabilize any medical emergencies.

Zachary reiterated that Ramstein Air Base would be an intermediate stop with no long-term plan to accommodate arrivals. More flights are expected over the next few days.

Earlier on Friday: German Chancellor Angela Merkel told members of the press that evacuating those who have worked for Germany over the last 20 years remains a priority for the German government.

"Afghan citizens should have a safe, secure place to stay in Germany and we will do everything in our power to bring as many of these people as possible to Germany in the next few days," she added.

According to the latest information from the German Defense Ministry, more than 1,700 "at-risk" people in Afghanistan have been evacuated on German military flights so far.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told House members in a call this afternoon that Americans have been beaten by the Taliban in Kabul, according to multiple sources on the call.

Austin called it "unacceptable" but would not rule in or out if Americans would go outside the gates to ensure safe passage through checkpoints. Still, he added that generally the Taliban were not hindering Americans seeking to get to the airport, echoing the claims made publicly by President Biden on Sunday.

The comments appear to contradict President Biden's statement earlier Friday that there's "no indication" US citizens have been unable to get to Kabul airport.

Politico first reported Austin's comments.

Asked about Austin's comments and reports of beatings, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said, "we're certainly mindful of these reports and they're deeply troubling, and we have communicated to the Taliban that that's absolutely unacceptable, that we want free passage through their checkpoints for documented Americans. And by and large, that's happening."

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby today provided few details on how US troops brought 169 Americans to the Hamid Karzai International Airport, but characterized the activity as "assistance" rather than a rescue mission.

"My understanding of what happened was they were really just outside the wall," he told CNN's Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr.

"It wasn't a rescue so much as assisting them getting onto the field," continued Kirby, speaking from the Pentagon.

When pressed by Starr, Kirby repeatedly said that he did not have details on US operations outside the airport, which is secured by the US military.

"I don't have that level of detail," said Kirby. "...I do not have that level of tactical detail today. I'm happy to go look and see if we can find answers for you on that."

President Biden, in a press conference earlier this afternoon, said US troops had gone "over the wall" to bring 169 Americans to the airfield.

Kirby said beyond "assistance" to the 169 Americans, he was not aware of any other instances in which US soldiers had left the airport. He said the US had increased its capacity to operate outside of the wire, however, which stands in contrast to remarks made earlier in the week by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who said they did not have the capacity to go out and get "large numbers of people."

Speaking at the Pentagon today, Kirby said they had now "flown in additional capacity, additional forces."

"If there would be a need to do something additional to help Americans or other people at risk that we need to get to the airfield, we would examine those options," Kirby said.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price revealed a lengthy list of countries who are partnering in relocation efforts for Americans and Afghans from Kabul.

"Over the past several days, we have mobilized a global effort through diplomatic channels to evacuate US citizens, personnel from partner nations, and of course at risk Afghans from Kabul," he told reporters at a briefing.

"We extend special thanks to our partners around the globe who have been instrumental in this operation in all of its many parts. Bahrain, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Qatar, Tajikistan, Turkey, the UAE, the United Kingdom, and Uzbekistan have been or will soon be transiting Americans or in some circumstances, others, through their territories to safety," Price added.

"Albania, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Mexico, Poland, Qatar, Rwanda, Ukraine and Uganda have also made generous offers regarding the relocation efforts for at-risk Afghans," he said.

Asked by CNN's Barbara Starr if the number of people backlogged at Kabul's airport during the "pause" of US flights was about 10,000, Maj. Gen. Hank Taylor, vice director for logistics of the Joint Staff, said he believed it was "less than" that figure, but that the did not have the "exact number."

Pressed in a follow-up question if the number was "in the thousands," the official agreed that it was. Taylor noted in the briefing that the "pause" of US evacuation flights lasted roughly six to seven and a half hours.

Earlier today, CNN's Clarissa Ward reported that soldiers told her about 10,000 people were processed but unable to depart Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul as Qatar was reaching capacity on accepting additional Afghans.

Starr also asked Taylor about the conditions on the ground for Afghans waiting to depart the airfield.

Conditions were "sufficient," Taylor said. "We are actively continuing to ensure it is sufficient for the future and continuing as we build out even more."

"Did the people who were stuck there for so long, did they have food, water and sanitation?" Starr asked.

"Yes, and I have no report they didn't," he said.

After the hours-long "pause" was lifted, at least one US evacuation flight has left Kabul, Taylor added.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby acknowledged that an al Qaeda presence remains in Afghanistan, seemingly contradicting President Biden's declaration that the terrorist organization was no longer in that country.

"We know that al Qaeda is a presence as well as ISIS in Afghanistan and we've talked about that for quite some time," Kirby told reporters Friday.

In remarks shortly beforehand defending the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, Biden said, "What interest do we have in Afghanistan at this point, with al Qaeda gone?"

Kirby said they do not believe the number of al Qaeda fighters in the country "is exorbitantly high but we don't have an exact figure for you," because "our intelligence gathering ability in Afghanistan isn't what it used to be because we aren't there in the same numbers that we used to be."

When pressed, Kirby attempted to clean up the contrast between his words and Biden's, saying, "what we believe is that there isn't a presence that is significant enough to merit a threat to our homeland as there was back on 9/11, 20 years ago."

As part of the US-Taliban deal, the militant group said it would cut ties to al Qaeda, but UN reports have found that the two groups remain closely linked.

Where things stand now

The Taliban have moved swiftly to crush early opposition to their hold across Afghanistan, undermining their repeated attempts to convincethe world that their rule will be more inclusive than it was two decades ago.

Desperate Afghans trying to flee have surrounded Kabul's international airport, but Taliban fighters are stationed outside, some firing shots to control the crowd.

President Biden defended the US' chaotic evacuation efforts and assured Americans and Afghan partners his country "will do everything" it can to provide safe evacuation.

Our live coverage has ended for the day.

8:19 p.m. ET, August 20, 2021
CNN correspondent Clarissa Ward boards flight out of Afghanistan

Following days of reporting from the ground in Afghanistan, CNN's Clarissa Ward boarded a flight out of the country Friday.

Ward shared a photo from the packed plane on Twitter after waiting hours for a flight.

"On our flight and getting ready for takeoff," she tweeted.
Read the tweet:

The US military used helicopters to evacuate a group of Americans from a hotel near the Kabul airport, according to the Pentagon spokesperson who provided new details about the mission that was first revealed by President Biden in his speech on Friday.

The 169 Americans were retrieved after another country informed US commanders that citizens had gathered at the Baron Hotel near the airport, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Friday evening.

Three CH-47 Chinook helicopters flew from the military side of the airport to the Baron Hotel, just off the southern side of the airport, to collect the Americans and bring them onto the field, Kirby said. He did not know if the Chinooks flew multiple flights to bring the Americans over.

"It was a very quick, safely performed operation," Kirby said.

The original plan had been for the Americans to walk through the Abbey Gate, located approximately 200 meters from their hotel, Kirby said. But a large crowd had gathered at the gate, and some of the Americans felt unsafe trying to work their way through the crowd.

Kirby clarified his earlier remarks that this crowd had walked onto the field with the assistance of some US troops. He said there have been a few instances of Americans arriving at the airport and being escorted onto the field by US troops. But he said this is the only instance of which he is aware where US helicopters have left the field to collect American citizens.

The Associated Press was first to report about this mission.

The decision to launch the helicopters was made by the commander on the ground "on the spot."

"He executed a mission that he believed was in the best interest of helping these Americans, and he did," Kirby said. A third country, which Kirby would not identify, had established security at the hotel and informed the US that its citizens were there.

Colombia has agreed to take Afghans who worked with the US government temporarily as they wait for the US to process their paperwork, Colombia's President Ivan Duque said Friday.

In a joint video statement with US Ambassador to Colombia Philip Goldberg, Duque and Goldberg both reiterated that Afghans will only stay in Colombia temporarily and will eventually move to the US.

Goldberg thanked Colombia's efforts and said that the US will contribute to the costs incurred during this operation.

The Colombian president's office declined to answer how many refugees will move to Colombia or the timeframe of this operation.

The first few US military evacuation flights from Afghanistan have landed at Ramstein Air Base, a United States Air Force base in Germany, carrying approximately 350 passengers, Senior Master Sergeant Stacia Zachary told CNN Friday.

According to Zachary, the first plane landed at approximately 7 p.m. local time (1 p.m. ET) - the first in a series of flights that have evacuated hundreds of people of different nationalities, including Afghan nationals.

"We are making sure that everyone getting off the plane is getting the medical attention they need," said Zachary, noting that medical personnel were on site to receive the first arrivals and provide health checks, as well as stabilize any medical emergencies.

Zachary reiterated that Ramstein Air Base would be an intermediate stop with no long-term plan to accommodate arrivals. More flights are expected over the next few days.

Earlier on Friday: German Chancellor Angela Merkel told members of the press that evacuating those who have worked for Germany over the last 20 years remains a priority for the German government.

"Afghan citizens should have a safe, secure place to stay in Germany and we will do everything in our power to bring as many of these people as possible to Germany in the next few days," she added.

According to the latest information from the German Defense Ministry, more than 1,700 "at-risk" people in Afghanistan have been evacuated on German military flights so far.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told House members in a call this afternoon that Americans have been beaten by the Taliban in Kabul, according to multiple sources on the call.

Austin called it "unacceptable" but would not rule in or out if Americans would go outside the gates to ensure safe passage through checkpoints. Still, he added that generally the Taliban were not hindering Americans seeking to get to the airport, echoing the claims made publicly by President Biden on Sunday.

The comments appear to contradict President Biden's statement earlier Friday that there's "no indication" US citizens have been unable to get to Kabul airport.

Politico first reported Austin's comments.

Asked about Austin's comments and reports of beatings, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said, "we're certainly mindful of these reports and they're deeply troubling, and we have communicated to the Taliban that that's absolutely unacceptable, that we want free passage through their checkpoints for documented Americans. And by and large, that's happening."

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby today provided few details on how US troops brought 169 Americans to the Hamid Karzai International Airport, but characterized the activity as "assistance" rather than a rescue mission.

"My understanding of what happened was they were really just outside the wall," he told CNN's Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr.

"It wasn't a rescue so much as assisting them getting onto the field," continued Kirby, speaking from the Pentagon.

When pressed by Starr, Kirby repeatedly said that he did not have details on US operations outside the airport, which is secured by the US military.

"I don't have that level of detail," said Kirby. "...I do not have that level of tactical detail today. I'm happy to go look and see if we can find answers for you on that."

President Biden, in a press conference earlier this afternoon, said US troops had gone "over the wall" to bring 169 Americans to the airfield.

Kirby said beyond "assistance" to the 169 Americans, he was not aware of any other instances in which US soldiers had left the airport. He said the US had increased its capacity to operate outside of the wire, however, which stands in contrast to remarks made earlier in the week by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who said they did not have the capacity to go out and get "large numbers of people."

Speaking at the Pentagon today, Kirby said they had now "flown in additional capacity, additional forces."

"If there would be a need to do something additional to help Americans or other people at risk that we need to get to the airfield, we would examine those options," Kirby said.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price revealed a lengthy list of countries who are partnering in relocation efforts for Americans and Afghans from Kabul.

"Over the past several days, we have mobilized a global effort through diplomatic channels to evacuate US citizens, personnel from partner nations, and of course at risk Afghans from Kabul," he told reporters at a briefing.

"We extend special thanks to our partners around the globe who have been instrumental in this operation in all of its many parts. Bahrain, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Qatar, Tajikistan, Turkey, the UAE, the United Kingdom, and Uzbekistan have been or will soon be transiting Americans or in some circumstances, others, through their territories to safety," Price added.

"Albania, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Mexico, Poland, Qatar, Rwanda, Ukraine and Uganda have also made generous offers regarding the relocation efforts for at-risk Afghans," he said.

Asked by CNN's Barbara Starr if the number of people backlogged at Kabul's airport during the "pause" of US flights was about 10,000, Maj. Gen. Hank Taylor, vice director for logistics of the Joint Staff, said he believed it was "less than" that figure, but that the did not have the "exact number."

Pressed in a follow-up question if the number was "in the thousands," the official agreed that it was. Taylor noted in the briefing that the "pause" of US evacuation flights lasted roughly six to seven and a half hours.

Earlier today, CNN's Clarissa Ward reported that soldiers told her about 10,000 people were processed but unable to depart Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul as Qatar was reaching capacity on accepting additional Afghans.

Starr also asked Taylor about the conditions on the ground for Afghans waiting to depart the airfield.

Conditions were "sufficient," Taylor said. "We are actively continuing to ensure it is sufficient for the future and continuing as we build out even more."

"Did the people who were stuck there for so long, did they have food, water and sanitation?" Starr asked.

"Yes, and I have no report they didn't," he said.

After the hours-long "pause" was lifted, at least one US evacuation flight has left Kabul, Taylor added.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby acknowledged that an al Qaeda presence remains in Afghanistan, seemingly contradicting President Biden's declaration that the terrorist organization was no longer in that country.

"We know that al Qaeda is a presence as well as ISIS in Afghanistan and we've talked about that for quite some time," Kirby told reporters Friday.

In remarks shortly beforehand defending the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, Biden said, "What interest do we have in Afghanistan at this point, with al Qaeda gone?"

Kirby said they do not believe the number of al Qaeda fighters in the country "is exorbitantly high but we don't have an exact figure for you," because "our intelligence gathering ability in Afghanistan isn't what it used to be because we aren't there in the same numbers that we used to be."

When pressed, Kirby attempted to clean up the contrast between his words and Biden's, saying, "what we believe is that there isn't a presence that is significant enough to merit a threat to our homeland as there was back on 9/11, 20 years ago."

As part of the US-Taliban deal, the militant group said it would cut ties to al Qaeda, but UN reports have found that the two groups remain closely linked.

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By Brad Lendon, Jessie Yeung, Kara Fox, Aditi Sangal, Meg Wagner, Melissa Macaya and Melissa Mahtani, CNN

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August 20, 2021, Afghanistan-Taliban news

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Where things stand now The Taliban have moved swiftly to crush early opposition to their hold across Afghanistan, undermining their repeated attempts to convincethe world that their rule will be more inclusive than it was two decades ago. Desperate Afghans trying to flee have surrounded Kabul's international airport, but Taliban fighters are stationed outside, some firing shots to control the crowd.

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Florida continued to set records for COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations Sunday with federal agencies reporting that an additional 25,991 people had tested positive and nearly 16,000 were hospitalized for treatment of the deadly disease.

Since the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus began sweeping the state last month, Florida has led the nation in the number of new cases.

The additional infections the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported late Saturday is a 4.5% increase since the previous daily high of 24,869 cases was reported Wednesday. The state reported nearly 152,000 new cases for the week.
Previous coverage: Florida accuses CDC of inflating COVID numbers in apparent CDC mistake
Palm Beach County tallied 9,170 new cases during the seven days ending Friday, the agency reported. That is a 17.5% increase since the seven-day total posted Thursday.

Public health officials say unvaccinated people are driving the increases in cases and hospitalizations.

Public health officials said they are seeing younger people become seriously ill. Once viewed as a threat to the elderly, nearly 86% of those over the age of 65 have been gotten at least one shot, according to Friday's weekly update from the Florida Department of Health.

Statewide, nearly 28% of the regular beds in hospitals were occupied by 15,985 patients stricken with COVID-19, according to Sunday's update by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

However, COVID-19 patients account for 50% of those being treated in the state's intensive care units. Statewide, fewer than 9% of ICU beds are empty.

While the federal agency updates numbers from county hospitals just once a week, local officials said they are feeling the strain.

Jupiter Medical Center and the VA Medical Center in Riviera Beach, like other hospitals across the state, have canceled elective surgeries. Officials at other medical centers said they are evaluating their caseloads daily to determine if they will follow suit.

The CDC reported 27 additional deaths in Florida, raising the seven-day death toll to 242. Overall, 40,584 state residents have died of COVID-19 since the pandemic began in March 2020.

Nationally, an additional 804 people were reported dead, bringing the seven-day total to 3,817. Since the pandemic began, 618,591 people have died nationwide.
Editor's Note: This story has been updated to eliminate incorrect information. An earlier version incorrectly reported how many unvaccinated people had been infected by age group. jmusgrave@pbppost.com
While Florida, the third most populous state, is leading the nation in new infections, Louisiana has recorded the most per capita in the last seven days. It has tallied 879 new cases for every 100,000 residents. Florida is second with 706 new infections for every 100,000 residents, according to the CDC.

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Florida sets new high for daily COVID cases with nearly 26,000 new infections

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Florida continued to set records for COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations Sunday with federal agencies reporting that an additional 25,991 people had tested positive and nearly 16,000 were hospitalized for treatment of the deadly disease. Since the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus began sweeping the state last month, Florida has led the nation in the number of new cases.

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The day before he was supposed to start fourth grade, Francisco Rosales was admitted to a Dallas hospital with COVID-19, struggling to breathe, with dangerously low oxygen levels and an uncertain outcome.

It wasn't supposed to be like this, thought his frightened mother, Yessica Gonzalez. Francisco was normally healthy and rambunctious. At 9, he was too young to get vaccinated, but most of the family had their shots. She had heard kids rarely got sick from the coronavirus.

But with the highly contagious delta variant spreading across the U.S., children are filling hospital intensive care beds instead of classrooms in record numbers, more even than at the height of the pandemic. Many are too young to get the vaccine, which is available only to those 12 and over.

The surging virus is spreading anxiety and causing turmoil and infighting among parents, administrators and politicians around the U.S., especially in states like Florida and Texas, where Republican governors have barred schools from making youngsters wear masks.

With millions of children returning to classrooms this month, experts say the stakes are unquestionably high.

Very high infection rates in the community "are really causing our children's hospitals to feel the squeeze,'' said Dr. Buddy Creech, a Vanderbilt University infectious disease specialist who is a helping lead research on Moderna's vaccine for children under 12. Creech said those shots probably won't be available for several months.

"I'm really worried,'' said Dr. Sonja Rasmussen, a pediatrician and public health expert at the University of Florida. "It's just so disappointing to see those numbers back up again."

While pediatric COVID-19 hospitalization rates are lower than those for adults, they have surged in recent weeks, reaching 0.41 per 100,000 children ages 0 to 17, compared with 0.31 per 100,000, the previous high set in mid-January, according to an Aug. 13 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Dr. Francis Collins, head of the National Institutes of Health, calls the spike in cases among children "very worrisome."

He noted that over 400 U.S. children have died of COVID-19 since the pandemic began. "And right now we have almost 2,000 kids in the hospital, many of them in ICU, some of them under the age of 4,'' Collins told Fox News on Sunday.

Health experts believe adults who have not gotten their shots are contributing to the surge among grownups and children alike. It has been especially bad in places with lower vaccination rates, such as parts of the South.

While it is clear the delta variant is much more contagious than the original version, scientists are not yet able to say with any certainty whether it makes people more severely ill or whether youngsters are especially vulnerable to it.

As experts work to answer those questions, many hospitals are reeling. Those in Texas are among the hardest hit. On Tuesday, they reported 196 children being treated with confirmed COVID-19. That compares with 163 during the previous peak, in December.

At Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, the nation's largest pediatric hospital, the number of youngsters treated for COVID-19 is at an all-time high, said Dr. Jim Versalovic, interim pediatrician-in-chief. In recent weeks, the vast majority have had delta infections, and most patients 12 and up have not had shots, he said.

"It is spreading like wildfire across our communities,'' he said.

At times this month, his hospital system has diagnosed 200 children with COVID-19 a day, with about 6% of them needing hospital care. On some days, the number of children in the hospital with COVID-19 has exceeded 45.

Versalovic said he suspects hospitalizations of children are up simply because so many are getting infected, not because the delta variant makes people more seriously ill.

At Children's Medical Center in Dallas, where Francisco is being treated, the number of patients with COVID-19 climbed from 10 during the week of July 4 to 29 during the week of Aug. 8.

Francisco is improving and expected to recover, but his mother is worried and is considering home-schooling him. The virus "is really dangerous,'' she said.

The delta surge is yet another test for the nation's schools, which are dealing with students who fell behind academically as a result of remote learning or developed mental health problems from the upheaval.

Outbreaks have already occurred at reopened schools in the South that are facing resistance to mask-wearing.

In Texas, some school administrators are mandating masks in defiance of the governor and state Supreme Court. Among them is Michael Hinojosa of the Dallas school system, one of the state's largest districts.

"This delta variant is different, and the numbers are really significant in the county,'' he said. "We're going to continue our mask mandate to keep students safe, to keep parents safe, to keep families safe and most importantly our teachers, who are on those front lines.''

Although dozens of students and staff have already been sickened by the virus since the Dallas district's 180 schools began reopening on Aug. 5, the numbers are far lower than when in-person learning resumed in the spring, Hinojosa said.

Knowing the toll the pandemic has taken on children, Hinojosa is determined to keep his schools open.

"We know they've been scarred by it," he said. "That's why they need to be back with their friends and teachers.''

In DeSoto, a Dallas suburb, schools are also requiring masks, and Superintendent D'Andre Weaver said there has been no pushback from parents, perhaps, he added, because many are Black and know their community was hit hard earlier in the pandemic. Some considered keeping their children home because of the governor's opposition to school mask requirements, Weaver said.

As a parent and an administrator, Weaver said the delta surge "is a major concern, it's a major frustration. It's a big fear.''

His own two girls started first and second grade this week, and the first thing he has been asking when he picks them up after school is "How do you feel? Do you have a sore throat?" Weaver said. "I know many parents are in the same boat.''

While he knows many children suffered during virtual learning last year, Weaver said, ''We have no choice but to prepare that as an option.'

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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Children are filling hospital intensive care beds in record numbers as delta wave hits, raises fear as US schools open

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But with the highly contagious delta variant spreading across the U.S., children are filling hospital intensive care beds instead of classrooms in record numbers, more even than at the height of the pandemic. Many are too young to get the vaccine, which is available only to those 12 and over.

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The text came at 11 p.m.

"This is getting worse," it said.

No kidding, I thought, as I sent Dr. Moti Ramgopal, an infectious disease specialist in St. Lucie County a copy of my column posted Wednesday. The column broke the news of how many Treasure Coast residents had died related to COVID-19 since June 3.

That's the date the Florida Department of Health stopped releasing daily information on COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths. It stopped breaking out the latter two statistics by county completely.

When I asked DOH officials for this information, I was told to look at a federal website that did not contain all the data, and was fed an excuse that sounded like bureaucratic drivel.

"The reporting shift occurred when Florida transitioned into a new phase of the COVID-19 response as vaccinations continue to increase."

Hospitals limit services

That new phase happened in June and lasted a month before Florida was swamped by COVID's most virulent wave of positive cases and hospitalizations to date. Some hospitals have postponed non-emergency surgeries and cut outpatient visits.

If the system weren't heavily burdened, Ramgopal wouldn't have texted me so late asking, "What can we do? ... We are failing our children, our family and our community. We will be regretting this. This is not COVID-19. This is COVID-21, worse than 19."

If he weren't concerned, he wouldn't have chatted with me on the phone until midnight trying to determine what more could be done to keep people from being hospitalized.

Ramgopal said he saw a packed emergency room, with patients in gurneys on each side of the hallway waiting for rooms. Some hospitals are running out of beds, oxygen and other supplies, he said.

DOH and other local leaders largely have remained quiet during this summer surge. Gone are the weekly news conferences announcing cases and hospitalizations and recommendations on how to limit the spread.

Without some physicians and leaders of Cleveland Clinic's Treasure Coast operation, we'd know little of a situation threatening otherwise healthy people, too. For example:

Heaven forbid you slip and fall one night and need a trip to the ER. What if you need surgery after a car accident? How about that serious gastrointestinal issue? A kidney stone? Something worse? Need non-emergency surgery? You might have to take a number and wait for days, weeks or ...
More: More: More: More: COVID surge: What if we had just listened to local doctors Pierone, Ramgopal? As COVID-19 vaccine permeates, will normal return? Local experts weigh in How many COVID dead on Treasure Coast? Florida health officials won't say COVID involved in more than 126 local deaths since June 2; 46 in August
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Emergency rooms stressed

Welcome to an ER with COVID patients. Four-hour wait? Ha. Given that some Treasure Coast hospitals are reporting that about half their inpatients are being treated for COVID - they say 90% are not been vaccinated - have fun getting service.

It's got to infuriate some vaccinated folks who have selflessly worn their masks and socially distanced.

Ramgopal, meanwhile, has been spending 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. the past few weeks worrying about some of his practice's 200 or so victims of what he calls COVID-21.

"Nobody's calling it COVID-21, but I'm going to call it COVID-21 because it is not the same virus (we had previously)," Ramgopal said, noting this version has evolved, sickening people faster and causing more damage.

The only saving grace, he said, are treatments that can save lives, but not necessarily quality of life. Some lung damage doesn't go away. Still, many local residents will die over the next six weeks, he said, as the latest surge continues.

Things may slow down, he said, but come October, if we don't act quickly, "the next wave is going to be the worst." He's worried about a potential new virus variant, flu season, folks not getting boosters and people letting down their guard again.

Vaccine, N95 mask, social distancing

The only way out of the nightmare is if people get vaccinated, get boosters, wear masks - preferably N95s - and socially distance.

Too many people who aren't on the front lines remain unconvinced, he said. Many peddle disinformation consumed by folks who end up struggling to breathe in hospital beds.

I first interviewed Ramgopal in February. He told me he saw COVID-related changes - from people getting in better shape and losing weight to wearing masks - that were good for their health.

At the time his office was testing monoclonal antibodies and antiviral pills, which attack the virus. Vaccines were in high demand.

"(Vaccines give us) a good sense of security that fewer people will be dying ... but it also gives us a false sense of security that the virus is going to stop spreading," Ramgopal said at the time.

In April, he warned a COVID variant killing hundreds of thousands of people in India would hit U.S. shores.

"They had 1% or 2% of the country vaccinated and they said, 'We got it under control,' " he told me. "Why is this happening? In short, they let their masks down; they let their guard down."

Sound familiar?

He probably didn't have in mind the otherwise healthy 30-something man with a wife and three children.

"Four weeks I've been trying to save this man's life and now he's intubated," said Ramgopal. "His wife comes to the window every day to look at him and wave at him. I can't stop crying about this one.

"Every day he would tell me, 'I want to live, I want to fight,' " Ramgopal said, noting the only health risk he had was being unvaccinated. "You can't blame this guy for not taking the vaccine. He was in ... perfect health."

But that's the unpredictable nature of COVID-19. It's why Ramgopal recommends eligible people get vaccinated.

"That case has had me crying all week," he said. "I'm sorry, but I'm human."

So human he fears for children in schools amid a COVID more dangerous than last year - not only because of a more virulent strain, but no mask requirements.

"The hospitals are full of young people in their 30s and 20s sick and dying now, lungs, eaten away with COVID infections," he said. "Now the children are going to start to get infected. Whereas COVID-19 didn't touch the children, COVID-21 is going to touch the children."
This column reflects the opinion of Laurence Reisman. Support his work by subscribing to TCPalm. Contact him via email at larry.reisman@tcpalm.com, phone at 772-978-2223, Facebook.com/larryreisman or Twitter @LaurenceReisman
Ramgopal has been offering doses of reality since I met him, noting vaccines and masks should become routine. He called out anti-maskers, anti-vaxxers and misinformation peddlers.

"If the children die in the next four to six weeks, it's on them," he said. "We know the vaccines work. We know masks help reduce the spread.

"Here we are in the state of Florida, the worst numbers in the world right now," he said. "And six weeks from now we can look back and say we failed our children. We failed everybody because we didn't listen."

Will we listen this time?

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St. Lucie County doctor sounds health care alarm in 11 p.m. text about 'COVID-21' | Opinion

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The text came at 11 p.m. "This is getting worse," it said. No kidding, I thought, as I sent Dr. Moti Ramgopal, an infectious disease specialist in St. Lucie County a copy of my column posted Wednesday. The column broke the news of how many Treasure Coast residents had died related to COVID-19 since June 3.

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Today is the end of the first 2 weeks of this school year. The boys absolutely love school and love having a social life. Andrew has friends at school and loves going every day. James is making friends and actually likes his classes and school. It’s like I let them out of prison and they are excited to experience the world again. It’s sad because I feel like I have been withholding their childhood and keeping them from having friends and now they are so happy but every day they go to school they are in danger. The first day of school we found out that there were 250 kids and 84 teachers in the county in quarantine. The Friday of the first week of school we found out that there were 100 kids in quarantine just in J’s school. Yesterday, I got the first dreaded email from the school that James was exposed to someone one who was positive for covid on August 18th but they could not give me any more details. He doesn’t have to quarantine but we have to monitor him for symptoms. He wears his mask every day and is half vaccinated so hopefully he will be okay. I went back to work this week and the hospital is on code red lockdown because of covid meaning only moms can come see their babies. On Tuesday we had 4 covid isolation preemie newborns, 3 of which had mothers in the ICU not doing well and hadn’t seen their babies yet in days. I had to send the family photos of one of the babies with my cellphone and facetime the family so they could see the baby. A mother and a baby died from covid in the beginning of the week. I heard that the ER is full and the hallways lined with covid people. Every day Florida has 20,000 + new cases of covid. The governor authorized monoclonal antibody sites where people can go get infusions without a doctor’s order to try and help them get better. I don’t really know how I feel about that except for it seems like a joke. We have no rules or restrictions in place to protect us from covid in the state or the country really but in other countries, like Australia, they have one case and the entire country goes on lockdown for a few days and then they live a normal life for 171 days or more before they have to do it again. Here, no one seems to care that thousands are dying daily. In other news, the Taliban has taken over Kabul, Afghanistan and the American troops who had been there have been pulled out and then sent back in to evacuate the people who live there. The Taliban took over the presidential palace there and had taken over the government. Also, for the first time in my life, I have been feeling anxiety. I have mild anxiety when I watch the news, when I drop the kids off at school, when I pull into the parking lot at work, and when I am in a large group of people. I use deep breathing and thinking of song lyrics to help but I hate that I have to feel this way sometimes when I never did before I had covid to worry about. Also, hospitals around the country are desperate for nurses and are paying up to $70,000 for 13 weeks of 3 12 hour shifts of work for nurses to travel and work!

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2nd Week of School-The Dreaded Exposure Email

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2nd Week of School-The Dreaded Exposure Email

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4th of July Fireworks at Home Again This Year

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4th of July Fireworks at Home Again This Year

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Most Florida children are returning to school in areas where COVID-19 outbreaks are far more intense than they were when school started last year.

In most counties, cases are at least four times higher than a year ago, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. Five counties report a more than tenfold increase.

Cases among children are surging, too, raising questions about the health consequences of students returning to campuses and a state ban on school mask mandates while vaccines are available for only some of the schoolchildren.
Florida Gov. DeSantis to school officials: School starts amid COVID surge: Is it a cold, allergies or delta variant? How to know, and when to get tested for COVID Florida's children are set to head back to school as COVID-19 tears through the state - what will it look like? Enforce mask mandate, get your salaries withheld
Public health experts and pediatricians said last fall that the most important factor to consider when deciding whether to start classes in-person was the amount of viral spread in the community at large. With cases so much higher than last year, districts are going against those recommendations by welcoming students to campus and limiting online learning options. Those moves follow instructions from the state government, which also prohibited schools from requiring masks for all children.

Over the seven days before last Friday's state report, Florida saw 13,596 cases among children under 12, and 13,858 cases among ages 12 to 19.

COVID in Florida this year compared to 2020

In the corresponding report a year ago, Florida reported 2,396 cases under age 12 and 3,596 cases among ages 12 to 19.

In five counties - Indian River, Liberty, Sarasota, St. Johns and Pasco - new weekly case counts are more than 10 times higher than they were before the start of the last school year.
In Northeast Florida: In Northwest Florida: Escambia County COVID-19 hospitalizations break all-time record. And it's far from over. 10 children with COVID-19 admitted to Baptist Health in Jacksonville in just 24 hours
In 31 counties, nearly half of Florida's counties, new case counts were at least five times higher than they'd been before those counties started school in 2020.

Cases fell in just six counties: Baker, Calhoun, Dixie, Lafayette, Taylor and Union. The state's other 61 counties saw increases of at least 11.7%.

As the number of cases in young people has spiked, so too has the number of kids requiring hospitalization for COVID-19.

Young people's share of the total coronavirus caseload in Florida has increased somewhat more than in the rest of the population, for whom infection has soared as well.

In early August 2020, as most Florida schools offered robust online learning options, the state reported an average of 11 pediatric admissions a day. In the first week of August this year, the state averaged 49 new pediatric admissions a day.

The Coronavirus in Kids Tracking And Education Project says Florida has the nation's highest rate of new coronavirus cases among young people, though the age groups don't match some other states'.

The Pfizer vaccine has been approved for emergency use among kids as young as 12. Vaccinations not only reduce the chance of becoming ill with COVID-19 and reduce the spread of the virus in the overall community but drastically reduce the severity of sickness and the likelihood for hospitalization or death if someone is infected.

Through the end of June, the CDC reports 65 deaths among people under age 19 in Florida, which is a higher mortality rate among youth than all but five other states and 55% higher than the national rate, according to the Coronavirus in Kids project.

The CDC says children may transmit the coronavirus as much as adults, although children's cases tend to be milder. Multiple prevention measures in schools including masking, ventilation and distancing can help reduce the dangers, the CDC said.

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As kids return to school, most Florida counties report COVID-19 cases four times higher than last year

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Most Florida children are returning to school in areas where COVID-19 outbreaks are far more intense than they were when school started last year. In most counties, cases are at least four times higher than a year ago, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows.

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The state could defund the salaries of district superintendents and county school board members who mandate mask wearing in schools, according to a statement from Gov. Ron DeSantis' office.

His spokeswoman, Christina Pushaw, released the following language Monday afternoon:

"With respect to enforcing any financial consequences for noncompliance of state law regarding these rules and ultimately the rights of parents to make decisions about their children's education and health care decisions, it would be the goal of the State Board of Education to narrowly tailor any financial consequences to the offense committed.
'Things went sideways':Dems ask for local control: Florida Democrats denounce DeSantis' mask mandate ban, urge local school districts to mask Leon Schools superintendent announces mask mandate for K-8 students
"For example, the State Board of Education could move to withhold the salary of the district superintendent or school board members, as a narrowly tailored means to address the decision-makers who led to the violation of law.

"Education funding is intended to benefit students first and foremost, not systems. The Governor's priorities are protecting parents' rights and ensuring that every student has access to a high-quality education that meets their unique needs."

The legal authority to withhold the salary money wasn't immediately clear, but Pushaw later clarified in a tweet that "teachers and staff salaries are not under threat. They didn't make the decision to break the rules."

At least one superintendent offered an immediate defiant response. Leon County Superintendent Hanna told school officials at a meeting Monday afternoon "you can't put a price tag on someone's life, including my salary."

"We want to make sure that children also have access to a high-quality education but they can't if they're sick and in the hospital," he added. Hours earlier, Hanna announced that students in elementary and middle schools will be required to wear masks as the upcoming school year begins in Tallahassee.

Leon joins several other Florida counties - including Broward, Duval, Hillsborough, Orange and Palm Beach - that have already announced mask mandates in public schools.

Recently revised CDC guidelines say all people in K-12 schools should wear a mask indoors, regardless of vaccination status.

Angry parents have flooded school board meetings in Florida and across the country both supporting and opposing face covering requirements on schoolchildren.

Late last month, DeSantis issued an executive order that prohibits county school boards from imposing masking requirements on students. And last week, the Department of Health and Department of Education OK'd emergency rules to allow parents to make the decision for their children to wear masks.

One rule expands the Hope Scholarships, which give victims of bullying the option to change schools. They now apply to students subjected to "harassment" from wearing a mask.

In a Monday email, Andrew Spar - president of the Florida Education Association, the statewide teachers union - said DeSantis "needs to set aside his political goals and focus on the safety of our students.

"He must listen to the people who are ultimately responsible for the overall health and well-being of all students and stop these heavy-handed tactics," he added. "He can do the right thing by not playing politics during this public health emergency."

Requests for comment on DeSantis' announcement are pending with the Florida School Boards Association and the Florida Association of District School Superintendents.

As part of a longer statement to the USA TODAY Network-Florida, DeSantis spokeswoman Christina Pushaw said that, "as a father of 3 children, (the governor) cares about every child in our state and trusts families to make the right decisions for their own children.

"Anyone who feels safer wearing a face covering is free to wear one, and any parent who wants his or her child to wear a face covering has the right to make that choice."
Ana Goñi-Lessan and Casey Chapter contributed. Want more news coverage? If you're already a subscriber, thank you! If not, please subscribe using the link at the top of the page and help keep the news you care about coming.
But, she added, the governor remains opposed to requiring kids to wear masks in schools, saying he believes "there are potential downsides to masking children for 8 hours per day, from a developmental, emotional, academic, and medical perspective.

"These potential downsides are largely unexplored ... This is (his) philosophy: Protecting individual rights and every family's freedom to choose what is best for their own kids."

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Florida Gov. DeSantis to school officials: Enforce mask mandate, get your salaries withheld

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The state could defund the salaries of district superintendents and county school board members who mandate mask wearing in schools, according to a statement from Gov. Ron DeSantis' office.

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New data from a pediatric group shows that children in the United States who've contracted COVID-19 make up 14% of the total number of positive cases.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, as of July 29, more than four million children have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began. Nearly 72,000 of those cases were reported in the past week.

That's almost twice as many cases from the previous week when about 39,000 cases were reported.

"After declining in early summer, child cases have steadily increased in July," the group said in a news release.

Severe illness and death amongst children are uncommon in children, the group said.

In states reporting, fewer than 1% of children accounted for all COVID-19 deaths, with seven states reporting zero child deaths.

Other states reported 0.00%-0.03% of all child COVID-19 cases resulted in death, the group said.

The report comes as schools start or start soon, with some requiring no masks or social distancing.

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Nearly 72,000 children test positive for COVID over past week, pediatric group says

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New data from a pediatric group shows that children in the United States who've contracted COVID-19 make up 14% of the total number of positive cases. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, as of July 29, more than four million children have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began.

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PANAMA CITY, Fla. - Gov. Ron DeSantis had strong words for President Joe Biden during a news conference Wednesday in Panama City.

Biden on Tuesday criticized DeSantis and other Republican governors who have blocked mask mandates in their states.

"If you're not going to help, at least get out of the way of people trying to do the right thing," Biden said.

At the conclusion of his news conference, DeSantis responded.

"Joe Biden suggests that if you don't do lockdown policies then you should 'get out of the way.' But let me tell you this, if you're coming after the rights of parents in Florida, I'm standing in your way," DeSantis said. "I'm not going to let you get away with it."

DeSantis accused Biden of accelerating the pandemic through lax security at the U.S.-Mexico border.
RELATED: DeSantis visits Texas-Mexico border
"He's imported more virus from around the world by having a wide open southern border. You have hundreds of thousands of people pouring across every month. And it's not just from Mexico. In fact, it's rarely from Mexico. You have over a hundred different countries where people are pouring through. Not only are they letting them through, they're then farming them out all across our communities across this country. Putting them on planes, putting them on buses," DeSantis said. "Do you think they're worried about COVID for that? Of course not. So he's facilitating... who knows what new variants are out there? But I can tell you whatever variants are around the world, they're coming across that southern border. And so he's not shutting down the virus, he's helping to facilitate it in our country."

DeSantis also criticized Biden's endorsement of New York City's move to require vaccinations to dine indoors or go to the gym.

"Joe Biden also believes that vaccinations should be mandated by force of government and that you should have to show vaccination status to be able to participate in society," DeSantis said. "He wants that, but yet if you want to vote, he thinks it's too much of a burden to show a picture I.D. when you're voting. So no voter I.D., but have to show your medical papers just to be able to live an every day life? Give me a break. So I think the question is: we can either have a free society or we can have a bio-medical security state. And I can tell you, Florida, we're a free state."

DeSantis closed his statements with a challenge for Biden.

"Why don't you do your job? Why don't you get this border secure?" DeSantis said. "And until you do that, I don't want to hear a blip about COVID from you."

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Gov. Ron DeSantis accuses President Biden of making pandemic worse with lax border security

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PANAMA CITY, Fla. - Gov. Ron DeSantis had strong words for President Joe Biden during a news conference Wednesday in Panama City. Biden on Tuesday criticized DeSantis and other Republican governors who have blocked mask mandates in their states.

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ORLANDO, FLA. - A day after it recorded the most new daily cases since the start of the pandemic, Florida on Sunday broke a previous record for current hospitalizations set more than a year ago before vaccines were available.

The Sunshine State had 10,207 people hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19 cases, according to data reported to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

The previous record was from July 23, 2020, more than a half-year before vaccinations started becoming widespread, when Florida had 10,170 hospitalizations, according to the Florida Hospital Association.

Florida is now leading the nation in per capita hospitalizations for COVID-19, as hospitals around the state report having to put emergency room visitors in beds in hallways and others document a noticeable drop in the age of patients.

In the past week, Florida has averaged 1,525 adult hospitalizations a day, and 35 daily pediatric hospitalizations. Both are the highest per capita rate in the nation, according to Jason Salemi, an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of South Florida.

The hospitalizations and increasing cases have come as the new, more transmittable delta variant has spread throughout Florida, and residents have returned to pre-pandemic activities.

"The recent rise is both striking and not-at-all surprising," Salemi said in an email late Saturday.

Federal health data released Saturday showed that Florida reported 21,683 new cases of COVID-19, the state's highest one-day total since the start of the pandemic. The latest numbers were recorded on Friday and released on Saturday on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's website. The figures show how quickly the number of cases is rising in the Sunshine State: only a day earlier, Florida reported 17,093 new daily cases.

Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has resisted mandatory mask mandates and vaccine requirements, and along with the state Legislature, has limited local officials' ability to impose restrictions meant to stop the spread of COVID-19. DeSantis on Friday barred school districts from requiring students to wear masks when classes resume next month.

Throughout Florida, from Jacksonville to Miami to Tampa, hospitals have become overwhelmed.

Barry Burton, the Pinellas County administrator, told the Tampa Bay Times that some local hospitals are already having to divert ambulances to different locations because of capacity concerns.

There has been a startling rise in the number of children with the virus at hospitals in Miami, many of them requiring intensive care.

Memorial Health's Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital in Hollywood had seven patients with COVID-19. At Nicklaus Children's Hospital in Miami, there were 17 patients with COVID-19 on Friday, including six in the ICU and one who needed a ventilator, Dr. Marcos Mestre, vice president and chief medical officer, told the Miami Herald.

About half of the patients were under 12, Mestre said, and the rest were older and eligible for the vaccine. But none of the patients with COVID-19 at Nicklaus Children's on Friday were vaccinated. Most children who get COVID-19 do not need hospitalization, Mestre said.

In the state capital, COVID-19 hospitalizations reached 70 patients on Sunday at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, a jump of 11 people in two days.

"This is the most we've ever had," Stephanie Derzypolski, a hospital spokeswoman, told the Tallahassee Democrat.

The Mayo Clinic hospital in Jacksonville said it had exceeded its capacity of 304 licensed beds due to COVID-19 cases and asked the Agency for Health Care Administration for permission to operate overcapacity until the current surge ends, First Coast News in Jacksonville reported Sunday.

At the UF Health North hospital emergency room in Jacksonville, COVID-19 patients once again were being put in beds in hallways due to a surge in visits.

For many hospital workers, up until a month ago, it looked like there was light at the end of the tunnel, as people got vaccinated and hospitalizations decreased. But then the summer surge, powered by the new delta variant, hit Florida in July.

"That light did turn out to be a train in this case," Marsha Tittle, a nursing manager at UF Health North, told The Florida Times Union. "We're taking more patients than we normally would take. ... My staff is wonderful. You walk out there, they're going to have smiles on their faces and they're doing a great job. But there's a sense of defeat, like they're just defeated."

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Florida breaks record for COVID-19 hospitalizations

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ORLANDO, FLA. - A day after it recorded the most new daily cases since the start of the pandemic, Florida on Sunday broke a previous record for current hospitalizations set more than a year ago before vaccines were available. The Sunshine State had 10,207 people hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19 cases, according to data reported to the U.S.

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Florida now leads the nation in coronavirus cases, with its biggest spike since last summer, the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Driving the surge: Hospitalizations and deaths are rising among the unvaccinated, while the small number of infected but vaccinated people are not getting seriously ill.

The big picture: Infections nationwide have tripled over the past three weeks, with about one in five new cases coming from Florida.

Statewide, new cases nearly doubled in the past week.

In Polk County, cases more than doubled from last week and hospitalizations doubled since 4th of July weekend, per the Lakeland Ledger.

Point of intrigue: Most of Florida's new cases are driven by the more infectious Delta variant, epidemiologist Dr. Vincent Hsu told WFLA.

Dr. David Dowdy with Johns Hopkins Hospitals drove home to. the outlet that vaccines are still effective against the Delta variant.

The bottom line: This is all proof the vaccines work.

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Florida leads U.S. in COVID cases amid Delta-driven surge

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Florida now leads the nation in coronavirus cases, with its biggest spike since last summer, the Tampa Bay Times reports. Driving the surge: Hospitalizations and deaths are rising among the unvaccinated, while the small number of infected but vaccinated people are not getting seriously ill.

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Florida has reported 21,683 new cases of COVID-19, the state's highest one-day total since the start of the pandemic, according to federal health data released Saturday.

The state has become the new national epicenter for the virus, accounting for around a fifth of all new cases in the U.S.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has resisted mandatory mask mandates and vaccine requirements, and along with the Florida Legislature, has limited local officials' ability to impose measures meant to stop the spread of COVID-19.

The figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Saturday showed how quickly the number of cases is rising in the Sunshine State. Only a day earlier, Florida reported 17,093 new daily cases.

The previous peak in Florida had been 19,334 cases reported on Jan. 7.

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Florida breaks record with over 21,000 new COVID cases

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Florida has reported 21,683 new cases of COVID-19, the state's highest one-day total since the start of the pandemic, according to federal health data released Saturday. The state has become the new national epicenter for the virus, accounting for around a fifth of all new cases in the U.S. Florida Gov.

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I thought I would be finished documenting about life during covid but it’s come back worse than ever and I will now being to document my journey again. The summer started out well. Vaccinated people didn’t have to wear masks anymore, everything was open, life was pretty much normal although people were still supposed to maintain distance from others and take general precautions. We were all excited thinking that we had made it through the pandemic and it would be a crazy story to talk about some day. We spent most of June hanging out, going to the beach, watching movies, and just enjoying life. July kicked off with beach time, a BBQ and fireworks on the 4th, a trip to Venice Beach, FL, and James’s 13th birthday party. We had friends and family over and enjoyed normal life. For James’s birthday we even went to the local water park for a day and it was relaxing and fun. It was a few days after James’s birthday as I was packing for our annual mountain trip that covid came back with a vengeance. In a matter of days, the Delta variant was spreading through the country like crazy and in about a week, Florida became the epicenter of the pandemic. We went on our mountain vacation as planned since we hadn’t heard much about covid in North Carolina or Tennessee. We stayed in Gatlinburg for 3 days and enjoyed the outdoors. We spent one week in the mountains in North Carolina enjoying hiking, waterfalls, picnics, and actually eating in restaurants for the first time in 2 years. We were reading stories about how covid was booming in Florida and cases were increasing all over the country. I actually woke up with a sore throat one morning in Tennessee and then got pretty sick with congestion and a cough, had to take a covid test, thank goodness it was negative, and I just had a bad cold. By the time we came back home, mask mandates were back in place in some stores and Florida was reporting record high numbers of positive cases daily. After agonizing over the decision, discussing the issue twice with our pediatrician, researching, and talking with Little James, we decided to get the vaccine for him. I took him to his appointment at Walgreens and the pharmacist gave him the vaccine and had him wait for 15 minutes to make sure he felt okay. The pharmacist had James sign the consent and made sure he agreed with the decision and wanted the vaccine before giving it to him. As a mom, it is such a horrible choice to have to make. Here we have this vaccine that can save lives and the CDC is recommending it for all people age 12 and over but at the same time, it’s not FDA approved yet and there have been some side effects of cardiomyopathy in children. So do I protect my child from a possibly deadly pandemic knowing that covid might not really ever affect him or do I take my chances and not give it to him? Impossible decision. He had no side effects other that a sore arm. Reports came out recently that this Delta strain is affecting children more and is more contagious that the original strain. In the beginning of August, Florida was reporting over 21,000 new cases of coronavirus a day which was an all time high. Hospitals are full again, some are cancelling non-emergent surgeries and procedures, and visitation at hospitals has stopped. Pediatric units are full of kids with covid also. Then, there is our governor. He signed a law stating that school in Florida cannot enforce mask mandates or they will lose funding and any official who tries to enforce a mandate will lose their salary. 72,000 children in the US tested positive for covid on July 29th. So school was starting today, August 10, and there is no mask requirement and no social distancing requirement. Basically, no protection for kids going to school. Oh, and there is no virtual option through public schools this year thanks to our governor. Also no protocol for how the kids will attend school from home when they are quarantined for 14 days after a covid exposure or during an illness. So then we were faced with the hardest decision yet. Do I keep my boys home again, keep in mind they have been isolated at home for almost 2 years and don’t have any friends left that they can socialize with. Andrew left school in 3rd grade and is now in 5th and James left in 5th grade and is now in 7th. So that’s almost 2 years of their childhood that they can’t get back. Do we try and let them go back to as normal a life as possible and have them wear masks but knowing that other kids won’t be? Or do we keep them home for another year, isolated and with no friends? Impossible decision with no right answer. It’s a lose-lose situation. With a voice inside screaming at me that it’s the wrong choice for them healthwise but the right choice for them mentally, we have allowed them to attend school in person knowing that they will have to wear masks at all times in school unless they are outside and away from others. They both agreed and today, I got them ready, filled their backpacks with extra masks and hand sanitizer, and sent them off into the covid world that I worked so hard to protect them from. In a way, I feel like every precaution we have taken over the last almost 2 years has been for nothing now that they are back in school and the pandemic is raging worse than ever. But realistically, how long do you isolate? How long do you keep them away from people and take away years of their childhood that they can’t get back? I don’t know what the right answer is. I cried today the entire way home from Andrew’s school. He was excited to go to a new school and meet other kids but he was so vulnerable walking into the big school building where there would be other people and covid. James was secretly excited to ger back to the real world too and I felt the same about him going except a little less worried since he has had one dose of the vaccine. I will try and update weekly on life during the pandemic and pray that everyone stays safe and healthy as the number of cases only continue to rise.

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has suspended all COVID-19 orders issued across the state, including mask mandates.

Does that mean you can be maskless again? It's complicated.

Businesses can still require people to wear masks, which means some places might make you mask up and others won't. South Florida officials say masks can also be required in county buildings and county-owned property. They're also asking businesses to still require social distancing and masks, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends, to help stop the spread of COVID.

What does life look now in South Florida? Here's what to expect:

Do I still need to wear a mask inside restaurants? What about in Walmart, Target and other businesses?

Under the new law, every business is allowed to make its own COVID-19 safety rules. This means that while some stores or restaurants might not require masks, others will. Walmart and Target, for example, are still requiring their employees and customers to wear a mask.

How do you know if a business has a mask policy? Some businesses might post it on their website or social media or have a sign near the door. You can also call the store to ask.

Do I need a mask at grocery stores like Publix and Winn-Dixie?

An older couple browses the vitamins at a Sedano's Supermarket in Hialeah, Florida on Wednesday, April 1, 2020. Daniel A. Varela dvarela@miamiherald.com

Again, it depends on what the business wants to do. Employees and customers still need to wear a mask inside Publix. Masks are also required at Winn-Dixie and Fresco y Más stores, too.

What about at the mall and movie theaters?

Shoppers take a break at Dadeland Mall. Some guests removed their masks to eat or drink takeout items they'd bought elsewhere in the mall. Maya Lora/mlora@miamiherald.com

Again, this will depend on the business. All Simon malls in South Florida, for example, will continue to require their employees and shoppers to wear masks. This includes at Dadeland Mall, The Falls, Miami International Mall and Sawgrass Mills. Simon also requires all retailers and restaurants inside the malls to require masks, including Macy's, JCPenney and Apple.

Movie theater chains AMC and Regal Cinema have mask policies in place and have not announced any changes for their Florida locations.

Are South Florida schools still requiring masks?

Yes, masks are still required for the remainder of the 2020-2021 school year until further notice at Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Broward County Public Schools, the Monroe County School District and the School District of Palm Beach County.

What about at parks, public libraries or places like Zoo Miami and Vizcaya?

Yes, masks and social distancing are still required at all "county spaces," according to Miami-Dade County. This includes at public libraries, county parks and county government buildings. And yes, this includes at places like Zoo Miami and Vizcaya.

Update following the Governor's latest executive order:

➔Masks required at County sites & local state of emergency remains in place
➔I urge businesses to continue to take key safety precautions to protect residents & visitors
➔To all our residents - get the shot

Read more: pic.twitter.com/wcmDGClYEH
- Daniella Levine Cava (@MayorDaniella) May 4, 2021

Broward County told Local 10 masks will still be required in county government buildings. Masks are also required in Palm Beach county government buildings, according to WPTV.

Do I need a mask at the airport? What about in the bus or in an Uber or Lyft?

Yes, masks are still required at Miami International Airport, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and PortMiami. Masks are also required on buses, Metrorail, taxis, Uber, Lyft and any other public transportation. This is because of a federal mask mandate on public transit.

Are masks required at the post office or federal courthouses? What about at national parks like the Everglades?

Yes, masks are still required in federal buildings, including post offices and federal court buildings. Masks are also required on any federal land, including national parks like the Everglades. That's because of a federal mandate President Joe Biden issued in his first day in office.

I want to take a trip to the Florida Keys. Are masks required?

Monroe County said it will no longer enforce its mask mandate. Key West had already stopped enforcing its facial covering mandate in early March after DeSantis canceled fines for violating COVID emergency orders.

However, businesses can still require customers and employees to wear masks.

I'm planning a trip to Disney World and Universal Studios. Are masks required?

Yes, masks are still required at Universal Orlando Resort and Walt Disney World Resort. There are other COVID rules you'll still need to follow, too. One thing that did end at Universal theme parks: temperature checks. Disney is planning to do the same at Magic Kingdom, Epcot and its other parks, too.

Are masks being enforced?

It's up to each individual location to enforce own its policy.

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Businesses can make their own mask rules in South Florida. What to expect at the store

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has suspended all COVID-19 orders issued across the state, including mask mandates. Does that mean you can be maskless again? It's complicated. Businesses can still require people to wear masks, which means some places might make you mask up and others won't.

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What you need to know

Fully vaccinated people in the US can now unmask at small outdoor gatherings, but should still wear masks in indoor public spaces, according to new mask guidance issued by the CDC.

The number of global Covid-19 cases has risen for the ninth consecutive week, according to the World Health Organization.

India's crisis is deepening, and several countries have pledged medical assistance as hospitals face oxygen shortages. Here's how you can help.

Our live coverage has ended for the day. Follow the latest on the pandemic .

The US isn't ready to stop mask use indoors just yet, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Tuesday.

Walensky told NBC's Lester Holt that to change its guidance recommending masks be worn indoors, the CDC is looking for an increase in the number of vaccinated people and a decrease in the number of Covid-19 cases.

"While we're really encouraged by the ongoing trends right now, I do want to remind Americans that we had a seven-day average of about 54,000 cases this past week," Walensky said. "Those numbers are coming down, but that's still higher than our summer surge."

Earlier Tuesday, the CDC announced that fully vaccinated people do not need to wear masks during certain outdoor activities.

When asked why the CDC is still recommending unvaccinated people wear masks outdoors, Walensky said, "We still believe that there is transmission. People are gathering near one another. They're coming less than six feet apart, and we know that this virus can trick us, so we want to be very careful for people who are unvaccinated."

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not updated its Covid-19 vaccine guidelines for pregnant people, according to an email the agency sent to CNN.

Last week, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said at a White House briefing that the "CDC recommends that pregnant people receive the Covid-19." The comment followed a new CDC study published in the New England Journal of Medicine that found no safety concerns among a large group of pregnant people who received the vaccine in their third trimester with no safety concerns for their babies.

Despite Walensky's comment, the CDC vaccine guidance for pregnant people does not directly recommend the vaccine. The guidance has not been updated - as many media reports suggested - and it continues to say that pregnant women may receive a Covid-19 vaccine when one is available, and getting vaccinated is a personal choice.

After reaching out to the CDC several times for further clarification, the CDC said in an email on Tuesday, "pregnant people are eligible and can receive a Covid-19 vaccine, which has always been and remains CDC's recommendation." The agency did not directly address Walensky's comment.

"If facing decisions about whether to receive a Covid-19 vaccine while pregnant, people should consider risk of exposure to Covid-19, the increased risk of severe infection while pregnant, the known benefits of vaccination, and the limited but growing evidence about the safety of Covid-19 vaccine during pregnancy," the email said.

Pregnant people can speak with their health care provider, but that is not required to get the vaccine, the email said. Since pregnant people were not included in the vaccine trials, data is limited. The CDC study released Wednesday had data from more than 35,000 people just before or during pregnancy and it did not identify any safety concerns.

"Additional follow-up is needed, including follow up of those vaccinated in the first and second trimester of pregnancy; however, these preliminary findings are reassuring," the email said.

Dr. Anthony Fauci says he will be walking his dog without a mask after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changed its recommendations for what precautions fully vaccinated people should take while in public.

Asked on NPR's "All Things Considered" whether he had any plans to take off his mask for walking his dog, Fauci said, "Actually I am going to."

"If you're fully vaccinated and you're on a walk or a run or a bike, you can do that, and I'm going to be looking forward to doing that," he said.

The new CDC guidelines indicate everyone can take part in some outdoor activities safely without masks and they indicate fully vaccinated people can do even more mask-free. Fauci is fully vaccinated.

"As we get more and more people vaccinated and the level of infections gets lower and lower, you're going to see more flexibility in what people who are vaccinated can do and hopefully that will encourage more people to get vaccinated," Fauci said.

US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy offered some guidance Tuesday for what kind of "small gatherings" fully vaccinated people can join without masks.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday that fully vaccinated people can take their masks off at small outdoor gatherings, with vaccinated and unvaccinated people. The CDC did not define small.

"While there's not a hard and fast number the CDC put out, part of what constitutes 'small' has to do with how many people you can come together with, without crowding," Murthy told CNN's Wolf Blitzer. "What we don't want is people jammed up in enclosed spaces, because in that setting, even if you're outdoors, there may be a greater risk."

Murthy said it's important for people to be able to maintain a reasonable distance.

"Those kind of smaller group settings are the ones that are safer, and where you can be unmasked if you're gathering with people, whether they're vaccinated or not."

The updated guidance for fully vaccinated people released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is a step towards normalcy, but not the last step, US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy said Tuesday.

The CDC said Tuesday that fully vaccinated people do not need to wear masks during certain outdoor activities.

"What we're going to see as more and more people get vaccinated, is that we're going to be able to open up, including indoors, down the line," Murthy told CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

"But right now, given the fact that there's still many people who are unvaccinated in the country, given that we still have many people who are being infected each day - meaning that there's still a lot of virus in the environment - we have to still observe the practice of masking indoors, even if we're vaccinated," he added.

Murthy noted that indoor activities are lower risk for people who are vaccinated than for those who are not, but both groups should still wear masks.

"Again, more people get vaccinated, we get cases down, and that will start to change as well," he said.

6:35 p.m. ET, April 27, 2021
Some restrictions are being lifted in the US as cases surge in India. Here are the top headlines.

Today, new guidance for fully vaccinated people in the US was released as some states start relaxing Covid-19 restrictions. Meanwhile, new infections and virus deaths surge in India and other parts of the world.
Here are today's top headlines to get you caught up:

India: The country is experiencing the world's worst outbreak of Covid-19 infections, reporting at least 323,144 new cases today. Hospitals have run out of basic medical supplies, with many patients dying due to oxygen shortages. The government has been scrambling to respond to the crisis, with countries around the world offering aid.

New guidance: Fully vaccinated people can unmask outdoors if they are walking, running, hiking or biking alone or with members of their household, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Those who are fully vaccinated can also go mask free while dining at an outdoor restaurant with friends from multiple households or small outdoor gatherings. Unvaccinated people should still wear a mask.

Travel: The State Department announced students, journalists, certain academics and those "who provide critical infrastructure support" from countries affected by Covid-19 travel restrictions may now come to the United States under a National Interest Exception.

Lifting restrictions: Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced today that any fully vaccinated Ohioan will no longer have to quarantine if they are exposed to someone with Covid-19.

Vaccines: The White House said nearly 30 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines will be allocated this week. That is an increase from the previous two weeks. The Biden administration also announced measures to make it easier for college students to get their second dose in their home state.

Johnson & Johnson vaccine: The CDC says two additional people experienced a rare blood clotting condition after receiving the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine, bringing to 17 the number of known cases of what the agency is calling thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS). As of Friday, the CDC had reports of 15 confirmed cases among 8 million vaccinations.

The US Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday it has warned two companies for making false claims for various products sold to treat Covid-19 and other conditions - one targeting pets, and one targeting people.

The FDA said the website www.pharmacygeoff.md was selling unapproved and misbranded drugs for multiple diseases. The agency's letter says the site was marketing hydroxychloroquine as a drug that had been used to treat Covid-19 patients. However, that drug is not approved by the FDA for prevention, diagnosis, treatment, or mitigation of the disease.

Other drugs listed on the site included versions of dexamethasone and a combination of two antiviral drugs approved to treat HIV but not Covid-19. The letter gave the company 48 hours to notify the FDA of steps it was taking to "remedy and prevent the recurrence of any violations."

The FDA said it warned Group Cyrenne Inc., doing business under the name HomeoAnimal, for selling homeopathic pet remedies for conditions including anemia, cancer, heart murmurs and thyroid disorders. The FDA determined classified the site's offerings as "unapproved new animal drugs" and selling them across state lines violated the law.

HomeoAnimal's Virus Defense Kit, which bundles several of its products, was marketed with website tags for "coronavirus," "covid," and "covid-19," the FDA said. The letter gives the company 15 working days to notify the FDA of specific steps it is taking to address the violations.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken today said the US is working quickly to develop a plan for global distribution of its vaccines, adding that a plan should be in place within days.

"For the vaccines that we have directly on hand, or will shortly, we are going to decide whether to do some or all that have through COVAX or how much will be done directly country to country, all of that is in the works and we'll have a plan in place in several days," said Blinken, speaking with CNN's Jake Tapper.

His remarks came a day after the Biden administration announced the US planned to ship millions of AstraZeneca vaccine doses overseas to help countries that are still struggling to vaccinate their populations.

"Breaking: U.S. to release 60 million AstraZeneca doses to other countries as they become available," tweeted White House Covid-19 adviser Andy Slavitt on Monday.

Blinken said part of the delay of global distribution, for which the administration has received some criticism, is due to the US Food and Drug Administration doing due diligence to ensure the doses are safe for global distribution.

"We want to make sure that the vaccines we'll have in our possession ... are safe, so the FDA is reviewing that, so we're a couple weeks away from that, but we're putting in place a plan to do that," he said.

"The thing I mostly worry about, Jake, is making sure as many people around the world as possible can get vaccinated as quickly as possible because the hard truth is none of us are safe until a vast majority are vaccinated," Blinken added.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed Tuesday that two additional people experienced a rare blood clotting condition after receiving the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine, bringing to 17 the number of known cases of what the agency is calling thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS).

A CDC spokesperson told CNN by email the agency was informed of the additional cases over the weekend.

One case was in a male patient. The other was in a female. All prior known cases have been among women. Because of privacy issues, the CDC does not provide any additional information about the patients other than to say that both were under the age of 60. The CDC said it is continuing to investigate these particular cases.

The CDC and the US Food and Drug Administration had said they'd continue monitoring for these rare blood clots after lifting their recommended pause on Friday.

Some more context: As of Friday, the CDC had reports of 15 confirmed cases among 8 million vaccinations.

What you need to know

Fully vaccinated people in the US can now unmask at small outdoor gatherings, but should still wear masks in indoor public spaces, according to new mask guidance issued by the CDC.

The number of global Covid-19 cases has risen for the ninth consecutive week, according to the World Health Organization.

India's crisis is deepening, and several countries have pledged medical assistance as hospitals face oxygen shortages. Here's how you can help.

Our live coverage has ended for the day. Follow the latest on the pandemic .

The US isn't ready to stop mask use indoors just yet, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Tuesday.

Walensky told NBC's Lester Holt that to change its guidance recommending masks be worn indoors, the CDC is looking for an increase in the number of vaccinated people and a decrease in the number of Covid-19 cases.

"While we're really encouraged by the ongoing trends right now, I do want to remind Americans that we had a seven-day average of about 54,000 cases this past week," Walensky said. "Those numbers are coming down, but that's still higher than our summer surge."

Earlier Tuesday, the CDC announced that fully vaccinated people do not need to wear masks during certain outdoor activities.

When asked why the CDC is still recommending unvaccinated people wear masks outdoors, Walensky said, "We still believe that there is transmission. People are gathering near one another. They're coming less than six feet apart, and we know that this virus can trick us, so we want to be very careful for people who are unvaccinated."

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not updated its Covid-19 vaccine guidelines for pregnant people, according to an email the agency sent to CNN.

Last week, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said at a White House briefing that the "CDC recommends that pregnant people receive the Covid-19." The comment followed a new CDC study published in the New England Journal of Medicine that found no safety concerns among a large group of pregnant people who received the vaccine in their third trimester with no safety concerns for their babies.

Despite Walensky's comment, the CDC vaccine guidance for pregnant people does not directly recommend the vaccine. The guidance has not been updated - as many media reports suggested - and it continues to say that pregnant women may receive a Covid-19 vaccine when one is available, and getting vaccinated is a personal choice.

After reaching out to the CDC several times for further clarification, the CDC said in an email on Tuesday, "pregnant people are eligible and can receive a Covid-19 vaccine, which has always been and remains CDC's recommendation." The agency did not directly address Walensky's comment.

"If facing decisions about whether to receive a Covid-19 vaccine while pregnant, people should consider risk of exposure to Covid-19, the increased risk of severe infection while pregnant, the known benefits of vaccination, and the limited but growing evidence about the safety of Covid-19 vaccine during pregnancy," the email said.

Pregnant people can speak with their health care provider, but that is not required to get the vaccine, the email said. Since pregnant people were not included in the vaccine trials, data is limited. The CDC study released Wednesday had data from more than 35,000 people just before or during pregnancy and it did not identify any safety concerns.

"Additional follow-up is needed, including follow up of those vaccinated in the first and second trimester of pregnancy; however, these preliminary findings are reassuring," the email said.

Dr. Anthony Fauci says he will be walking his dog without a mask after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changed its recommendations for what precautions fully vaccinated people should take while in public.

Asked on NPR's "All Things Considered" whether he had any plans to take off his mask for walking his dog, Fauci said, "Actually I am going to."

"If you're fully vaccinated and you're on a walk or a run or a bike, you can do that, and I'm going to be looking forward to doing that," he said.

The new CDC guidelines indicate everyone can take part in some outdoor activities safely without masks and they indicate fully vaccinated people can do even more mask-free. Fauci is fully vaccinated.

"As we get more and more people vaccinated and the level of infections gets lower and lower, you're going to see more flexibility in what people who are vaccinated can do and hopefully that will encourage more people to get vaccinated," Fauci said.

US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy offered some guidance Tuesday for what kind of "small gatherings" fully vaccinated people can join without masks.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday that fully vaccinated people can take their masks off at small outdoor gatherings, with vaccinated and unvaccinated people. The CDC did not define small.

"While there's not a hard and fast number the CDC put out, part of what constitutes 'small' has to do with how many people you can come together with, without crowding," Murthy told CNN's Wolf Blitzer. "What we don't want is people jammed up in enclosed spaces, because in that setting, even if you're outdoors, there may be a greater risk."

Murthy said it's important for people to be able to maintain a reasonable distance.

"Those kind of smaller group settings are the ones that are safer, and where you can be unmasked if you're gathering with people, whether they're vaccinated or not."

The updated guidance for fully vaccinated people released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is a step towards normalcy, but not the last step, US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy said Tuesday.

The CDC said Tuesday that fully vaccinated people do not need to wear masks during certain outdoor activities.

"What we're going to see as more and more people get vaccinated, is that we're going to be able to open up, including indoors, down the line," Murthy told CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

"But right now, given the fact that there's still many people who are unvaccinated in the country, given that we still have many people who are being infected each day - meaning that there's still a lot of virus in the environment - we have to still observe the practice of masking indoors, even if we're vaccinated," he added.

Murthy noted that indoor activities are lower risk for people who are vaccinated than for those who are not, but both groups should still wear masks.

"Again, more people get vaccinated, we get cases down, and that will start to change as well," he said.

6:35 p.m. ET, April 27, 2021
Some restrictions are being lifted in the US as cases surge in India. Here are the top headlines.

Today, new guidance for fully vaccinated people in the US was released as some states start relaxing Covid-19 restrictions. Meanwhile, new infections and virus deaths surge in India and other parts of the world.
Here are today's top headlines to get you caught up:

India: The country is experiencing the world's worst outbreak of Covid-19 infections, reporting at least 323,144 new cases today. Hospitals have run out of basic medical supplies, with many patients dying due to oxygen shortages. The government has been scrambling to respond to the crisis, with countries around the world offering aid.

New guidance: Fully vaccinated people can unmask outdoors if they are walking, running, hiking or biking alone or with members of their household, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Those who are fully vaccinated can also go mask free while dining at an outdoor restaurant with friends from multiple households or small outdoor gatherings. Unvaccinated people should still wear a mask.

Travel: The State Department announced students, journalists, certain academics and those "who provide critical infrastructure support" from countries affected by Covid-19 travel restrictions may now come to the United States under a National Interest Exception.

Lifting restrictions: Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced today that any fully vaccinated Ohioan will no longer have to quarantine if they are exposed to someone with Covid-19.

Vaccines: The White House said nearly 30 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines will be allocated this week. That is an increase from the previous two weeks. The Biden administration also announced measures to make it easier for college students to get their second dose in their home state.

Johnson & Johnson vaccine: The CDC says two additional people experienced a rare blood clotting condition after receiving the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine, bringing to 17 the number of known cases of what the agency is calling thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS). As of Friday, the CDC had reports of 15 confirmed cases among 8 million vaccinations.

The US Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday it has warned two companies for making false claims for various products sold to treat Covid-19 and other conditions - one targeting pets, and one targeting people.

The FDA said the website www.pharmacygeoff.md was selling unapproved and misbranded drugs for multiple diseases. The agency's letter says the site was marketing hydroxychloroquine as a drug that had been used to treat Covid-19 patients. However, that drug is not approved by the FDA for prevention, diagnosis, treatment, or mitigation of the disease.

Other drugs listed on the site included versions of dexamethasone and a combination of two antiviral drugs approved to treat HIV but not Covid-19. The letter gave the company 48 hours to notify the FDA of steps it was taking to "remedy and prevent the recurrence of any violations."

The FDA said it warned Group Cyrenne Inc., doing business under the name HomeoAnimal, for selling homeopathic pet remedies for conditions including anemia, cancer, heart murmurs and thyroid disorders. The FDA determined classified the site's offerings as "unapproved new animal drugs" and selling them across state lines violated the law.

HomeoAnimal's Virus Defense Kit, which bundles several of its products, was marketed with website tags for "coronavirus," "covid," and "covid-19," the FDA said. The letter gives the company 15 working days to notify the FDA of specific steps it is taking to address the violations.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken today said the US is working quickly to develop a plan for global distribution of its vaccines, adding that a plan should be in place within days.

"For the vaccines that we have directly on hand, or will shortly, we are going to decide whether to do some or all that have through COVAX or how much will be done directly country to country, all of that is in the works and we'll have a plan in place in several days," said Blinken, speaking with CNN's Jake Tapper.

His remarks came a day after the Biden administration announced the US planned to ship millions of AstraZeneca vaccine doses overseas to help countries that are still struggling to vaccinate their populations.

"Breaking: U.S. to release 60 million AstraZeneca doses to other countries as they become available," tweeted White House Covid-19 adviser Andy Slavitt on Monday.

Blinken said part of the delay of global distribution, for which the administration has received some criticism, is due to the US Food and Drug Administration doing due diligence to ensure the doses are safe for global distribution.

"We want to make sure that the vaccines we'll have in our possession ... are safe, so the FDA is reviewing that, so we're a couple weeks away from that, but we're putting in place a plan to do that," he said.

"The thing I mostly worry about, Jake, is making sure as many people around the world as possible can get vaccinated as quickly as possible because the hard truth is none of us are safe until a vast majority are vaccinated," Blinken added.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed Tuesday that two additional people experienced a rare blood clotting condition after receiving the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine, bringing to 17 the number of known cases of what the agency is calling thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS).

A CDC spokesperson told CNN by email the agency was informed of the additional cases over the weekend.

One case was in a male patient. The other was in a female. All prior known cases have been among women. Because of privacy issues, the CDC does not provide any additional information about the patients other than to say that both were under the age of 60. The CDC said it is continuing to investigate these particular cases.

The CDC and the US Food and Drug Administration had said they'd continue monitoring for these rare blood clots after lifting their recommended pause on Friday.

Some more context: As of Friday, the CDC had reports of 15 confirmed cases among 8 million vaccinations.

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By Ben Westcott, Kara Fox and Niamh Kennedy, CNN

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The coronavirus pandemic has brought countries to a standstill. Meanwhile, vaccinations have already started in some countries as cases continue to rise. Follow here for the latest.

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What you need to know

Olympic organizers said they are doing everything they can to ensure Tokyo 2020 takes place safely, despite doctors' calls for the Games to be canceled as coronavirus cases surge in Japan.

The European Union will begin to ease travel restrictions to the bloc, with the EU Council agreeing on measures to allow fully vaccinated foreign visitors in.

The US plans to send 20 million more doses of Covid-19 vaccines overseas, on top of 60 million doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine.

Our live coverage has ended for the day. Follow the latest on the pandemic .

The US needs to help mobilize global Covid-19 vaccine production to save millions of lives, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Wednesday.

Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the US is doing well in the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines to its own citizens.

"We have a real, real challenge and a mission to get the rest of the world vaccinated," he added at an event hosted by Bowdoin College.

Fauci said its necessary to mobilize global vaccine production capability, so there isn't a two-to-three-year lag for people in low- and middle-income countries to get vaccinated against Covid-19.

"Because that will literally mean a million deaths, if we wait that long - and maybe more -and that's unacceptable," he said.

The US needs to work with other wealthy countries like the UK, Australia and Canada, to "get those plants that are making vaccines revved up to make billions of more doses," he added.

It's possible for the US to vaccinate younger people and support vaccinations in low- and middle-income countries at the same time, Fauci noted Sunday on CBS' Face the Nation.

After supermarket chain Kroger announced today that fully vaccinated employees and customers no longer need to wear masks in the company's stores, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union, which represents 1.3 million essential food and retail workers, cautioned against "the growing trend" of major retailers ending mask requirements for vaccinated customers and employees.

UFCW is calling on the CEOs of retailers to take action to "reassure the public that the majority of those in stores will still wear masks to keep shoppers and workers safe given ongoing COVID risks."

"America's grocery workers are still facing daily COVID risks on the frontlines so that all our families can put food on the table as the pandemic continues. These essential frontline workers have been forced to play mask police throughout the pandemic with many shoppers not following COVID safety standards. Now, they are being asked to be the vaccination police," UFCW International President Marc Perrone said in a statement.

"With more than 200 million Americans still not fully vaccinated, now is not the time to let our guard down," Perrone added.

The US Food and Drug Administration approved a label change for Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine to allow storage of its product for up to one month at normal refrigeration temperatures.

"This change should make this vaccine more widely available to the American public by facilitating the ability of vaccine providers, such as community doctors' offices, to receive, store and administer the vaccine," Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said in a statement Wednesday.

"Based on a review of recent data submitted by Pfizer Inc. today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is authorizing undiluted, thawed Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine vials to be stored in the refrigerator at 2°C to 8°C (35°F to 46°F) for up to 1 month. Previously, thawed, undiluted vaccine vials could be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days," the FDA said in the statement.

For long-term storage, the label for Pfizer/BioNTech's vaccine says it should be stored in ultra-cold freezers between -80 degrees Celsius to -60 degrees Celsius until the expiry date printed on the label.

Coronavirus vaccines based on a platform known as a protein subunit will be important for stopping the pandemic, former US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Dr. Robert Redfield predicts.

The vaccine platform, which is being developed and tested by Maryland-based biotech company Novavax and others, uses a specific isolated spike protein from coronavirus particles to elicit an immune response.

"Eventually, we (have) got to approve the protein platforms. I think the protein platforms are ultimately going to be the most important platforms for the world," Redfield said during an interview Tuesday on SiriusXM Doctor Radio's "Doctor Radio Reports."

"They're inexpensive, they don't have difficult refrigerating requirements, the technology is straightforward, and you can add in different ways for different populations to make sure their immune response is in the thresholds you want. So I actually think you're going to see the protein vaccines over the next 24 months really become very important globally. But all three platforms, the adeno platform, the mRNA platform and the protein are all strong platforms and they all have equivalency in their ability to prevent death and hospitalization," he said.

The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines use messenger RNA or mRNA to elicit immunity, while Johnson & Johnson's vaccine, and one made by AstraZeneca but not yet authorized in the US, uses an adenovirus to deliver genetic material and prompt an immune response.

Utah's House on Wednesday passed a bill that prohibits public schools and universities in the state from requiring mask mandates after the end of this school year.

The bill also prohibits colleges and universities from requiring proof of a vaccination unless it allows for medical and religious exemptions. So far, CNN has not tracked any colleges or universities in Utah that are requiring students to be vaccinated for Covid-19 before the fall semester begins.

The bill passed 50-24, with one member absent or not voting. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox had asked for Wednesday's special session to be called to have this issue and others considered by lawmakers.

Rep. Val Peterson, the bill's sponsor, called it a "return to some normalcy."

According to the bill, schools will be banned from "requiring a face covering to participate in or attend instruction, activities, or in any other place on the campus of the institution after the end of the spring semester in 2021."

There is nothing in the bill which would prevent students or teachers from wearing a mask if they wished to do so.

Salt Lake City School District announced Tuesday it will require masks on campuses through the end of the 2020-21 school year, which ends June 7.

"We've come too far to let go of proven safety practices like mask-wearing with just a few days left in the school year," Superintendent Larry Madden said in a tweet. "The last thing we want to do is increase risk in our city just as school is about to be let out for the summer."

The Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines both reduce asymptomatic and symptomatic coronavirus infections among vulnerable nursing home residents in the real world, according to new data.

The incidence of Covid-19 has decreased over time among both vaccinated and unvaccinated residents in 280 nursing homes across 21 states, researchers wrote in a letter to The New England Journal of Medicine Wednesday.

The researchers - from Brown University in Rhode Island and long-term care provider Genesis HealthCare in Pennsylvania - examined data on 18,242 nursing home residents who received at least one dose of vaccine as of mid-February and 3,990 residents who were unvaccinated as of March 31. Among those who had received at least one dose, 13,048 completed two doses.

The residents were tested every three to seven days, the researchers said.

The incidence of Covid-19 dropped among those who had received at least a first dose, from 4.5% of vaccinated residents within two weeks after receiving a first dose to 1.4% between 15 and 28 days later, the researchers found.

Among the residents who completed two doses, coronavirus infections were seen among 1% of them within two weeks after receiving the second dose compared with 0.3% after two weeks, the data showed.

Among the unvaccinated residents, coronavirus infections were seen among 4.3% of them within two weeks after the first vaccination clinic began to 0.3% 42 days later.

"Our observation of a reduced incidence of infection among unvaccinated residents suggests that robust vaccine coverage among residents and staff, together with the continued use of face masks and other infection-control measures, is likely to afford protection for small numbers of unvaccinated residents in congregate settings," the researchers wrote.

Emergent BioSolutions CEO Bob Kramer testified Wednesday that it was his understanding that the US Food and Drug Administration has "for the past week or two" been inspecting some of the material that Emergent had already produced for Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine, to see if it is safe. This would be for a total of about 100 million doses that Emergent made the material for before manufacturing at the plant was put on pause.

"The FDA is evaluating, to my understanding, the doses that are, that have been manufactured for both drug substance, that, most of which has been provided to J&J," Kramer said.

The plant has not yet been granted Emergency Use Authorization by the FDA, meaning no doses produced by this facility have been distributed.

In late April, the FDA said the vaccines that Emergent had already manufactured would undergo additional testing before being cleared for distribution.

"For the vaccines already manufactured, the products will undergo additional testing and will be thoroughly evaluated to ensure their quality before any potential distribution. We will not allow the release of any product until we feel confident that it meets our expectations for quality," said an FDA statement on April 21.

That vaccine material, Kramer said, has passed all of his company's control measures and is ready for potential release if the FDA gives the OK.

"As far as I understand, there have been requests for some additional testing on all of those lots and doses, that have been provided by J&J to the FDA, and it's under their evaluation right now," Kramer said at the hearing.

Dr. Robert Redfield, former director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the CDC's new mask guidance for fully vaccinated people is a step in the right direction, but that the agency's decision to wait to issue the guidance contributed to vaccine hesitancy.

"I'm happy that CDC made the move to move to alternative mitigation recommendations for vaccinated versus unvaccinated individuals," Redfield said during an interview on SiriusXM Doctor Radio's Doctor Radio Reports. "I don't know how much damage was done in terms of reinforcing vaccine hesitancy, but when I talk to people on the street, they do almost universally come to me and say, 'Well, I guess since people are still wearing masks that are vaccinated, I guess they must know that these vaccines don't work as well as we think.'"

Redfield added that early in the pandemic he was a strong advocate for not shutting down schools and industries due to the spread of coronavirus, but instead "to keep them open in a safe, responsible way."

"I think it's important. I've argued all along that we didn't have to sacrifice our economy to control this pandemic," he said.

"I was always disappointed that it was an either/or, rather than a partnering together and learning how to do it safe and responsibly. And obviously the mitigation steps, including masks, was a critical component of that," he added.

Redfield said the CDC's new guidance is appropriate because it's backed by science.

"If you've been vaccinated, I personally don't believe you need to wear a mask, and I do think you could be a billboard for letting the rest of the American public know that we believe these vaccines really work," he said.

A coalition of businesses, including McDonald's, JP Morgan Chase and Uber, have teamed up to support women, whose exodus from the labor market have alarmed leading economists and corporate executives.

The coalition, Time's Up Care Economy Business Council, calls on the business community to create workplaces that support women in the wake of the impact of the pandemic.

According to economists from Moody's Analytics, some 440,000 prime-age women workers are now sitting on the sidelines because of pandemic-related child care responsibilities.

The council says the situation for women of color has been especially dire, "as they endure crisis levels of unemployment."

The unemployment rate for adult Black women remained high, at 8.6%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The group says it is assembling a coalition of companies "spanning every industry" to "push for the creation of a comprehensive care infrastructure at this critical moment."

What you need to know

Olympic organizers said they are doing everything they can to ensure Tokyo 2020 takes place safely, despite doctors' calls for the Games to be canceled as coronavirus cases surge in Japan.

The European Union will begin to ease travel restrictions to the bloc, with the EU Council agreeing on measures to allow fully vaccinated foreign visitors in.

The US plans to send 20 million more doses of Covid-19 vaccines overseas, on top of 60 million doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine.

Our live coverage has ended for the day. Follow the latest on the pandemic .

The US needs to help mobilize global Covid-19 vaccine production to save millions of lives, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Wednesday.

Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the US is doing well in the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines to its own citizens.

"We have a real, real challenge and a mission to get the rest of the world vaccinated," he added at an event hosted by Bowdoin College.

Fauci said its necessary to mobilize global vaccine production capability, so there isn't a two-to-three-year lag for people in low- and middle-income countries to get vaccinated against Covid-19.

"Because that will literally mean a million deaths, if we wait that long - and maybe more -and that's unacceptable," he said.

The US needs to work with other wealthy countries like the UK, Australia and Canada, to "get those plants that are making vaccines revved up to make billions of more doses," he added.

It's possible for the US to vaccinate younger people and support vaccinations in low- and middle-income countries at the same time, Fauci noted Sunday on CBS' Face the Nation.

After supermarket chain Kroger announced today that fully vaccinated employees and customers no longer need to wear masks in the company's stores, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union, which represents 1.3 million essential food and retail workers, cautioned against "the growing trend" of major retailers ending mask requirements for vaccinated customers and employees.

UFCW is calling on the CEOs of retailers to take action to "reassure the public that the majority of those in stores will still wear masks to keep shoppers and workers safe given ongoing COVID risks."

"America's grocery workers are still facing daily COVID risks on the frontlines so that all our families can put food on the table as the pandemic continues. These essential frontline workers have been forced to play mask police throughout the pandemic with many shoppers not following COVID safety standards. Now, they are being asked to be the vaccination police," UFCW International President Marc Perrone said in a statement.

"With more than 200 million Americans still not fully vaccinated, now is not the time to let our guard down," Perrone added.

The US Food and Drug Administration approved a label change for Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine to allow storage of its product for up to one month at normal refrigeration temperatures.

"This change should make this vaccine more widely available to the American public by facilitating the ability of vaccine providers, such as community doctors' offices, to receive, store and administer the vaccine," Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said in a statement Wednesday.

"Based on a review of recent data submitted by Pfizer Inc. today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is authorizing undiluted, thawed Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine vials to be stored in the refrigerator at 2°C to 8°C (35°F to 46°F) for up to 1 month. Previously, thawed, undiluted vaccine vials could be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days," the FDA said in the statement.

For long-term storage, the label for Pfizer/BioNTech's vaccine says it should be stored in ultra-cold freezers between -80 degrees Celsius to -60 degrees Celsius until the expiry date printed on the label.

Coronavirus vaccines based on a platform known as a protein subunit will be important for stopping the pandemic, former US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Dr. Robert Redfield predicts.

The vaccine platform, which is being developed and tested by Maryland-based biotech company Novavax and others, uses a specific isolated spike protein from coronavirus particles to elicit an immune response.

"Eventually, we (have) got to approve the protein platforms. I think the protein platforms are ultimately going to be the most important platforms for the world," Redfield said during an interview Tuesday on SiriusXM Doctor Radio's "Doctor Radio Reports."

"They're inexpensive, they don't have difficult refrigerating requirements, the technology is straightforward, and you can add in different ways for different populations to make sure their immune response is in the thresholds you want. So I actually think you're going to see the protein vaccines over the next 24 months really become very important globally. But all three platforms, the adeno platform, the mRNA platform and the protein are all strong platforms and they all have equivalency in their ability to prevent death and hospitalization," he said.

The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines use messenger RNA or mRNA to elicit immunity, while Johnson & Johnson's vaccine, and one made by AstraZeneca but not yet authorized in the US, uses an adenovirus to deliver genetic material and prompt an immune response.

Utah's House on Wednesday passed a bill that prohibits public schools and universities in the state from requiring mask mandates after the end of this school year.

The bill also prohibits colleges and universities from requiring proof of a vaccination unless it allows for medical and religious exemptions. So far, CNN has not tracked any colleges or universities in Utah that are requiring students to be vaccinated for Covid-19 before the fall semester begins.

The bill passed 50-24, with one member absent or not voting. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox had asked for Wednesday's special session to be called to have this issue and others considered by lawmakers.

Rep. Val Peterson, the bill's sponsor, called it a "return to some normalcy."

According to the bill, schools will be banned from "requiring a face covering to participate in or attend instruction, activities, or in any other place on the campus of the institution after the end of the spring semester in 2021."

There is nothing in the bill which would prevent students or teachers from wearing a mask if they wished to do so.

Salt Lake City School District announced Tuesday it will require masks on campuses through the end of the 2020-21 school year, which ends June 7.

"We've come too far to let go of proven safety practices like mask-wearing with just a few days left in the school year," Superintendent Larry Madden said in a tweet. "The last thing we want to do is increase risk in our city just as school is about to be let out for the summer."

The Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines both reduce asymptomatic and symptomatic coronavirus infections among vulnerable nursing home residents in the real world, according to new data.

The incidence of Covid-19 has decreased over time among both vaccinated and unvaccinated residents in 280 nursing homes across 21 states, researchers wrote in a letter to The New England Journal of Medicine Wednesday.

The researchers - from Brown University in Rhode Island and long-term care provider Genesis HealthCare in Pennsylvania - examined data on 18,242 nursing home residents who received at least one dose of vaccine as of mid-February and 3,990 residents who were unvaccinated as of March 31. Among those who had received at least one dose, 13,048 completed two doses.

The residents were tested every three to seven days, the researchers said.

The incidence of Covid-19 dropped among those who had received at least a first dose, from 4.5% of vaccinated residents within two weeks after receiving a first dose to 1.4% between 15 and 28 days later, the researchers found.

Among the residents who completed two doses, coronavirus infections were seen among 1% of them within two weeks after receiving the second dose compared with 0.3% after two weeks, the data showed.

Among the unvaccinated residents, coronavirus infections were seen among 4.3% of them within two weeks after the first vaccination clinic began to 0.3% 42 days later.

"Our observation of a reduced incidence of infection among unvaccinated residents suggests that robust vaccine coverage among residents and staff, together with the continued use of face masks and other infection-control measures, is likely to afford protection for small numbers of unvaccinated residents in congregate settings," the researchers wrote.

Emergent BioSolutions CEO Bob Kramer testified Wednesday that it was his understanding that the US Food and Drug Administration has "for the past week or two" been inspecting some of the material that Emergent had already produced for Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine, to see if it is safe. This would be for a total of about 100 million doses that Emergent made the material for before manufacturing at the plant was put on pause.

"The FDA is evaluating, to my understanding, the doses that are, that have been manufactured for both drug substance, that, most of which has been provided to J&J," Kramer said.

The plant has not yet been granted Emergency Use Authorization by the FDA, meaning no doses produced by this facility have been distributed.

In late April, the FDA said the vaccines that Emergent had already manufactured would undergo additional testing before being cleared for distribution.

"For the vaccines already manufactured, the products will undergo additional testing and will be thoroughly evaluated to ensure their quality before any potential distribution. We will not allow the release of any product until we feel confident that it meets our expectations for quality," said an FDA statement on April 21.

That vaccine material, Kramer said, has passed all of his company's control measures and is ready for potential release if the FDA gives the OK.

"As far as I understand, there have been requests for some additional testing on all of those lots and doses, that have been provided by J&J to the FDA, and it's under their evaluation right now," Kramer said at the hearing.

Dr. Robert Redfield, former director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the CDC's new mask guidance for fully vaccinated people is a step in the right direction, but that the agency's decision to wait to issue the guidance contributed to vaccine hesitancy.

"I'm happy that CDC made the move to move to alternative mitigation recommendations for vaccinated versus unvaccinated individuals," Redfield said during an interview on SiriusXM Doctor Radio's Doctor Radio Reports. "I don't know how much damage was done in terms of reinforcing vaccine hesitancy, but when I talk to people on the street, they do almost universally come to me and say, 'Well, I guess since people are still wearing masks that are vaccinated, I guess they must know that these vaccines don't work as well as we think.'"

Redfield added that early in the pandemic he was a strong advocate for not shutting down schools and industries due to the spread of coronavirus, but instead "to keep them open in a safe, responsible way."

"I think it's important. I've argued all along that we didn't have to sacrifice our economy to control this pandemic," he said.

"I was always disappointed that it was an either/or, rather than a partnering together and learning how to do it safe and responsibly. And obviously the mitigation steps, including masks, was a critical component of that," he added.

Redfield said the CDC's new guidance is appropriate because it's backed by science.

"If you've been vaccinated, I personally don't believe you need to wear a mask, and I do think you could be a billboard for letting the rest of the American public know that we believe these vaccines really work," he said.

A coalition of businesses, including McDonald's, JP Morgan Chase and Uber, have teamed up to support women, whose exodus from the labor market have alarmed leading economists and corporate executives.

The coalition, Time's Up Care Economy Business Council, calls on the business community to create workplaces that support women in the wake of the impact of the pandemic.

According to economists from Moody's Analytics, some 440,000 prime-age women workers are now sitting on the sidelines because of pandemic-related child care responsibilities.

The council says the situation for women of color has been especially dire, "as they endure crisis levels of unemployment."

The unemployment rate for adult Black women remained high, at 8.6%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The group says it is assembling a coalition of companies "spanning every industry" to "push for the creation of a comprehensive care infrastructure at this critical moment."

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By Julia Hollingsworth and Adam Renton, CNN

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What you need to know Olympic organizers said they are doing everything they can to ensure Tokyo 2020 takes place safely, despite doctors' calls for the Games to be canceled as coronavirus cases surge in Japan. The European Union will begin to ease travel restrictions to the bloc, with the EU Council agreeing on measures to allow fully vaccinated foreign visitors in.

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What we covered here

President Biden announced today the US plans to donate 500 million Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine doses globally to low and lower middle income countries.

In the US, nearly 64% of adults have received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine, and nearly 53% are fully vaccinated.

However, experts warn that vaccination lags among groups such as adolescents could delay the return to normal.

Our live coverage has ended for the day. Follow the latest on the pandemic .

Advisers to the US Food and Drug Administration agree that it's important to have a Covid-19 vaccine for children, though there's some disagreement over how potential vaccines are researched and authorized, FDA adviser Dr. Paul Offit said Thursday.

The FDA's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee met Thursday to discuss what kind of information the FDA needs to consider ahead of authorizing a vaccine for children 12 and under.

"I'm confident that there was unanimity among the advisers that it's important to have a vaccine for children," Offit told CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

Offit noted that the advisers have differing views on issues like what kind of information should be considered among the different age groups under 12, and how many children should be included in trials.

"I certainly think we would have a vaccine by early next year, and hopefully we'll have a vaccine for the 6-to-12-year-old by the end of the year," he said.

"If we're past the pandemic - if this is all behind us - then that's not going to be an issue, but we're not past the pandemic," Offit added. "The variants are still out there and becoming more contagious. I think when the winter comes, you're going to see this virus surge again, so we still need a vaccine."

People who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 will no longer have to wear masks in outdoor areas of public transportation, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday.

People who are not yet vaccinated should continue wearing masks in these areas, the CDC noted.

The CDC issued an order in January requiring people to wear masks on public transportation to help prevent the spread of coronavirus.

The CDC said it plans to update its face masks order to reflect the change and to better align with its guidance for fully vaccinated people. Until then, the agency will "exercise its enforcement discretion" to not require masks in outdoor areas of transportation conveyances or hubs.

"While those who are fully vaccinated may resume many activities without wearing a mask, the travel environment presents a unique set of circumstances based on the number and close interaction of travelers (both vaccinated and unvaccinated)," the CDC noted.

The agency maintains that both vaccinated and unvaccinated people should continue to wear masks indoors in public transportation settings, except under certain circumstances, like when eating, drinking or taking medicine.

In five states - Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Wyoming - fewer than half of adult residents have received one dose of Covid-19 vaccine, according to data published Thursday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the US overall, 64% of adults have received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine and about 53% are fully vaccinated. The Biden administration aims to vaccinate 70% of adults with at least one dose of vaccine by July 4, though the current pace of vaccinations is not enough to meet that goal.

About 934,000 more doses have been reported administered since Wednesday, for a seven-day average of 1.1 million doses per day.

More than 172 million people - about 52% of the total US population - have received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine, and nearly 142 million people - about 43% of the population - are fully vaccinated, according to CDC data.

A total of nearly 207 million doses of vaccine have been reported administered, about 82% of the nearly 373 million doses delivered.
Note: Data published by the CDC may be delayed, and doses may not have been administered on the day reported.

Biotechnology company Novavax expects to see results from a Phase 3 study of its coronavirus vaccine in the United States "next week," the company's CEO Stanley Erck said on Thursday.

"We're just finishing up a Phase 3 trial in the US where we enrolled a group of 30,000 people - 20,000 of those people got vaccinated, 10,000 had placebo- and I'm happy to say that the data are coming very soon. In fact, we hope to announce those data next week," Erck said during an event with Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan at Novavax's global headquarters in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

The event was held to tour the company's future Vaccines Innovation Campus facility.

Erck also said Dr. Robert Redfield, former director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has joined the company Novavax as a strategic adviser.

"It was just a year ago that Novavax enrolled our first participants in a clinical trial," Erck said. "Since then, we've worked around the clock to vaccinate over 50,000 people in the last year."

Vaccine advisers to the US Food and Drug Administration on Thursday debated what kind of detailed information the agency would need to consider authorizing the use of coronavirus vaccines in children under age 12.

While a few advisers said it's far too soon to consider using vaccines in children because kids are at such low risk from the virus, most argued that it's important to have authorizations on hand should there be a resurgence of the virus in the fall and winter.

The members of the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee were not asked to provide specific advice or a vote. The FDA will now advise companies on what kinds of clinical trials and data it would like to see to consider extending use of authorized vaccines to children.

Dr. Cody Meissner, director of pediatric infectious diseases at Tufts University School of Medicine, said children are at low risk of severe disease from the virus and more study is needed about safety in younger age groups. "Before we start vaccinating millions of adolescents and children, it's important to find out what the consequences are," Meissner said, noting a low hospitalization rate among children.

"As more people are immunized and become immune from infection, I think it's likely that we are going to get this pandemic under pretty good control," he said.

But other members of the committee sharply disagreed.

"I think we need these vaccines sooner rather than later in children," said Dr. Mark Sawyer, a pediatrics professor at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine.

Dr. Eric Rubin, editor in chief of The New England Journal of Medicine and an adjunct professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, noted the situation doesn't look bad at present, but that could change.

"There's not much disease right now," he said.

"We don't know what's going to happen. I think that's precisely the reason why we want to have these in our arsenal. Because we give an EUA to the vaccine doesn't mean we have to use it and I think we'd have to think hard how to use it, given all the concerns that's been raised," Rubin added.

And the FDA's Marion Gruber expressed some frustration.

"We are hearing that we need the vaccines soon and we need them soon in children because we do not know what the virus will doing in fall and kids are back in school and indoors," she said.

"If we wait too long and do these clinical trials with large numbers of pediatric subjects, we may not be ready to have these tools available when we need them."

"Achieving consensus, as people can see, may be a little bit challenging," noted Dr. Peter Marks, who heads the FDA's division that evaluates vaccines.

No shipments of Johnson & Johnson's coronavirus vaccine have gone out from the federal government in several weeks, CNN has learned, because the one-shot vaccine is in short supply.

The government has not sent any doses of J&J to states since the first week of May, an official told CNN. That figure checks out with data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on vaccine shipments.

This is directly linked to the issues related to the Emergent BioSolutions plant in Baltimore. The facility, which has been riddled with issues, has still not produced a single useable dose of J&J's vaccine as it waits for regulatory approval from the US Food and Drug Administration, which has not yet been granted.

The coronavirus pandemic might not have hit children as hard as it has hit adults, but children do die of Covid-19, a top US Food and Drug Administration official said Thursday.

Dr. Peter Marks, who heads FDA's vaccine division, spoke at the very end of a meeting of the agency's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee meeting, called to discuss what might be needed for FDA to consider extending authorization of coronavirus vaccines to children under 12.

Several advisers were cautious about the idea of extending authorization to children and mentioned that the virus has caused serious disease in children as often as it has among adults.

"I also want to take a moment to remember all the children who have died of Covid-19 in this pandemic, because that should not be forgotten here," Marks told the meeting in closing remarks.

"I just want to reiterate something here - this is an illness that takes the lives of children. We know that over 300 children have died in the pandemic so far," said Marks, who is director of FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it has reports of 314 deaths in children 17 and younger in the US from Covid-19.

"And that if one looked at the death rate of the 11-17-year-olds who had Covid-19, it was about 1 in 3,600 of those individuals. And since we had over a million cases in that age range, you can see that there are deaths due to this," Marks added.

"All of us have the goal to eliminate any vaccine-preventable deaths that we can with a reasonable benefit-risk."

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu announced Thursday that the state's Covid-19 state of emergency will end at midnight on Friday night and that he would not be renewing it.

Sununu said the state of emergency "is no longer necessary to manage the remaining pieces of the pandemic."

However, the governor said a public health incident will remain in place, allowing health care providers and the state's Department of Health and Human Services to coordinate continued Covid-19 efforts.

"I can remember going back to the moments before that day, where we said, 'wow, we hope that we wouldn't have to get to a state of emergency,' and then things moving so fast," Sununu said, remembering the early days of the pandemic.

According to Dr. Beth Daly, chief of the Bureau of Infectious Disease Control, the state didn't order any new vaccine doses this week and ordered only half of its normal allocation last week. "Our supply is exceeding demand," Daly said.

State epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan, however, noted that the pandemic isn't over, despite New Hampshire's state of emergency expiring on Friday.

The American Academy of Pediatrics updated its guidance for children returning to sports and physical activity, urging eligible people to be vaccinated against Covid-19 and encouraging unvaccinated people to wear masks during many activities.

All eligible athletes should get a Covid-19 vaccine as soon as possible, the guidelines say. Once people are vaccinated, they are advised to follow US Disease Control and Prevention guidance for vaccinated individuals, which say they do not need to wear a mask in most situations.

Unvaccinated athletes should wear a mask for all indoor activity except situations in which a mask may pose a hazard. For outdoor activities, AAP recommends that unvaccinated athletes wear a mask while on the sidelines and in all activities involving sustained contact of 3 feet or less.

"Parents and spectators should follow current local regulations for physical distancing and use of face masks," the academy said in a news release about the update. "Because indoor areas have higher rates of COVID-19 transmission, all spectators, regardless of vaccine status, should consider wearing a face mask during sporting events with limited spacing."

Because Covid-19 transmission is reduced outdoors, a mask may not be required for all activities that take place outside, the guidelines say.

Additionally, athletes with Covid-19 who display mild symptoms or are asymptomatic are no longer advised to see a doctor for clearance, the academy says; a phone call or telemedicine visit to screen for cardiac symptoms and update record will work, and allow for faster return to activities.

Children and teenagers who have not been consistently active for more than one month are advised to make a gradual return to activity, AAP says. The academy recommends they start at 25% of their usual volume and intensity of activity and increase volume and intensity by 10% per week.

What we covered here

President Biden announced today the US plans to donate 500 million Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine doses globally to low and lower middle income countries.

In the US, nearly 64% of adults have received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine, and nearly 53% are fully vaccinated.

However, experts warn that vaccination lags among groups such as adolescents could delay the return to normal.

Our live coverage has ended for the day. Follow the latest on the pandemic .

Advisers to the US Food and Drug Administration agree that it's important to have a Covid-19 vaccine for children, though there's some disagreement over how potential vaccines are researched and authorized, FDA adviser Dr. Paul Offit said Thursday.

The FDA's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee met Thursday to discuss what kind of information the FDA needs to consider ahead of authorizing a vaccine for children 12 and under.

"I'm confident that there was unanimity among the advisers that it's important to have a vaccine for children," Offit told CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

Offit noted that the advisers have differing views on issues like what kind of information should be considered among the different age groups under 12, and how many children should be included in trials.

"I certainly think we would have a vaccine by early next year, and hopefully we'll have a vaccine for the 6-to-12-year-old by the end of the year," he said.

"If we're past the pandemic - if this is all behind us - then that's not going to be an issue, but we're not past the pandemic," Offit added. "The variants are still out there and becoming more contagious. I think when the winter comes, you're going to see this virus surge again, so we still need a vaccine."

People who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 will no longer have to wear masks in outdoor areas of public transportation, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday.

People who are not yet vaccinated should continue wearing masks in these areas, the CDC noted.

The CDC issued an order in January requiring people to wear masks on public transportation to help prevent the spread of coronavirus.

The CDC said it plans to update its face masks order to reflect the change and to better align with its guidance for fully vaccinated people. Until then, the agency will "exercise its enforcement discretion" to not require masks in outdoor areas of transportation conveyances or hubs.

"While those who are fully vaccinated may resume many activities without wearing a mask, the travel environment presents a unique set of circumstances based on the number and close interaction of travelers (both vaccinated and unvaccinated)," the CDC noted.

The agency maintains that both vaccinated and unvaccinated people should continue to wear masks indoors in public transportation settings, except under certain circumstances, like when eating, drinking or taking medicine.

In five states - Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Wyoming - fewer than half of adult residents have received one dose of Covid-19 vaccine, according to data published Thursday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the US overall, 64% of adults have received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine and about 53% are fully vaccinated. The Biden administration aims to vaccinate 70% of adults with at least one dose of vaccine by July 4, though the current pace of vaccinations is not enough to meet that goal.

About 934,000 more doses have been reported administered since Wednesday, for a seven-day average of 1.1 million doses per day.

More than 172 million people - about 52% of the total US population - have received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine, and nearly 142 million people - about 43% of the population - are fully vaccinated, according to CDC data.

A total of nearly 207 million doses of vaccine have been reported administered, about 82% of the nearly 373 million doses delivered.
Note: Data published by the CDC may be delayed, and doses may not have been administered on the day reported.

Biotechnology company Novavax expects to see results from a Phase 3 study of its coronavirus vaccine in the United States "next week," the company's CEO Stanley Erck said on Thursday.

"We're just finishing up a Phase 3 trial in the US where we enrolled a group of 30,000 people - 20,000 of those people got vaccinated, 10,000 had placebo- and I'm happy to say that the data are coming very soon. In fact, we hope to announce those data next week," Erck said during an event with Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan at Novavax's global headquarters in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

The event was held to tour the company's future Vaccines Innovation Campus facility.

Erck also said Dr. Robert Redfield, former director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has joined the company Novavax as a strategic adviser.

"It was just a year ago that Novavax enrolled our first participants in a clinical trial," Erck said. "Since then, we've worked around the clock to vaccinate over 50,000 people in the last year."

Vaccine advisers to the US Food and Drug Administration on Thursday debated what kind of detailed information the agency would need to consider authorizing the use of coronavirus vaccines in children under age 12.

While a few advisers said it's far too soon to consider using vaccines in children because kids are at such low risk from the virus, most argued that it's important to have authorizations on hand should there be a resurgence of the virus in the fall and winter.

The members of the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee were not asked to provide specific advice or a vote. The FDA will now advise companies on what kinds of clinical trials and data it would like to see to consider extending use of authorized vaccines to children.

Dr. Cody Meissner, director of pediatric infectious diseases at Tufts University School of Medicine, said children are at low risk of severe disease from the virus and more study is needed about safety in younger age groups. "Before we start vaccinating millions of adolescents and children, it's important to find out what the consequences are," Meissner said, noting a low hospitalization rate among children.

"As more people are immunized and become immune from infection, I think it's likely that we are going to get this pandemic under pretty good control," he said.

But other members of the committee sharply disagreed.

"I think we need these vaccines sooner rather than later in children," said Dr. Mark Sawyer, a pediatrics professor at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine.

Dr. Eric Rubin, editor in chief of The New England Journal of Medicine and an adjunct professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, noted the situation doesn't look bad at present, but that could change.

"There's not much disease right now," he said.

"We don't know what's going to happen. I think that's precisely the reason why we want to have these in our arsenal. Because we give an EUA to the vaccine doesn't mean we have to use it and I think we'd have to think hard how to use it, given all the concerns that's been raised," Rubin added.

And the FDA's Marion Gruber expressed some frustration.

"We are hearing that we need the vaccines soon and we need them soon in children because we do not know what the virus will doing in fall and kids are back in school and indoors," she said.

"If we wait too long and do these clinical trials with large numbers of pediatric subjects, we may not be ready to have these tools available when we need them."

"Achieving consensus, as people can see, may be a little bit challenging," noted Dr. Peter Marks, who heads the FDA's division that evaluates vaccines.

No shipments of Johnson & Johnson's coronavirus vaccine have gone out from the federal government in several weeks, CNN has learned, because the one-shot vaccine is in short supply.

The government has not sent any doses of J&J to states since the first week of May, an official told CNN. That figure checks out with data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on vaccine shipments.

This is directly linked to the issues related to the Emergent BioSolutions plant in Baltimore. The facility, which has been riddled with issues, has still not produced a single useable dose of J&J's vaccine as it waits for regulatory approval from the US Food and Drug Administration, which has not yet been granted.

The coronavirus pandemic might not have hit children as hard as it has hit adults, but children do die of Covid-19, a top US Food and Drug Administration official said Thursday.

Dr. Peter Marks, who heads FDA's vaccine division, spoke at the very end of a meeting of the agency's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee meeting, called to discuss what might be needed for FDA to consider extending authorization of coronavirus vaccines to children under 12.

Several advisers were cautious about the idea of extending authorization to children and mentioned that the virus has caused serious disease in children as often as it has among adults.

"I also want to take a moment to remember all the children who have died of Covid-19 in this pandemic, because that should not be forgotten here," Marks told the meeting in closing remarks.

"I just want to reiterate something here - this is an illness that takes the lives of children. We know that over 300 children have died in the pandemic so far," said Marks, who is director of FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it has reports of 314 deaths in children 17 and younger in the US from Covid-19.

"And that if one looked at the death rate of the 11-17-year-olds who had Covid-19, it was about 1 in 3,600 of those individuals. And since we had over a million cases in that age range, you can see that there are deaths due to this," Marks added.

"All of us have the goal to eliminate any vaccine-preventable deaths that we can with a reasonable benefit-risk."

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu announced Thursday that the state's Covid-19 state of emergency will end at midnight on Friday night and that he would not be renewing it.

Sununu said the state of emergency "is no longer necessary to manage the remaining pieces of the pandemic."

However, the governor said a public health incident will remain in place, allowing health care providers and the state's Department of Health and Human Services to coordinate continued Covid-19 efforts.

"I can remember going back to the moments before that day, where we said, 'wow, we hope that we wouldn't have to get to a state of emergency,' and then things moving so fast," Sununu said, remembering the early days of the pandemic.

According to Dr. Beth Daly, chief of the Bureau of Infectious Disease Control, the state didn't order any new vaccine doses this week and ordered only half of its normal allocation last week. "Our supply is exceeding demand," Daly said.

State epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan, however, noted that the pandemic isn't over, despite New Hampshire's state of emergency expiring on Friday.

The American Academy of Pediatrics updated its guidance for children returning to sports and physical activity, urging eligible people to be vaccinated against Covid-19 and encouraging unvaccinated people to wear masks during many activities.

All eligible athletes should get a Covid-19 vaccine as soon as possible, the guidelines say. Once people are vaccinated, they are advised to follow US Disease Control and Prevention guidance for vaccinated individuals, which say they do not need to wear a mask in most situations.

Unvaccinated athletes should wear a mask for all indoor activity except situations in which a mask may pose a hazard. For outdoor activities, AAP recommends that unvaccinated athletes wear a mask while on the sidelines and in all activities involving sustained contact of 3 feet or less.

"Parents and spectators should follow current local regulations for physical distancing and use of face masks," the academy said in a news release about the update. "Because indoor areas have higher rates of COVID-19 transmission, all spectators, regardless of vaccine status, should consider wearing a face mask during sporting events with limited spacing."

Because Covid-19 transmission is reduced outdoors, a mask may not be required for all activities that take place outside, the guidelines say.

Additionally, athletes with Covid-19 who display mild symptoms or are asymptomatic are no longer advised to see a doctor for clearance, the academy says; a phone call or telemedicine visit to screen for cardiac symptoms and update record will work, and allow for faster return to activities.

Children and teenagers who have not been consistently active for more than one month are advised to make a gradual return to activity, AAP says. The academy recommends they start at 25% of their usual volume and intensity of activity and increase volume and intensity by 10% per week.

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By Meg Wagner, Melissa Macaya, Melissa Mahtani and Veronica Rocha, CNN

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What we covered here President Biden announced today the US plans to donate 500 million Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine doses globally to low and lower middle income countries. In the US, nearly 64% of adults have received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine, and nearly 53% are fully vaccinated.

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What we're covering here

California is set to fully reopen its economy today, more than 15 months after becoming the first state in the nation to implement a stay-at-home order due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, The variant first identified in India (Delta) is on the rise in the US, and it could do serious damage in areas with low vaccination rates, a former FDA official said.

In the race to vaccinate Americans, nationally, 64.4% of adults have received at least one dose, but some states are seeing significantly lower rates.

The White House will host a celebration for thousands of essential workers and military families on July 4 on the South Lawn to mark the US's "independence from the virus," according to a White House official.

The White House is also encouraging state and local partners to host their own events across the nation to celebrate the progress the country has made in its fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

The National Mall will be open for the traditional July 4 fireworks.

President Biden had set July 4 as the deadline for a return to normalcy in the US, saying in March that he was hopeful Americans would be able to gather with family and friends to celebrate the holiday. The President has also set a goal of vaccinating 70% of US adults with at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, but the country is not currently on track to reach that goal.

The AP was first to report the news.

Mexico has received a batch of 1,350,000 Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine doses donated by the US, officials from both countries have confirmed.

Early Tuesday, Mexico's Director for North America Affairs, Roberto Velasco Álvarez, and the Chargé d'affaires at the US Embassy in Mexico, John S. Creamer, received the shipment from the US at Toluca International Airport.

Mexico's President Andrés Manuel López Obrador thanked President Joe Biden for the vaccines in his daily briefing, saying, "Thanks to President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for this donation, this gesture of solidarity."

López Obrador said the single-dose J&J vaccines would be distributed across 39 municipalities along the Mexico-US border, adding more doses were needed.

"As they will not be enough, we're requesting that they send us another [shipment of the] same amount of 1,350,000 doses to vaccinate people along the border: [in] Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, [all] 39 municipalities," he said.

Mexico has to date received over 47 million Covid-19 vaccine doses and has so far administered almost 38 million, according to Mexico's Health Ministry.

The UK could still see hundreds of Covid-19 deaths each day, a government scientific adviser warned on Tuesday.

When asked on BBC Radio 4 if the UK would have faced hundreds of deaths a day again without a delay in the lifting of coronavirus restrictions, Graham Medley, a member of the government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), said: "Oh easily, and I think we still might at some point."

Later in a video briefing for journalists, he said the UK's decision to delay lifting its final coronavirus restrictions "will save other people's lives."

It is hoped that the delay in lifting all social contact restrictions from June 29 to July 19 will allow for more vaccinations to be administered, making those most as risk better protected against new variants, especially the more transmissible Delta one, first discovered in India, which is now the dominant strain in the UK.

Medley said "we're having a wave of infections" due to greater mixing, with yet more people expected to be "exposed to the virus" over the coming months.

He urged caution when trying to predict where the UK will be in weeks to come with cases as, "we don't have absolute knowledge of all the parameters, we don't know for example exactly what people will do." Along with no clear way of seeing how the virus will evolve, and what the "long term consequences of vaccination are in terms of immunity."

Despite the concerns of possible further spreads, Medley praised the vaccine rollout saying it has been "working extremely well" and if it were not for the success of the distribution, it would be hard to "survive" at the current level of lockdown lifting.

When asked if this predicted wave of cases would be the last peak the UK sees, SAGE member Dr. Anne Cori, said: "I would say I hope this was the last time, but I don't think so."

Researchers have found more evidence that coronavirus was circulating at low levels across the United States as early as December 2019 - weeks before the first officially reported cases.

Frozen blood samples indicate people in five states - Illinois, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Mississippi and Massachusetts - were infected with coronavirus days or weeks before any cases were officially reported in those states.

Volunteers taking part in the National Institutes of Health's All of Us study, an ongoing effort to gather health information on 1 million people, donated blood as part of the study. Tests of 24,000 samples taken in early 2020 showed antibodies to coronavirus in the blood of at least nine people, the All of Us researchers reported in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.

"These included individuals with specimens collected January 7 from Illinois, January 8 from Massachusetts, February 3 from Wisconsin, February 15 from Pennsylvania, and March 6 in Mississippi," they wrote.

The first previously recognized case of Covid-19 in Illinois was reported on January 24 in a woman who has just returned from Wuhan, China, the researchers said.

The first confirmed case in Massachusetts was not until February 1. In Wisconsin, the first confirmed case had been February 5; in Pennsylvania the first reported case was March 6 and in Mississippi it was March 11.

Since it takes about two weeks to develop antibodies after infection, the findings indicate some of the volunteers were infected in December, the researchers said.

"This study contributes to the evidence of low-level circulation of SARS-CoV-2 in many states at the start of the US epidemic," the researchers wrote.

Early in the pandemic, the federal government only recommended testing people with symptoms who had a history of travel, or direct contact with a traveler.

These findings suggest that policy missed cases, the researchers said.

AstraZeneca announced Tuesday that its antibody combination treatment called AZD7442 was not successful at preventing symptomatic Covid-19 after exposure.

In a trial it called Storm Chaser, the company tested the antibody combination to see if it prevented symptomatic Covid-19 after an unvaccinated person had been exposed to the virus within the last eight days. The treatment reduced the risk of developing symptoms by 33% compared to placebo, but that was not considered statistically significant.

The trial included 1,121 participants. There were 23 cases of symptomatic Covid-19 out of 749 who received the drug and 17 cases among 372 people who received a placebo.

Among those who tested negative for the coronavirus at the time they were given the treatment, the risk of developing symptoms fell by 92% compared with placebo more than seven days after treatment, and by 51% up to seven days after dosing.

The company says it will further test this treatment to see if it could be used to prevent symptomatic Covid-19 in those not already infected. It is also studying the drug as a treatment to prevent more severe disease.

"The results of Storm Chaser suggest that AZD7442 may be useful in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 in individuals not already infected," said Dr. Myron Levin, the principal investigator on the trial on the AstraZeneca website. "While COVID-19 vaccination efforts have been successful, there is still a significant need for prevention and treatment options for certain populations, including those unable to be vaccinated or those who may have an inadequate response to vaccination."

Andy Slavitt, former White House senior adviser for Covid-19 response, said on CNN's New Day Tuesday that the Delta variant is a reason to encourage unvaccinated people to "strongly consider" getting a Covid-19 vaccine, as communities with low rates will be subject to potential outbreaks.

Slavitt said there's a lot of concerns with the variant globally, where vaccinations aren't as accessible.

The Delta variant was first identified in India. Scientists say they believe it is more transmissible and almost double the risk of hospitalization compared to the Alpha variant, first identified in the UK.

"Here in the US, it's a better picture - if you're vaccinated," he said. "So for those vaccinated, the vaccines are proving to be quite effective even against the Delta variant, so you've very little to worry about. If you're not vaccinated, the Delta variant will spread in your community more quickly. It will take less exposure to get Covid-19. And so this is another reason to encourage people who haven't been vaccinated to strongly consider doing it."

Slavitt said vaccinated and unvaccinated populations each "clump together."

"If you have more than roughly half the population vaccinated, it's not as if half the people you know are vaccinated and half aren't," he said. "Either just about everybody you know is vaccinated or everybody you know isn't."

Communities with lower vaccination rates are at risk of potential outbreaks, Slavitt said.

"Those outbreaks are not going to hopefully have quite the wildfire spread as we saw in 2020, but they're still going to impact those communities pretty strongly," he said.

In the 11 states that have fully vaccinated more than half of their residents, new Covid-19 case rates are lower than average and dropping, according to a CNN analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some states that have vaccinated less than half of their residents, however, have seen cases increase over the past week and higher average case rates.

Over the past week, the US recorded about 3.6 cases per 100,000 residents. But the average case rate in the 11 states that have fully vaccinated more than half of their residents was about 24% lower, at about 2.8 cases per 100,000 people. With Washington as the one exception, each of those 11 states recorded fewer than 4 cases per 100,000 people.

Each of those 11 states - Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington - also recorded fewer cases in the past seven days than the week prior, dropping by an average of 25%.

All of the states that saw an increase in cases over the past seven days compared to the week before have fully vaccinated less than half of their residents.

In fact, the nine states that have fully vaccinated less than 35% of their residents recorded an average of about 5.9 new cases per 100,000 people over the past week. That's about 1.6 times higher than the US rate and more than double the average rate among states that have fully vaccinated more than half of their residents.

Wyoming recorded the highest case rate over the past week - more than 11 new cases per 100,000 people - and only a third of residents are fully vaccinated in that state. Vermont recorded the lowest case rate - about 1 case per 100,000 people - and about 62% of residents are fully vaccinated there.

Athletes who fail to comply with Covid-19 rules at this summer's Tokyo Games face the prospect of disqualification, organizers announced on Tuesday as they published their third and final version of the Tokyo 2020 "Playbook."

The range of potential sanctions that organizers could impose on athletes and/or officials for Covid-19 violations ranges from warnings, temporary or permanent exclusion from the Games, withdrawal of accreditation through to disqualification and financial sanctions.

The latest version of the "Playbook," put together by officials, provided further new information concerning the lengthy Covid-19 countermeasures that will be put in place to safely hold this summer's showpiece sporting event.
Here are some of the procedures:

Athletes will be tested daily using quantitative saliva antigen tests with the processing time expected to be no longer than 12 hours.

Athletes who return a positive result will have to take a follow-up test with results expected within three to five hours.

Should a further positive result be returned, athletes will have to isolate in a general business hotel and will not be permitted to compete.

Athletes will not be allowed to go outside the hotel and the length of isolation will be determined by the Japanese health authorities, depending on the severity and symptoms of infection.

The decision on applicable measures for close contacts will be made on a case-by-case basis and will take into consideration the likelihood of the potential for spreading the virus.

Tokyo 2020 Playbook (Version III) for Athletes and Officials can be found HERE

As the United States is on the cusp of hitting 600,000 coronavirus deaths, Andy Slavitt, the former White House senior adviser for Covid-19 response, said "we as a country could have put the lives of people higher on the list versus our own individual liberties" throughout the pandemic.

Slavitt said that the US could've protected essential workers much more.

"We as a country decided that we were going to get many, many more people exposed without pay, without health care insurance, without support. And so we decided that the creature comforts - keeping the meat-packing plants open when they were unsafe - were more important than making sure we protected each other," Slavitt said on CNN's "New Day."

Slavitt also said that former President Donald Trump "never proposed a solution" to mental health issues as a result of the pandemic.

"It was all rhetoric. ... All it was was a reason not to attack the problem at its core," Slavitt said.

"Trump tried to turn this into something which pitted us against one another, and that ultimately hurt us," he added.

Slavitt also encouraged Americans to get vaccinated now, as those who have not been inoculated risk being exposed to the worrisome Delta variant. Unvaccinated populations in the US "clump together," he said, and communities with low vaccination rates will be subject to outbreaks.

"Those outbreaks are not going to hopefully have quite the wildfire spread as we saw in 2020, but they're still going to impact those communities very strongly," he said.

What we're covering here

California is set to fully reopen its economy today, more than 15 months after becoming the first state in the nation to implement a stay-at-home order due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, The variant first identified in India (Delta) is on the rise in the US, and it could do serious damage in areas with low vaccination rates, a former FDA official said.

In the race to vaccinate Americans, nationally, 64.4% of adults have received at least one dose, but some states are seeing significantly lower rates.

The White House will host a celebration for thousands of essential workers and military families on July 4 on the South Lawn to mark the US's "independence from the virus," according to a White House official.

The White House is also encouraging state and local partners to host their own events across the nation to celebrate the progress the country has made in its fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

The National Mall will be open for the traditional July 4 fireworks.

President Biden had set July 4 as the deadline for a return to normalcy in the US, saying in March that he was hopeful Americans would be able to gather with family and friends to celebrate the holiday. The President has also set a goal of vaccinating 70% of US adults with at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, but the country is not currently on track to reach that goal.

The AP was first to report the news.

Mexico has received a batch of 1,350,000 Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine doses donated by the US, officials from both countries have confirmed.

Early Tuesday, Mexico's Director for North America Affairs, Roberto Velasco Álvarez, and the Chargé d'affaires at the US Embassy in Mexico, John S. Creamer, received the shipment from the US at Toluca International Airport.

Mexico's President Andrés Manuel López Obrador thanked President Joe Biden for the vaccines in his daily briefing, saying, "Thanks to President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for this donation, this gesture of solidarity."

López Obrador said the single-dose J&J vaccines would be distributed across 39 municipalities along the Mexico-US border, adding more doses were needed.

"As they will not be enough, we're requesting that they send us another [shipment of the] same amount of 1,350,000 doses to vaccinate people along the border: [in] Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, [all] 39 municipalities," he said.

Mexico has to date received over 47 million Covid-19 vaccine doses and has so far administered almost 38 million, according to Mexico's Health Ministry.

The UK could still see hundreds of Covid-19 deaths each day, a government scientific adviser warned on Tuesday.

When asked on BBC Radio 4 if the UK would have faced hundreds of deaths a day again without a delay in the lifting of coronavirus restrictions, Graham Medley, a member of the government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), said: "Oh easily, and I think we still might at some point."

Later in a video briefing for journalists, he said the UK's decision to delay lifting its final coronavirus restrictions "will save other people's lives."

It is hoped that the delay in lifting all social contact restrictions from June 29 to July 19 will allow for more vaccinations to be administered, making those most as risk better protected against new variants, especially the more transmissible Delta one, first discovered in India, which is now the dominant strain in the UK.

Medley said "we're having a wave of infections" due to greater mixing, with yet more people expected to be "exposed to the virus" over the coming months.

He urged caution when trying to predict where the UK will be in weeks to come with cases as, "we don't have absolute knowledge of all the parameters, we don't know for example exactly what people will do." Along with no clear way of seeing how the virus will evolve, and what the "long term consequences of vaccination are in terms of immunity."

Despite the concerns of possible further spreads, Medley praised the vaccine rollout saying it has been "working extremely well" and if it were not for the success of the distribution, it would be hard to "survive" at the current level of lockdown lifting.

When asked if this predicted wave of cases would be the last peak the UK sees, SAGE member Dr. Anne Cori, said: "I would say I hope this was the last time, but I don't think so."

Researchers have found more evidence that coronavirus was circulating at low levels across the United States as early as December 2019 - weeks before the first officially reported cases.

Frozen blood samples indicate people in five states - Illinois, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Mississippi and Massachusetts - were infected with coronavirus days or weeks before any cases were officially reported in those states.

Volunteers taking part in the National Institutes of Health's All of Us study, an ongoing effort to gather health information on 1 million people, donated blood as part of the study. Tests of 24,000 samples taken in early 2020 showed antibodies to coronavirus in the blood of at least nine people, the All of Us researchers reported in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.

"These included individuals with specimens collected January 7 from Illinois, January 8 from Massachusetts, February 3 from Wisconsin, February 15 from Pennsylvania, and March 6 in Mississippi," they wrote.

The first previously recognized case of Covid-19 in Illinois was reported on January 24 in a woman who has just returned from Wuhan, China, the researchers said.

The first confirmed case in Massachusetts was not until February 1. In Wisconsin, the first confirmed case had been February 5; in Pennsylvania the first reported case was March 6 and in Mississippi it was March 11.

Since it takes about two weeks to develop antibodies after infection, the findings indicate some of the volunteers were infected in December, the researchers said.

"This study contributes to the evidence of low-level circulation of SARS-CoV-2 in many states at the start of the US epidemic," the researchers wrote.

Early in the pandemic, the federal government only recommended testing people with symptoms who had a history of travel, or direct contact with a traveler.

These findings suggest that policy missed cases, the researchers said.

AstraZeneca announced Tuesday that its antibody combination treatment called AZD7442 was not successful at preventing symptomatic Covid-19 after exposure.

In a trial it called Storm Chaser, the company tested the antibody combination to see if it prevented symptomatic Covid-19 after an unvaccinated person had been exposed to the virus within the last eight days. The treatment reduced the risk of developing symptoms by 33% compared to placebo, but that was not considered statistically significant.

The trial included 1,121 participants. There were 23 cases of symptomatic Covid-19 out of 749 who received the drug and 17 cases among 372 people who received a placebo.

Among those who tested negative for the coronavirus at the time they were given the treatment, the risk of developing symptoms fell by 92% compared with placebo more than seven days after treatment, and by 51% up to seven days after dosing.

The company says it will further test this treatment to see if it could be used to prevent symptomatic Covid-19 in those not already infected. It is also studying the drug as a treatment to prevent more severe disease.

"The results of Storm Chaser suggest that AZD7442 may be useful in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 in individuals not already infected," said Dr. Myron Levin, the principal investigator on the trial on the AstraZeneca website. "While COVID-19 vaccination efforts have been successful, there is still a significant need for prevention and treatment options for certain populations, including those unable to be vaccinated or those who may have an inadequate response to vaccination."

Andy Slavitt, former White House senior adviser for Covid-19 response, said on CNN's New Day Tuesday that the Delta variant is a reason to encourage unvaccinated people to "strongly consider" getting a Covid-19 vaccine, as communities with low rates will be subject to potential outbreaks.

Slavitt said there's a lot of concerns with the variant globally, where vaccinations aren't as accessible.

The Delta variant was first identified in India. Scientists say they believe it is more transmissible and almost double the risk of hospitalization compared to the Alpha variant, first identified in the UK.

"Here in the US, it's a better picture - if you're vaccinated," he said. "So for those vaccinated, the vaccines are proving to be quite effective even against the Delta variant, so you've very little to worry about. If you're not vaccinated, the Delta variant will spread in your community more quickly. It will take less exposure to get Covid-19. And so this is another reason to encourage people who haven't been vaccinated to strongly consider doing it."

Slavitt said vaccinated and unvaccinated populations each "clump together."

"If you have more than roughly half the population vaccinated, it's not as if half the people you know are vaccinated and half aren't," he said. "Either just about everybody you know is vaccinated or everybody you know isn't."

Communities with lower vaccination rates are at risk of potential outbreaks, Slavitt said.

"Those outbreaks are not going to hopefully have quite the wildfire spread as we saw in 2020, but they're still going to impact those communities pretty strongly," he said.

In the 11 states that have fully vaccinated more than half of their residents, new Covid-19 case rates are lower than average and dropping, according to a CNN analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some states that have vaccinated less than half of their residents, however, have seen cases increase over the past week and higher average case rates.

Over the past week, the US recorded about 3.6 cases per 100,000 residents. But the average case rate in the 11 states that have fully vaccinated more than half of their residents was about 24% lower, at about 2.8 cases per 100,000 people. With Washington as the one exception, each of those 11 states recorded fewer than 4 cases per 100,000 people.

Each of those 11 states - Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington - also recorded fewer cases in the past seven days than the week prior, dropping by an average of 25%.

All of the states that saw an increase in cases over the past seven days compared to the week before have fully vaccinated less than half of their residents.

In fact, the nine states that have fully vaccinated less than 35% of their residents recorded an average of about 5.9 new cases per 100,000 people over the past week. That's about 1.6 times higher than the US rate and more than double the average rate among states that have fully vaccinated more than half of their residents.

Wyoming recorded the highest case rate over the past week - more than 11 new cases per 100,000 people - and only a third of residents are fully vaccinated in that state. Vermont recorded the lowest case rate - about 1 case per 100,000 people - and about 62% of residents are fully vaccinated there.

Athletes who fail to comply with Covid-19 rules at this summer's Tokyo Games face the prospect of disqualification, organizers announced on Tuesday as they published their third and final version of the Tokyo 2020 "Playbook."

The range of potential sanctions that organizers could impose on athletes and/or officials for Covid-19 violations ranges from warnings, temporary or permanent exclusion from the Games, withdrawal of accreditation through to disqualification and financial sanctions.

The latest version of the "Playbook," put together by officials, provided further new information concerning the lengthy Covid-19 countermeasures that will be put in place to safely hold this summer's showpiece sporting event.
Here are some of the procedures:

Athletes will be tested daily using quantitative saliva antigen tests with the processing time expected to be no longer than 12 hours.

Athletes who return a positive result will have to take a follow-up test with results expected within three to five hours.

Should a further positive result be returned, athletes will have to isolate in a general business hotel and will not be permitted to compete.

Athletes will not be allowed to go outside the hotel and the length of isolation will be determined by the Japanese health authorities, depending on the severity and symptoms of infection.

The decision on applicable measures for close contacts will be made on a case-by-case basis and will take into consideration the likelihood of the potential for spreading the virus.

Tokyo 2020 Playbook (Version III) for Athletes and Officials can be found HERE

As the United States is on the cusp of hitting 600,000 coronavirus deaths, Andy Slavitt, the former White House senior adviser for Covid-19 response, said "we as a country could have put the lives of people higher on the list versus our own individual liberties" throughout the pandemic.

Slavitt said that the US could've protected essential workers much more.

"We as a country decided that we were going to get many, many more people exposed without pay, without health care insurance, without support. And so we decided that the creature comforts - keeping the meat-packing plants open when they were unsafe - were more important than making sure we protected each other," Slavitt said on CNN's "New Day."

Slavitt also said that former President Donald Trump "never proposed a solution" to mental health issues as a result of the pandemic.

"It was all rhetoric. ... All it was was a reason not to attack the problem at its core," Slavitt said.

"Trump tried to turn this into something which pitted us against one another, and that ultimately hurt us," he added.

Slavitt also encouraged Americans to get vaccinated now, as those who have not been inoculated risk being exposed to the worrisome Delta variant. Unvaccinated populations in the US "clump together," he said, and communities with low vaccination rates will be subject to outbreaks.

"Those outbreaks are not going to hopefully have quite the wildfire spread as we saw in 2020, but they're still going to impact those communities very strongly," he said.

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coronavirus update: latest covid-19 vaccine and us reopening news

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By Meg Wagner, Melissa Mahtani, Mike Hayes and Veronica Rocha, CNN

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Coronavirus update: Latest Covid-19 vaccine and US reopening news

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What we're covering here California is set to fully reopen its economy today, more than 15 months after becoming the first state in the nation to implement a stay-at-home order due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Camp Greenville Family Camp South Carolina May 2021

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Camp Greenville Family Camp South Carolina May 2021

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Boats and boating--Equipment and supplies

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Chef Mickey's Breakfast April 2021

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3 Month Update

Over the past 3 months, life has pretty much gotten back to normal. In March we went on a Spring Break trip to Crystal River, Stone Mountain, Helen, and Charleston. We hiked and swam and went on a ghost tour and had an amazing time. There were still mask mandates in effect so even on the outdoor walking ghost tour we had to wear them.  Easter was nice and normal and we had a big dinner at our house with mom and dad. We went with family to Disney for the weekend in April and went to the Magic Kingdom. It was wonderful to be at MK with no crowds and no wait times for ride and lots of distance between people. It was hot to wear our masks al day on the rides. The magic of the fireworks was missing and most of the restaurants were closed inside MK. It was definitely different. They did have a quick princess parade and it was nice to be able to watch it without rows of people crowding you. We went to Chef Mickeys for a character breakfast one morning and they had the tables distanced out and the characters would walk by you and you couldn’t go up to them or hug them but you could take pictures of the kids with the characters in the background. The boys finished school on April 30th. In May we went to Cabana Bay Resort at Universal for my birthday weekend and went tubing at Kelly Park Springs which was finally open after the covid shut down. The admission was limited to half of normal capacity o it felt like no one was there. We attended a family camp in the mountains in Greenville, SC for 5 days over Memorial Day weekend and it felt wonderful to go the whole weekend out in the fresh air with no masks. The kids even got to run free and play with other kids for the first time in 18 months. The boys and I took a trip to Cape Cod and New York City for 10 days and although NYC was very strict on masks and really limiting admission to everything, mostly everything was back to normal. The CDC recently announced that fully vaccinated people do not have to wear masks anywhere anymore which is nice however a lot of businesses are still requiring it. The Pfizer vaccine has been made available to those 12-15 now and I have not given it to James yet because of the reports of several cases of cardiomyopathy in some kids who have received the vaccine so we are waiting awhile to see what happen with that. Andrew is currently not old enough to receive the vaccine. Christie and big James are fully vaccinated and both just got mildly sick from the 2nd vaccine. India has been hit hard by another wave of the virus, Europe has delayed their full opening due to variant strains that are now spreading faster over there. Florida is fully open and there are no more requirements or restrictions as of now. My job has been really busy lately. Overall, it’s nice ot get back to regular life and I pray that this virus doesn’t come back with a vengeance in the fall. Prices on everything are booming Homes are three times what they were. Rental cars, plane tickets, groceries, everything had increased. There are actually shortages of things like ketchup, chlorine, cars, and some foods. People don’t want to stop working from home.

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Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the third vaccine for the prevention of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The EUA allows the Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine to be distributed in the U.S for use in individuals 18 years of age and older.
"The authorization of this vaccine expands the availability of vaccines, the best medical prevention method for COVID-19, to help us in the fight against this pandemic, which has claimed over half a million lives in the United States," said Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock, M.D. "The FDA, through our open and transparent scientific review process, has now authorized three COVID-19 vaccines with the urgency called for during this pandemic, using the agency's rigorous standards for safety, effectiveness and manufacturing quality needed to support emergency use authorization."
The FDA has determined that the Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine has met the statutory criteria for issuance of an EUA. The totality of the available data provides clear evidence that the Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine may be effective in preventing COVID-19. The data also show that the vaccine's known and potential benefits outweigh its known and potential risks, supporting the company's request for the vaccine's use in people 18 years of age and older. In making this determination, the FDA can assure the public and medical community that it has conducted a thorough evaluation of the available safety, effectiveness and manufacturing quality information.

The Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine is manufactured using a specific type of virus called adenovirus type 26 (Ad26). The vaccine uses Ad26 to deliver a piece of the DNA, or genetic material, that is used to make the distinctive "spike" protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. While adenoviruses are a group of viruses that are relatively common, Ad26, which can cause cold symptoms and pink eye, has been modified for the vaccine so that it cannot replicate in the human body to cause illness. After a person receives this vaccine, the body can temporarily make the spike protein, which does not cause disease, but triggers the immune system to learn to react defensively, producing an immune response against SARS-CoV-2.
"After a thorough analysis of the data, the FDA's scientists and physicians have determined that the vaccine meets the FDA's expectations for safety and effectiveness appropriate for the authorization of a vaccine for emergency use," said Peter Marks, M.D., Ph.D., director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. "With today's authorization, we are adding another vaccine in our medical toolbox to fight this virus. At the same time, the American people can be assured of the FDA's unwavering commitment to public health through our comprehensive and rigorous evaluation of the data submitted for vaccines to prevent COVID-19." FDA Evaluation of Available Safety Data
The Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine is administered as a single dose. The available safety data to support the EUA include an analysis of 43,783 participants enrolled in an ongoing randomized, placebo-controlled study being conducted in South Africa, certain countries in South America, Mexico, and the U.S. The participants, 21,895 of whom received the vaccine and 21,888 of whom received saline placebo, were followed for a median of eight weeks after vaccination. The most commonly reported side effects were pain at the injection site, headache, fatigue, muscle aches and nausea. Most of these side effects were mild to moderate in severity and lasted 1-2 days.

As part of the authorization, the FDA notes that it is mandatory for Janssen Biotech Inc. and vaccination providers to report the following to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) for Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine: serious adverse events, cases of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome and cases of COVID-19 that result in hospitalization or death.

It is also mandatory for vaccination providers to report all vaccine administration errors to VAERS for which they become aware and for Janssen Biotech Inc. to include a summary and analysis of all identified vaccine administration errors in monthly safety reports submitted to the FDA.

FDA Evaluation of Available Effectiveness Data

The effectiveness data to support the EUA include an analysis of 39,321 participants in the ongoing randomized, placebo-controlled study being conducted in South Africa, certain countries in South America, Mexico, and the U.S. who did not have evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection prior to receiving the vaccine. Among these participants, 19,630 received the vaccine and 19,691 received saline placebo. Overall, the vaccine was approximately 67% effective in preventing moderate to severe/critical COVID-19 occurring at least 14 days after vaccination and 66% effective in preventing moderate to severe/critical COVID-19 occurring at least 28 days after vaccination.

Additionally, the vaccine was approximately 77% effective in preventing severe/critical COVID-19 occurring at least 14 days after vaccination and 85% effective in preventing severe/critical COVID-19 occurring at least 28 days after vaccination.

There were 116 cases of COVID-19 in the vaccine group that occurred at least 14 days after vaccination, and 348 cases of COVID-19 in the placebo group during this time period. There were 66 cases of COVID-19 in the vaccine group that occurred at least 28 days after vaccination and 193 cases of COVID-19 in the placebo group during this time period. Starting 14 days after vaccination, there were 14 severe/critical cases in the vaccinated group versus 60 in the placebo group, and starting 28 days after vaccination, there were 5 severe/critical in the vaccine group versus 34 cases in the placebo group.

At this time, data are not available to determine how long the vaccine will provide protection, nor is there evidence that the vaccine prevents transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from person to person.
The EUA Process
On the basis of the determination by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services on Feb. 4, 2020, that there is a public health emergency that has a significant potential to affect national security or the health and security of United States citizens living abroad, and issued declarations that circumstances exist justifying the authorization of emergency use of unapproved products, the FDA may issue an EUA to allow unapproved medical products or unapproved uses of approved medical products to be used in an emergency to diagnose, treat, or prevent COVID-19 when there are no adequate, approved, and available alternatives.

The issuance of an EUA is different than an FDA approval (licensure) of a vaccine, in that a vaccine available under an EUA is not approved. In determining whether to issue an EUA for a product, the FDA evaluates the available evidence to determine whether the product may be effective and also assesses any known or potential risks and any known or potential benefits If the product meets the effectiveness standard and the benefit-risk assessment is favorable, the product is made available during the emergency. Once a manufacturer submits an EUA request for a COVID-19 vaccine to the FDA, the agency then evaluates the request and determines whether the relevant statutory criteria are met, taking into account the totality of the scientific evidence about the vaccine that is available to the FDA.

The EUA also requires that fact sheets that provide important information, including dosing instructions, and information about the benefits and risks of the Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine, be made available to vaccination providers and vaccine recipients.

Janssen Biotech Inc. has submitted a pharmacovigilance plan to the FDA describing its commitment to monitor the safety of Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine. The pharmacovigilance plan includes a plan to complete longer-term safety follow-up for participants enrolled in ongoing clinical trials. The pharmacovigilance plan also includes other activities aimed at monitoring the safety profile of the Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine and ensuring that any safety concerns are identified and evaluated in a timely manner.

The FDA also expects manufacturers whose COVID-19 vaccines are authorized under an EUA to continue their clinical trials to obtain additional safety and effectiveness information and pursue approval (licensure).

The EUA for the Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine was issued to Janssen Biotech Inc., a Janssen Pharmaceutical Company of Johnson & Johnson. The authorization will be effective until the declaration that circumstances exist justifying the authorization of the emergency use of drugs and biologics for prevention and treatment of COVID-19 is terminated. The EUA for Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine may be revised or revoked if it is determined the EUA no longer meets the statutory criteria for issuance.

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Related Information

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FDA Issues Emergency Use Authorization for Third COVID-19 Vaccine

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The FDA issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the third vaccine for the prevention of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The EUA allows the Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine to be distributed in the U.S for use in individuals 18 years of age and older.

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The Coronavirus Pandemic: One Year Later | Morning Joe | MSNBC

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On the same day it hosted Super Bowl LV, Florida on Sunday became the first state to report 200 cases of coronavirus variants, according to a USA TODAY analysis.

The concerning news comes as public health officials across the nation are bracing for a possible surge in coronavirus infections for those who may have failed to take heed of warnings not to gather for Super Bowl parties.

The game itself was played before 22,000 masked fans, many of them vaccinated health care workers, at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' stadium, but videos on social media after the game showed revelers in Tampa, many maskless and ignoring social distancing guidance, celebrating in the streets.

"At this point in dealing with COVID-19, there is a level of frustration when you see that," Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said at a Monday morning news conference.

Castor later tempered her remarks, but White House press secretary Jen Psaki voiced a similar message when asked if it worried President Joe Biden to see so many ignore health guidelines.

"He is of course concerned when there are pictures and photos - we all are that show many, many people without masks in close distance with one another at the height of a pandemic," Psaki said.

The country now has 699 known cases of virus variants, up from 618 on Thursday. Cases of the highly contagious variants have more than doubled since Jan. 27.

Florida holds about 29% of the known variant cases in the country, and now has more variant cases than the entire country had Jan. 23. Each of Florida's known cases is of B.1.1.7, known as the U.K. variant, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says could be the predominant version in the United States next month.

On Sunday night, the U.S. also reported that B.1.135, known as the South African variant, reached Virginia. The other five known cases are in Maryland and South Carolina. And the P.1 variant, known as the Brazilian variant, has been found in Oklahoma and Minnesota.
USA TODAY is tracking COVID-19 news. Keep refreshing this page for the latest updates. Sign up for our Coronavirus Watch newsletter for updates to your inbox, join our Facebook group or scroll through our in-depth answers to reader questions. In the headlines:
►Even as the latest surge in coronavirus infections abates across the nation, USA TODAY research found 245 hospitals reporting full intensive care units as of Jan. 28 and 477 hospitals reporting more COVID-19 patients in the ICU than the previous week. You can find out which hospitals in your community are overwhelmed here.

►Pfizer expects to nearly cut in half the amount of time it takes to produce a batch of COVID-19 vaccine from 110 days to an average of 60 as it makes the process more efficient and production is built out, the company told USA TODAY.

►Facebook said it's boosting efforts to remove false claims about COVID and vaccines on its website and Instagram, warning that repeat offenders might get booted.

►Rep. Ron Wright, R-Texas, who battled lung cancer and was hospitalized after testing positive for COVID-19, has died at 67, his office announced Monday.

►Delta, the only major U.S. airline still blocking middle seats as a mitigation measure against COVID spread, is extending the policy through April.

📈 Today's numbers: The U.S. has more than 27 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 464,900 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The global totals: More than 106.4 million cases and 2.32 million deaths. More than 59.3 million vaccine doses have been distributed in the U.S. and about 41.4 million have been administered, according to the CDC.

📘 What we're reading: Fatigue, fever and losing the sense of taste or smell are commonly known symptoms of COVID-19. A British researcher has documented other maladies linked to the coronavirus, and they're not pleasant.

Arizona reapplies for more vaccine doses, despite being told 'no' before

Arizona officials have refiled their federal request for additional COVID-19 vaccine doses after their initial application was denied last month. The state wants an immediate 300,000 extra doses and an additional 300,000 doses more than Arizona's normal allotment each week moving forward.

A request was submitted in mid-January to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. It was denied in a matter of two days because FEMA said they were the wrong agency to ask, even though FEMA officials had prompted the state to apply, said Dr. Cara Christ, director of the Arizona Department of Health Services.

The dosing system is managed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the CDC, but if Arizona submitted such a large request through that system, it could take away doses from smaller orders waiting to be filled. To avoid that, Arizona is using FEMA's resource request process as a sort of "workaround" and so FEMA can share the information with partners, although FEMA itself will not fulfill the request.

The added doses would go a long way towards vaccinating more Arizonans faster. Nearly 920,200 doses had been administered at vaccine sites across Arizona as of Monday, and roughly 2.4% of the population had been fully vaccinated with two doses.
- Alison Steinbach and Stephanie Innes, Arizona Republic
Worrisome South African variant may change expectations about vaccines

The new study showing the South African variant of the coronavirus eludes protection from the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine means "we must recalibrate our expectations," according to the researcher 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 if 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.
Here are some answers to questions about the variant.
Iowa governor lifted restrictions before checking with health officials

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds did not consult with health officials from her administration before lifting pandemic mitigation restrictions, according to lawmakers who spoke with those officials.

The move by the Republican governor, which removed mask requirements and limits on the number of people who could gather in bars and restaurants starting on Super Bowl Sunday, caught many by surprise. Iowa still has a high positivity rate and has fallen to last place in the nation in delivering the first dose of coronavirus vaccine.

"I just can't understand why the governor would lift that when we still have such a low percentage of vaccinations completed," said state Sen. Liz Mathis, a Democrat.

A Reynolds spokesman said the decision came in response to a significant reduction in COVID hospitalizations.

US reports 88K new cases; first week of February deadlier than all of June

The 88,044 new COVID-19 cases reported in the United States on Sunday was the low marker in three months, but it still represents an average of more than a case per second, a USA TODAY analysis of Johns Hopkins University data found.

The country hadn't reported fewer than new 100,000 cases in a day since Nov. 2, except for Christmas Day, when some states didn't report numbers.

In the week ending Sunday, the U.S. reported 819,050 cases, about half the rate reported a month earlier. But January's disastrous spike in cases led to a surge in deaths. The country has been averaging about 3,000 reported deaths per day for a month, and in the week ending Sunday, the U.S. reported 22,121 deaths.

That first week of deaths in February is greater than the number of deaths reported in all of June.
- Mike Stucka
Chicago schools to reopen this week; San Francisco reaches deal; NYC reopening middle schools

Chicago schools are set to reopen this week after a tentative agreement was worked out with the teachers' union over COVID-19 safety protocols, potentially averting a strike in the third-largest school district in the nation.

Under the possible deal, which still requires approval by the Chicago Teachers Union, pre-K and special education programs would return Thursday and other groups would be staggered. Kindergarten through fifth grade students would go back to school March 1 and middle schoolers a week later. No return date has been set for high schoolers.

Elsewhere, the unions that represent San Francisco school district workers said Sunday that they also have tentatively agreed to a deal that would allow public schools to reopen, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

And in New York City, middle schools are to reopen Feb. 25, bringing 62,000 more students back to the classroom after shuttering in November.
Contributing: The Associated Press

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White House, health officials concerned after maskless Super Bowl celebrations; Florida reaches 200 variant cases: Latest COVID-19 updates

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On the same day it hosted Super Bowl LV, Florida on Sunday became the first state to report 200 cases of coronavirus variants, according to a USA TODAY analysis. The concerning news comes as public health officials across the nation are bracing for a possible surge in coronavirus infections for those who may have failed to take heed of warnings not to gather for Super Bowl parties.

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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday that he would oppose any domestic travel restrictions to or from Florida amid the coronavirus pandemic.

"I think it would be unconstitutional, it would be unwise and it would be unjust," DeSantis said during a news conference in Port Charlotte.

The announcement came after a report that President Joe Biden's administration is considering travel restrictions, fearful that coronavirus mutations are threatening to reverse hard-fought progress on the pandemic.

DeSantis said restricting the right of Americans to travel freely throughout the country "while allowing illegal aliens to pour across the southern border unmolested would be a ridiculous but very damaging farce."

"So we will oppose it 100%," DeSantis continued. "It would not be based in science. It would purely be a political attack against the people of Florida."

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., sent Biden a letter Wednesday calling any such travel restrictions for Florida "reckless and economically harmful."

"Instituting a travel ban, or any restriction of movement between the states, would be an outrageous, authoritarian move that has no basis in law or science," Rubio wrote. "Instead, it would only serve to inflict severe and devastating economic pain on an already damaged economy."

Rubio went on to write that "forbidding Americans from traveling across state lines will not force any strain of COVID-19 to cease."

"It would instead starve Florida's businesses of much needed tourism dollars, keep family and friends apart, and set an unprecedented use of power on the American people," he said.

Rubio suggested Thursday on Twitter that such an approach would be contradictory to what Biden said last year, a month after former President Donald Trump issued a travel ban for China.

Day after Trump issued a #Covid travel ban on #China Joe Biden accused him of "hysteria, xenophobia, and fear mongering"

The following month he said banning travel from any part of the world will not stop coronavirus.

But now he is considering restrictions on #Florida travel pic.twitter.com/MuCulpT6Hz
- Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) February 11, 2021

"Banning all travel from Europe -- or any other part of the world -- will not stop it," Biden said in a March 2020 tweet.

Rubio urged Biden to "fast track additional vaccines to the state instead of attempting to cripple our economy."

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., echoed Rubio's letter in a tweet Thursday afternoon.

.@POTUS's Florida travel ban idea is crazy. The see-saw policy "considerations" from the Biden Admin only hurt Florida's working families whose livelihoods depend on tourism dollars. Biden should focus on delivering more vaccines and stop creating uncertainty for FL businesses.
- Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) February 11, 2021

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Gov. Ron DeSantis '100%' opposed to any attempt at Florida travel restrictions

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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday that he would oppose any domestic travel restrictions to or from Florida amid the coronavirus pandemic. "I think it would be unconstitutional, it would be unwise and it would be unjust," DeSantis said during a news conference in Port Charlotte.

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Fauci reacts as the U.S. surpasses 500,000 deaths from COVID-19

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The United States hit a grim milestone on Sunday as it reached half a million deaths due to COVID-19. Per a tally from NBC News, the nation's death toll was 500,002 people. See Dr. Anthony Fauci's response now.

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It's been almost a year since Michael Reagan, 50, came down with COVID-19."I woke up first thing in the morning and I felt really hot and out of breath," he said, recalling the morning of March 22, 2020. "I went into the bathroom trying to catch my breath, and I immediately coughed up blood into the sink. ... I ended up in the hospital that day and tested positive for COVID."Reagan said he spent two months in and out of the hospital last spring, with acute COVID-19.But for as hard as that was, what he's been through since could be considered just as bad, if not worse: His current symptoms include constant pain in his chest, painful nerve pain in his hands and legs, seizures, tremors, and the loss of vision in one eye."Since then it has been a roller coaster," he said, with ups and downs, new symptoms, a whole series of doctors, medications and tests."I realized that I have a lot of damage from COVID, and it's changed my life completely," he said. He has not been able to return to anything near the active life he enjoyed before.Unlike Reagan, when 34-year-old Stephanie Condra got sick with COVID-19 last summer, she didn't have to be hospitalized. Her symptoms were comparatively mild: fatigue, shortness of breath, stomach pain, cramping and a low-grade fever.But, after it appeared she had recovered from her acute illness, Condra says she began developing a wide array of health problems that waxed and waned but did not clear up: terrible sinus pain, nausea, loss of appetite, bone-crushing fatigue, dizziness, a burning sensation in her chest, a dry cough, brain fog, confusion, concentration issues and problems with word retrieval."My symptoms are constantly evolving. I get the same symptoms again and again, and it's like one will kind of disappear and then others will come up," she explained.While Condra said she started getting better at the beginning of 2021, she describes her progress as slow and halting. "I'm really only able to function for maybe, tops, like four hours during a day," she said.More than a year into the pandemic, what has become abundantly clear is that SARS-CoV-2 is a tricky virus: Some people aren't aware they're infected at all, while others are hospitalized and some die. And a growing group of people get sick and then never fully recover. In support groups, they sometimes refer to themselves as long-haulers; their condition is alternately called long COVID, continued COVID, post-COVID syndrome or post-acute COVID syndrome.What we're learningNobody is sure what percentage of people who've been infected with SARS-CoV-2 go on to develop post-COVID syndrome.A new research letter published Friday in the journal JAMA Network Open is shedding new light on the condition. Researchers from the University of Washington followed 177 people with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection for up to nine months - the longest follow-up to date. Notably, this group included 150 outpatients, who had "mild" disease and were not hospitalized.They found that 30% of respondents reported persistent symptoms. The most common were fatigue and loss of smell or taste. More than 30% of respondents reported worse quality of life compared to before getting sick. And 14 participants (8%) - including 9 people who had not been hospitalized - reported having trouble performing at least one usual activity, such as daily chores.The researchers wrote that with 57.8 million cases worldwide, "even a small incidence of long-term debility could have enormous health and economic consequences." There are now more than 110 million cases worldwide, according to the latest data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.A much larger study, published in early January in The Lancet, found that of 1,733 coronavirus patients treated in the Chinese city of Wuhan, 76% were still experiencing at least one symptom six months after their symptoms began. But this group was made up entirely of hospitalized patients.Treatment is a long and winding roadThe Center for Post-Covid Care at Mount Sinai Health System, in New York City, was the first of its kind to open back up in May. So far, the center has seen more than 1600 patients - including Reagan and Condra - and there's a months-long wait to get an appointment."It's very hard to predict who will get these symptoms," Dr. Zijian Chen, the medical director, told me when I interviewed him last summer. "The patients we're seeing at the center are, you know, of all races. They span in age from the 20s to 70s and 80s. You have patients who are both male and female, of equal distribution."He said having mild illness or being healthy to begin with, is no protection from having persistent symptoms."I would presume that if ... you had a pre-existing condition, that the infection with the virus can worsen that condition. But again, we're also seeing patients who are previously healthy, had somewhat relatively mild illness," Chen said.Age, he said, isn't a predictor either.Another baffling aspect of post-COVID syndrome is the vast and seemingly random array of health issues that some patients face.Dr. Christian Sandrock is a professor of medicine in pulmonary critical care and infectious diseases at UC Davis School of Medicine, in Sacramento, California. As director of critical care, he is one of the doctors who assesses patients at UC Davis' Post-COVID-19 Clinic. It was the first such center in the region to open its doors, back in October."When we look at the long-term symptoms ... the big things we see are fatigue, lethargy and sleep disturbance, and that makes up probably more than half of what we see. Loss of taste and smell is a very specific one that we will see. Shortness of breath is a very specific one, and chest pain as well," he said. Many patients have multiple symptoms, and the symptoms can come and go.Sandrock categorizes the symptoms into several buckets. Problems such as chest pain, shortness of breath and heart inflammation fall into the cardiovascular category. Chest pain and shortness of breath could, depending on the underlying cause, fall into the respiratory category, as does decreased exercise tolerance and pulmonary function abnormalities. He puts rashes, hair loss and even tooth loss into the dermatologic category. Fatigue, brain fog and not feeling like oneself belong to the constitutional category. The neurological category comprises loss of smell and taste, sleep dysregulation, altered cognition and memory impairment. Depression, anxiety and mood changes, he explained, all fall into the psychiatric category.As for what is causing those symptoms, Sandrock points to several culprits. Some might be caused by the complications of an extended hospital or ICU stay, which is known to be hard on the body and have lasting effects. Some could be triggered by microvascular disease - damage to the capillaries, which Sandrock says is behind many symptoms, from chest pain to "COVID toes" to fatigue and even brain fog. Some symptoms could be set off by an autoimmune response triggered by high levels of inflammation, such as joint and body aches, sleep disturbances, depression and fatigue. And some could be as a direct infection by the virus, such as loss of smell and/or taste, according to Sandrock.Treatment, Sandrock said, is very much individualized and depends on the symptoms and the underlying cause of those symptoms."Treatment needs to be customized," he said. "We have to really spend our time seeing what our patients need. Some of them - they really just have chest pain, shortness of breath and low oxygen levels, and in that case we can manage that. Another person may have a lot of brain fog, difficulty concentrating and sleep disturbances - that's a whole host of other things we then need to do."It can involve referral to other experts within the clinic, medications and rehabilitation. Medications such as immune-modulators, anti-inflammatories, anti-depressants, beta-blockers and/or steroids, he said. Rehab, such as cognitive, pulmonary and/or cardiac rehab. Sleep studies to root out the cause of any sleep disturbance.But there is one constant. "The only treatment I've seen that's consistent is a lot of what we would call supportive care. So that really involves better living and higher quality living, for lack of a better term. But that means you really need sleep. Sleep is going to matter a lot," Sandrock said, noting that stress reduction, meditation and yoga are also part of the mix.He said patients need to adjust their life to a less stressful and slower pace to allow the body to heal. "So, we want people to really be patient with themselves, know that it's going to take a lot of time as they work through it. So that, I think, is key," he said.Dr. Dayna McCarthy, a team member at Mount Sinai's Center for Post-COVID Care, agrees patients have to adjust their expectations of themselves and slow down."We're like rubber bands. We just want to kind of snap back to the way that we were before. So, I think that has been one of the biggest challenges. But if people are not able to do that, and they keep pushing, that is when the symptoms just do not get better," she said.Improvements are hard-won and extremely slow. "Day to day it's really hard to measure those improvements. As these symptoms wax and wane, the improvement is very stuttering. You know, three steps forward, two steps back," said Sandrock, noting that he measures improvements in terms of months.McCarthy, who calls the process "glacially slow," says patients do get better with supportive care and time. "But a lot of it falls on the patient and having to understand and come to terms with the fact that their life needs to change for them to get better," she said. "And when you're young and healthy and you're used to being in kind of fifth gear - you're 'full steam ahead' and now we're telling you, you really have to kind of shift back and shift down to allow your body what it needs to recuperate and recover. a very difficult thing for patients to process and embrace," she said.More research is neededBoth Sandrock and McCarthy say much more research is needed to better understand post-COVID syndrome, including who gets it and best treatment practices. But they're optimistic about the future, now that the condition has been recognized and "science is getting behind it," as McCarthy put it."So, people are coming together both in systems, and then systems coming together nationally, and then internationally. So, there's been this mass collaboration of scientists and health care professionals that are looking for answers. And that takes time. But I'm very happy to report that," she said.Sandrock said he was excited to learn that the National Institutes of Health recently announced it would be offering research grants as part of its "Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 Infection (PASC)" initiative.As for Michael Reagan and Stephanie Condra, they're carrying on as best they can."Every day I make the conscious decision to be optimistic and to be positive. I can't always control what circumstances life throws at me, but I can control how I carry myself. If I carry myself with grace and dignity that I'm going to be OK," Reagan said. "I have a very supportive family. I have a supportive partner. I have job coworkers that understand. I have excellent doctors. So, I try to look at things I am grateful for."Said Condra, "I really had to relinquish my sense of control in not knowing when this is going to end for me. But really being grateful for the improvements that are happening, and at least back some level of having a quality of life and being able to take advantage of the days, the weeks where I am feeling better ... but it's mind-blowing that it's been so long."

It's been almost a year since Michael Reagan, 50, came down with COVID-19.

"I woke up first thing in the morning and I felt really hot and out of breath," he said, recalling the morning of March 22, 2020. "I went into the bathroom trying to catch my breath, and I immediately coughed up blood into the sink. ... I ended up in the hospital that day and tested positive for COVID."

Reagan said he spent two months in and out of the hospital last spring, with acute COVID-19.

But for as hard as that was, what he's been through since could be considered just as bad, if not worse: His current symptoms include constant pain in his chest, painful nerve pain in his hands and legs, seizures, tremors, and the loss of vision in one eye.

"Since then it has been a roller coaster," he said, with ups and downs, new symptoms, a whole series of doctors, medications and tests.

"I realized that I have a lot of damage from COVID, and it's changed my life completely," he said. He has not been able to return to anything near the active life he enjoyed before.

Unlike Reagan, when 34-year-old Stephanie Condra got sick with COVID-19 last summer, she didn't have to be hospitalized. Her symptoms were comparatively mild: fatigue, shortness of breath, stomach pain, cramping and a low-grade fever.

But, after it appeared she had recovered from her acute illness, Condra says she began developing a wide array of health problems that waxed and waned but did not clear up: terrible sinus pain, nausea, loss of appetite, bone-crushing fatigue, dizziness, a burning sensation in her chest, a dry cough, brain fog, confusion, concentration issues and problems with word retrieval.

"My symptoms are constantly evolving. I get the same symptoms again and again, and it's like one will kind of disappear and then others will come up," she explained.

While Condra said she started getting better at the beginning of 2021, she describes her progress as slow and halting. "I'm really only able to function for maybe, tops, like four hours during a day," she said.

More than a year into the pandemic, what has become abundantly clear is that SARS-CoV-2 is a tricky virus: Some people aren't aware they're infected at all, while others are hospitalized and some die. And a growing group of people get sick and then never fully recover. In support groups, they sometimes refer to themselves as long-haulers; their condition is alternately called long COVID, continued COVID, post-COVID syndrome or post-acute COVID syndrome.

What we're learning

Nobody is sure what percentage of people who've been infected with SARS-CoV-2 go on to develop post-COVID syndrome.

A new research letter published Friday in the journal JAMA Network Open is shedding new light on the condition. Researchers from the University of Washington followed 177 people with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection for up to nine months - the longest follow-up to date. Notably, this group included 150 outpatients, who had "mild" disease and were not hospitalized.

They found that 30% of respondents reported persistent symptoms. The most common were fatigue and loss of smell or taste. More than 30% of respondents reported worse quality of life compared to before getting sick. And 14 participants (8%) - including 9 people who had not been hospitalized - reported having trouble performing at least one usual activity, such as daily chores.

The researchers wrote that with 57.8 million cases worldwide, "even a small incidence of long-term debility could have enormous health and economic consequences." There are now more than 110 million cases worldwide, according to the latest data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

A much larger study, published in early January in The Lancet, found that of 1,733 coronavirus patients treated in the Chinese city of Wuhan, 76% were still experiencing at least one symptom six months after their symptoms began. But this group was made up entirely of hospitalized patients.

Treatment is a long and winding road

The Center for Post-Covid Care at Mount Sinai Health System, in New York City, was the first of its kind to open back up in May. So far, the center has seen more than 1600 patients - including Reagan and Condra - and there's a months-long wait to get an appointment.

"It's very hard to predict who will get these symptoms," Dr. Zijian Chen, the medical director, told me when I interviewed him last summer. "The patients we're seeing at the center are, you know, of all races. They span in age from the 20s to 70s and 80s. You have patients who are both male and female, of equal distribution."

He said having mild illness or being healthy to begin with, is no protection from having persistent symptoms.

"I would presume that if ... you had a pre-existing condition, that the infection with the virus can worsen that condition. But again, we're also seeing patients who are previously healthy, had somewhat relatively mild illness," Chen said.

Age, he said, isn't a predictor either.

Another baffling aspect of post-COVID syndrome is the vast and seemingly random array of health issues that some patients face.

Dr. Christian Sandrock is a professor of medicine in pulmonary critical care and infectious diseases at UC Davis School of Medicine, in Sacramento, California. As director of critical care, he is one of the doctors who assesses patients at UC Davis' Post-COVID-19 Clinic. It was the first such center in the region to open its doors, back in October.

"When we look at the long-term symptoms ... the big things we see are fatigue, lethargy and sleep disturbance, and that makes up probably more than half of what we see. Loss of taste and smell is a very specific one that we will see. Shortness of breath is a very specific one, and chest pain as well," he said. Many patients have multiple symptoms, and the symptoms can come and go.

Sandrock categorizes the symptoms into several buckets. Problems such as chest pain, shortness of breath and heart inflammation fall into the cardiovascular category. Chest pain and shortness of breath could, depending on the underlying cause, fall into the respiratory category, as does decreased exercise tolerance and pulmonary function abnormalities. He puts rashes, hair loss and even tooth loss into the dermatologic category.

Fatigue, brain fog and not feeling like oneself belong to the constitutional category. The neurological category comprises loss of smell and taste, sleep dysregulation, altered cognition and memory impairment. Depression, anxiety and mood changes, he explained, all fall into the psychiatric category.

As for what is causing those symptoms, Sandrock points to several culprits. Some might be caused by the complications of an extended hospital or ICU stay, which is known to be hard on the body and have lasting effects. Some could be triggered by microvascular disease - damage to the capillaries, which Sandrock says is behind many symptoms, from chest pain to "COVID toes" to fatigue and even brain fog.

Some symptoms could be set off by an autoimmune response triggered by high levels of inflammation, such as joint and body aches, sleep disturbances, depression and fatigue. And some could be as a direct infection by the virus, such as loss of smell and/or taste, according to Sandrock.

Treatment, Sandrock said, is very much individualized and depends on the symptoms and the underlying cause of those symptoms.

"Treatment needs to be customized," he said. "We have to really spend our time seeing what our patients need. Some of them - they really just have chest pain, shortness of breath and low oxygen levels, and in that case we can manage that. Another person may have a lot of brain fog, difficulty concentrating and sleep disturbances - that's a whole host of other things we then need to do."

It can involve referral to other experts within the clinic, medications and rehabilitation. Medications such as immune-modulators, anti-inflammatories, anti-depressants, beta-blockers and/or steroids, he said. Rehab, such as cognitive, pulmonary and/or cardiac rehab. Sleep studies to root out the cause of any sleep disturbance.

But there is one constant. "The only treatment I've seen that's consistent is a lot of what we would call supportive care. So that really involves better living and higher quality living, for lack of a better term. But that means you really need sleep. Sleep is going to matter a lot," Sandrock said, noting that stress reduction, meditation and yoga are also part of the mix.

He said patients need to adjust their life to a less stressful and slower pace to allow the body to heal. "So, we want people to really be patient with themselves, know that it's going to take a lot of time as they work through it. So that, I think, is key," he said.

Dr. Dayna McCarthy, a team member at Mount Sinai's Center for Post-COVID Care, agrees patients have to adjust their expectations of themselves and slow down.

"We're like rubber bands. We just want to kind of snap back to the way that we were before. So, I think that has been one of the biggest challenges. But if people are not able to do that, and they keep pushing, that is when the symptoms just do not get better," she said.

Improvements are hard-won and extremely slow. "Day to day it's really hard to measure those improvements. As these symptoms wax and wane, the improvement is very stuttering. You know, three steps forward, two steps back," said Sandrock, noting that he measures improvements in terms of months.

McCarthy, who calls the process "glacially slow," says patients do get better with supportive care and time. "But a lot of it falls on the patient and having to understand and come to terms with the fact that their life needs to change for them to get better," she said. "And when you're young and healthy and you're used to being in kind of fifth gear - you're 'full steam ahead' and now we're telling you, you really have to kind of shift back and shift down to allow your body what it needs to recuperate and recover. [It's] a very difficult thing for patients to process and embrace," she said.

More research is needed

Both Sandrock and McCarthy say much more research is needed to better understand post-COVID syndrome, including who gets it and best treatment practices. But they're optimistic about the future, now that the condition has been recognized and "science is getting behind it," as McCarthy put it.

"So, people are coming together both in systems, and then systems coming together nationally, and then internationally. So, there's been this mass collaboration of scientists and health care professionals that are looking for answers. And that takes time. But I'm very happy to report that," she said.

Sandrock said he was excited to learn that the National Institutes of Health recently announced it would be offering research grants as part of its "Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 Infection (PASC)" initiative.

As for Michael Reagan and Stephanie Condra, they're carrying on as best they can.

"Every day I make the conscious decision to be optimistic and to be positive. I can't always control what circumstances life throws at me, but I can control how I carry myself. If I carry myself with grace and dignity that I'm going to be OK," Reagan said. "I have a very supportive family. I have a supportive partner. I have job [and] coworkers that understand. I have excellent doctors. So, I try to look at things I am grateful for."

Said Condra, "I really had to relinquish my sense of control in not knowing when this is going to end for me. But really being grateful for the improvements that are happening, and at least [getting] back some level of having a quality of life and being able to take advantage of the days, the weeks where I am feeling better ... but it's mind-blowing that it's been so long."

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Almost a third of people with 'mild' COVID-19 battle symptoms months later, study finds

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It's been almost a year since Michael Reagan, 50, came down with COVID-19."I woke up first thing in the morning and I felt really hot and out of breath," he said, recalling the morning of March 22, 2020. "I went into the bathroom trying to catch my breath, and I immediately coughed up blood into the sink.

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So far in February, over 4,400 new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed across the Treasure Coast, the Florida Department of Health reported Friday.

The ZIP code with the most cases since the coronavirus pandemic hit in March 2020 - 5,093 as of Feb. 25 - remains 34953 in Port St. Lucie, which lies between Interstate 95, Crosstown Parkway, Florida's Turnpike and the south-county line.

In most instances, the ZIP code reflects where a patient resides, but it also may reflect the location of the hospital where a person was tested or admitted, according to the state.

The 34953 ZIP code is home to many medical facilities, including the St. Lucie Medical Center ER at Darwin Square, Gatlin Commons Medical and CareNow Urgent Care.
► Vaccine guide: How, where to get COVID shot on Treasure Coast
That ZIP code also had the highest weekly increase in cases: 144 since Feb. 18. Seven Treasure Coast ZIP codes saw increases of at least 50 cases; five ZIP codes remain free of cases.

Per 100,000 Treasure Coast residents, the coronavirus continues to disproportionately infect women, teens and young adults, and racial and ethnic minorities.
Lindsey Leake is TCPalm's explanatory and health reporter. She has a master's in journalism and digital storytelling from American University, a bachelor's from Princeton and is a science writing graduate student at Johns Hopkins. Follow her on Twitter @NewsyLindsey, Facebook @LindseyMLeake and Instagram @newsylindsey. Call her at 772-529-5378 or email her at lindsey.leake@tcpalm.com.

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COVID: Feb. 28 weekly update for Treasure Coast cases by ZIP code, race, age and more

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So far in February, over 4,400 new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed across the Treasure Coast, the Florida Department of Health reported Friday. The ZIP code with the most cases since the coronavirus pandemic hit in March 2020 - 5,093 as of Feb. 25 - remains 34953 in Port St.

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The Centers for Disease Control on Monday said Americans who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 can safely gather indoors without masks, but kept recommendations against large events and travel in place.

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky announced the recommendations Monday at a White House COVID-19 response team briefing.

According to the new CDC guidance, small groups of people who are at least two weeks out from their final vaccine shot can safely gather indoors in small groups.

The CDC also says that small groups of vaccinated people can safely gather indoors with unvaccinated people - as long as those unvaccinated people do not have pre-existing conditions that would put them at elevated risk for the virus. In order to visit with those unvaccinated people at elevated risk, the CDC says people should wear masks and physically distance.

The CDC also said that meetings between vaccinated and unvaccinated people should be limited to people of no more than two households.

The agency also said Monday that fully-vaccinated people do not need to quarantine or get a COVID-19 test if they are knowingly exposed to a person who has contracted the virus unless experiencing symptoms.

The CDC kept most of its recommendations in place. It still advises that Americans avoid travel, avoid large gatherings and wear masks while in public.

When asked why the CDC chose to keep travel restrictions in place, Walensky noted that cases surge following spikes and travel, and noted that 90% of Americans are still not vaccinated. Members of the White House COVID-19 response team said the CDC would consider lifting more restrictions as more Americans get vaccinated.

While COVID-19 vaccines have been shown to be extremely safe and effective, none have proven to be 100% effective in preventing disease. And while the vaccines have been extremely effective in preventing severe illness, it's still not clear how those who have been vaccinated spread the virus.

Health experts have been warning that even fully vaccinated people should still wear a mask and social distance when possible to protect others and themselves.

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CDC says groups of fully-vaccinated people can gather without masks, still recommends against travel

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The Centers for Disease Control on Monday said Americans who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 can safely gather indoors without masks, but kept recommendations against large events and travel in place. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky announced the recommendations Monday at a White House COVID-19 response team briefing.

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Florida's resident death toll from coronavirus rose to 31,889 with the addition of 125 more reported fatalities on Tuesday while also adding 4,426 more positive COVID-19 cases to bring the total to 1,952,733.

The state had reported three days straight with less than 100 resident deaths, but climbed back over with Tuesday's report. So far in 2021, daily reports have exceeded 100 resident deaths in all but seven days, although both resident deaths and cases are trending less than the surges seen in January and early February.

With 592 non-Florida resident deaths, including 7 new reported Tuesday, the state's combined total stands at 32,481. Each report includes deaths from several previous days, as it can take weeks and sometimes several months for reports to appear.

The 4,426 cases is the fourth day in a row under 5,000 daily cases. The state hasn't reported more than 10,000 daily cases since Feb. 5.

With a population of about 21.5 million, about one in 11 people in the state have now been infected. That number is also about in 11 nationally and one in 66 worldwide.

Florida has seen about one in 674 of its residents die from the virus, while nationally it's closer to one in 626 people, and worldwide it's at about one in 2,994 of the planet's 7.8 billion population.

The latest COVID vaccine updates for Central Florida and across the state and nation: what you need to know.

To date, 82,626 people have been hospitalized in Florida, according to the state's report, which includes 326 newly reported hospitalizations since Monday's update.

Statewide, 3,658,030 people have received the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, of which 1,965,940 people have received the second dose. The count is a snapshot through Monday, based on the report released Tuesday.

Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the expansion of vaccinations at CVS pharmacies across the state. CVS Health, which also runs Navarro Discount Pharmacy and CVS Pharmacy y más locations that were already distributing vaccines in South Florida, will now be in 157 locations statewide with shots beginning Friday. Locations in Central Florida include Orlando, Winter Park and Windermere in Orange County and Kissimmee in Osceola County. Volusia and Polk counties already had CVS sites up and running.

CVS joined Publix, Walmart and Winn-Dixie sites as part of the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program, which also now includes limited Walgreens sites. To date, there are 730 Publix, 12 Walgreens, 119 Walmart and Sam's Club and 43 Winn-Dixie locations across most of the state's 67 counties.

The expansion follows Monday's announcement that the state will lower the age to 60 and older for those who can sign up for vaccinations starting March 15. There are several other categories including teachers an daycare workers who can get vaccinated not matter their age, as well those deemed medically vulnerable by their doctors who obtain the correct state form. Law enforcement and firefighters age 50 and over are also eligible.

To date, 11,334,958 people have been tested in Florida, 22,198 more than Monday's total.

Statewide, the latest positivity rate reported Tuesday for Monday's test results by the Florida Department of Health was 5.87%, but that's for new cases only and excludes anyone who previously tested positive. For all tested, the positivity rate was 7.56%.

Central Florida added 753 cases on Tuesday for a total of 344,395: That includes 245 more in Orange for 116,774; 101 more in Polk for 58,306; 68 in Osceola for 37,634; 63 in Volusia for 35,330; 111 in Brevard for 34,944; 84 in Seminole for 27,928; 60 in Lake for 25,252; and 21 in Sumter for 8,227.

There were 12 new deaths across all eight Central Florida counties, although totals in Lake, Sumter and Volusia were down by 12 since Monday's report, so the region's toll remained at 5,483. Polk County has the most coronavirus fatalities in the region with 1,181, followed by 1,128 in Orange, 769 in Brevard, 683 in Volusia, 577 in Lake, 461 in Osceola, 442 in Seminole and 242 in Sumter.

South Florida, home to 29% of Florida's population, accounts for 38.2% of cases with 745,899. That includes 1,900 new cases reported Tuesday among Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties.

South Florida's reported deaths rose by 60 for a total of 10,619, about 33.3% of the state's total.

The most recently available breakdown of Florida's coronavirus cases can be found here. The most recently available county-by-county data can be found here.

Within the U.S., California has the most deaths with 54,124, followed by Texas with 44,451, and New York with 39,029. Florida is 4th overall, but ranks 26th per capita, according to an analysis of states from the Covid Tracking Project by the Sentinel.

Brazil has the second-most fatalities with 266,398, Mexico with 190,923, India with 157,930, the United Kingdom with 125,032, Italy with 100,479, France with 89,455, Russia with 88,315, Germany with 72,309, and Spain with 71,727, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Total deaths attributed to COVID-19 amount to 0.1% of the state population, and one in 61 who are infected have died, a 1.63% death rate. The national death toll amounts to 0.2% of the population, with one in 55 infected dying, a 1.8% death rate.

Globally, the number of deaths is at 0.03% of the world's population, with one in 2,994 infected dying, a 2.2% death rate. Death rates have actually gone down as more cases have been reported, and more people recover with improved treatments, even though the overall death toll continues to climb.

Avoid close contact with people who are sick.

Stay home when you are sick and avoid contact with people in poor health.

Don't touch your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.

Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then dispose of the tissue.

Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom, before eating, and after blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing.

Clean and disinfect touched objects and surfaces using a regular household cleaning spray or wipe.

Follow these recommendations for using a face mask: The CDC now recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social-distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies), especially in areas of significant community-based transmission. Follow these guidelines for using a cloth mask.

Questions? Here are numbers to call

The Florida Department of Health has set up a call center to answer questions about coronavirus. There's a number for Orange County, too.

The Health Report: Florida Coronavirus Newsletter

A daily update on the coronavirus crisis in Florida.

In Orange County, the number to call is 407-723-5004; it's available Tuesday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For accurate, up-to-date information, visit

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Florida back over 100 resident coronavirus deaths as cases remain under 5k

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After a few days reporting less than 100 resident deaths from COVID-19, the state's toll climbed back up while cases remained under 5,000 for the fourth straight day. Read more details about deaths, cases, hospitalizations, vaccines and more in the latest update.

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It's been nearly one year since the realities of the COVID-19 pandemic began to hit home for many Americans.

On March 11, Dr. Anthony Fauci - then the mostly anonymous head of the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases - testified on Capitol Hill that the pandemic was about "to get worse."

That evening, within hours, President Donald Trump announced a shutdown of travel between the U.S. and Europe, the NBA suspended its season after several players tested positive for the virus and movie stars Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson announced they had contracted COVID-19.

Since then, about 28 million Americans are confirmed to have contracted the virus and more than half a million have died - statistics Dr. Anthony Fauci said he would "have never have imagined" a year ago.

"The thought that you would have 525,000 people in America to have died and about 28 million infections in this country would've really been unimaginable," Fauci said during an interview on CNN on Tuesday. "This virus has been a really formidable enemy if you want to be metaphorical about it. It's just extraordinary."

Fauci added that conditions are trending in the right direction. But he urged Americans to be vigilant, as the decrease in the spread in the virus has slowed slightly in recent weeks. As of Wednesday, Johns Hopkins reports that the country was averaging about 50,000 new cases each day.

"We hope that it continues to come down, but the deflection of the curve which is sharply going down is starting to plateau a bit, so we have to keep an eye out on it," Fauci said. "That doesn't mean, you know, getting very discouraged about it. Keep going in the right direction. Keep making step by step to some form of normality. But it's got to be slow improvement."

While Fauci says it's still impossible to tell when the U.S. can get back to normalcy, he said that widespread vaccinations will be vital in fighting back against the virus.

"Once you get a substantial portion of the population vaccinated, that is a very, very strong defense against there being another surge," Fauci said.

He noted that there will be enough vaccinations available by May to vaccinate all Americans. At that point, Fauci said the country will face the logistical challenges in "getting vaccines in arms."

Finally, Fauci issued a warning to students who are preparing for spring break, and urged them to avoid travel to and to "remain prudent" in the hopes of avoiding a fourth surge in cases.

"We want people to have a good time on spring break, but don't put your guard down completely. Just be prudent a bit longer," Fauci said. "We're going in the right direction, we're almost there. I mean, spring break is a classic time - as we all know, we've probably all been through it in school - but we've just got to really be careful this time. Be prudent."

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Fauci reflects on anniversary of pandemic: 'I would have never imagined' a death toll of 500K

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It's been nearly one year since the realities of the COVID-19 pandemic began to hit home for many Americans. On March 11, Dr. Anthony Fauci - then the mostly anonymous head of the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases - testified on Capitol Hill that the pandemic was about "to get worse."

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What you need to know

It's been one year since the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus a global pandemic.

President Biden will deliver a primetime address to commemorate the milestone of one year since Covid-19 shut down much of the nation.

Brazil reported record high Covid-19 deaths for a second straight day, with more than 2,200 new fatalities.

5 min ago
Brazil reports record high Covid-19 deaths for second consecutive day

From CNN's Marcia Reverdosa and Tatiana Arias

Brazil has reported another day of record-high daily Covid-19 deaths, according to official data, the second in a row for the South American country.

On Wednesday, Brazil reported 2,286 new Covid-19 related deaths, according to the Health Ministry, topping Tuesday's previous record of 1,972 fatalities.

The country also recorded 79,876 new cases of Covid-19, bringing the country's total to 11,202,305 and the death toll to 270,656, the ministry reported.

Brazil has the the third-highest number of Covid-19 infections worldwide after the United States and India, and the second-highest death toll, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Earlier Wednesday, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) reported that while the US, Canada and Mexico are seeing a drop in cases, nearly every Brazilian state saw an increase over the last week.

9 min ago
Covid relief funding to be used for federal cybersecurity efforts

From CNN's Geneva Sands

Millions of dollars in funding from the Covid-19 relief bill passed Wednesday will be used to help the federal government improve its cybersecurity efforts in the wake of high-profile breaches that have caused alarm for officials and lawmakers.

"[I]t reflects a recognition by this administration of the urgency of improving cybersecurity," said Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency cyber chief Eric Goldstein, adding that it will provide funding ahead of the next budget cycle, given the current threats facing federal networks.

Goldstein, a top political appointee, said the funding stems from the fact that federal agencies are providing services either "directly or indirectly related to our country's ability to recover from the pandemic."

In an interview with CNN, he also pointed to increased remote work during the pandemic, which has created a reliance on cloud computing, which therefore increases the need for security tools.

Congress included $650 million in the Covid relief bill for CISA's cybersecurity risk management programs.

Some background: CISA, a Department of Homeland Security agency that was founded during the Trump administration, is dealing with the fallout from two recent cyber breaches. Last week, Microsoft reported that a sophisticated group of hackers linked to China exploited its popular email service that allowed them to gain access to computers.

On Wednesday, CISA and the FBI issued an alert saying there are potentially "tens of thousands" of systems in the United States vulnerable to the breach.

The alert was intended to "further amplify" the need for organizations to implement the directions in CISA's recent emergency directive, as well as the guidance from Microsoft, said Goldstein.

As of today, about 90% of federal government Microsoft Exchange Server instances have been mitigated, according to Goldstein, who pointed out that there is no confirmation yet that any agency has been "compromised."

11 min ago
Biden will mark one year of Covid-19 shutdown in primetime address

From CNN's Betsy Klein

President Joe Biden will deliver his first primetime address this Thursday, commemorating the milestone of one year since the global pandemic coronavirus shut down much of the nation.

"The President will deliver his first primetime address to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Covid-19 shutdown on Thursday. He will discuss the many sacrifices the American people have made over the last year and the grave loss communities and families across the country have suffered," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at Monday's briefing.

She said Biden looks forward to "highlighting the role that Americans will play in beating the virus and moving the country toward getting back to normal."

Then-President Trump addressed the nation from the Oval Office on March 11, 2020, hours after the World Health Organization declared coronavirus a global pandemic.

Trump announced at the time that he was "marshaling the full power of the federal government" to confront the growing public health crisis, including a monthlong halt in travel from Europe to the United States. It came days after he signed an $8.3 billion emergency spending bill aimed at fighting Covid-19, which Trump described as a "foreign virus."

One year later, more than 29 million Americans have been diagnosed with Covid-19 and nearly 530,000 have died. The resulting shutdowns have rocked the US economy, with 6.2% unemployment.

10 min ago
Canada will honor lives lost from Covid-19 in a national day of observance

From CNN's Paula Newton

Canada will honor those who died of Covid-19 on Thursday in what is being billed as a national day of observance.

"There are no words for the pain of losing someone you love. As a country we remember all those we lost and we mourn with families and friends," Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said this week.

Canada has recorded nearly 900,000 cases of Covid-19 and more than 22,000 deaths.

After a sluggish rollout, Trudeau promised that vaccine shipments would continue to pick up across the country.

Public health officials say more than 5% of Canadians have received at least one dose of a vaccine but new variants will continue to pose a significant risk to public health in the weeks to come.

14 min ago
A pandemic was declared one year ago today. Here's what this week last year felt like.

From CNN's Brian Stelter

This week's news coverage of the coronavirus toggled between retrospectives about the one-year anniversary of the pandemic and forward-looking reports about vaccines and variants.

Here is a flashback to 12 months ago:

March 9, 2020 was a Monday, the start of a new workweek. It was the day when CNN began to use the term pandemic to describe the outbreak. Dr. Sanjay Gupta explained that day that the World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hadn't taken the step yet, but it was necessary. "Now is the time to prepare for what may be ahead," he said, previewing closed schools and canceled events.

That same day, Fox's Sean Hannity accused the media of "scaring the living hell out of people" and said "I see it, again, as like, let's bludgeon Trump with this new hoax."

On March 10 the cancellations accelerated. Conferences and concerts were postponed. The US was in the midst of what one reporter called a "low-key slowdown." The New York Times' banner headline said "MARKETS SPIRAL AS GLOBE SHUDDERS OVER VIRUS."

On March 11 WHO began to call it a pandemic. The US slowdown turned into a full-blown shutdown. Bloomberg Businessweek published a prescient cover calling 2020 "the lost year" due to coronavirus. Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson tested positive for the virus. The NBA suspended its season. President Trump gave a primetime speech and made things worse.

On March 12 the New York Post's front page said the world had "TURNED UPSIDE DOWN." New York Times editor Dean Baquet told his newsroom that this was the biggest story since 9/11. News outlets shifted into public service mode. The AP said that people around the world "became increasingly closed off from one another." Almost every media company postponed almost everything.

On March 13 - appropriately, Friday the 13th - more companies implemented work from home plans. Even more events were put on hold. Stocks continued to plummet. The crisis overwhelmed the news nervous system. New York felt different. We were all in this together. Trump said "I don't take responsibility at all." A New York magazine headline warned: "This will get worse."

What you need to know

It's been one year since the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus a global pandemic.

President Biden will deliver a primetime address to commemorate the milestone of one year since Covid-19 shut down much of the nation.

Brazil reported record high Covid-19 deaths for a second straight day, with more than 2,200 new fatalities.

5 min ago
Brazil reports record high Covid-19 deaths for second consecutive day

From CNN's Marcia Reverdosa and Tatiana Arias

Brazil has reported another day of record-high daily Covid-19 deaths, according to official data, the second in a row for the South American country.

On Wednesday, Brazil reported 2,286 new Covid-19 related deaths, according to the Health Ministry, topping Tuesday's previous record of 1,972 fatalities.

The country also recorded 79,876 new cases of Covid-19, bringing the country's total to 11,202,305 and the death toll to 270,656, the ministry reported.

Brazil has the the third-highest number of Covid-19 infections worldwide after the United States and India, and the second-highest death toll, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Earlier Wednesday, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) reported that while the US, Canada and Mexico are seeing a drop in cases, nearly every Brazilian state saw an increase over the last week.

9 min ago
Covid relief funding to be used for federal cybersecurity efforts

From CNN's Geneva Sands

Millions of dollars in funding from the Covid-19 relief bill passed Wednesday will be used to help the federal government improve its cybersecurity efforts in the wake of high-profile breaches that have caused alarm for officials and lawmakers.

"[I]t reflects a recognition by this administration of the urgency of improving cybersecurity," said Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency cyber chief Eric Goldstein, adding that it will provide funding ahead of the next budget cycle, given the current threats facing federal networks.

Goldstein, a top political appointee, said the funding stems from the fact that federal agencies are providing services either "directly or indirectly related to our country's ability to recover from the pandemic."

In an interview with CNN, he also pointed to increased remote work during the pandemic, which has created a reliance on cloud computing, which therefore increases the need for security tools.

Congress included $650 million in the Covid relief bill for CISA's cybersecurity risk management programs.

Some background: CISA, a Department of Homeland Security agency that was founded during the Trump administration, is dealing with the fallout from two recent cyber breaches. Last week, Microsoft reported that a sophisticated group of hackers linked to China exploited its popular email service that allowed them to gain access to computers.

On Wednesday, CISA and the FBI issued an alert saying there are potentially "tens of thousands" of systems in the United States vulnerable to the breach.

The alert was intended to "further amplify" the need for organizations to implement the directions in CISA's recent emergency directive, as well as the guidance from Microsoft, said Goldstein.

As of today, about 90% of federal government Microsoft Exchange Server instances have been mitigated, according to Goldstein, who pointed out that there is no confirmation yet that any agency has been "compromised."

11 min ago
Biden will mark one year of Covid-19 shutdown in primetime address

From CNN's Betsy Klein

President Joe Biden will deliver his first primetime address this Thursday, commemorating the milestone of one year since the global pandemic coronavirus shut down much of the nation.

"The President will deliver his first primetime address to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Covid-19 shutdown on Thursday. He will discuss the many sacrifices the American people have made over the last year and the grave loss communities and families across the country have suffered," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at Monday's briefing.

She said Biden looks forward to "highlighting the role that Americans will play in beating the virus and moving the country toward getting back to normal."

Then-President Trump addressed the nation from the Oval Office on March 11, 2020, hours after the World Health Organization declared coronavirus a global pandemic.

Trump announced at the time that he was "marshaling the full power of the federal government" to confront the growing public health crisis, including a monthlong halt in travel from Europe to the United States. It came days after he signed an $8.3 billion emergency spending bill aimed at fighting Covid-19, which Trump described as a "foreign virus."

One year later, more than 29 million Americans have been diagnosed with Covid-19 and nearly 530,000 have died. The resulting shutdowns have rocked the US economy, with 6.2% unemployment.

10 min ago
Canada will honor lives lost from Covid-19 in a national day of observance

From CNN's Paula Newton

Canada will honor those who died of Covid-19 on Thursday in what is being billed as a national day of observance.

"There are no words for the pain of losing someone you love. As a country we remember all those we lost and we mourn with families and friends," Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said this week.

Canada has recorded nearly 900,000 cases of Covid-19 and more than 22,000 deaths.

After a sluggish rollout, Trudeau promised that vaccine shipments would continue to pick up across the country.

Public health officials say more than 5% of Canadians have received at least one dose of a vaccine but new variants will continue to pose a significant risk to public health in the weeks to come.

14 min ago
A pandemic was declared one year ago today. Here's what this week last year felt like.

From CNN's Brian Stelter

This week's news coverage of the coronavirus toggled between retrospectives about the one-year anniversary of the pandemic and forward-looking reports about vaccines and variants.

Here is a flashback to 12 months ago:

March 9, 2020 was a Monday, the start of a new workweek. It was the day when CNN began to use the term pandemic to describe the outbreak. Dr. Sanjay Gupta explained that day that the World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hadn't taken the step yet, but it was necessary. "Now is the time to prepare for what may be ahead," he said, previewing closed schools and canceled events.

That same day, Fox's Sean Hannity accused the media of "scaring the living hell out of people" and said "I see it, again, as like, let's bludgeon Trump with this new hoax."

On March 10 the cancellations accelerated. Conferences and concerts were postponed. The US was in the midst of what one reporter called a "low-key slowdown." The New York Times' banner headline said "MARKETS SPIRAL AS GLOBE SHUDDERS OVER VIRUS."

On March 11 WHO began to call it a pandemic. The US slowdown turned into a full-blown shutdown. Bloomberg Businessweek published a prescient cover calling 2020 "the lost year" due to coronavirus. Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson tested positive for the virus. The NBA suspended its season. President Trump gave a primetime speech and made things worse.

On March 12 the New York Post's front page said the world had "TURNED UPSIDE DOWN." New York Times editor Dean Baquet told his newsroom that this was the biggest story since 9/11. News outlets shifted into public service mode. The AP said that people around the world "became increasingly closed off from one another." Almost every media company postponed almost everything.

On March 13 - appropriately, Friday the 13th - more companies implemented work from home plans. Even more events were put on hold. Stocks continued to plummet. The crisis overwhelmed the news nervous system. New York felt different. We were all in this together. Trump said "I don't take responsibility at all." A New York magazine headline warned: "This will get worse."

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coronavirus update: latest covid-19 vaccine and world news

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Coronavirus update: Latest Covid-19 vaccine and world news

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What you need to know It's been one year since the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus a global pandemic. President Biden will deliver a primetime address to commemorate the milestone of one year since Covid-19 shut down much of the nation.

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What you need to know

The US House is expected to vote tomorrow on a massive coronavirus relief package. The bill includes up to $1,400 stimulus checks for some Americans.

WHO's director-general warned against squandering the progress made fighting Covid-19, nearly one year after the UN health agency declared a pandemic.

Italy has become the sixth country to surpass 100,000 Covid-19 deaths.

Our live coverage has ended for the day. Follow the latest on the pandemic .

Rich nations are vaccinating one person every second while the majority of the poorest nations have yet to give a single dose, the People's Vaccine Alliance said Tuesday.

These same rich nations are blocking efforts by developing countries to waive intellectual property rights on Covid-19 vaccines, the group said. The World Trade Organization's Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS) committee meets Wednesday to discuss the TRIPS waiver.

"We should act now. There is no going back. It is totally unfair that rich countries, who have enough vaccines to protect their citizens, are blocking the TRIPS waiver, which could help poorer countries get the vaccines they need," said Muhammad Yunus, Nobel laureate professor, and one of the leaders of the People's Vaccine Alliance. "For the rich world, this proposed act of human solidarity to ensure that medicines and vaccines get to the whole human family simultaneously is in their own self-interest, not just an act of charity."

The People's Vaccine Alliance, a group of organizations including Oxfam International, Frontline AIDS, UNAIDS, and others, said that this is yet another example of rich countries prioritizing the interests of big pharmaceutical monopolies over people's lives.

"By allowing a small group of pharmaceutical companies to decide who lives and who dies, rich nations are prolonging this unprecedented global health emergency and putting countless more lives on the line," said Gabriela Bucher, Oxfam International's executive director. "At this crucial time, developing countries need support - not opposition."

The proposed TRIPS waiver would remove legal barriers and allow manufacturers across the world to start producing vaccines at scale within months, the group said.

"One year into the global pandemic, it's an outrage that vaccine factories are lying idle, unable to produce Covid-19 vaccines because rich countries are prioritizing the patents of pharmaceutical companies ahead of the lives of people across the world," said Nick Dearden, director of Global Justice Now. "A global suspension of patents is needed to speed up the production of these vaccines everywhere."

Cities around Texas have announced policies of their own to try to keep face covering requirements in-place on the local level in response to Gov. Greg Abbott's order lifting the mask mandate.
This is where things stand as of Tuesday night:
Austin

Dr. Mark Escott, Austin's chief medical officer, announced that masks will be required in the city to protect from the spread of Covid-19. The city mask mandate and other health rules remain in place through April 15, when they may be extended based on health authority and Austin Public Health Department recommendation.
Dallas
Last Thursday, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson issued an order mandating face coverings inside all city buildings. The new regulation goes into effect on March 10 at 12:01 a.m., according to a news release from the mayor's office. In the release, the city argues that Abbott's executive order dropping Covid-19 restrictions and lifting the state mandate does not prevent local governments "from implementing mask requirements in their buildings."
Houston
In a news conference Monday, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner reiterated employees and visitors will continue to be required to wear a mask on any city-owned or operated facility. "And look, we want businesses to open. We want businesses to thrive, and I was saying," Turner said. "And quite frankly, I do believe that two months from now, the landscape will be much better than what it is today. I do believe that it's too early now to just take off the masks."
San Antonio
Michelle Vigil, public relations manager, told CNN on Tuesday that San Antonio is "currently operating at a 25% occupancy and will require masks for anybody entering our facilities." CNN has inquired whether the mask requirement will be made via a new order issued by the mayor or city manager and did not receive a response Tuesday night.
El Paso
Last week El Paso announced on Facebook it "will continue to require individuals entering any facility owned by the City to properly wear a face mask over their nose and mouth." A city spokesperson told CNN Tuesday via email an updated order has not been issued yet and that staff "are still finalizing." "Our city facilities will continue to require face masks. All city-owned and operated facilities will require face masks," El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser said during a news conference last week.

Mailing rapid antigen tests to US residents to encourage frequent, widespread Covid-19 testing is a cost-effective way to prevent millions of infections and thousands of deaths, according to a study published today in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Over a period of 60 days, if just half of the population tested themselves weekly and half of those who tested positive self-isolated for an appropriate period of time, the practice could help prevent about 2.8 million infections and 16,000 deaths, the researchers found. Even in the worst-case scenario modeled - where only a quarter of the population utilizes the at-home tests and a quarter of those who test positive self-isolate - about 3,400 lives could be saved.

In their baseline model, the researchers estimate that the at-home tests would cost about $12 billion and there would be about $10.5 billion in lost productivity due to self-isolation, but some of that would be offset by reduced resources needed to care for patients with severe or critical disease. Overall, the extra cost to save a life through at-home testing is just a quarter of what federal guidance cites as the "value of a statistical life, a benchmark of the societal willingness to pay for reductions in mortality risks,�� according to the study.

Testing rates have slowed since mid-January, according to federal data. But experts say that testing remains a critical tool in the fight against Covid-19, along with vaccination and continued social distancing.

"While the public may view vaccination as a priority right now - and it is a priority - widespread testing still is essential for infection control," Romney Humphries, medical director of the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, said during an Infectious Diseases Society of America briefing last week. "This will help us track the real impact."

Despite concerns that home-based antigen testing may be unreliable and not widely adopted, authors of the study say it is a good complementary strategy for containing the pandemic.

"Our bottom-line message is: Do not let the perfect be the enemy of the good; even a highly imperfect home-based testing program could confer enormous benefit," they wrote.

As of Tuesday, 47 states plus DC are now allowing teachers and school staff to receive Covid-19 vaccines. By next Monday, teachers will be eligible in all 50 states.

Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee Tuesday announced a plan to get all teachers at least the first dose of the vaccine by the end of March.

New Mexico's Public Education Department secretary also announced late Monday their aim to get all teachers at least the first dose of the vaccine by the end of March, and that all schools are expected to reopen for in-person learning by April 5.

In Indiana, Montana and South Dakota, teachers are now eligible under a federal pharmacy program. In Massachusetts, teachers are currently eligible at CVS pharmacies, with a full rollout beginning on Thursday.
Here's where the other three states stand:

New Hampshire: March 12

Missouri: March 15

New Jersey: March 15

A Biden administration official told governors during a weekly call on Tuesday that they can expect up to 400,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to go out next week, though the administration is still waiting to confirm the exact number of vaccine doses that will be distributed.

"On J&J, I shared last week that we expect unevenness in allocations week-over-week through March," the official told governors. "In keeping with our commitment to transparency, we expect to have an allocation of up to 400,000 J&J doses that we'll be able to confirm as early as tomorrow."

CNN has previously reported that Johnson & Johnson would have significantly fewer doses available in March and April than initially expected, which frustrated the Biden administration.

That number pales in comparison to the other two authorized vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna. Roughly 15.8 million doses of those two vaccines are expected to ship next week, according White House press secretary Jen Psaki.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told CNN Tuesday that it may update travel guidance for the fully vaccinated when the science is more clear and more people are vaccinated against Covid-19. About 10% of the US has been fully vaccinated so far.

"CDC may update its travel recommendations for fully vaccinated people as more people are vaccinated and we learn more about how vaccines work in the real world. This is something we will be closely watching in the United States," CDC spokesperson Jason McDonald said in an email to CNN.

The CDC did not update travel guidelines for the fully vaccinated in new guidance it released on Monday.

The guidelines only say "follow CDC and health department travel requirements and recommendations," and the CDC travel guidelines page says to "delay travel and stay home."

The airline industry and some public health experts characterized the new guidelines as too conservative.

But McDonald said that while the current Covid-19 vaccines are highly effective at protecting vaccinated people against severe illness, hospitalization and death, there is still a small risk that the vaccinated could become infected with a milder form of the disease and inadvertently spread the coronavirus to others who aren't vaccinated sick.

"In addition, several new virus variants have spread globally and in the U.S. through travel. Because of the increased risk for both fully vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals, everyone, regardless of vaccination status, should still take all CDC-recommended precautions before, during, and after travel," the statement said.

Maryland is lifting its quarantine requirements and other restrictions for out-of-state travelers beginning at 5 p.m. ET Friday, Gov. Larry Hogan said Tuesday.

Currently, people who travel to Maryland - with the exception of people coming from Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington, DC - must immediately get a Covid-19 test upon arrival and self-quarantine until getting a negative result, or get a Covid-19 negative test result within 72 hours of arrival, according to state guidance.

State authorities will continue to encourage out-of-state travelers to get tested upon their return anyways, but the official restrictions will be lifted, the governor said.

Hogan reiterated that Maryland's statewide mask order remains in full effect and employers in the state are still strongly encouraged to allow for telework where possible.

Maryland's state of emergency also remains in effect because it allows for the use of National Guard troops, the receipt of federal funding, and for the state to maximize its testing and vaccination capacity, he said.

Hogan cited improving health metrics for the reason why he is lifting restrictions, saying "the time is right."

"Our health metrics are great, as I said, and it's time to get our economy going," Hogan said. He acknowledged that the Covid-19 virus can mutate and their health metrics can change, but also said it was "time to get people back to work."

Chicago has added two states and the District of Columbia to its emergency travel order, the city's health department website shows.

According to the latest information posted on the website, Texas, Nebraska and Washington, DC, were added to the Orange list. States that fall on this list are averaging 15 cases per 100,000 residents, the dashboard shows.

Anyone coming into Chicago from the 24 states and Washington, DC, will be required to quarantine for 10 days, provide a pre-arrival negative test result in the 72 hours prior to arrival or be fully vaccinated, which is defined as two weeks after the final dose of the vaccine, the website shows.

All travelers should continue to maintain strict masking and social distancing, the guidance states.

Chicago implemented the travel order in January to help combat the spread of Covid-19 in the city, as CNN previously reported.

Brazil reported a record high of Covid-19 deaths Tuesday, data from the ministry of health shows.

On Tuesday, Brazil reported at least 1,972 new Covid-19 deaths over a 24-hour period, bringing the country's total death toll to about 268,370.

Brazil's ministry of health reported at least 70,764 new Covid-19 cases, raising the country's coronavirus case-count to about 11,122,429.

In the country's southeastern state of Sao Paulo on Tuesday, a record number of 517 Covid-19-related deaths were recorded by state's health authorities during the past 24 hours.

As of Tuesday, Sao Paulo's death toll stands at about 62,101 Covid-19-related deaths and at least 2,134,020 cases, according to official data.

Brazil continues to be the country with the third-highest case-count of Covid-19 cases worldwide after the US and India, and the second-highest Covid-19 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

What you need to know

The US House is expected to vote tomorrow on a massive coronavirus relief package. The bill includes up to $1,400 stimulus checks for some Americans.

WHO's director-general warned against squandering the progress made fighting Covid-19, nearly one year after the UN health agency declared a pandemic.

Italy has become the sixth country to surpass 100,000 Covid-19 deaths.

Our live coverage has ended for the day. Follow the latest on the pandemic .

Rich nations are vaccinating one person every second while the majority of the poorest nations have yet to give a single dose, the People's Vaccine Alliance said Tuesday.

These same rich nations are blocking efforts by developing countries to waive intellectual property rights on Covid-19 vaccines, the group said. The World Trade Organization's Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS) committee meets Wednesday to discuss the TRIPS waiver.

"We should act now. There is no going back. It is totally unfair that rich countries, who have enough vaccines to protect their citizens, are blocking the TRIPS waiver, which could help poorer countries get the vaccines they need," said Muhammad Yunus, Nobel laureate professor, and one of the leaders of the People's Vaccine Alliance. "For the rich world, this proposed act of human solidarity to ensure that medicines and vaccines get to the whole human family simultaneously is in their own self-interest, not just an act of charity."

The People's Vaccine Alliance, a group of organizations including Oxfam International, Frontline AIDS, UNAIDS, and others, said that this is yet another example of rich countries prioritizing the interests of big pharmaceutical monopolies over people's lives.

"By allowing a small group of pharmaceutical companies to decide who lives and who dies, rich nations are prolonging this unprecedented global health emergency and putting countless more lives on the line," said Gabriela Bucher, Oxfam International's executive director. "At this crucial time, developing countries need support - not opposition."

The proposed TRIPS waiver would remove legal barriers and allow manufacturers across the world to start producing vaccines at scale within months, the group said.

"One year into the global pandemic, it's an outrage that vaccine factories are lying idle, unable to produce Covid-19 vaccines because rich countries are prioritizing the patents of pharmaceutical companies ahead of the lives of people across the world," said Nick Dearden, director of Global Justice Now. "A global suspension of patents is needed to speed up the production of these vaccines everywhere."

Cities around Texas have announced policies of their own to try to keep face covering requirements in-place on the local level in response to Gov. Greg Abbott's order lifting the mask mandate.
This is where things stand as of Tuesday night:
Austin

Dr. Mark Escott, Austin's chief medical officer, announced that masks will be required in the city to protect from the spread of Covid-19. The city mask mandate and other health rules remain in place through April 15, when they may be extended based on health authority and Austin Public Health Department recommendation.
Dallas
Last Thursday, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson issued an order mandating face coverings inside all city buildings. The new regulation goes into effect on March 10 at 12:01 a.m., according to a news release from the mayor's office. In the release, the city argues that Abbott's executive order dropping Covid-19 restrictions and lifting the state mandate does not prevent local governments "from implementing mask requirements in their buildings."
Houston
In a news conference Monday, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner reiterated employees and visitors will continue to be required to wear a mask on any city-owned or operated facility. "And look, we want businesses to open. We want businesses to thrive, and I was saying," Turner said. "And quite frankly, I do believe that two months from now, the landscape will be much better than what it is today. I do believe that it's too early now to just take off the masks."
San Antonio
Michelle Vigil, public relations manager, told CNN on Tuesday that San Antonio is "currently operating at a 25% occupancy and will require masks for anybody entering our facilities." CNN has inquired whether the mask requirement will be made via a new order issued by the mayor or city manager and did not receive a response Tuesday night.
El Paso
Last week El Paso announced on Facebook it "will continue to require individuals entering any facility owned by the City to properly wear a face mask over their nose and mouth." A city spokesperson told CNN Tuesday via email an updated order has not been issued yet and that staff "are still finalizing." "Our city facilities will continue to require face masks. All city-owned and operated facilities will require face masks," El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser said during a news conference last week.

Mailing rapid antigen tests to US residents to encourage frequent, widespread Covid-19 testing is a cost-effective way to prevent millions of infections and thousands of deaths, according to a study published today in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Over a period of 60 days, if just half of the population tested themselves weekly and half of those who tested positive self-isolated for an appropriate period of time, the practice could help prevent about 2.8 million infections and 16,000 deaths, the researchers found. Even in the worst-case scenario modeled - where only a quarter of the population utilizes the at-home tests and a quarter of those who test positive self-isolate - about 3,400 lives could be saved.

In their baseline model, the researchers estimate that the at-home tests would cost about $12 billion and there would be about $10.5 billion in lost productivity due to self-isolation, but some of that would be offset by reduced resources needed to care for patients with severe or critical disease. Overall, the extra cost to save a life through at-home testing is just a quarter of what federal guidance cites as the "value of a statistical life, a benchmark of the societal willingness to pay for reductions in mortality risks,�� according to the study.

Testing rates have slowed since mid-January, according to federal data. But experts say that testing remains a critical tool in the fight against Covid-19, along with vaccination and continued social distancing.

"While the public may view vaccination as a priority right now - and it is a priority - widespread testing still is essential for infection control," Romney Humphries, medical director of the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, said during an Infectious Diseases Society of America briefing last week. "This will help us track the real impact."

Despite concerns that home-based antigen testing may be unreliable and not widely adopted, authors of the study say it is a good complementary strategy for containing the pandemic.

"Our bottom-line message is: Do not let the perfect be the enemy of the good; even a highly imperfect home-based testing program could confer enormous benefit," they wrote.

As of Tuesday, 47 states plus DC are now allowing teachers and school staff to receive Covid-19 vaccines. By next Monday, teachers will be eligible in all 50 states.

Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee Tuesday announced a plan to get all teachers at least the first dose of the vaccine by the end of March.

New Mexico's Public Education Department secretary also announced late Monday their aim to get all teachers at least the first dose of the vaccine by the end of March, and that all schools are expected to reopen for in-person learning by April 5.

In Indiana, Montana and South Dakota, teachers are now eligible under a federal pharmacy program. In Massachusetts, teachers are currently eligible at CVS pharmacies, with a full rollout beginning on Thursday.
Here's where the other three states stand:

New Hampshire: March 12

Missouri: March 15

New Jersey: March 15

A Biden administration official told governors during a weekly call on Tuesday that they can expect up to 400,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to go out next week, though the administration is still waiting to confirm the exact number of vaccine doses that will be distributed.

"On J&J, I shared last week that we expect unevenness in allocations week-over-week through March," the official told governors. "In keeping with our commitment to transparency, we expect to have an allocation of up to 400,000 J&J doses that we'll be able to confirm as early as tomorrow."

CNN has previously reported that Johnson & Johnson would have significantly fewer doses available in March and April than initially expected, which frustrated the Biden administration.

That number pales in comparison to the other two authorized vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna. Roughly 15.8 million doses of those two vaccines are expected to ship next week, according White House press secretary Jen Psaki.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told CNN Tuesday that it may update travel guidance for the fully vaccinated when the science is more clear and more people are vaccinated against Covid-19. About 10% of the US has been fully vaccinated so far.

"CDC may update its travel recommendations for fully vaccinated people as more people are vaccinated and we learn more about how vaccines work in the real world. This is something we will be closely watching in the United States," CDC spokesperson Jason McDonald said in an email to CNN.

The CDC did not update travel guidelines for the fully vaccinated in new guidance it released on Monday.

The guidelines only say "follow CDC and health department travel requirements and recommendations," and the CDC travel guidelines page says to "delay travel and stay home."

The airline industry and some public health experts characterized the new guidelines as too conservative.

But McDonald said that while the current Covid-19 vaccines are highly effective at protecting vaccinated people against severe illness, hospitalization and death, there is still a small risk that the vaccinated could become infected with a milder form of the disease and inadvertently spread the coronavirus to others who aren't vaccinated sick.

"In addition, several new virus variants have spread globally and in the U.S. through travel. Because of the increased risk for both fully vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals, everyone, regardless of vaccination status, should still take all CDC-recommended precautions before, during, and after travel," the statement said.

Maryland is lifting its quarantine requirements and other restrictions for out-of-state travelers beginning at 5 p.m. ET Friday, Gov. Larry Hogan said Tuesday.

Currently, people who travel to Maryland - with the exception of people coming from Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington, DC - must immediately get a Covid-19 test upon arrival and self-quarantine until getting a negative result, or get a Covid-19 negative test result within 72 hours of arrival, according to state guidance.

State authorities will continue to encourage out-of-state travelers to get tested upon their return anyways, but the official restrictions will be lifted, the governor said.

Hogan reiterated that Maryland's statewide mask order remains in full effect and employers in the state are still strongly encouraged to allow for telework where possible.

Maryland's state of emergency also remains in effect because it allows for the use of National Guard troops, the receipt of federal funding, and for the state to maximize its testing and vaccination capacity, he said.

Hogan cited improving health metrics for the reason why he is lifting restrictions, saying "the time is right."

"Our health metrics are great, as I said, and it's time to get our economy going," Hogan said. He acknowledged that the Covid-19 virus can mutate and their health metrics can change, but also said it was "time to get people back to work."

Chicago has added two states and the District of Columbia to its emergency travel order, the city's health department website shows.

According to the latest information posted on the website, Texas, Nebraska and Washington, DC, were added to the Orange list. States that fall on this list are averaging 15 cases per 100,000 residents, the dashboard shows.

Anyone coming into Chicago from the 24 states and Washington, DC, will be required to quarantine for 10 days, provide a pre-arrival negative test result in the 72 hours prior to arrival or be fully vaccinated, which is defined as two weeks after the final dose of the vaccine, the website shows.

All travelers should continue to maintain strict masking and social distancing, the guidance states.

Chicago implemented the travel order in January to help combat the spread of Covid-19 in the city, as CNN previously reported.

Brazil reported a record high of Covid-19 deaths Tuesday, data from the ministry of health shows.

On Tuesday, Brazil reported at least 1,972 new Covid-19 deaths over a 24-hour period, bringing the country's total death toll to about 268,370.

Brazil's ministry of health reported at least 70,764 new Covid-19 cases, raising the country's coronavirus case-count to about 11,122,429.

In the country's southeastern state of Sao Paulo on Tuesday, a record number of 517 Covid-19-related deaths were recorded by state's health authorities during the past 24 hours.

As of Tuesday, Sao Paulo's death toll stands at about 62,101 Covid-19-related deaths and at least 2,134,020 cases, according to official data.

Brazil continues to be the country with the third-highest case-count of Covid-19 cases worldwide after the US and India, and the second-highest Covid-19 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

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By Ben Westcott, Meg Wagner, Melissa Macaya, Mike Hayes, Kara Fox, and Veronica Rocha, CNN

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What you need to know The US House is expected to vote tomorrow on a massive coronavirus relief package. The bill includes up to $1,400 stimulus checks for some Americans. WHO's director-general warned against squandering the progress made fighting Covid-19, nearly one year after the UN health agency declared a pandemic.

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Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine should not replace second dose of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines except in "exceptional situations," says the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"Any of the currently authorized Covid-19 vaccines can be used when indicated, ACIP does not see a product preference," said Dr. Sarah Mbaeyi, CDC medical officer Tuesday during the CDC Clinician Outreach and Communication Activity call.

"However, the Covid-19 vaccines are not interchangeable, and the safety and efficacy of a mixed product series has not been evaluated," she said. "We don't want people to just start mixing and matching with whatever is easiest to get."

The CDC currently recommends two dose series for both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. The second dose of the Pfizer vaccine should be administered three weeks after the first, while people should wait four weeks before receiving the second dose of the Moderna vaccine.

If there are delays, the second dose can be administered up to six weeks after the first, according to updated CDC guidance, Mbaeyi said.

However, the CDC did say that in the rare circumstance a person is unable to receive their second Pfizer or Moderna dose, they can receive the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. But it must have been at least 28 days since receiving their first dose.

Mbaeyi added that it would be extremely unlikely that someone would be in this circumstance and people should not substitute the Johnson & Johnson vaccine if there's "temporary unavailability of Pfizer or Moderna."

The CDC is also recommending against fully vaccinated people signing up to receive the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

"If somebody has completed a series, so they've gotten their Pfizer or Moderna series, they are considered vaccinated," Mbaeyi said. "They do not need any additional Janssen vaccine to kind of boost their protection, and we're recommending against that."

The CDC clinical considerations will be updated to include Johnson & Johnson viral vector vaccine.

Continued testing is "critically important" in the fight against Covid-19, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, especially as cases plateau and more contagious variants spread around the US.

However, Covid-19 testing in the US has dropped by a quarter since reaching a peak in mid-January, according to data from The COVID Tracking Project.

"Widespread testing must continue in order to defeat the pandemic," Dr. Greta Massetti, lead for the CDC COVID-19 Emergency Response Community Interventions and Critical Populations Task Force, told CNN. "It will take many months for all Americans to have the opportunity to receive one of the vaccines available. In the meantime, it's essential that people continue to take preventive measures."

Daily Community Profile Reports from the White House Covid-19 team have been tracking various indicators including testing and color-code metrics based on transmission severity.

In terms of testing rates, a seven-day daily average of at least five tests for every 100 people is ideal. But in the latest report published Tuesday, only five states reached that threshold over the last seven days, landing them in the "dark green" category: Rhode Island, Vermont, Massachusetts, New York and Alaska.

Meanwhile, eight states were in the "red" or "dark red," with less than one test for every 100 people: Oklahoma, Missouri, South Dakota, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Washington, California and Georgia.

The federal report notes that the number of tests "may be underestimated due to delayed reporting," but nearly every state had a significant decline in testing rates compared to mid-January.

California has had one of the largest drops in testing since mid-January, federal data shows. According to the state health department, testing volume has decreased for the fifth straight week - down from a seven-day average of about 230,000 tests per day to about 181,000 tests per day. In conversations with testing laboratories, the state found that the decrease was driven by less frequent utilization of testing services, not by lack of supply or capacity.

In fact, national data from Quest Diagnostics shows that the lab processed about 4.3 million diagnostic Covid-19 tests in February, but had the capacity to process up to 7 million.

Overall, federal data shows that the median turnaround time for Covid-19 tests had dropped to one day in nearly every state. For about a dozen states, that's an improvement from the two or three day turnaround times in mid-January.

California recently released guidance around testing for Covid-19 during the vaccine rollout, urging residents to continue to get tested even if they've been fully vaccinated.

"If your job requires it, you still need to get tested regularly, even if you've had the vaccine," the state's Covid-19 website states.

Brazil had its highest number of Covid-19 deaths in a single day on Tuesday, according to data from the country's health ministry.

The country saw at least 1,641 new Covid-19 deaths in the last 24 hours, topping last week's previous record of about 1,541 coronavirus-related deaths in a single-day. The country's total number of confirmed deaths stands at about 257,361, according to the country's health ministry.

Brazil is the second-highest country with the most Covid-19 deaths worldwide, after the United States, Johns Hopkins University data shows.

Amid the crippling figures and an alarming lack of Covid-19 vaccines, Brazilian Vice President Hamilton Mourão defended the government's position against a national lockdown to help curve the spread of the deadly virus, saying the country is "not a dictatorship" and that the best way to fight the pandemic is to accelerate the vaccination roll out - which according to Mourão is "going well."

Brazil has vaccinated a little over 3% of its population, according to Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), a Brazilian Ministry of Health research institution. More than 80% of intensive care units are filled in 19 states, the foundation reported.

As of Tuesday, Brazil reported at least 10,646,926 cases of Covid-19, according to official data.

Texas State Teachers Association President Ovidia Molina issued a statement Tuesday saying that despite making progress against the Covid‐19 pandemic, removing state health mandates, including the mask wearing requirement, risks "disastrous consequences," especially in schools.

"The Texas State Teachers Association urges the governor to keep his mask mandate in place, especially in our public schools, and see that it is enforced," the statement said.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order Tuesday afternoon ending the statewide mask mandate and allowing all businesses to open without restriction.

"Gov. Abbott needs to quit obeying his political impulses and listen to the health experts, who are warning that it is too soon to let our guard down without risking potentially disastrous consequences," the statement said. "The experts caution us to continue the safety practices that have worked against this disease, including widespread mask use and social distancing."

Molina also called on the governor to give teachers and other school employees priority for Covid-19 vaccination.

"Texans want to see all their public schools reopened, but they want to see them reopened safely. That includes continued safety practices, including mask use, and vaccines for educators," Molina said.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has conducted fewer workplace inspections despite a surge in complaints since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new report from the Department of Labor Inspector General's office.

The OIG studied the period from Feb. 1 through Oct. 26, 2020 and found OSHA under the Trump administration received 15% more complaints but performed 50% fewer inspections compared to a similar period in 2019.

"Due to the increase in complaints, reduction in inspections, and most inspections not being conducted onsite, there is an increased risk that OSHA has not been providing the level of protection that workers need at various job sites," the report noted.

The OIG further cautioned that since most of OSHA's onsite inspections were conducted remotely, "hazards may go unidentified and unabated longer, with employees being more vulnerable to hazardous risk exposure while working."

OSHA did not track if inspections were conducted onsite or remotely in its data system, according to the report, which stressed the importance of tracking remote inspections "to determine their frequency and timeliness for identifying and ensuring abatement of worksite hazards."

The OIG said that OSHA has concurred with the report's recommendations, which included prioritizing high risk employees for Covid-related onsite inspections, retroactively tracking remote inspections to Feb. 1 and going forward, analyzing remote and onsite inspections, and evaluating whether stronger standards are needed to help control the spread of the coronavirus as workers return onsite.

A memo from Department of Labor Deputy Assistant Secretary Amanda Edens, which is part of the OIG report, says OSHA "takes seriously the input and recommendations found in the report."

Senior adviser to the White House Covid-19 response team Andy Slavitt said that the White House thinks "it's a mistake" to relax Covid-19 restrictions too early and called on Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to rethink his decision to lift the state's mask mandate and let businesses open at full capacity.

"We certainly understand the pressure governors are under and we appreciate the working relationship we have with Gov. Abbott, as you know the President was just down there, but at the same time, we think it's a mistake to lift these mandates too early. Masks are saving a lot of lives," Slavitt told CNN on Tuesday.

"I'm really hoping that the businesses and the community and people in Texas, the mayors, the counties will rethink this. I hope the governor rethinks this," Slavitt added. "Hopefully states will stick with this until such a time as we get through all the vaccinations and see the other side of this."

Slavitt said he would not get ahead of the scientists on guidance for people who have been fully vaccinated. CNN previously reported that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will release that guidance when it is finalized later this week.
Here are some reactions from mayors so far:

The National Institutes of Health announced on Tuesday the launch of new research effort to better understand how Covid-19 affects children.

The effort will focus much of the research on what children are at risk for multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) and how this severe illness can be treated.

"Based on our current data, most children with SARS-CoV-2 infection do not develop serious illness," the NIH said in a statement on Tuesday. "However, those who do go on to develop MIS-C can experience prolonged fever and severe abdominal pain that may progress to shock. Although most children with MIS-C survive, its cause and long-term effects remain largely unknown."

The new initiative, called Collaboration to Assess Risk and Identify Long-Term Outcomes for Children with COVID (CARING for Children with COVID), is led by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child and Human Development (NICHD), in collaboration with National Institute of Allergy and Immunology (NIAD).

"This effort stems from NIH's commitment to understanding the spectrum of risk that SARS-CoV-2 poses for children and to identifying interventions to improve their short- and long-term health outcomes," said Diana Bianchi, NICHD director and co-chair for CARING for Children with COVID.

The UK government's Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) - or furlough scheme - will be extended until the end of September, the British Treasury announced Tuesday, providing support for millions of workers across the country during the pandemic.

"Our Covid support schemes have been a lifeline to millions, protecting jobs and incomes across the UK," Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said in a statement.

"There's now light at the end of the tunnel with a roadmap for reopening, so it's only right that we continue to help business and individuals through the challenging months ahead - and beyond," he added.

The chancellor is expected to outline further details around the extension of the furlough scheme on Wednesday, and is set to announce further benefits for self-employed workers.

According to the Treasury, employees will continue to receive 80% of their salary for hours not worked until the scheme ends.

"As restrictions are eased and the economy begins to reopen, businesses will be asked to contribute alongside the taxpayer to the cost of paying their employees for hours not worked," the Treasury said in a statement.

"The government will ask for a small contribution of just 10% in July and 20% in August and September towards the hours their staff do not work," the statement added.

CVS will begin administering Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccines this week, CVS Health spokesperson Ethan Slavin tells CNN.

"We'll receive more than 200,000 Johnson & Johnson doses this week, and increase active stores accordingly in the 17 states where we currently offer Covid-19 vaccines," Slavin said.

CVS is offering vaccinations as part of the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program in: California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Louisiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

"However, the Covid-19 vaccines are not interchangeable, and the safety and efficacy of a mixed product series has not been evaluated," she said. "We don't want people to just start mixing and matching with whatever is easiest to get."

"Widespread testing must continue in order to defeat the pandemic," Dr. Greta Massetti, lead for the CDC COVID-19 Emergency Response Community Interventions and Critical Populations Task Force, told CNN. "It will take many months for all Americans to have the opportunity to receive one of the vaccines available. In the meantime, it's essential that people continue to take preventive measures."

"Gov. Abbott needs to quit obeying his political impulses and listen to the health experts, who are warning that it is too soon to let our guard down without risking potentially disastrous consequences," the statement said. "The experts caution us to continue the safety practices that have worked against this disease, including widespread mask use and social distancing."

"Due to the increase in complaints, reduction in inspections, and most inspections not being conducted onsite, there is an increased risk that OSHA has not been providing the level of protection that workers need at various job sites," the report noted.

"I'm really hoping that the businesses and the community and people in Texas, the mayors, the counties will rethink this. I hope the governor rethinks this," Slavitt added. "Hopefully states will stick with this until such a time as we get through all the vaccinations and see the other side of this."

"Based on our current data, most children with SARS-CoV-2 infection do not develop serious illness," the NIH said in a statement on Tuesday. "However, those who do go on to develop MIS-C can experience prolonged fever and severe abdominal pain that may progress to shock. Although most children with MIS-C survive, its cause and long-term effects remain largely unknown."

"There's now light at the end of the tunnel with a roadmap for reopening, so it's only right that we continue to help business and individuals through the challenging months ahead - and beyond," he added.

"As restrictions are eased and the economy begins to reopen, businesses will be asked to contribute alongside the taxpayer to the cost of paying their employees for hours not worked," the Treasury said in a statement.

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By Jessie Yeung, Brett McKeehan, Rob Picheta, Kareem Khadder and Ed Upright, CNN

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Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine should not replace second dose of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines except in "exceptional situations," says the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Any of the currently authorized Covid-19 vaccines can be used when indicated, ACIP does not see a product preference," said Dr. Sarah Mbaeyi, CDC medical officer Tuesday during the CDC Clinician Outreach and Communication Activity call.

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What you need to know

An FDA advisory committee voted to recommend giving emergency approval for a single-dose coronavirus vaccine, made by Johnson & Johnson.

The US House will vote today on their version of the Covid-19 stimulus bill, a key part of President Biden's agenda to combat the pandemic's economic impacts.

South Korea began its vaccination program and has extended social distancing measures until March 14.

Our live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic has ended for the day.

The Supreme Court on Friday once again sided with houses of worship challenging regulations aimed at stopping the spread of Covid-19 in California.

The court blocked so-called "gathering restrictions" in Santa Clara county that critics said treated churches differently than secular businesses in violation of the First Amendment.

The issue has bitterly divided the court and the three liberal justices, Elena Kagan, Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor noted their dissent in an order issued after hours on Friday.

The court acted despite the fact that the restrictions are scheduled to be lifted next week.

The dispute was brought by several churches in California's Santa Clara County which objected to a ban on all indoor gatherings including political events, weddings, funerals, movie showings and worship services.

Although on Feb. 5, the Supreme Court struck down state regulations that banned indoor worship services, the state allows counties to pass their own more strict rules.

In court papers, lawyers for the Santa Clara churches said the county "did just that."

"The Santa Clara Director of Public Health forced worshipers outdoors in the heat and smoke of the summer and the cold and rain of autumn and winter," Kevin T. Snider, a lawyer for the churches, argued in court papers.

State and local officials got draft plans for how the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will distribute Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine Friday, once it gets emergency use authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration.

They can start ordering vaccines as soon as Sunday, said an official who has seen the plans.

FDA advisers recommended EUA on Friday and the FDA has said it will move ahead quickly with the decision.

On Sunday, the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) will meet to discuss and vote on recommendations for the vaccine. But the CDC is ready to go and has put its plans into Tiberius, the federal government's software platform used for distributing Covid-19 vaccines.

"In anticipation of everything going as planned on Sunday with the ACIP group, allocations have already been put into Tiberius for shipments next week," said Lori Tremmel Freeman, chief executive officer of the National Association of County and City Health Officials.

She said 3.9 million doses will be available for ordering right away. "About 2.8 million will go to state and local jurisdictions; 800,000 to the retail pharmacy program," Freeman told CNN. She added that 70,000 will go to community vaccine centers and 90,000 to the federally qualified health centers. Ordering can begin on Sunday.

"For the initial week of distribution, orders will arrive one to two days after (they are) placed, and orders will be delivered by UPS or FedEx," Freeman said. "The manufacturer information should be live after the EUA release, assuming that gets done tomorrow."

Freeman said the 3.9 million doses from Johnson & Johnson could add at least 25% more Covid-19 vaccination capacity for states - since currently 14.5 million doses are allocated per week to states, tribes, and territories and 3.9 million represents about 26.9% of that.

A leading Brazilian public health institute warned on Friday that intensive care unit bed occupation in the country is at its worst level since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.

A bulletin published Friday by the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), a highly regarded Brazilian research institute for public health, said that data gathered on Feb. 22 showed that ICU bed occupation for adult Covid-19 wards in public hospitals was above 80% in 12 of Brazil's 26 states and in its federal district.

Seventeen state capitals also had high ICU bed usage, such as the Amazonian cities of Porto Velho (100%) and Manaus (94.6%), Fortaleza (94.4%) in the northeast, Goiânia (94.4%) in the central-western region, and the southern city of Florianópolis (96.2%), according to the report.

Brazil has routinely reported more than a thousand daily Covid-19 deaths since late December, including more than 1,500 on Feb. 25.

"The continued high levels of illness, as well as the burden on hospitals, may still be due to exposures that occurred at the end of 2020 and January of 2021, with end-of-year parties, clandestine festivals, and an intensification of travel," the bulletin said.

An estimated 11.4 million workers will lose their unemployment benefits between mid-March and mid-April unless Congress passes its next coronavirus relief package in coming weeks, a recent study by The Century Foundation found.

The House bill would extend two key pandemic unemployment programs through Aug. 29. It would also increase the federal weekly boost to $400, from the current $300, and continue it for the same time period.

It would lengthen the duration of the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program to up to 74 weeks, from 50 weeks, and the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program to 48 weeks, from 24 weeks.

The former provides benefits to freelancers, gig workers, independent contracts and certain people affected by the pandemic, while the latter increases the duration of payments for those in the traditional state unemployment system.

The President's plan had called forcontinuing the benefits through the end of September.

Out-of-work Americans will start running out of Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits in mid-March, when provisions in December's $900 billion relief package begin phasing out.

The $300 enhancement also ends in mid-March.

People should get the Johnson & Johnson vaccine if it is made available to them, several public health experts told Congress Friday.

Vaccine advisers to the US Food and Drug Administration recommended emergency use authorization Friday and top FDA officials said they would move to finalize EUA quickly.

People should not hesitate to get it, Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, told a House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee hearing.

"If had a J&J vaccine available today and a Moderna vaccine available tomorrow, I would be happy to take the J&J today. I don't feel like I would need to wait. They are all terrific vaccines for the things that we care about," Jha said.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine would be the first one-shot Covid-19 vaccine in the US and would be the first coronavirus vaccine approved by the FDA that uses a viral vector, a more common method of vaccine design - something that could help combat vaccine hesitancy, Ann Lewandowski, executive director of Wisconsin Immunization Neighborhood, said.

"There are some acceptability positives with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine," Lewandowski said. "The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines were subject to misinformation campaigns for months before they were released. And the mRNA technology is not well understood. And we were lucky that Johnson and Johnson has not had that same campaign, which means that some people who are distrustful of the Moderna and Pfizer platforms may be more willing to accept the Johnson & Johnson even if it seems like there is lower efficacy with that headline number."

Jha said he hopes having an extra vaccine will help more people be immunized.

"The reason I am so optimistic that we're going to get to very high levels of vaccination as we get in to May and June is because Johnson & Johnson is going to be on board and we're going to have plenty of Moderna and Pfizer vaccines," he said. "So certainly by mid-summer, everyone in America, and probably earlier than that, who wants a vaccine will be able to get one."

President Biden offered bipartisan praise for the work being done to combat Covid-19 and help Texans recover from last week's winter storm.

"Let me say this. We're not here today as Democrats or Republicans, we're here today as Americans, American leaders with responsibility, all of us here in this parking lot, responsibilities to all the people we serve," he told those gathered at a mass vaccination site in Houston.

Biden pointed to expanding vaccination efforts as another area ripe for bipartisan cooperation, pointing to Republicans Greg Abbott and John Cornyn, whom he met with over the course of the day. "There's nothing partisan about this virus. It's too long we've allowed the virus to divide us. I met today with Gov. Abbott, Sen. Cornyn conservative Republicans, I'm a Democratic president," Biden said. "We disagree on plenty of things -there's nothing wrong with that. But there are plenty of things we can work on together, and one of them is represented right here today, the effort to speed up vaccinations."

On the news that the US Food and Drug Administration's advisory committee voted today to recommend the agency grant emergency use authorization to Johnson & Johnson's coronavirus vaccine, Biden said, "We're going to use every conceivable way to expand manufacturing of the vaccine, the third vaccine, to make even more rapid progress and getting shots in people's arms."

Still, Biden warned that despite promising data, "cases and hospitalizations could go back up with new as new variants emerge, and it is not the time to relax."

"We have to keep washing our hands, stay socially distanced, and for God's sake, where your mass, wear your mask. It's not a political statement, it's a patriotic thing to do," Biden said, adding "the worst thing we could do now would we let our guard down."

Vaccine advisers to the US Food and Drug Administration said Friday it was easy to vote in favor of Johnson & Johnson's coronavirus vaccine.

The 22 members of the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee voted unanimously Friday to recommend emergency use authorization of the vaccine, made by Johnson & Johnson's vaccine arm Janssen.

"I think it's a relatively easy call. It clearly gets way over the bar and it's nice to have a single-dose vaccine," Dr. Eric Rubin, editor in chief of the New England Journal of Medicine and a professor at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, said after the vote.

Several members stressed the urgency of fighting a pandemic that has killed more than half a million Americans.

"We are still in the midst of a deadly pandemic. There is a shortage of vaccines that are currently authorized and I think authorization of this vaccine will help meet the need at this moment," said Dr. Archana Chatterjee, vice president for medical affairs at Rosalind Franklin University in Chicago.

"We're dealing with a pandemic right now," added Dr. Jay Portnoy, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Missouri Kansas City school of medicine. "So there's an urgency to get this done. We're in a race between the virus mutating, new variants coming out that can cause further disease and stopping it," he said.

"We need to get this vaccine out. I do believe the evidence supports its safety and effectiveness."

Vaccine advisers to the US Food and Drug Administration voted Friday to recommend the agency grant emergency use authorization to Johnson & Johnson's coronavirus vaccine.

The FDA's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) voted unanimously to recommend EUA of the vaccine in people 18 and older.

If the FDA acts on the recommendation - and it's expected to do so quickly - the vaccine will become the third authorized for use in the US. It will be the first one-shot vaccine, and one that can be stored in regular refrigerators, making it easier to distribute than the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, which are more delicate and require two doses.

The vaccine, made by Johnson & Johnson's vaccine arm, Janssen, was tested in advanced clinical trials in more than 44,000 people in the US, South Africa and Latin America. Globally, it showed an overall efficacy of 66% in preventing moderate to severe disease. In the US, this efficacy was 72% and it was 85% effective in preventing severe disease. No one who got the vaccine died of Covid-19 during the trial.

What happens next: If the FDA issues an EUA, it could come as soon as Friday night. It's up to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to decide whether the vaccine should actually be given to Americans. The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has scheduled a meeting for Sunday to take up the question. ACIP will vote on Sunday afternoon on whether the CDC should OK the vaccine's distribution and may also designate priority groups.

The CDC director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, will then give the final go-ahead.

The US federal government says it's ready to distribute up to 4 million doses of the vaccine immediately.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted new recommendations Friday on the importance of good ventilation in preventing coronavirus spread in schools and daycares. Its top recommendation: Open a window.

It's the first time the agency has separately emphasized the role ventilation plays in helping or preventing the spread of the virus, which is transmitted in tiny particles called aerosols, as well as via larger articles.

"If safe to do so, open windows and doors," the CDC advises. "Even just cracking open a window or door helps increase outdoor airflow, which helps reduce the potential concentration of virus particles in the air. If it gets too cold or hot, adjust the thermostat. Do not open windows or doors if doing so poses a safety or health risk (such as falling, exposure to extreme temperatures, or triggering asthma symptoms)," it adds.

"Open windows in transportation vehicles. Use exhaust fans in restrooms and kitchens."

Mask use can prevent the virus from getting into the air in the first place, the CDC said on the newly posted web page. But good ventilation is also important.

"Use child-safe fans to increase the effectiveness of open windows. Safely secure fans in a window to blow potentially contaminated air out and pull new air in through other open windows and doors," it adds. "Consider having activities, classes, or lunches outdoors when circumstances allow."

The new guidance also addresses heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. "Set HVAC systems to bring in as much outdoor air as your system will safely allow," it suggests. "Increase the HVAC system's total airflow supply to occupied spaces when you can. More air flow encourages air mixing and ensures any recirculated air passes through the filter more frequently."

Filtration is also important, but filters should not reduce airflow.

What you need to know

An FDA advisory committee voted to recommend giving emergency approval for a single-dose coronavirus vaccine, made by Johnson & Johnson.

The US House will vote today on their version of the Covid-19 stimulus bill, a key part of President Biden's agenda to combat the pandemic's economic impacts.

South Korea began its vaccination program and has extended social distancing measures until March 14.

Our live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic has ended for the day.

The Supreme Court on Friday once again sided with houses of worship challenging regulations aimed at stopping the spread of Covid-19 in California.

The court blocked so-called "gathering restrictions" in Santa Clara county that critics said treated churches differently than secular businesses in violation of the First Amendment.

The issue has bitterly divided the court and the three liberal justices, Elena Kagan, Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor noted their dissent in an order issued after hours on Friday.

The court acted despite the fact that the restrictions are scheduled to be lifted next week.

The dispute was brought by several churches in California's Santa Clara County which objected to a ban on all indoor gatherings including political events, weddings, funerals, movie showings and worship services.

Although on Feb. 5, the Supreme Court struck down state regulations that banned indoor worship services, the state allows counties to pass their own more strict rules.

In court papers, lawyers for the Santa Clara churches said the county "did just that."

"The Santa Clara Director of Public Health forced worshipers outdoors in the heat and smoke of the summer and the cold and rain of autumn and winter," Kevin T. Snider, a lawyer for the churches, argued in court papers.

State and local officials got draft plans for how the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will distribute Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine Friday, once it gets emergency use authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration.

They can start ordering vaccines as soon as Sunday, said an official who has seen the plans.

FDA advisers recommended EUA on Friday and the FDA has said it will move ahead quickly with the decision.

On Sunday, the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) will meet to discuss and vote on recommendations for the vaccine. But the CDC is ready to go and has put its plans into Tiberius, the federal government's software platform used for distributing Covid-19 vaccines.

"In anticipation of everything going as planned on Sunday with the ACIP group, allocations have already been put into Tiberius for shipments next week," said Lori Tremmel Freeman, chief executive officer of the National Association of County and City Health Officials.

She said 3.9 million doses will be available for ordering right away. "About 2.8 million will go to state and local jurisdictions; 800,000 to the retail pharmacy program," Freeman told CNN. She added that 70,000 will go to community vaccine centers and 90,000 to the federally qualified health centers. Ordering can begin on Sunday.

"For the initial week of distribution, orders will arrive one to two days after (they are) placed, and orders will be delivered by UPS or FedEx," Freeman said. "The manufacturer information should be live after the EUA release, assuming that gets done tomorrow."

Freeman said the 3.9 million doses from Johnson & Johnson could add at least 25% more Covid-19 vaccination capacity for states - since currently 14.5 million doses are allocated per week to states, tribes, and territories and 3.9 million represents about 26.9% of that.

A leading Brazilian public health institute warned on Friday that intensive care unit bed occupation in the country is at its worst level since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.

A bulletin published Friday by the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), a highly regarded Brazilian research institute for public health, said that data gathered on Feb. 22 showed that ICU bed occupation for adult Covid-19 wards in public hospitals was above 80% in 12 of Brazil's 26 states and in its federal district.

Seventeen state capitals also had high ICU bed usage, such as the Amazonian cities of Porto Velho (100%) and Manaus (94.6%), Fortaleza (94.4%) in the northeast, Goiânia (94.4%) in the central-western region, and the southern city of Florianópolis (96.2%), according to the report.

Brazil has routinely reported more than a thousand daily Covid-19 deaths since late December, including more than 1,500 on Feb. 25.

"The continued high levels of illness, as well as the burden on hospitals, may still be due to exposures that occurred at the end of 2020 and January of 2021, with end-of-year parties, clandestine festivals, and an intensification of travel," the bulletin said.

An estimated 11.4 million workers will lose their unemployment benefits between mid-March and mid-April unless Congress passes its next coronavirus relief package in coming weeks, a recent study by The Century Foundation found.

The House bill would extend two key pandemic unemployment programs through Aug. 29. It would also increase the federal weekly boost to $400, from the current $300, and continue it for the same time period.

It would lengthen the duration of the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program to up to 74 weeks, from 50 weeks, and the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program to 48 weeks, from 24 weeks.

The former provides benefits to freelancers, gig workers, independent contracts and certain people affected by the pandemic, while the latter increases the duration of payments for those in the traditional state unemployment system.

The President's plan had called forcontinuing the benefits through the end of September.

Out-of-work Americans will start running out of Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits in mid-March, when provisions in December's $900 billion relief package begin phasing out.

The $300 enhancement also ends in mid-March.

People should get the Johnson & Johnson vaccine if it is made available to them, several public health experts told Congress Friday.

Vaccine advisers to the US Food and Drug Administration recommended emergency use authorization Friday and top FDA officials said they would move to finalize EUA quickly.

People should not hesitate to get it, Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, told a House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee hearing.

"If had a J&J vaccine available today and a Moderna vaccine available tomorrow, I would be happy to take the J&J today. I don't feel like I would need to wait. They are all terrific vaccines for the things that we care about," Jha said.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine would be the first one-shot Covid-19 vaccine in the US and would be the first coronavirus vaccine approved by the FDA that uses a viral vector, a more common method of vaccine design - something that could help combat vaccine hesitancy, Ann Lewandowski, executive director of Wisconsin Immunization Neighborhood, said.

"There are some acceptability positives with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine," Lewandowski said. "The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines were subject to misinformation campaigns for months before they were released. And the mRNA technology is not well understood. And we were lucky that Johnson and Johnson has not had that same campaign, which means that some people who are distrustful of the Moderna and Pfizer platforms may be more willing to accept the Johnson & Johnson even if it seems like there is lower efficacy with that headline number."

Jha said he hopes having an extra vaccine will help more people be immunized.

"The reason I am so optimistic that we're going to get to very high levels of vaccination as we get in to May and June is because Johnson & Johnson is going to be on board and we're going to have plenty of Moderna and Pfizer vaccines," he said. "So certainly by mid-summer, everyone in America, and probably earlier than that, who wants a vaccine will be able to get one."

President Biden offered bipartisan praise for the work being done to combat Covid-19 and help Texans recover from last week's winter storm.

"Let me say this. We're not here today as Democrats or Republicans, we're here today as Americans, American leaders with responsibility, all of us here in this parking lot, responsibilities to all the people we serve," he told those gathered at a mass vaccination site in Houston.

Biden pointed to expanding vaccination efforts as another area ripe for bipartisan cooperation, pointing to Republicans Greg Abbott and John Cornyn, whom he met with over the course of the day. "There's nothing partisan about this virus. It's too long we've allowed the virus to divide us. I met today with Gov. Abbott, Sen. Cornyn conservative Republicans, I'm a Democratic president," Biden said. "We disagree on plenty of things -there's nothing wrong with that. But there are plenty of things we can work on together, and one of them is represented right here today, the effort to speed up vaccinations."

On the news that the US Food and Drug Administration's advisory committee voted today to recommend the agency grant emergency use authorization to Johnson & Johnson's coronavirus vaccine, Biden said, "We're going to use every conceivable way to expand manufacturing of the vaccine, the third vaccine, to make even more rapid progress and getting shots in people's arms."

Still, Biden warned that despite promising data, "cases and hospitalizations could go back up with new as new variants emerge, and it is not the time to relax."

"We have to keep washing our hands, stay socially distanced, and for God's sake, where your mass, wear your mask. It's not a political statement, it's a patriotic thing to do," Biden said, adding "the worst thing we could do now would we let our guard down."

Vaccine advisers to the US Food and Drug Administration said Friday it was easy to vote in favor of Johnson & Johnson's coronavirus vaccine.

The 22 members of the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee voted unanimously Friday to recommend emergency use authorization of the vaccine, made by Johnson & Johnson's vaccine arm Janssen.

"I think it's a relatively easy call. It clearly gets way over the bar and it's nice to have a single-dose vaccine," Dr. Eric Rubin, editor in chief of the New England Journal of Medicine and a professor at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, said after the vote.

Several members stressed the urgency of fighting a pandemic that has killed more than half a million Americans.

"We are still in the midst of a deadly pandemic. There is a shortage of vaccines that are currently authorized and I think authorization of this vaccine will help meet the need at this moment," said Dr. Archana Chatterjee, vice president for medical affairs at Rosalind Franklin University in Chicago.

"We're dealing with a pandemic right now," added Dr. Jay Portnoy, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Missouri Kansas City school of medicine. "So there's an urgency to get this done. We're in a race between the virus mutating, new variants coming out that can cause further disease and stopping it," he said.

"We need to get this vaccine out. I do believe the evidence supports its safety and effectiveness."

Vaccine advisers to the US Food and Drug Administration voted Friday to recommend the agency grant emergency use authorization to Johnson & Johnson's coronavirus vaccine.

The FDA's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) voted unanimously to recommend EUA of the vaccine in people 18 and older.

If the FDA acts on the recommendation - and it's expected to do so quickly - the vaccine will become the third authorized for use in the US. It will be the first one-shot vaccine, and one that can be stored in regular refrigerators, making it easier to distribute than the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, which are more delicate and require two doses.

The vaccine, made by Johnson & Johnson's vaccine arm, Janssen, was tested in advanced clinical trials in more than 44,000 people in the US, South Africa and Latin America. Globally, it showed an overall efficacy of 66% in preventing moderate to severe disease. In the US, this efficacy was 72% and it was 85% effective in preventing severe disease. No one who got the vaccine died of Covid-19 during the trial.

What happens next: If the FDA issues an EUA, it could come as soon as Friday night. It's up to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to decide whether the vaccine should actually be given to Americans. The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has scheduled a meeting for Sunday to take up the question. ACIP will vote on Sunday afternoon on whether the CDC should OK the vaccine's distribution and may also designate priority groups.

The CDC director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, will then give the final go-ahead.

The US federal government says it's ready to distribute up to 4 million doses of the vaccine immediately.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted new recommendations Friday on the importance of good ventilation in preventing coronavirus spread in schools and daycares. Its top recommendation: Open a window.

It's the first time the agency has separately emphasized the role ventilation plays in helping or preventing the spread of the virus, which is transmitted in tiny particles called aerosols, as well as via larger articles.

"If safe to do so, open windows and doors," the CDC advises. "Even just cracking open a window or door helps increase outdoor airflow, which helps reduce the potential concentration of virus particles in the air. If it gets too cold or hot, adjust the thermostat. Do not open windows or doors if doing so poses a safety or health risk (such as falling, exposure to extreme temperatures, or triggering asthma symptoms)," it adds.

"Open windows in transportation vehicles. Use exhaust fans in restrooms and kitchens."

Mask use can prevent the virus from getting into the air in the first place, the CDC said on the newly posted web page. But good ventilation is also important.

"Use child-safe fans to increase the effectiveness of open windows. Safely secure fans in a window to blow potentially contaminated air out and pull new air in through other open windows and doors," it adds. "Consider having activities, classes, or lunches outdoors when circumstances allow."

The new guidance also addresses heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. "Set HVAC systems to bring in as much outdoor air as your system will safely allow," it suggests. "Increase the HVAC system's total airflow supply to occupied spaces when you can. More air flow encourages air mixing and ensures any recirculated air passes through the filter more frequently."

Filtration is also important, but filters should not reduce airflow.

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coronavirus update: latest covid-19 vaccine and world news

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By Ben Westcott, Melissa Macaya, Meg Wagner, Veronica Rocha and Fernando Alfonso, CNN

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Coronavirus update: Latest Covid-19 vaccine and world news

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
What you need to know An FDA advisory committee voted to recommend giving emergency approval for a single-dose coronavirus vaccine, made by Johnson & Johnson. The US House will vote today on their version of the Covid-19 stimulus bill, a key part of President Biden's agenda to combat the pandemic's economic impacts.

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What you need to know

G7 countries pledged $4 billion to global Covid-19 vaccine initiatives as they met virtually today.

More than 1,500 cases of concerning coronavirus variants have been reported in the US, the CDC says.

A study finds pregnant women are at a 70% higher risk for Covid-19 infection, suggesting that pregnant people should be broadly prioritized for vaccination.

The rollout of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be slower than US federal health officials initially anticipated, CNN has learned.

Our live coverage has ended. Follow the latest on the coronavirus pandemic .

FedEx will make deliveries tomorrow to sites that are open and able to receive vaccine shipments, the company said in a statement.

The company said it will deliver vaccines to areas not impacted by the winter storm.

"We continue to work closely with our healthcare customers and the federal government to safely and swiftly deliver COVID-19 vaccines throughout the U.S.," FedEx said in a statement.

Some background: The frigid temperatures, snow and ice that have devastated parts of the country are having an impact on Covid-19 vaccinations, delaying deliveries and appointments for shots.

To get back on track, Andy Slavitt, the White House senior adviser for Covid response, told CNN's Chris Cuomo officials are going to to have to extend appointment and shipping hours.
CNN's Christina Maxouris contributed to this report.

The Biden administration will work to communicate and build trust with many Americans who have legitimate questions about the safety and efficacy of the Covid-19 vaccine, said Andy Slavitt, the senior adviser to the White House Covid-19 response team, today.

"Of course people also have legitimate questions, and it's important that if they have a legitimate question about the vaccine, they not be ostracized as being anti-vax or anything like that," said Slavitt, speaking with CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

"They may just want to have their questions answered," he continued. "So, our job, and you'll see us doing this in a much bigger way, particularly over the course of March when we have many more vaccines, is to have real communications, structured dialogue with people that they trust, straight answers, and make sure that the misinformation, the disinformation, and the rumors don't play in."

More than 59 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in the United States, according to data published Friday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC reported that 59,585,043 total doses have been administered - about 76% of the 78,152,495 doses distributed.

That's 1.8 million more administered doses reported since yesterday.

More than 41.9 million people have now received at least one dose of the vaccine and more than 17 million people have been fully vaccinated, CDC data shows.
Note: Data published by the CDC may be delayed, and doses may not have been given on the day reported.

Pulse oximeters, which have increased in use during the coronavirus pandemic, may yield inaccurate results, the US Food and Drug Administration warned Friday. The agency cited a recent report suggesting the devices may not work as well for people with dark skin pigmentation.

Pulse oximeters, available through a prescription and over the counter, are devices that measure blood oxygen levels. The readings can be useful for assessing lung function when people have pneumonia or other respiratory symptoms.

"While pulse oximeters may be useful for estimating blood oxygen levels, these devices have limitations that can result in inaccurate readings," Dr. William Maisel, director of the Office of Product Evaluation and Quality in the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health, said in a statement.

"Patients with conditions such as COVID-19 should not rely solely on pulse oximeter measurements to monitor their health at home as they are not a substitute for a medical diagnosis by a health care provider," Maisel added.

And they are not precise.

"For example, if an FDA-cleared pulse oximeter reads 90%, then the true oxygen saturation in the blood is generally between 86-94%," the FDA said.

The FDA urged patients to consult with a provider if they are concerned about their symptoms or pulse oximetry readings.

In a recent update, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also warned of the potential limitations of pulse oximeters, noting that providers using pulse oximetry on suspected or confirmed coronavirus patients should also assess other factors, like high-risk conditions and Covid-19 symptoms.

The state of Washington earmarked $2.2 billion for new Covid-19 relief Friday, as Gov. Jay Inslee signed legislation passed earlier this month.

"We have saved thousands of lives in Washington state, and I'm hoping this now helps thousands of businesses," Inslee said in a news conference.

The new law sets aside $240 million for business assistance grants, but most of the money will go to additional help for public schools. Additionally, $618 million in additional funding will go toward public health programs, including testing, contact tracing and vaccinations. All of the money comes from federal Covid-19 relief to Washington. Inslee signed a separate bill making Covid-19 grants exempt from state sales tax.

The new funding comes as the head of the health department in Seattle and King County, Dr. Jeffrey Duchin, said they are seeing case counts continue to fall, but he still has concern about variants of Covid-19 that are spreading.

"I have even more respect for the new variant with respect to the threat that it poses," Duchin said. "If we become complacent, we will regret it."

Vaccine maker Pfizer is adding a facility in Kansas to its Covid-19 fill-finish vaccine production process and expanding its vaccine production capabilities at locations in Michigan and Connecticut, the company's CEO, Albert Bourla, said during a news conference Friday.

"As part of this expansion, we are adding a new formulation suite here in Kalamazoo...lipid production capabilities in both Kalamazoo and at our site in Groton Connecticut, and fill-finish lines at our site in McPherson, Kansas," Bourla said.

The news conference was held jointly with President Biden after he had toured the Kalamazoo site.

Bourla added the company is also increasing the supply of raw materials from existing suppliers and bringing on new suppliers.

He added that improvements have allowed the company to increase production.

"We have improved our processes to double the batch size and increase yield, and we have deployed more efficient lab test methods to reduce release times," Bourla said.

Bourla said that these improvements have allowed the company to reduce their timelines "from approximately 110 days from start to vial ready" and are now closer to "an average of 60 days, which is an almost 50% improvement."

Over the next few weeks, Bourla expects to increase the number of doses produced for the US, "from an average of 5 million doses per week, which is the average until now, to more than double of that number, starting from the next couple of weeks."

CNN previously reported at the beginning of February that upgrades to Pfizer's production process helped the vaccine maker double its output of coronavirus vaccine in the last month. At the time, Pfizer spokesperson Amy Rose told CNN that Pfizer expected production time to be cut nearly in half, from 110 days to an average of 60 days for one batch of Covid-19 vaccine. Pfizer said one batch is equal to between 1 to 3 million doses.

Because coronaviruses like Covid-19 have pandemic potential, the world needs a universal coronavirus vaccine, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Friday.

"I believe that we have the capability scientifically to develop what we call the universal coronavirus vaccine," Fauci said in an interview hosted by Georgetown University. "In other words, one that really covers at least all of the SARS-CoV-2 mutations, but also the entire spectrum of the family of coronaviruses."

A relative of the virus causing Covid-19, called SARS, broke out in 2003-2004, killing close to 800 people before it was stopped. A related virus called Middle East Respiratory Syndrome or MERS also occasionally kills people, and several other coronaviruses cause common cold symptoms.

"Fifteen to 30% of all the common colds that you and I experience every winter, repetitively, are coronaviruses - usually four of them," Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, explained.

Fauci said it's likely that these coronaviruses hit human civilization as a big pandemic hundreds of years ago, eventually becoming the common cold viruses we are familiar with today.

"We got hit with three in 18 years that have been either pandemic or pandemic potential, so shame on us if we don't develop the universal coronavirus vaccine," Fauci said.

Irish health authorities have reported three cases of the Covid-19 variant first identified in Brazil, the Irish National Public Health Emergency Team said in a statement on Friday.

"All of the cases identified are directly associated with recent travel from Brazil," the statement read. "All cases are being followed up by public health teams and enhanced public health measures have been put in place, in line with guidance."

"Detection of this variant in Ireland does not change the fact that our best defence against all forms of COVID-19 is to stick with the public health measures that have proved to be effective in reducing incidence of disease in our communities," the Irish deputy chief medical officer, Dr. Ronan Glynn, said in the statement. "We must continue to wash our hands well and often, wear a mask, cough and sneeze into our elbows, keep two metres social distance from others and avoid crowds, and always remember that it is imperative to phone your GP at the very first sign of COVID-19 symptoms."

Microsoft founder Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, called for investments in pandemic response and preparedness Friday.

"It is a tragedy that the modest steps that would have been required to contain this epidemic weren't taken in advance," Gates said at the Munich Security Conference. "Given the trillions of dollars of damage and the other deficits that are tough to measure, we should make the investment, the small number of billions that we need to ensure ourselves that this never happens again."

He added that the investments would allow experts to work towards ambitious goals, like creating universal coronavirus and flu vaccines, drugs that block virus transmission and diagnostics that could cover 20% of the population per week at a low cost.

"We can create mRNA vaccine factories that have a lot of capacity globally, and those factories can be used for standard vaccines when there's not a pandemic," Gates said.

"If we have a team of 3,000 global experts, they can be working on things like measles and malaria, and then move over to work on a pandemic," he added.

He also called for cooperative action to help shrink the disparities in Covid-19 vaccine access between rich and less wealthy nations.

"As the rich countries get on high levels of vaccination, their factories can contribute," Gates said. "If we do this well, we'll have about a six to eight-month delta of the vaccination levels of the rich to the developing countries - still longer than we'd like."

"The good news is, is that a single miraculous tool, the vaccine - once we make billions of them for the entire world - will largely end this crisis," he added.

What you need to know

G7 countries pledged $4 billion to global Covid-19 vaccine initiatives as they met virtually today.

More than 1,500 cases of concerning coronavirus variants have been reported in the US, the CDC says.

A study finds pregnant women are at a 70% higher risk for Covid-19 infection, suggesting that pregnant people should be broadly prioritized for vaccination.

The rollout of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be slower than US federal health officials initially anticipated, CNN has learned.

Our live coverage has ended. Follow the latest on the coronavirus pandemic .

FedEx will make deliveries tomorrow to sites that are open and able to receive vaccine shipments, the company said in a statement.

The company said it will deliver vaccines to areas not impacted by the winter storm.

"We continue to work closely with our healthcare customers and the federal government to safely and swiftly deliver COVID-19 vaccines throughout the U.S.," FedEx said in a statement.

Some background: The frigid temperatures, snow and ice that have devastated parts of the country are having an impact on Covid-19 vaccinations, delaying deliveries and appointments for shots.

To get back on track, Andy Slavitt, the White House senior adviser for Covid response, told CNN's Chris Cuomo officials are going to to have to extend appointment and shipping hours.
CNN's Christina Maxouris contributed to this report.

The Biden administration will work to communicate and build trust with many Americans who have legitimate questions about the safety and efficacy of the Covid-19 vaccine, said Andy Slavitt, the senior adviser to the White House Covid-19 response team, today.

"Of course people also have legitimate questions, and it's important that if they have a legitimate question about the vaccine, they not be ostracized as being anti-vax or anything like that," said Slavitt, speaking with CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

"They may just want to have their questions answered," he continued. "So, our job, and you'll see us doing this in a much bigger way, particularly over the course of March when we have many more vaccines, is to have real communications, structured dialogue with people that they trust, straight answers, and make sure that the misinformation, the disinformation, and the rumors don't play in."

More than 59 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in the United States, according to data published Friday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC reported that 59,585,043 total doses have been administered - about 76% of the 78,152,495 doses distributed.

That's 1.8 million more administered doses reported since yesterday.

More than 41.9 million people have now received at least one dose of the vaccine and more than 17 million people have been fully vaccinated, CDC data shows.
Note: Data published by the CDC may be delayed, and doses may not have been given on the day reported.

Pulse oximeters, which have increased in use during the coronavirus pandemic, may yield inaccurate results, the US Food and Drug Administration warned Friday. The agency cited a recent report suggesting the devices may not work as well for people with dark skin pigmentation.

Pulse oximeters, available through a prescription and over the counter, are devices that measure blood oxygen levels. The readings can be useful for assessing lung function when people have pneumonia or other respiratory symptoms.

"While pulse oximeters may be useful for estimating blood oxygen levels, these devices have limitations that can result in inaccurate readings," Dr. William Maisel, director of the Office of Product Evaluation and Quality in the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health, said in a statement.

"Patients with conditions such as COVID-19 should not rely solely on pulse oximeter measurements to monitor their health at home as they are not a substitute for a medical diagnosis by a health care provider," Maisel added.

And they are not precise.

"For example, if an FDA-cleared pulse oximeter reads 90%, then the true oxygen saturation in the blood is generally between 86-94%," the FDA said.

The FDA urged patients to consult with a provider if they are concerned about their symptoms or pulse oximetry readings.

In a recent update, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also warned of the potential limitations of pulse oximeters, noting that providers using pulse oximetry on suspected or confirmed coronavirus patients should also assess other factors, like high-risk conditions and Covid-19 symptoms.

The state of Washington earmarked $2.2 billion for new Covid-19 relief Friday, as Gov. Jay Inslee signed legislation passed earlier this month.

"We have saved thousands of lives in Washington state, and I'm hoping this now helps thousands of businesses," Inslee said in a news conference.

The new law sets aside $240 million for business assistance grants, but most of the money will go to additional help for public schools. Additionally, $618 million in additional funding will go toward public health programs, including testing, contact tracing and vaccinations. All of the money comes from federal Covid-19 relief to Washington. Inslee signed a separate bill making Covid-19 grants exempt from state sales tax.

The new funding comes as the head of the health department in Seattle and King County, Dr. Jeffrey Duchin, said they are seeing case counts continue to fall, but he still has concern about variants of Covid-19 that are spreading.

"I have even more respect for the new variant with respect to the threat that it poses," Duchin said. "If we become complacent, we will regret it."

Vaccine maker Pfizer is adding a facility in Kansas to its Covid-19 fill-finish vaccine production process and expanding its vaccine production capabilities at locations in Michigan and Connecticut, the company's CEO, Albert Bourla, said during a news conference Friday.

"As part of this expansion, we are adding a new formulation suite here in Kalamazoo...lipid production capabilities in both Kalamazoo and at our site in Groton Connecticut, and fill-finish lines at our site in McPherson, Kansas," Bourla said.

The news conference was held jointly with President Biden after he had toured the Kalamazoo site.

Bourla added the company is also increasing the supply of raw materials from existing suppliers and bringing on new suppliers.

He added that improvements have allowed the company to increase production.

"We have improved our processes to double the batch size and increase yield, and we have deployed more efficient lab test methods to reduce release times," Bourla said.

Bourla said that these improvements have allowed the company to reduce their timelines "from approximately 110 days from start to vial ready" and are now closer to "an average of 60 days, which is an almost 50% improvement."

Over the next few weeks, Bourla expects to increase the number of doses produced for the US, "from an average of 5 million doses per week, which is the average until now, to more than double of that number, starting from the next couple of weeks."

CNN previously reported at the beginning of February that upgrades to Pfizer's production process helped the vaccine maker double its output of coronavirus vaccine in the last month. At the time, Pfizer spokesperson Amy Rose told CNN that Pfizer expected production time to be cut nearly in half, from 110 days to an average of 60 days for one batch of Covid-19 vaccine. Pfizer said one batch is equal to between 1 to 3 million doses.

Because coronaviruses like Covid-19 have pandemic potential, the world needs a universal coronavirus vaccine, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Friday.

"I believe that we have the capability scientifically to develop what we call the universal coronavirus vaccine," Fauci said in an interview hosted by Georgetown University. "In other words, one that really covers at least all of the SARS-CoV-2 mutations, but also the entire spectrum of the family of coronaviruses."

A relative of the virus causing Covid-19, called SARS, broke out in 2003-2004, killing close to 800 people before it was stopped. A related virus called Middle East Respiratory Syndrome or MERS also occasionally kills people, and several other coronaviruses cause common cold symptoms.

"Fifteen to 30% of all the common colds that you and I experience every winter, repetitively, are coronaviruses - usually four of them," Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, explained.

Fauci said it's likely that these coronaviruses hit human civilization as a big pandemic hundreds of years ago, eventually becoming the common cold viruses we are familiar with today.

"We got hit with three in 18 years that have been either pandemic or pandemic potential, so shame on us if we don't develop the universal coronavirus vaccine," Fauci said.

Irish health authorities have reported three cases of the Covid-19 variant first identified in Brazil, the Irish National Public Health Emergency Team said in a statement on Friday.

"All of the cases identified are directly associated with recent travel from Brazil," the statement read. "All cases are being followed up by public health teams and enhanced public health measures have been put in place, in line with guidance."

"Detection of this variant in Ireland does not change the fact that our best defence against all forms of COVID-19 is to stick with the public health measures that have proved to be effective in reducing incidence of disease in our communities," the Irish deputy chief medical officer, Dr. Ronan Glynn, said in the statement. "We must continue to wash our hands well and often, wear a mask, cough and sneeze into our elbows, keep two metres social distance from others and avoid crowds, and always remember that it is imperative to phone your GP at the very first sign of COVID-19 symptoms."

Microsoft founder Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, called for investments in pandemic response and preparedness Friday.

"It is a tragedy that the modest steps that would have been required to contain this epidemic weren't taken in advance," Gates said at the Munich Security Conference. "Given the trillions of dollars of damage and the other deficits that are tough to measure, we should make the investment, the small number of billions that we need to ensure ourselves that this never happens again."

He added that the investments would allow experts to work towards ambitious goals, like creating universal coronavirus and flu vaccines, drugs that block virus transmission and diagnostics that could cover 20% of the population per week at a low cost.

"We can create mRNA vaccine factories that have a lot of capacity globally, and those factories can be used for standard vaccines when there's not a pandemic," Gates said.

"If we have a team of 3,000 global experts, they can be working on things like measles and malaria, and then move over to work on a pandemic," he added.

He also called for cooperative action to help shrink the disparities in Covid-19 vaccine access between rich and less wealthy nations.

"As the rich countries get on high levels of vaccination, their factories can contribute," Gates said. "If we do this well, we'll have about a six to eight-month delta of the vaccination levels of the rich to the developing countries - still longer than we'd like."

"The good news is, is that a single miraculous tool, the vaccine - once we make billions of them for the entire world - will largely end this crisis," he added.

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By Sarah Faidell, Brad Lendon, Melissa Macaya and Melissa Mahtani, CNN

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
What you need to know G7 countries pledged $4 billion to global Covid-19 vaccine initiatives as they met virtually today. More than 1,500 cases of concerning coronavirus variants have been reported in the US, the CDC says. A study finds pregnant women are at a 70% higher risk for Covid-19 infection, suggesting that pregnant people should be broadly prioritized for vaccination.

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By Rob Picheta, Tara John, Cristiana Moisescu, Hannah Strange, Brett McKeehan and Brad Lendon, CNN

Updated 12:03 a.m. ET, February 13, 2021

What you need to know

The UK coronavirus variant could "impact the epidemic curve" and lead to more restrictions in Europe if it becomes the dominant strain, a World Health Organization official warned.

The top US infectious diseases expert says the country may be able to vaccinate the majority of Americans by the middle or end of summer.

More US states are loosening Covid-19 restrictions, even as experts warn the country is still not in the clear - especially as variants spread.

Double masking can significantly improve protection against the virus, new CDC data shows.

12:03 a.m. ET, February 13, 2021

Flights to Victoria have been suspended as the Australian state begins a hard five-day lockdown, Premier Daniel Andrews said Saturday.

No flights will be allowed into Victoria until next Thursday, other than those carrying more than 100 passengers who have already commenced travel to the state.

"A lot of people will be hurting today," Andrews said at his daily news briefing, adding "we can't have a situation where in two weeks' time, we look back and wish we had taken these decisions now."

Victoria recorded one additional Covid-19 case Saturday, connected to the recent Holiday Inn cluster. A total of 14 confirmed cases of the UK variant have been linked to the cluster.

The state entered the five-day "circuit breaker" lockdown at 11:59 p.m. local time on February 12.

The US state of California is adding millions of people to its Covid-19 vaccination priority list, including residents "at high risk with developmental and other disabilities" and those with "serious underlying health conditions."

The plan, outlined by state health officials in a briefing Friday, will begin March 15 and allow cancer patients, pregnant women, and other disabled individuals to join health care workers, seniors, teachers, and farm staff in line for a vaccine. The expansion could add as many as 6 million more Californians to the priority list.

It also broadens the ages from 65 and over to ages 16 to 64 in those categories.

California Health and Human Service Agency Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly told reporters the March 15 start will give officials time to work out details on how to get vaccines to those with various disabilities and could include at-home visits.

Ghaly acknowledged the timing could be optimistic, cautioning "we are still dealing with the scarcity of vaccine. This week the drastic shortfall of vaccines in the state led to the closure of the mass vaccination centers in Los Angeles."

The expanded list of those eligible includes people with cancer, chronic kidney disease, oxygen-dependent heart disease, Down Syndrome, immune-suppressed organ transplant recipients, pregnant women, people with sickle cell disease, severe obesity and certain type-2 diabetes.

Ghaly expressed concern about the inequity of distribution among communities of color and low-income areas. There are plans to reach out to community clinics, public health systems and what they're calling "trusted messengers in communities that data shows are reluctant to get vaccinated."

Senior state health officials acknowledged complaints from rural counties that they have not been given their fair share of vaccines. However, officials say these areas have historically been medically underserved and much of the early distribution was in areas with high numbers of medical workers.

Officials say the focus will now be shifting to rural areas in California's agricultural community, which has been disproportionally impacted by the pandemic.

Officials also believe a focus on Californians with development disabilities and severe underlying conditions will allow more vaccinations in vulnerable settings, like jails, homeless shelters and areas where homeless reside.

The state estimates 13 million Californians are eligible for the Covid-19 vaccine, including 3 million health care workers, 3.4 million food and agricultural workers, 1.4 million in the education sector, a million in emergency services and more than 6 million people over the age of 65.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine (R) said during a press conference Friday that the state has learned there are a handful of schools that have indicated they will break the commitment they signed to reopen schools full-time or in a hybrid model by March 1, in return for receiving vaccines for their personnel.

"This is simply not acceptable. This is about the kids... We said to our school districts that we would take some of the precious vaccine allotted to Ohio and vaccinate teachers and other staff as long as they'd be back in school full-time or in a hybrid model no later than March 1," DeWine said.

DeWine warned if schools do not intend to return by March 1, Covid-19 vaccines will need to be reallocated away from their personnel and back to other eligible, vulnerable populations.

The Governor said the issue came to a head today, because the state is in the midst of vaccinating personnel at Cleveland Public Schools, but heard they were not going to return by March 1.

"I expressed to the CEO, I said look, we'll just have to cut off the vaccinations, because that's the deal," DeWine said.

After speaking with the Cleveland Public Schools CEO, the Governor said their CEO has made a commitment to do everything in his power to get children back in class by March 1.

"Frankly, the purpose of this is not to threaten anybody or punish, the purpose is - let's get our kids back to school, let's get this worked out," DeWine said. "We're not forcing anybody to go back into school, but we felt that if we offered this [vaccinations], it might give them more comfort and feel better about going back to school."

DeWine emphasized that there is no requirement that any school in the state go back to in-person learning.

About 99% of children in the US live in a county considered a "red" zone with high levels of Covid-19 transmission under new guidance from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), according to a CNN analysis of federal data.

Nearly 73 million children - about 99% of the US population under the age of 18 - live in a "high transmission" community, defined by the CDC as a county where there were at least 100 new Covid-19 cases per 100,000 people or a test positivity rate of at least 10% during the past seven days.

In these zones, the new CDC guidelines recommend virtual learning for middle and high schools and hybrid learning or reduced attendance for elementary schools.

The CDC also stresses five key mitigation strategies: Requiring masks, physical distancing, hand-washing, maintaining clean facilities and contract tracing.

It also recommends different strategies based on how much transmission there is in the surrounding community, and has a color-coded guide with areas of high transmission colored red; substantial transmission colored orange; moderate transmission coded yellow and low transmission as blue.

The CDC says school districts should re-assess weekly.

If schools in "high transmission" communities cannot "strictly implement all mitigation strategies," the CDC says all extracurricular activities should be virtual.

Fewer than 100,000 children in the US live in a county considered "low" or "moderate transmission" where the CDC recommends K-12 schools open for full in-person instruction. Most of those students live in Hawaii or Washington.

The CNN analysis used the latest federal data on new case rates and test positivity rates, published Thursday by the US Health and Human Services Department, to determine each county's risk threshold according to CDC guidelines.

Population data is from the US Census Bureau's 5-Year American Community Survey 2019 estimates.

The US Department of Education released a handbook with detailed strategies to help schools follow new guidance for reopening from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a top official said Friday.

The CDC issued school opening guidance that stresses mask use; social distancing; handwashing; cleaning facilities and improving ventilation; and contact tracing, isolation and quarantine.

To help schools, the Department of Education issued the first in a series of handbooks, Donna Harris-Aikens, senior adviser for policy and planning for the department, told a CDC news briefing.

"All of our handbooks could supplement the CDC operational strategy with practical examples, and roadmap. We want to give educators and schools the tools they need to implement mitigation strategies to help safely reopen for in-person learning," Harris-Aikens said.

One example: using signs to remind students to wear masks, she added.

There's also guidance on how to keep students physically distanced, Harris-Aikens said.

"For example, the handbook talks through a variety of strategies around podding. Podding can actually reduce the spread of Covid by keeping students together into a pod that stay together all day with a core teacher and aide -- and we acknowledge that this strategy is actually easier in elementary schools than it would be in middle and high school."

"The handbook also discusses ways to get creative about laying out classrooms, and using auditoriums and cafeterias for instruction," she added.

The spread of new variants and a sluggish vaccine rollout has Canadian officials urging caution even as new cases and hospitalizations from COVID-19 drop.

"The new variants that are more communicable, more easily transmitted, are increasingly out there so we need to stay careful," said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during a press conference Friday.

"Nobody wants a third wave to start, particularly not one comprised of new, more communicable variants that can cause real challenges," Trudeau said.

Trudeau also announced details of stepped-up international border restrictions.

International travelers arriving in Canada by air will have to pre-book a government-approved, quarantine hotel, at their own expense, starting February 22nd. There are exemptions for essential travel.

Air passengers will also be tested at airports when they arrive. The quarantine is likely to last about 3 days or until the traveler's COVID-19 test comes back negative. Those who test negative can continue with a 14-day quarantine at home or an appropriate quarantine location.

In addition, before entering Canada either by land or air, travelers will have to show proof of a negative PCR COVID-19 test 72 hours before arriving.

"We're trying to keep people safe and keeping Canadians safe from the viruses and discouraging all nonessential travel and ensuring that if people do have to travel, they're doing the things that we can be certain are going to prevent the virus from spreading," said Trudeau.

There have only been a few hundred cases of the variants identified in Canada so far, most of them the B.1.1.7 variant first identified in the UK.

However, public health officials have been warning that the incidence of variants could double every 10 to 14 days and that means there is a risk of a third wave of the pandemic hitting Canada.

"These past weeks have been very challenging, but we've made great progress and are now almost two-thirds of the way down this curve. But we'll need to keep putting the brakes on the spread of new virus variants of concern in Canada," said Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada's chief public health officer during a COVID-19 update on Friday.

When it comes to the Covid-19 vaccine, about 31% of adults say they plan to "wait and see" how it works for other people before deciding whether to get vaccinated themselves, according to a report released by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) Friday.

Because they are still undecided, KFF says that group is a smart target for vaccine education. To do that, the foundation notes that it's important to understand the group is not a monolith and concerns about getting vaccinated vary.

About half of those in the "wait and see" group are White, 16% are Black and 19% are Hispanic. A majority say they are worried that they or a family member will get sick from coronavirus.

Over half of the "wait and see group" view getting vaccinated as a personal choice and just 40% see vaccination as a responsibility to protect others.

The "wait and see group" are also politically diverse; 42% identify as Democrats or Democratic leaning and 36% identify as Republicans or Republican leaning.

About 67% of "wait and see" Republicans view the decision to get vaccinated as a personal choice, relative to 43% of Democrats. 52% of "wait and see" Democrats believe everyone has a responsibility to protect the health of others while just 29% of "wait and see" Republicans believe the same.

About half of Republicans who want to "want and see" believe the seriousness of the pandemic has been exaggerated

Black and Hispanic adults who plan to "wait and see" are very concerned about the prospect of personally getting sick or having a family member getting sick from coronavirus. However, many are skeptical of the vaccine and the health care system at large.

About 61% of Hispanic adults and 59% of Black adults in the "wait and see" group said they were concerned that they might get coronavirus from the vaccine. About 57% of "wait and see" Black adults expressed distrust in the health care system and KFF noted that the lower levels of trust are associated with lower uptake of the vaccine.

Many who say they plan to "wait and see" said that a close friend or family member getting vaccinated would be most likely to sway their decision.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday released guidelines for reopening schools, including "five key mitigation strategies" for returning to in-person school safely.

Those five key strategies are: the universal and correct wearing of masks; physical distancing; washing hands; cleaning facilities and improving ventilation; and doing contact tracing, isolation and quarantining.

The CDC says vaccination and testing "provide additional layers of COVID-19 prevention in schools," but don't describe them as key strategies.

"With the release of this operational strategy, CDC is not mandating that schools reopen. These recommendations simply provide schools a long-needed roadmap for how to do so safely under different levels of disease in the community," CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in prepared remarks for the agency's news briefing on Friday.

"We also know that some schools are already providing in-person instruction and we want them to be able to continue to do this, but we know that some are not following the mitigation strategies we know work," Walensky said. "For these schools, we are not mandating that they close; rather, we are providing these recommendations and highlighting the science behind them to help schools create an environment that is safe for students, teachers and staff."

Walensky added that while each strategy is important, CDC recommends "prioritizing the first two" -- wearing masks and physical distancing.

"These two strategies are incredibly important in areas that have high community spread of Covid-19, which right now is the vast majority of communities in the US," Walensky said.

What you need to know

The UK coronavirus variant could "impact the epidemic curve" and lead to more restrictions in Europe if it becomes the dominant strain, a World Health Organization official warned.

The top US infectious diseases expert says the country may be able to vaccinate the majority of Americans by the middle or end of summer.

More US states are loosening Covid-19 restrictions, even as experts warn the country is still not in the clear - especially as variants spread.

Double masking can significantly improve protection against the virus, new CDC data shows.

12:03 a.m. ET, February 13, 2021

Flights to Victoria have been suspended as the Australian state begins a hard five-day lockdown, Premier Daniel Andrews said Saturday.

No flights will be allowed into Victoria until next Thursday, other than those carrying more than 100 passengers who have already commenced travel to the state.

"A lot of people will be hurting today," Andrews said at his daily news briefing, adding "we can't have a situation where in two weeks' time, we look back and wish we had taken these decisions now."

Victoria recorded one additional Covid-19 case Saturday, connected to the recent Holiday Inn cluster. A total of 14 confirmed cases of the UK variant have been linked to the cluster.

The state entered the five-day "circuit breaker" lockdown at 11:59 p.m. local time on February 12.

The US state of California is adding millions of people to its Covid-19 vaccination priority list, including residents "at high risk with developmental and other disabilities" and those with "serious underlying health conditions."

The plan, outlined by state health officials in a briefing Friday, will begin March 15 and allow cancer patients, pregnant women, and other disabled individuals to join health care workers, seniors, teachers, and farm staff in line for a vaccine. The expansion could add as many as 6 million more Californians to the priority list.

It also broadens the ages from 65 and over to ages 16 to 64 in those categories.

California Health and Human Service Agency Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly told reporters the March 15 start will give officials time to work out details on how to get vaccines to those with various disabilities and could include at-home visits.

Ghaly acknowledged the timing could be optimistic, cautioning "we are still dealing with the scarcity of vaccine. This week the drastic shortfall of vaccines in the state led to the closure of the mass vaccination centers in Los Angeles."

The expanded list of those eligible includes people with cancer, chronic kidney disease, oxygen-dependent heart disease, Down Syndrome, immune-suppressed organ transplant recipients, pregnant women, people with sickle cell disease, severe obesity and certain type-2 diabetes.

Ghaly expressed concern about the inequity of distribution among communities of color and low-income areas. There are plans to reach out to community clinics, public health systems and what they're calling "trusted messengers in communities that data shows are reluctant to get vaccinated."

Senior state health officials acknowledged complaints from rural counties that they have not been given their fair share of vaccines. However, officials say these areas have historically been medically underserved and much of the early distribution was in areas with high numbers of medical workers.

Officials say the focus will now be shifting to rural areas in California's agricultural community, which has been disproportionally impacted by the pandemic.

Officials also believe a focus on Californians with development disabilities and severe underlying conditions will allow more vaccinations in vulnerable settings, like jails, homeless shelters and areas where homeless reside.

The state estimates 13 million Californians are eligible for the Covid-19 vaccine, including 3 million health care workers, 3.4 million food and agricultural workers, 1.4 million in the education sector, a million in emergency services and more than 6 million people over the age of 65.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine (R) said during a press conference Friday that the state has learned there are a handful of schools that have indicated they will break the commitment they signed to reopen schools full-time or in a hybrid model by March 1, in return for receiving vaccines for their personnel.

"This is simply not acceptable. This is about the kids... We said to our school districts that we would take some of the precious vaccine allotted to Ohio and vaccinate teachers and other staff as long as they'd be back in school full-time or in a hybrid model no later than March 1," DeWine said.

DeWine warned if schools do not intend to return by March 1, Covid-19 vaccines will need to be reallocated away from their personnel and back to other eligible, vulnerable populations.

The Governor said the issue came to a head today, because the state is in the midst of vaccinating personnel at Cleveland Public Schools, but heard they were not going to return by March 1.

"I expressed to the CEO, I said look, we'll just have to cut off the vaccinations, because that's the deal," DeWine said.

After speaking with the Cleveland Public Schools CEO, the Governor said their CEO has made a commitment to do everything in his power to get children back in class by March 1.

"Frankly, the purpose of this is not to threaten anybody or punish, the purpose is - let's get our kids back to school, let's get this worked out," DeWine said. "We're not forcing anybody to go back into school, but we felt that if we offered this [vaccinations], it might give them more comfort and feel better about going back to school."

DeWine emphasized that there is no requirement that any school in the state go back to in-person learning.

About 99% of children in the US live in a county considered a "red" zone with high levels of Covid-19 transmission under new guidance from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), according to a CNN analysis of federal data.

Nearly 73 million children - about 99% of the US population under the age of 18 - live in a "high transmission" community, defined by the CDC as a county where there were at least 100 new Covid-19 cases per 100,000 people or a test positivity rate of at least 10% during the past seven days.

In these zones, the new CDC guidelines recommend virtual learning for middle and high schools and hybrid learning or reduced attendance for elementary schools.

The CDC also stresses five key mitigation strategies: Requiring masks, physical distancing, hand-washing, maintaining clean facilities and contract tracing.

It also recommends different strategies based on how much transmission there is in the surrounding community, and has a color-coded guide with areas of high transmission colored red; substantial transmission colored orange; moderate transmission coded yellow and low transmission as blue.

The CDC says school districts should re-assess weekly.

If schools in "high transmission" communities cannot "strictly implement all mitigation strategies," the CDC says all extracurricular activities should be virtual.

Fewer than 100,000 children in the US live in a county considered "low" or "moderate transmission" where the CDC recommends K-12 schools open for full in-person instruction. Most of those students live in Hawaii or Washington.

The CNN analysis used the latest federal data on new case rates and test positivity rates, published Thursday by the US Health and Human Services Department, to determine each county's risk threshold according to CDC guidelines.

Population data is from the US Census Bureau's 5-Year American Community Survey 2019 estimates.

The US Department of Education released a handbook with detailed strategies to help schools follow new guidance for reopening from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a top official said Friday.

The CDC issued school opening guidance that stresses mask use; social distancing; handwashing; cleaning facilities and improving ventilation; and contact tracing, isolation and quarantine.

To help schools, the Department of Education issued the first in a series of handbooks, Donna Harris-Aikens, senior adviser for policy and planning for the department, told a CDC news briefing.

"All of our handbooks could supplement the CDC operational strategy with practical examples, and roadmap. We want to give educators and schools the tools they need to implement mitigation strategies to help safely reopen for in-person learning," Harris-Aikens said.

One example: using signs to remind students to wear masks, she added.

There's also guidance on how to keep students physically distanced, Harris-Aikens said.

"For example, the handbook talks through a variety of strategies around podding. Podding can actually reduce the spread of Covid by keeping students together into a pod that stay together all day with a core teacher and aide -- and we acknowledge that this strategy is actually easier in elementary schools than it would be in middle and high school."

"The handbook also discusses ways to get creative about laying out classrooms, and using auditoriums and cafeterias for instruction," she added.

The spread of new variants and a sluggish vaccine rollout has Canadian officials urging caution even as new cases and hospitalizations from COVID-19 drop.

"The new variants that are more communicable, more easily transmitted, are increasingly out there so we need to stay careful," said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during a press conference Friday.

"Nobody wants a third wave to start, particularly not one comprised of new, more communicable variants that can cause real challenges," Trudeau said.

Trudeau also announced details of stepped-up international border restrictions.

International travelers arriving in Canada by air will have to pre-book a government-approved, quarantine hotel, at their own expense, starting February 22nd. There are exemptions for essential travel.

Air passengers will also be tested at airports when they arrive. The quarantine is likely to last about 3 days or until the traveler's COVID-19 test comes back negative. Those who test negative can continue with a 14-day quarantine at home or an appropriate quarantine location.

In addition, before entering Canada either by land or air, travelers will have to show proof of a negative PCR COVID-19 test 72 hours before arriving.

"We're trying to keep people safe and keeping Canadians safe from the viruses and discouraging all nonessential travel and ensuring that if people do have to travel, they're doing the things that we can be certain are going to prevent the virus from spreading," said Trudeau.

There have only been a few hundred cases of the variants identified in Canada so far, most of them the B.1.1.7 variant first identified in the UK.

However, public health officials have been warning that the incidence of variants could double every 10 to 14 days and that means there is a risk of a third wave of the pandemic hitting Canada.

"These past weeks have been very challenging, but we've made great progress and are now almost two-thirds of the way down this curve. But we'll need to keep putting the brakes on the spread of new virus variants of concern in Canada," said Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada's chief public health officer during a COVID-19 update on Friday.

When it comes to the Covid-19 vaccine, about 31% of adults say they plan to "wait and see" how it works for other people before deciding whether to get vaccinated themselves, according to a report released by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) Friday.

Because they are still undecided, KFF says that group is a smart target for vaccine education. To do that, the foundation notes that it's important to understand the group is not a monolith and concerns about getting vaccinated vary.

About half of those in the "wait and see" group are White, 16% are Black and 19% are Hispanic. A majority say they are worried that they or a family member will get sick from coronavirus.

Over half of the "wait and see group" view getting vaccinated as a personal choice and just 40% see vaccination as a responsibility to protect others.

The "wait and see group" are also politically diverse; 42% identify as Democrats or Democratic leaning and 36% identify as Republicans or Republican leaning.

About 67% of "wait and see" Republicans view the decision to get vaccinated as a personal choice, relative to 43% of Democrats. 52% of "wait and see" Democrats believe everyone has a responsibility to protect the health of others while just 29% of "wait and see" Republicans believe the same.

About half of Republicans who want to "want and see" believe the seriousness of the pandemic has been exaggerated

Black and Hispanic adults who plan to "wait and see" are very concerned about the prospect of personally getting sick or having a family member getting sick from coronavirus. However, many are skeptical of the vaccine and the health care system at large.

About 61% of Hispanic adults and 59% of Black adults in the "wait and see" group said they were concerned that they might get coronavirus from the vaccine. About 57% of "wait and see" Black adults expressed distrust in the health care system and KFF noted that the lower levels of trust are associated with lower uptake of the vaccine.

Many who say they plan to "wait and see" said that a close friend or family member getting vaccinated would be most likely to sway their decision.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday released guidelines for reopening schools, including "five key mitigation strategies" for returning to in-person school safely.

Those five key strategies are: the universal and correct wearing of masks; physical distancing; washing hands; cleaning facilities and improving ventilation; and doing contact tracing, isolation and quarantining.

The CDC says vaccination and testing "provide additional layers of COVID-19 prevention in schools," but don't describe them as key strategies.

"With the release of this operational strategy, CDC is not mandating that schools reopen. These recommendations simply provide schools a long-needed roadmap for how to do so safely under different levels of disease in the community," CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in prepared remarks for the agency's news briefing on Friday.

"We also know that some schools are already providing in-person instruction and we want them to be able to continue to do this, but we know that some are not following the mitigation strategies we know work," Walensky said. "For these schools, we are not mandating that they close; rather, we are providing these recommendations and highlighting the science behind them to help schools create an environment that is safe for students, teachers and staff."

Walensky added that while each strategy is important, CDC recommends "prioritizing the first two" -- wearing masks and physical distancing.

"These two strategies are incredibly important in areas that have high community spread of Covid-19, which right now is the vast majority of communities in the US," Walensky said.

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By Rob Picheta, Tara John, Cristiana Moisescu, Hannah Strange, Brett McKeehan and Brad Lendon, CNN

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By Rob Picheta, Tara John, Cristiana Moisescu, Hannah Strange, Brett McKeehan and Brad Lendon, CNN Updated 12:03 a.m. ET, February 13, 2021 What you need to know The UK coronavirus variant could "impact the epidemic curve" and lead to more restrictions in Europe if it becomes the dominant strain, a World Health Organization official warned.

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Updated 6:29 a.m. ET, February 10, 2021

The US Food and Drug Administration has granted emergency use authorization to a new version of Eli Lilly and Co's antibody treatment for coronavirus that adds a second monoclonal antibody to one already authorized, the company said Tuesday.

The new treatment adds etesevimab or LY-CoV016 to the already authorized bamlanivimab or LY-CoV555 to make a double-antibody version - one that might be more protective, the company says. Rival Regeneron has a dual antibody-cocktail on the market already.

Monoclonal antibodies are lab-engineered versions of highly targeted human antibodies chosen for their specific ability to neutralize, in this case, coronavirus.

"Bamlanivimab and etesevimab, administered together, are authorized for emergency use for the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 in adults and pediatric patients (12 years of age and older weighing at least 40 kg) with positive results of direct SARS-CoV-2 viral testing, and who are at high risk for progressing to severe COVID-19 and/or hospitalization," the FDA said in a statement.

Some experiments had indicated that variants of the coronavirus that have developed mutations could evade the effects of Lilly's single antibody.

"The EUA is based on Phase 3 data from the BLAZE-1 trial, announced January 26, 2021, which demonstrated bamlanivimab and etesevimab together reduced the risk of COVID-19 hospitalizations and death by 70 percent. These data replicate earlier results, published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, in a much larger group of patients," Lilly said in a statement.

"Additionally, the outcomes seen with bamlanivimab and etesevimab together are consistent with the reduction in risk of hospitalization or ER visits seen with bamlanivimab alone. The most common adverse event more often reported for patients receiving bamlanivimab and etesevimab together versus placebo was nausea on the day of infusion."

The number of new cases of Covid-19 reported across the globe has declined for the fourth week in a row, according to data from the World Health Organization.

In its weekly epidemiological update, the WHO says over 3.1 million new cases of Covid-19 were reported last week, which is a 17% decline from the previous week. This is the lowest number of cases reported since the last week of October.

The United States accounted for the highest number of new Covid-19 cases, with 871,365. However, this figure is a 19% decline in cases from the previous week.

Brazil, France, Russia, and the United Kingdom were also among the nations reporting the highest number of new cases worldwide, the WHO noted.

Out of all the regions, Africa saw the greatest decline in cases (22%), while the Eastern Mediterranean saw the smallest (2%).

Globally, there have been 105.4 million Covid-19 cases and 2.3 million deaths since the start of the pandemic.

At least 944 cases of coronavirus strains first spotted in the UK, South Africa and Brazil have been reported in the United States, according to data updated Tuesday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The vast majority of these cases, 932, are the more contagious variant known as B.1.1.7, which was originally detected in the UK. This variant has been found in 34 states, including 343 cases in Florida, 156 in California and 59 in New York.

In addition, there are nine cases of a strain initially seen in South Africa, called B.1.351 -- six in Maryland, two in South Carolina and one in Virginia.

Lastly, the P.1 strain first linked to Brazil, has been discovered in two cases in Minnesota and one in Oklahoma.

The CDC says this does not represent the total number of such cases circulating in the US, but rather just those that have been found by analyzing positive samples. The agency cautions that its numbers may not immediately match those of state and local health departments.
Read more:

Elton John and Michael Caine have released a video encouraging Britons to get vaccinated for Covid-19, as the country prepares to widen its rollout to younger adults.

The video, backed by the UK's National Health Service (NHS), sees John "audition" for a role in a vaccine information campaign.

The legendary British singer tries out a Michael Caine impression but fails to impress the casting team -- before Caine himself makes a cameo. Both celebrities have already been vaccinated against the coronavirus, the NHS said.

Their appeal for more Brits to get inoculated comes as the UK looks to widen its rollout. Britain has already vaccinated more than 12 million people with at least one dose, and is now asking people aged 70 and over in England who haven't been vaccinated to book an appointment.

"I wanted to take part in this film to help show people the benefits of getting vaccinated and how it helps protect ourselves and the people we love,' John said. "So, I hope we can all come together and do our bit in the fight against this wretched disease."

In the video, the 73-year-old sings his 1980s hit "I'm Still Standing" after pretending to receive a shot. The spoof also sees Caine, 87, tell viewers the vaccine doesn't hurt -- before adding his trademark phrase, "Not many people know that."

"Well over nine out of ten people aged 75 and over have already taken up the offer of their NHS Covid vaccination, and now we want to encourage everyone in the high priority groups to do so," chief executive of NHS England Simon Stevens said. "That's why we're grateful to Sir Elton and Sir Michael for helping the NHS promote vaccine uptake."

The government has pledged to offer a vaccine to everyone in its four highest-risk groups by mid-February.

But while take-up has been high, community protection can only be achieved when a vast majority of the population has been vaccinated and scientists have warned of the challenges posed by misinformation and vaccine hesitancy in achieving that milestone.

Terri Lynn in Naples, Florida said that she had to embark on a repeat three-hour road trip for her second dose. Elsie Morales in New York said that her grandmother is still waiting for her second dose -- and it's a week overdue. Both are among some of the people in the United States who have faced challenges with scheduling appointments for second doses of Covid-19 vaccine.

"There is some confusion out there," Lynn said. "I'm just telling my friends and people I know to stay focused and read what you can and empower yourself."
When Lynn learned in January that the Publix supermarket chain was beginning to offer Covid-19 vaccinations in some of its stores in Florida, she immediately booked an appointment online for herself and her husband Mark Young.
They are in the prioritized age group of 65 and older in the state of Florida, and Lynn said that she was "ecstatic" they were going to get vaccinated. However, getting to their appointments was a challenge.

Read the story:

French lawmakers Tuesday approved a bill to extend the country's state of health emergency until June 1, as the country's death toll topped 80,000.

The law allows the government to enact restrictions -- including a lockdown -- to limit the spread of COVID-19 nationwide. The current state of emergency was due to expire on February 16.

The extension was narrowly approved with 278 votes in favor, 193 votes against and 13 abstentions.

It comes as Health Minister Olivier Véran told public broadcaster France Info on Tuesday that the country could avoid a third lockdown, despite the warnings of the scientific community.

"It is of course possible that we will never go into lockdown again," Véran said. "It is desirable."

"Lockdown is not a choice of ease, of safety. Lockdown is a choice of necessity when the epidemic situation is beyond our control. Today this is not the case," the minister continued.

The number of new infections in France has stabilized on a high plateau in recent weeks with an average of 20,000 cases per day, Véran said.

New infections on Tuesday were slightly below that weekly average, with an additional 18,870 confirmed cases, according to the French public health agency.

France's coronavirus death toll reached 80,147 on Tuesday as the French public health agency reported 724 new deaths.

France has been criticized for the slow rollout of its vaccination campaign, with 2.2 million vaccinations recorded so far.

California reported another 8,251 new Covid-19 cases Tuesday, the lowest daily number since mid-November, according to state health data.

Plummeting cases have led to a 33% drop in hospitalizations and 26% fewer ICU admissions over just the past two weeks.

"Deaths continue to be devastating," Gov. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday, as the state reported an additional 327 fatalities resulting from the coronavirus. The rolling average number of deaths remains just below 500 per day.

Newsom was in Santa Clara for the opening of the state's largest mass vaccination center at Levi's Stadium, which will be set to administer 15,000 vaccines each day.

"The goal is pretty straightforward. The goal is to design a system that has only one limitation and that's supply," said Newsom, explaining that scarcity of Covid-19 vaccines remains prevalent. California expects to receive slightly more than a million doses for each of the next three weeks.

Safely returning to in-person learning before the end of the school remains a top priority for Newsom, and one that he asserts is attainable. Until the availability of vaccine increases, Newsom suggests people "do the math and be honest" about the likelihood of specific groups like teachers all being inoculated.

"It's very unlikely that we'll be able to accomplish that because of the scarcity of the vaccine without taking away from vast majority of others including seniors and the most medically vulnerable, and that's the unfortunate position we're all in," Newsom said.

California's legislature continues to consider Newsom's $6.6 billion proposal to reopen schools, an effort that would provide a statewide standard including testing, personal protective equipment, ventilation, and mental health support in addition to the academic needs of students.

An announcement on those guidelines is expected soon, along with an outline for school sports to resume.

Canada is further restricting non-essential travel in and out of the country, even as it gradually eases Covid-19 restrictions.

After weeks of lockdowns and containment measures, Canada is having some success in controlling the second wave of the virus but its borders will remain essentially closed for some time government officials say.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Tuesday that starting next week, anyone arriving in Canada by land will need to show a negative test within 72 hours of attempting to enter Canada.

Only Canadian citizens, permanent residents and essential travelers are currently allowed into Canada, although there have been some exceptions on compassionate grounds. Beginning next week, non-essential travelers that cross into Canada at a land border without a negative test could be fined thousands of dollars.

"You can't prevent someone who's standing at a land border crossing from entering Canada because technically they're already on Canadian soil when they're speaking to that customs officer," Trudeau during a press conference in Ottawa Tuesday.

"That's why what we can do is in cases of no test to show apply a stiff penalty, a fine and demand and ensure a rapid and complete follow up to make sure that they are getting tested, that they are being properly quarantined, that they are not putting at risk the safety of other Canadians by returning home without a clear, negative test."

In January Canada began requiring all air passengers to show a negative PCR-based Covid-19 test before boarding a Canada-bound flight.

Canadian public health officials say while new daily cases of Covid-19 continue to fall and hospitalizations are down about 15% in the last week, new variants and a slow vaccine rollout could mean that a resurgence of the virus is still possible.

"I think we're all worried about the arrival of new variants and the impact that could have on even as we are working hard to get everyone vaccinated as quickly as possible. There are real questions about what the impacts these variants will have both on spread of Covid-19 and on the impact of the vaccines," explained Trudeau adding that's why Canada is adding further restricting travel.

Canada has detected only a few hundred cases of new variants but public health officials say already there is evidence of community spread in at least three provinces.

1:52 p.m. ET, February 9, 2021
Hungary to become first EU country to roll out Russia's Sputnik vaccine this week

Hungary will this week begin inoculating people with Russia's Sputnik V vaccine, among others, becoming the first European Union country to do so, officials there said Tuesday.

"We will be inoculating using four vaccines beginning this week; vaccination using the Russian Sputnik V vaccine is beginning in Budapest," Chief Medical Officer Cecília Müller said at an online press conference.

Müller told reporters that 560 general practitioners in Budapest are being asked to select five people each from their respective practices, who will then receive the Sputnik V vaccine at the designated vaccination points. Some 2,800 doses of the vaccine are currently available, and only to those without chronic illness.

Hungary does "not have huge amounts of this vaccine available," Müller said.

According to a statement from the Hungarian News Agency (MTI), 85,410 doses of the Pfizer vaccine will arrive in Hungary on Tuesday. A further shipment of the AstraZeneca vaccine is expected on Thursday, and 21,600 doses of the Moderna vaccine will also be arriving on Thursday.

Doctors will receive a list of registered people who are eligible to be vaccinated, and vaccination of the oldest patients will be organised at GP's clinics.

A total of 291,396 people have been vaccinated in Hungary to date, and 110,395 have also received their second shot.

In reply to a question, Müller said the British variant of the virus has so far been detected in 24 samples, but that the Brazilian and South African mutations have not yet been discovered in Hungary.

"Bamlanivimab and etesevimab, administered together, are authorized for emergency use for the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 in adults and pediatric patients (12 years of age and older weighing at least 40 kg) with positive results of direct SARS-CoV-2 viral testing, and who are at high risk for progressing to severe COVID-19 and/or hospitalization," the FDA said in a statement.

The vast majority of these cases, 932, are the more contagious variant known as B.1.1.7, which was originally detected in the UK. This variant has been found in 34 states, including 343 cases in Florida, 156 in California and 59 in New York.

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"There is some confusion out there," Lynn said. "I'm just telling my friends and people I know to stay focused and read what you can and empower yourself."
When Lynn learned in January that the Publix supermarket chain was beginning to offer Covid-19 vaccinations in some of its stores in Florida, she immediately booked an appointment online for herself and her husband Mark Young.
They are in the prioritized age group of 65 and older in the state of Florida, and Lynn said that she was "ecstatic" they were going to get vaccinated. However, getting to their appointments was a challenge.

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"That's why what we can do is in cases of no test to show apply a stiff penalty, a fine and demand and ensure a rapid and complete follow up to make sure that they are getting tested, that they are being properly quarantined, that they are not putting at risk the safety of other Canadians by returning home without a clear, negative test."

1:52 p.m. ET, February 9, 2021
Hungary to become first EU country to roll out Russia's Sputnik vaccine this week

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By Jessie Yeung, Adam Renton, Kara Fox, Christopher Johnson and Rob Picheta, CNN

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Updated 6:29 a.m. ET, February 10, 2021 The US Food and Drug Administration has granted emergency use authorization to a new version of Eli Lilly and Co's antibody treatment for coronavirus that adds a second monoclonal antibody to one already authorized, the company said Tuesday.