USA passes 500,000 deaths from COVID-19
Almost exactly a year after first known USA COVID-19 death, flags flying at half-staff to honor those lost to the pandemic as vaccine supply catches up after weather-caused interruption.
The President, Vice President and their spouses will mark the 500,000 Americans lost to COVID-19 at a ceremony in Washington tonight. About 100,000 people have died just in the past five weeks. The USA has had the highest number of deaths of any country, by far. Next in line is Brazil, with 246,000 deaths, Mexico with 180,000 and India with 156,000 reported.
White House Senior Advisor for COVID-19 Response Andy Slavitt says that 7 million vaccine doses are on the way to state and local distribution sites, reflecting both doses tied up due to the bad weather last week and acceleration of production.
The FDA issued guidance to streamline how COVID-19 vaccines adjusted to address variant strains will be reviewed.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky says new COVID-19 cases remain high but the average number of new cases has dropped more than 70% since the January peak, and the seven-day average number of deaths is down 39% to 1,900.
A CDC investigation into an outbreak among 45 people at nine schools in a Georgia school district in December and January and found transmission from educator to educator, educator to student, student to educator and student to student. Lack of masks and social distancing account for the high transmission rate, CDC researchers concluded.
While federal and other officials insist that the two-dose COVID-19 regimen should be followed, new research indicates that people who already had COVID-19 may have a better immune response from a single shot.
NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins says he’s worried that women of childbearing age are shunning COVID-19 vaccines because of false information circulating. “There are stories out there on the Internet about how vaccination can lead to infertility. There’s absolutely nothing to that. But when we look at people who are expressing hesitancy, in many instances those are women of childbearing age,” Collins told the Washington Post.
Stay safe, and please keep your space and face to yoruself.