Misinformation epidemic expands as pandemic anniversary marked by world leaders

Nursing home residents can get visitors again, while older adults still struggle to get vaccines -- or appointments.

President Biden will make his first Oval Office address to the nation this evening, marking the one-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic and explaining the path ahead. He will “level with the American people about what is still required to defeat the virus and provide a hopeful vision of what is possible if we all come together,” a senior administration official said.

• Pfizer reported data from Israel suggesting that their vaccine is 94% effective at preventing transmission of SARS-CoV-2.

• Backers of the QAnon conspiracy theories have turned their attention to spreading misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccines, according to the Washington Post.

One of every six older Americans says they tried to get a COVID-19 vaccine appointment but failed, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, and 40% say the process of getting an appointment was difficult or they needed someone else to do it for them.

• French and other European authorities are trying to prevent anecdotal reports of blood clots associated with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine from discouraging people from getting vaccinated. The reports of blood clots are being investigated but the European Union Medicines Committee says there is no evidence of a problem. The agency says there have been 22 cases of blood clots out of 3 million who have received the vaccine.

Although the San Francisco Bay area has largely kept COVID-19 under better control than most of the nation, epidemiologists worry that the region is poised to experience a fourth wave as the B.1.1.7 (“British”) variant becomes dominant in the next several weeks. In addition to Bay area residents potentially relaxing precautions prematurely, experts say that travel to and from other states, where mask mandates and other public health measures have been dropped, is almost certain to bring more virus into California. Southern California’s December surge was largely fueled by travel between Los Angeles and Las Vegas and other tourist destinations.

• The New York Times delves into how Seattle went from being the first area hit by COVID-19 to the one with the lowest death rate among major US cities.

The AdCouncil released a new round of PSAs featuring former presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama and their wives promoting the COVID-19 vaccines.

Federal regulators Tuesday relaxed restrictions that have kept families away from visiting loved ones in nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. The new guidance from the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) says that visits should be permitted when a nursing home resident’s health has sharply declined. More than 130,000 nursing home residents have died of COVID-19, according to CMS.

Many doctors prescribed antibiotics to COVID-19 patients without confirming a bacterial infection, raising concerns about increased risk of drug-resistant bacteria, according to STATNews.