Half of all US adults fully vaccinated
Moderna ready to ask FDA to allow its Covid-19 shots for teens; Feds to expand support for Covid-19 testing
One-half of all US adults now are “fully vaccinated” against Covid-19, a White House official said this morning. Nearly 300 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in the USA.
Latest CDC data shows the highest rates of new cases per capita are in Colorado, Florida, Maine, Minnesota and Wyoming. Lowest rates are in California and Nebraska.
British authorities are concerned that a Covid-19 variant known as B.1.617.2, first identified in India, is spreading in the United Kingdom.
Moderna reported successful results of its trial of Covid-19 vaccine in teenagers. The vaccine was 93% effective at preventing infection and 100% effective at preventing symptomatic Covid-19 in the study that included 3,700 12-18-year-olds, the company said in a news release. It will ask FDA for expanded emergency use next month.
Because testing for Covid-19 is important to contain infections and prevent clusters or other outbreaks, the federal government is continuing funding for Covid-19 testing for uninsured individuals, such as frontline workers and others in vulnerable communities.
The first man immunized against Covid-19 with the Pfizer shot, Bill Shakespeare of Coventry, England, has died. He was a patient at a hospital “frailty ward” when he received the injections in December.