mollyfamwatNew York Governor Andrew Cuomo said, “The instinct may be to celebrate together, but we must not be arrogant.”
“We have to keep doing what we know is effective in taming the virus: wearing a mask, social distancing and avoiding meetings,” he said. “We can beat this thing, but we have to stay smart.”
This is particularly true after a new study found that the highly infectious B.1.1.7 strain, first discovered in the UK, is now spreading rapidly in the US.
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Although strain B.1.1.7 still accounts for a relatively small percentage of known cases in the United States, it doubles approximately every 10 days, according to researchers.
According to the researchers, U.S. laboratories still only determine the sequence of a small proportion of coronavirus samples, so it is not clear which variants are circulating in the country.
At least 699 cases of the coronavirus variants first identified in Britain, South Africa and Brazil have been reported in the United States through Sunday, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The vast majority of those, 690, were B.1.1.7 variants, which have been identified in 33 states so far.
Last month, the CDC predicted that variant B.1.1.7 could become dominant in the United States by March. It is estimated that the virus will continue to be transmitted about 50%.
Without “decisive and immediate public health action,” the researchers warned, “other transmissible variants are likely to have a devastating impact on COPID-19-related mortality and morbidity in the United States within months.
Why some figures in Covid 19 are getting better.
After a terrible start to the winter – marked by a record number of new cases, hospitalizations and deaths – the number of new cases and hospitalizations is improving.
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The United States has just completed the eighth consecutive day in which fewer than 100,000 people were hospitalized, according to the COVID Monitoring Project.
And the seven-day average of new cases rose from 220,000 on January 6 to 120,000 on Saturday.
According to Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, this good news is likely due to holiday-related infections being delayed and Americans taking better precautions.
“Here’s what I think is happening: a combination of natural tops and doubling down on public health measures,” Fauci told MSNBC on Friday.
But the daily death rate from Covid-19 is still high. In recent weeks, there have been an average of more than 3,000 Covid-19 deaths per day in the United States, according to Johns Hopkins University. The average daily death rate is higher than that of the September 11 attacks.
Some say safety measures, not vaccinations, are mandatory when schools open.
The CDC is expected to release guidance this week on how to safely open schools in the event of a pandemic.
Fauci and Dr. Scott Gottlieb said Sunday that while it is important to vaccinate teachers, it is not a requirement to open schools.
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However, mitigation measures are absolutely necessary.
Opening K-8 schools in 100 days is a priority of President Joe Biden’s administration, Fauci said Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press, but “they’re going to need help” so the schools can “get masks, better ventilation, whatever you want to do.
“It would be great if all teachers were vaccinated as soon as possible,” Mr. Fauci said.
Gottlieb, a former FDA commissioner, told CBS’s “Facing the Nation” that when it comes to opening schools, “I think one requirement is that you take mitigation measures in the schools.
He pointed out that studies have shown that when people wear masks, keep their distance and take precautions, “there is very little transmission in the classroom. The school is not a vector of transmission”.
Mr. Gottlieb said that while it would be good to get teachers vaccinated soon, “I don’t think it’s mandatory. I think schools have proven that they can open safely if they have taken precautions in the classroom.
Miscarriage: Probably not enough time for some single-dose studies.
The two vaccines currently administered in the United States-from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna-require two doses three to four weeks apart.
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But the supply is still limited. And health experts are debating whether the United States should now give the first dose to as many people as possible, even at the risk of delaying the second dose for some.
Mr. Fauci stated that there may not be enough time to study the degree of protection provided by a single dose or the duration of that protection.
“By then we’ll be in the arena, so we’ll have enough vaccine to go around anyway,” Fauci said Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press.
“From a theoretical standpoint, it would be good to know, if you only get one dose, how long it lasts and what the effect is,” Fauci said. “So it would be great to do a study, but I don’t think we can do it in time.”
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Mr. Fauci stated that he believes that “it is possible to give as many people as possible their first dose at the same time while maintaining a reasonable schedule for the second dose.”
Meanwhile, a third vaccine, requiring only one dose, could be made available to the public in the coming weeks.
Johnson & Johnson on Thursday officially filed an application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for emergency approval of its Covid-19 single-dose vaccine. A decision could be made by the end of this month.
AstraZeneca’s vaccine is under discussion.
Early indications suggest that two doses of another vaccine, the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, provide “minimal protection” against the mild to moderate covid-19 variant B.1.351 first found in South Africa, the University of Oxford said on Sunday.
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Virus neutralization against variant B.1.351 is “significantly reduced” compared to an earlier strain of the coronavirus, according to an Oxford University press release issued on Sunday.
The study, which has not been published, involved about 2,000 volunteers with an average age of 31. About half of them received the vaccine and the other half a placebo.
The efficacy of the vaccine against severe covid-19, hospitalization and death has not been studied.
After the Financial Times published an article about the trial on Saturday, AstraZeneca said it believed the vaccine could provide protection against serious diseases. The company said it had begun modifying the vaccine against this variant “so that it will be ready for delivery in the fall if needed.”
The World Health Organization’s independent vaccine panel will meet Monday to discuss AstraZeneca’s vaccine and studies evaluating its effectiveness against the B.1.351 strain, Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO technical officer for the Covid-19 vaccine, told CBS “Face to the Nation” on Sunday.
An AstraZeneca spokesman told CNN Saturday that a small study has shown that the company’s Covid 19 vaccine offers limited protection against mild disease in cases caused by variant B.1.351. The study has not yet been peer-reviewed.
There are “some preliminary studies that suggest reduced efficacy,” Van Kerkhove told CBS. “But even these studies have not been fully published.”
The US position on vaccines.
Just over 31.5 million people have received at least the first dose of the Covida 19 vaccine, according to data published Sunday by the CDC. More than 9 million people have been fully vaccinated with two doses.
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In some parts of the country, authorities are working to improve the availability of vaccines to underserved and vulnerable communities.
In the Houston area, local officials say hospitals that are open to the uninsured receive a lower percentage of doses than private hospitals.
“You can have the best health care in the world, but if people don’t have access to it, it’s like having none at all,” said Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner.
“If you want to fix this discrepancy, you need to send cans to places that reach these areas.”
In the Northeast, some people will not be vaccinated Sunday because of another problem: the weather.
A severe winter storm that hit the region last week has disrupted vaccination efforts in several states. Cuomo said Saturday that some vaccination sites in New York City would suspend operations on Sunday.
“New Yorkers who have appointments for tests or vaccinations at these facilities will be notified of the suspension via text and phone,” the governor’s office said. Appointments will be rescheduled at a later date.
“Ideal environment” for the spread of viruses
While Covid 19 rules have been relaxed in many parts of the country in light of declining enrollment, they are entrenched in other areas.
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Several bars in New Orleans were closed after violating restrictions on Covid 19, authorities said Saturday.
Los Angeles County, which was hit by a devastating crisis after the 19 Covid floods, recently announced that restaurants can again eat outside – with restrictions. But Barbara Ferrer, director of public health, said the county is still a long way from “indoor dining.”
“The virus is transmitted very easily if you don’t have a veil over your face,” she said, “so if you’re sitting inside eating or drinking and you have to take the veil off your face, this is the perfect environment to transmit the virus.
Jamie Gambrecht, Naomi Thomas, Elizabeth Joseph, Andy Rose, Kay Jones, Holly Silverman, Lauren Mascarenhas, Melissa Alonso and Rebecca Riess of CNN contributed to this report.
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