The worst of the pandemic has not yet hit Florida, but it is expected to be a major player in the coming months.
Florida has seen the worst of the pandemic so far. The state is currently fighting off a flu outbreak that has caused over 100 deaths in just one week.
Here’s what you should be aware of:
This month, paramedics at Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater, Fla., admitted a patient to the emergency department. Credit… Reuters/Octavio Jones
More individuals in Florida are contracting the coronavirus, being hospitalized, and dying from Covid-19 now than at any other time throughout the epidemic, highlighting the dangers of restricting public health efforts as the Delta form sweeps the state.
As of Tuesday, 227 virus fatalities have been recorded in Florida on average each day, a new high for the state and by far the highest in the United States. According to a New York Times database, the average number of new known cases per day increased by 30% over the weekend, surpassing the state’s previous record in January. New fatalities have risen to more than 1,000 per day on average throughout the nation.
According to government statistics, hospitalizations in Florida have almost quadrupled in the last month, putting several hospitals beyond capacity. The increase led Orlando’s mayor to encourage people to conserve water so that the city’s supply of liquid oxygen, which is used to clean drinking water as well as treat Covid-19 patients, is not depleted.
Even as the number of cases continues to rise, with more than 17,200 people hospitalized in Florida, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has stood strong in his opposition to vaccination and mask requirements. Despite this, a number of school districts have imposed mask requirements.
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In relation to this information Department of Health and Human Services, United States of America. The seven-day average is the sum of a day’s worth of data plus the preceding six days’ worth of data. The most recent number of patients with Covid-19 reported by hospitals in the state for the four days previous is currently hospitalized. Inconsistent hospital reporting may be to blame for the dips and surges. Early in the epidemic, hospitalization statistics are undercounted owing to hospitals’ inadequate reporting to the federal government.
In general, 52 percent of Floridians are completely vaccinated, but in some of the state’s hardest-hit areas, the number is less than 30 percent.
Hundreds of physicians and hospital workers gathered in Palm Beach County early Monday to plead with the unvaccinated to receive vaccinations, stressing that the increase was overloading the health-care system and ruining lives.
Dr. Rupesh Dharia, an internal medicine expert, stated, “We are tired.” “Both our patience and our resources are dwindling.”
Younger portions of the population, especially those aged 40 to 59, are increasingly flooding hospitals and dying in Florida, where they were less susceptible in previous waves of the epidemic. The Delta variety is spreading among young individuals, many of whom believe they are healthy and have not received vaccinations.
Patients hospitalized with the virus during this current outbreak tended to be younger and had less underlying health problems, said to Dr. Chirag Patel, associate chief medical officer of UF Health Jacksonville, a hospital system in Northeast Florida. More than 90 percent of those who died, including individuals in their 20s and 40s, were not vaccinated, according to Dr. Patel.
“This time around, we’ve seen more people who died at a younger age with very few, if any, medical problems,” he added. “They just show up with Covid and don’t make it out of the hospital.”
The number of Covid-19 patients hospitalized to the system’s two University of Florida hospitals in Jacksonville had dropped to 14 only two months ago. On Tuesday morning, there were 188 coronavirus patients in hospitals, with 56 of them in critical care units.
One of the most difficult aspects of his work, according to Dr. Patel, is informing family members that a loved one who had not been vaccinated had died to the illness. He added, “It’s just such a senseless and avoidable manner of dying.”
Reporting was provided by Lisa Waananen, Alison Saldanha, and Sarah Cahalan.
Participants in a study who received a booster injection six months later had nine times greater antibodies against the coronavirus than after the initial dosage. Credit… Getty Images/Robyn Beck/Agence France-Presse
According to Johnson & Johnson, a booster injection of the coronavirus vaccination significantly increases antibody levels against the virus.
The results will be submitted to the Food and Drug Administration, which is currently reviewing research from Pfizer and Moderna. The Biden administration wants to offer booster injections eight months after immunization if the FDA approves it.
The government’s first booster plan, revealed last week, did not include the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. However, given the new information, the firm expects to be included in the first delivery of extra doses, which could begin as soon as September.
Dr. Mathai Mammen, global head of Janssen Research & Development at Johnson & Johnson, said in a statement, “We look forward to discussing with public health officials a potential strategy for our Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine, boosting eight months or longer after the primary single-dose vaccination.”
Johnson & Johnson received emergency FDA approval for their one-shot vaccine in February. In a clinical study conducted last autumn and winter, a single injection was shown to be 72 percent effective in avoiding symptomatic Covid-19 in volunteers from the United States. None of the vaccinated participants were hospitalized or died during the study.
Johnson & Johnson conducted its clinical study before the Delta variant spread, leaving the issue of how effective the vaccine was against the virus’s more infectious version open. However, South African researchers discovered that a single injection of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was up to 95% effective in preventing mortality from the Delta strain and decreased the chance of hospitalization by 71% in a trial published earlier this month.
Johnson & Johnson followed 17 participants from last year’s clinical trial in this latest research. Their antibody levels had hardly altered six months after immunization.
This is in contrast to the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines, which followed a distinct trend. Those injections generate greater amounts of antibodies at first, but those levels gradually decline over time.
When participants in the Johnson & Johnson study were given a booster injection six months later, their antibodies against the coronavirus increased by nine times.
Antibody levels increased similarly in studies of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines. It’s impossible to say which of the three vaccinations gives the greatest increase since they weren’t tested side by side.
Johnson & Johnson said it has submitted a paper to the website Medrxiv detailing the study. It has yet to be put there.
Noah Weiland contributed to this story.
On Monday, a patient in Southfield, Mich., gets a booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccination. Credit… Getty Images/Emily Elconin
Pfizer and BioNTech said on Wednesday that they had submitted an application to the Food and Drug Administration for supplementary approval of a coronavirus vaccination booster injection for anyone aged 16 and above, and that they will submit all supporting data by the end of the week. The decision was made after the firms announced that a third dose of the vaccine resulted in significantly higher levels of anti-viral antibodies.
The firms studied 306 participants who were given a booster injection five to eight months following their second dose. Researchers discovered that after the second dosage, the amount of antibodies that inhibit the coronavirus increased by more than three times.
According to the businesses, the adverse effects of a third injection were similar to those of the first two. The underlying data, as well as the study’s dates and location, were not included in the press release. The businesses said that they were working on a scientific paper to describe the study.
The announcement of Pfizer and BioNTech’s booster application came only two days after the Food and Drug Administration completely authorized their two-dose vaccination for those aged 16 and up, making it the first to go beyond emergency use classification.
Federal authorities have been rushing to gather and analyze data on booster injections in recent weeks. The Biden administration has said that if the FDA determines that extra injections are safe and effective, individuals would get a third injection eight months after their second shot of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, beginning the week of Sept. 20.
Last Monday, federal health authorities said they think the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines’ efficacy is eroding over time, increasing the risk of infection from the highly infectious Delta strain. While evidence suggests that the vaccinations continue to provide effective protection against hospitalization and serious illness, authorities are concerned that without booster doses, the situation may deteriorate.
Some public health specialists have criticized the proposal as premature, claiming that the vaccinations are effective against serious illness and hospitalization, including the Delta version, based on existing evidence. Extra injections would only be required if the vaccinations failed to reach that threshold, according to others.
During Pfizer’s second-quarter earnings call on July 23, executives gave an early peek into their booster data. They discovered that antibody levels decreased significantly in the months after a second treatment in a smaller trial. However, following a third dosage, those levels increased again. Researchers discovered a significant impact from the boosters when they extended their attention to a wider group of individuals.
Our immune systems employ a variety of defenses to combat the coronavirus, including antibodies that may neutralize it. Other responses triggered by the vaccination, such as immune cells trained to attack sick cells, were not included in the current research.
The new booster study’s participants ranged in age from 18 to 55 years old. It was unclear why no elder individuals were included in the research. The volunteers were tracked for an average of 2.6 months.
Pfizer and BioNTech said they intend to submit their findings to regulatory authorities in Europe and other countries in addition to the FDA.
The administration’s booster plan excludes recipients of Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot vaccination for the time being. Earlier on Wednesday, Johnson & Johnson reported that, unlike the trials of Moderna and Pfizer’s vaccines, a study of 17 volunteers found no change in antibody levels after six months.
However, when the volunteers were given a second injection six months after the first, their antibodies against the coronavirus rose nine times higher than they were after the first dosage, according to the research. Authorities from the company said they’re excited to talk to federal health officials about a possible booster plan for their vaccine.
Although the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has been fully authorized as a two-shot regimen for individuals aged 16 and above, adolescents aged 12 to 15 may still be immunized under the vaccine’s emergency use permission. Only a third injection has been approved by regulators for certain individuals with compromised immune systems.
In Le Lamentin, Martinique, recently, newly vaccinated patients waited to be discharged following the required post-vaccine observation period. Credit… Getty Images/Lionel Chamoiseau/Agence France-Presse
The Globe Health Organization is launching an initiative to produce vaccinations in Latin America and the Caribbean to assist solve uneven availability of Covid-19 vaccines across the world, which has been called the pandemic’s “Achilles’ heel.” Dr. Carissa Etienne, the Pan American Health Organization’s head, stated on Wednesday.
She said, “Much of today’s vaccine supply remains in the hands of affluent countries all around the globe.” “We need to increase regional pharmaceutical manufacturing so we can take control.”
She said her agency, which is part of the World Health Organization, is evaluating around 30 bids to produce messenger RNA vaccines — the same kind as the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna injections — and would make a decision next month.
According to Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, the pan-American agency’s assistant director, the “most viable ideas,” including those that already have secured financial support, would be given precedence in an attempt to speed up the project.
The mRNA vaccines are “among of the most efficient vaccinations against Covid-19,” according to Dr. Etienne, “and the technology is extremely flexible, so it has great potential to be employed against other viruses.”
The vaccines generated by the initiative will be delivered to nations in Latin America and the Caribbean, where only 23% of the population has been completely vaccinated to far. “Coverage is considerably lower in many countries,” Dr. Etienne added. “In Guatemala, just over 3% of the population has been vaccinated, and in Jamaica, just over 4%.”
Many Caribbean countries, including Jamaica, are reporting significant increases in new cases, while Haiti’s health system is struggling to care for survivors of the catastrophic Aug. 14 earthquake, which killed over 2,200 people.
“Logistics and security difficulties continue to obstruct the supply of supplies, the deployment of staff to impacted regions, and the transfer of patients to other hospitals,” added Dr. Etienne.
The Episcopal cathedral in Portland, Maine, is the Cathedral Church of St. Luke. The bishop of Maine has mandated that all diocesan employees be vaccinated against the coronavirus. Credit…Farragutful
The Episcopal Diocese of Maine will compel all clergy and staff employees to get coronavirus vaccinations, making it one of the first religious bodies in the country to do so.
On Wednesday, Bishop Thomas J. Brown stated, “We needed to join the public health experts in providing a Christian voice to what is a very urgent moral problem right now.” “To lead in public and to join other groups, businesses, and institutions with similar missions is to declare that we are all about loving God and loving our neighbors.”
Bishop Brown issued the order on Monday, saying it would affect approximately 240 clergy and 14 workers. They will have until September 30th to be completely vaccinated, unless they receive a medical exemption from a physician. So far, all 170 religious who have replied have informed him that they had been immunized. He added that if any of the remaining 70 refuse to take bullets, the penalties will be determined by their involvement.
The bishop said that he issued the order to protect the public far beyond the diocese’s reach, which includes over 10,000 parishioners. “What it ultimately means is that we can tell individuals in Maine who aren’t members of our churches that we support public health.”
As they attempt to restore places of worship after more than a year of limitations, certain religious leaders in the United States have treaded cautiously on topics like as vaccinations and masks, producing a patchwork of rules. A smaller number of religious groups and leaders have questioned inoculations and opposed public health regulations.
The Episcopal Church, on the other hand, has traditionally supported vaccines, according to Bishop Brown. The Episcopal Church’s Executive Council published a resolution in 2019 that said, “The appropriate and responsible use of vaccinations is a responsibility not just to our own self and families, but also to our communities.” When it is medically safe to do so, refusing to vaccinate puts the lives of others at jeopardy.”
According to a New York Times database, Maine has done reasonably well despite the nation’s recent spike in cases and fatalities caused by the Delta strain, with a seven-day average of 161 new cases per day and two deaths recorded on Tuesday. More than 70% of Maine people have received at least one dose of the vaccinations, with 65% having got all three doses.
On Hawaii’s Maunawili path, this is a famous tourist destination. As the number of people infected with Covid-19 rises, the mayor of Honolulu has imposed limits on public meetings, and the governor has urged visitors to stay away. Credit… The New York Times’ Michelle Mishina Kunz
Patients sprawled on beds in the corridor of Hilo Medical Center on the island of Hawaii on Wednesday while staff members raced to find room in other sections of the hospital.
“Today is the busiest we’ve been in over 15 years — maybe ever,” said Elena Cabatu, the hospital’s head of public relations. Nurses, she added, are “nearly beyond themselves at this point.”
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In relation to this information Department of Health and Human Services, United States of America. The seven-day average is the sum of a day’s worth of data plus the preceding six days’ worth of data. The most recent number of patients with Covid-19 reported by hospitals in the state for the four days previous is currently hospitalized. Inconsistent hospital reporting may be to blame for the dips and surges. Early in the epidemic, hospitalization statistics are undercounted owing to hospitals’ inadequate reporting to the federal government.
As the Delta variety produces a spike much greater than any the state has seen during previous coronavirus waves of the pandemic, hospitals throughout the islands of Hawaii are confronting an urgent lack of beds and medical personnel.
Hawaii retains its position as the state with the lowest incidence of Covid cases and fatalities because to its geographical isolation and tight regulatory regulations. However, as limitations have been eased and travel has resumed, the number of cases has risen dramatically in recent months.
The state’s seven-day average was 40 new cases per day on July 1. According to a Fresh York Times database, new case reports surged at 729 per day on Aug. 19, more than twice the previous record in September.
According to a New York Times database, just 55% of the state’s population is completely vaccinated, thus health care professionals are concerned that the worst is yet to come.
According to Hilton Raethel, president of the Healthcare Association of Hawaii, models indicate the state may reach a daily average of 1,500 Covid hospitalizations by the end of September. Normally, the state maintains a total of 2,000 staffed hospital beds throughout the islands.
Mr. Raethel said, “Obviously, the numbers don’t work.” There are few options for acquiring extra beds. “It’s not like New York, where people or beds can be trucked in from New Jersey. “The mainland is a five-hour flight away.”
Over 200 health-care professionals have been sent from the mainland to help the hospitals that are in desperate need of help. Three hundred more are expected to arrive next week.
Simultaneously, authorities are scrambling to reintroduce limitations in order to control the rise. For at least 28 days, Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi banned interior meetings of more than 10 individuals and outdoor gatherings of more than 25 people.
Gov. David Ige, speaking during a press conference on Monday, urged visitors to stay away.
He said, “It is not a good time to go to the islands.” “Visitors who choose to visit the island will not enjoy the usual vacation experience that they would anticipate from a trip to Hawaii.”
In February, in a mobile clinic near Moshav Dalton in northern Israel, a dosage of the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine was administered. Credit… Getty Images/Jalaa Marey/Agence France-Presse
A big new research from Israel shows that the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccination is linked to a higher risk of myocarditis, a heart muscle inflammation. However, experts revealed on Wednesday that the adverse effect is still uncommon, and that Covid-19 is more likely to induce myocarditis than the vaccination.
The study, which is based on the electronic health data of almost two million individuals aged 16 and above, offers a thorough look at the real-world incidence of different adverse effects after both vaccination and coronavirus infection.
Aside from myocarditis, the Pfizer vaccination was linked to a higher risk of enlarged lymph nodes, appendicitis, and shingles, but these three adverse events were rare in the research. Although infection with the coronavirus was not linked to these adverse effects, it did raise the risk of many potentially severe cardiovascular issues, such as heart attacks and blood clots.
“Coronavirus is very hazardous, and it is extremely harmful to the human body in many ways,” said Ben Reis, a co-author of the new research and head of the Boston Children’s Hospital Computational Health Informatics Program’s predictive medicine division.
“If someone has been hesitant to get the vaccine because they are afraid of this very rare and usually not very serious adverse event called myocarditis, this study shows that the same adverse event is actually associated with a higher risk if you are not vaccinated and you get infected,” he continued.
The information came at a time when federal authorities were debating the dangers of myocarditis and pericarditis, which is inflammation of the lining surrounding the heart, among younger vaccination recipients of both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.
Last year, medical personnel sanitized at a coronavirus testing facility in Omaha, Nebraska. Credit… The New York Times’ Calla Kessler
Nebraska health authorities are so desperate for personnel that they are recruiting unvaccinated nurses, an unusual effort to fill a nursing shortfall as the state grapples with a spike in coronavirus infections.
On postcards, Facebook, and state job listings, advertising for unvaccinated nurses are appearing: “$5,000 sign-on bonus!” The notifications also state that “no mandatory Covid-19 vaccines” are required. Positions at veterans’ homes, mental treatment institutions, and other places are advertised.
Carol Blood, a state senator, first learned about the ads on Monday, when she was bombarded with letters from people condemning the outreach.
“Our medical professionals were crying and contacting my office,” she added. “To them, it’s a smack in the face. ” Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts declared a staffing emergency for the state’s hospitals on Thursday. According to a database maintained by the New York Times, the number of new cases in Nebraska has increased, with hospitalizations reaching their highest level since January.
The governor said that he would issue an executive order making it simpler for hospitals to recruit nurses. The order would exclude hospitals from licensing procedures in order to allow credentials for retired or inactive nurses, delay certain continuing education obligations, and suspend laws pertaining to new health care professionals seeking licensure.
Nurses in Nebraska, like health-care professionals around the nation, have been fighting for a year and a half to provide treatment for Covid patients. The most recent and serious instances are among individuals who have not yet been immunized throughout the nation.
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In relation to this information Department of Health and Human Services, United States of America. The seven-day average is the sum of a day’s worth of data plus the preceding six days’ worth of data. The most recent number of patients with Covid-19 reported by hospitals in the state for the four days previous is currently hospitalized. Inconsistent hospital reporting may be to blame for the dips and surges. Early in the epidemic, hospitalization statistics are undercounted owing to hospitals’ inadequate reporting to the federal government.
Nurses are reporting feeling exhausted and traumatized as the highly infectious Delta variety sweeps the United States, their numbers reduced by early retirements or career changes away from the emergency department in favor of less stressful professions.
Governor Ricketts, a Republican, ordered state officials to hire unvaccinated nurses, according to Taylor Gage, the governor’s spokesperson.
Mr. Gage stated in a statement, “The state reacted with this campaign so nurses across Nebraska know that state government is an alternate career option.”
According to KETV, the decision came after eight state hospitals required vaccinations for their workers.
Ms. Blood, a Democrat, criticized the recruiting plan in a letter to the governor on Monday, saying the state’s choice was “of great concern to myself and many individuals in my area.”
“I am aware that we are experiencing a severe staffing shortage,” she wrote. “Having said that, putting people who reside in these institutions in danger because we need to recruit bodies is not acceptable.”
Ms. Blood said she had not gotten a response from the governor’s office as of Wednesday night.
The highly infectious Delta strain and poor vaccination rates, according to health experts, are driving the rise. Nebraska officials are failing to vaccinate their residents, with just 57 percent of individuals receiving at least a partial vaccination. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the national rate is 61 percent.
Gov. Ricketts also announced on Thursday a new health policy that would go into force on Monday, limiting elective operations.
The statewide restrictions come just days after Nebraska Medicine, Methodist Health, and Bryan Health announced that elective procedures will be suspended in order to save hospital capacity. The nurse shortage was mentioned as a reason in Nebraska Medicine’s decision.
The governor stated on Thursday that he is “still against” mask regulations, vaccination requirements and the use of vaccine passports but he encouraged all Nebraskans to be vaccinated.
Lizbeth Osuna, a teacher at Peter Cooper Public School, gets a Moderna COVID-19 vaccination in Chicago in February. Credit… Associated Press/Shafkat Anowar
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said on Wednesday that by Oct. 15, all municipal workers must be completely vaccinated against the coronavirus. The city’s move, which makes it the second-largest in the nation to do so, comes as coronavirus infections continue to spread quickly throughout the country.
More than 30,000 personnel, including police officers, firemen, park staff, and sanitation workers, would be affected by the legislation. Employees may request a religious or medical exemption.
In a statement, Ms. Lightfoot said, “As instances of Covid-19 continue to increase, we must take every measure necessary and at our disposal to keep everyone in our city safe and healthy.” “Getting vaccinated has been shown to be the most effective method of doing this and recovering from this terrible epidemic. As a result, we’ve chosen to join other communities and other organizations throughout the country, including the US military, in taking steps to safeguard the individuals that keep our cities and country moving.”
Last week, the Los Angeles City Council approved a similar vaccination requirement for the city’s roughly 60,000 municipal employees (the public schools there are not part of the city government). Mandates have also been enacted by Los Angeles County and the city of Seattle.
Teachers and other school workers in New York Municipal will be forced to be vaccinated, and other city employees will be compelled to either get vaccinated or submit to weekly coronavirus testing, according to Mayor Bill de Blasio.
On Monday, the Food and Drug Administration gave full clearance to Pfizer-coronavirus BioNTech’s vaccine for individuals aged 16 and above, making it the first vaccination in the United States to go beyond emergency-use status.
Ms. Lightfoot’s administration has had a tumultuous relationship with key labor unions, and she is likely to encounter opposition from their members, especially in the police officers’ union. Her government was in talks with labor unions on Wednesday to “create a vaccine policy that is practical, fair, and effective,” she added.
The Chicago Fraternal Order of Police stated earlier this week that it was opposed to a mandate and that it was waiting for further information from the mayor’s office.
While unions believe in the advantages of vaccination, according to Bob Reiter, president of the Chicago Federation of Labor, which represents union members in Chicago and Cook County, “we do not think punitive requirements are the appropriate way to substantially boost vaccine uptake.”
In an email, Mr. Reiter said, “We think this news will strengthen resistance to the vaccination, rather than safeguarding the employees who have given so much over the last 18 months.”
Nearly 64% of Chicago residents aged 12 and up are completely vaccinated, whereas 60% of Americans aged 12 and up are fully vaccinated nationally.
Soldiers from the United States Army stationed at Ft. Bragg Army Post in North Carolina wait to be vaccinated against the coronavirus. Credit… The New York Times’ Kenny Holston
The secretary of defense stated in a letter that mandatory vaccination against the coronavirus will begin immediately for active-duty U.S. military members who have not yet received injections, but no firm date has been established.
The secretary, Lloyd J. Austin III, ordered “all members of the armed forces under D.o.D. authority on active duty or in the Ready Reserve, including the National Guard, who are not fully vaccinated against Covid-19 to immediately begin full vaccination of all members of the armed forces under D.o.D. authority on active duty or in the Ready Reserve, including the National Guard, who are not fully vaccinated against Covid-19.”
Only vaccinations that have been authorized by the federal government will be used, according to the letter, which was sent on Tuesday. According to the study, military commanders should “impose aggressive deadlines for implementation” and report on progress on a regular basis, utilizing existing mechanisms for obligatory vaccination reporting.
At a press conference on Wednesday, Pentagon spokesman John F. Kirby claimed that 68 percent of active-duty soldiers, including the National Guard and Reserves, were already completely vaccinated. He claimed that the Navy had the highest vaccination rate, with 73 percent of sailors receiving complete vaccinations, while the Army had the lowest, with just 40 percent of soldiers receiving full vaccinations.
Mr. Kirby said, “The secretary has made it plain to the military departments that he expects them to act quickly here and have the force completely vaccinated as soon as possible.”
On Monday, the military began mandating Covid immunizations after receiving federal clearance for Pfizer-vaccine BioNTech’s for individuals aged 16 and above. The FDA has only granted emergency use authorizations to the other two vaccines now in use in the United States, which are manufactured by Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.
Mr. Austin said that “mandatory vaccines are known to all Service personnel, and mission essential inoculation is nearly as ancient as the United States military itself.” “To far, our administration of safe, effective Covid-19 vaccinations has yielded commendable results, and I am certain that the Department of Defense will work together to complete the task with haste, skill, and compassion.”
During the months when vaccination was optional for the military’s 1.4 million active-duty soldiers, a current of opposition formed among the younger personnel.
Mr. Kirby explained that now that vaccination is mandatory, service members who refuse and do not have a valid medical or religious exemption will be given the opportunity to discuss the vaccine with a physician and their commander, which should address the service member’s concerns, before facing discipline.
Mr. Kirby said, “It’s a legal command, and it’s our hope that soldiers would follow lawful instructions.” “We also expect commanders to have a variety of additional options at their disposal to increase vaccination rates and persuade these people to make the correct choice without resorting to disciplinary action.”
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The Global Surge Is Leveling Off, although at a Rapid Pace According to the World Health Organization (W.H.O. ),
Despite ongoing rises in certain areas, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization, said the number of coronavirus infections globally showed indications of flattening after rising for almost two months.
The worldwide number of Covid-19 cases and fatalities remained steady last week after rising for almost two months. However, it has remained constant at a high level, with over 4.5 million cases and 68,000 fatalities. However, the situation varies greatly from one area to the next, from one nation to the next, from one province to the next, and from one town to the next. Cases and fatalities continue to rise in certain areas and nations, while they decline in others. This virus poses a danger worldwide as long as it is circulating.
Despite ongoing rises in certain areas, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization, said the number of coronavirus infections globally showed indications of flattening after rising for almost two months.CreditCredit…Ezra Acayan/Getty Images
The Globe Health Organization stated in its latest weekly assessment that new coronavirus infections are flattening across the world, despite the fact that they are still increasing fast in the United States.
According to the World Health Organization, approximately 4.5 million new cases were recorded globally in the week ending Aug. 22, about the same as the week before, and the pace currently “seems to be stable” following two months of continuous increase.
At a press conference, the organization’s director general, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, stated, “It is steady at a very high level.” “This virus is a danger worldwide as long as it is circulating.”
The number of deaths recorded from Covid-19 was comparable to the previous week, at 68,000 worldwide, but they continued to increase in Europe and the Americas, according to the World Health Organization.
As the Delta variety spread quickly and governments debated whether to reinstate mitigating measures, the United States recorded the most new cases and fatalities of any nation, with a 15% rise in cases from the week before, according to the World Health Organization. The country’s death toll for the week was 6,712, up 58 percent from the previous week.
Cases are also on the rise in the United Kingdom, which reported 219,919 new cases last week, an increase of 11%, according to the World Health Organization. Iran and India also reported more new cases than the United Kingdom, although their numbers, as well as those of Brazil, another key pandemic hotspot, dropped last week.
Japan, which hosted both the Olympic and Paralympic Games, had the greatest case rise, with 149,057 new cases recorded for the week, up 34% from the previous week. Some Southeast Asian nations, including Malaysia and the Philippines, have seen substantial increases in cases, while Thailand and the Philippines have seen significant increases in fatalities.
Since the start of the epidemic, approximately 211 million individuals have been infected with the coronavirus, and slightly over 4.4 million people have died from Covid-19, according to the World Health Organization.
In February, security officers stood watch outside the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China. Credit… Getty Images/Hector Retamal/Agence France-Presse
According to U.S. officials, the director of national intelligence delivered a report on the origins of the coronavirus epidemic to President Biden on Tuesday, but the nation’s spy agencies have not yet determined whether the disease was the result of an accidental lab leak or if it emerged naturally in a spillover from animals to humans.
Mr. Biden had ordered the nation’s intelligence agencies to draft a report on the virus’s origins three months ago, in part to give the agencies a chance to examine a trove of data that had not been fully exploited, and to give the agencies a chance to examine a trove of data that had not been fully exploited.
However, the investigation, which looked at data from a virology research facility in Wuhan, China, where the virus initially spread, has failed to address the most pressing issue regarding its origins. Its lack of findings highlights the difficulties of determining the virus’s origin, especially given China’s reluctance to assist with international studies into the virus’s origin.
Intelligence agencies began investigating the origins of the epidemic in the months after its onset. Mike Pompeo, the former Secretary of State, urged the agencies to investigate the possibility that the virus was developed in a Chinese lab and inadvertently released. To investigate the issue, Mr. Pompeo established his own research group.
Intelligence agencies rejected out claims that the malware was intentionally released under the Trump administration. They couldn’t say which was more likely: an unintentional leak from a lab studying coronaviruses or the virus’s natural evolution, they added.
Many scientists were originally dubious of the lab leak hypothesis, but this year, at least some of them grew more receptive to investigating it. In March, a World Health Organization study deemed the lab leak hypothesis to be implausible, which was challenged by others.
Following that study, Biden administration officials were irritated by the Chinese government’s decision to cease participating with future World Health Organization studies into the pandemic’s roots. Biden administration officials requested a 90-day assessment of the intelligence in the face of what they termed Chinese intransigence and a split American intelligence community, culminating in the report presented to the president on Tuesday.
Current and former authorities have frequently cautioned that pinpointing the pandemic’s exact origins may be a task for scientists rather than spies. Under the leadership of National Intelligence Director Avril D. Haines, the agencies have increased their collaboration with scientists in order to better understand the present epidemic and potential future pandemics.
Officials also cautioned that the 90-day assessment period was likely insufficient to make any firm conclusions.
For the time being, the study is classified, and authorities have refused to disclose its conclusions. Ms. Haines’ office, though, is expected to declassify some material later this week, according to authorities.
When questioned about the story by reporters on Wednesday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki replied, “I can’t clearly comment to a classified briefing.” “I understand your need for an unclassified summary; it is something the intelligence community has been working on, and it will be made public as soon as it is available.”
When asked whether the president would be happy if the investigation came up empty-handed, Ms. Psaki said he was doing all he could to find out the facts.
“I can tell you that the president wants to get to the bottom of the underlying causes of Covid-19, which has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans, as you mentioned, and wishes that more had been done earlier to get to the bottom of it, and to save more lives,” she added.
Reporting was provided by Daniel E. Slotnik.
Experts from the World Health Organization visited the Wuhan Institute of Virology earlier this year, in the Chinese city where Covid-19 was discovered. Credit… Getty Images/Hector Retamal/AFP
Experts working for the World Health Organization on the origins of the coronavirus cautioned on Wednesday that the investigation has “stalled” and that additional delays may make it difficult to retrieve key evidence regarding the outbreak’s start.
“The biological feasibility of performing crucial trace-back of humans and animals within and beyond China is quickly closing,” the scientists said in an editorial published in the journal Nature. They said that many investigations of blood samples and wildlife farms in China were required to understand how Covid-19 developed.
The commentary amounted to a defense of the team’s work and a call for follow-up research amid a raging discussion over whether a laboratory event might have launched the epidemic. On Tuesday, President Biden received a second assessment from American intelligence agencies investigating the pandemic’s origins, but it provided no new information about whether the virus originated in a lab or spread naturally from animals to people.
The international expert team, which was sent to Wuhan, China, in January as part of a joint investigation by the World Health Organization and China, has come under fire for publishing a report in March that said a coronavirus leak from a lab was “extremely unlikely,” despite the fact that it was possible.
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the World Health Organization’s director-general, stated immediately after the report’s publication that the research had not properly evaluated the potential of a lab leak.
Infected animals may have transmitted the virus to humans, according to virologists. The expert panel repeated recommendations in an editorial published on Wednesday to test the blood of employees on wildlife farms that supplied animals to Wuhan markets to determine whether they had antibodies suggesting previous coronavirus infections. More farmed wildlife or animals that may have been affected should be screened, according to the researchers. (The editorial also mentions, rather pessimistically, that many Chinese wildlife farms have been shut down and their animals slaughtered since the epidemic broke out, making proof of early human-to-animal transmission difficult to come by.)
The team cited a recent report showing that markets in Wuhan sold live animals susceptible to the virus, such as palm civets and raccoon dogs, in the two years leading up to the outbreak, and argued that the weight of evidence supporting a natural spillover was greater than that supporting a lab leak.
Marion Koopmans, a Dutch virologist and co-author of the editorial, called it a “cry for haste” in an interview.
“We were worried that there is practically little debate on the majority of the recommendations that are not linked to the lab hypothesis, and there is, of course, a lot of discussion about the lab narrative, especially coming from the United States,” she added. “Our fear is that, as a result of that focus, the remainder of the program will get less attention.”
According to Dr. Koopmans, experts will need to analyze blood samples from late 2019 before discarding them in order to identify the virus’s initial instances. She claimed the expert team was assured during its visit to Wuhan that blood banks there would retain samples for longer than the customary two years, but she has yet to get access to them.
The Chinese government has ceased collaborating with WHO studies, making any hypotheses regarding the virus’s origins impossible to evaluate.
At a press conference on Wednesday, W.H.O. official Michael Ryan chastised China for promoting unsubstantiated theories that the coronavirus escaped from an American military lab.
“It’s somewhat paradoxical if colleagues in China say the lab leak theory is false in the context of China, but we now need to travel to other nations and conduct laboratory studies for leaks there,” Dr. Ryan added.
Chinese scientists, on the other hand, have reported starting some of the follow-up research suggested by the international expert panel, he added.
On Wednesday, the editorial expressed worry over delays at the World Health Organization. This month, the organization announced the formation of an advisory committee to investigate the development of novel diseases, as well as assist investigations into the coronavirus. This additional layer of bureaucracy, according to the editorial, “runs the danger of adding many months of delay.”
The establishment of the advisory committee, according to Dr. Tedros, the organization’s director-general, “will not impede the advancement of the research into the origins of SARS-CoV-2.”
The World Health Organization said it was already trying to confirm investigations into the first reported cases outside of China.
A laboratory scientist at Fort Detrick, Maryland’s US Army Medical Research and Development Command. Credit… Associated Press/Andrew Harnik
When a conspiracy theory circulating in China claimed that the coronavirus had escaped from an American military laboratory, it was mostly dismissed. The governing Communist Party has now successfully pushed the concept into the mainstream.
This week, a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry used an official platform to promote unsubstantiated theories that the coronavirus originated at a research facility in Fort Detrick, Maryland. Global Times, a Communist Party newspaper, launched an online petition in July asking for an investigation of the lab, claiming to have received more than 25 million signatures.
Officials and state media have pushed a nationalistic Chinese hip-hop group’s rap song, “How many plots came out of your laboratories,” which makes the same allegation. “How many dead corpses do you have hanging on a tag?”
As it fights back against attempts to examine the pandemic’s roots in China, Beijing is pushing unfounded claims that the US is the real source of the coronavirus. The volume has increased in recent weeks, indicating the authorities’ fear of being blamed for the worldwide epidemic that has killed millions.
“Not only does this contribute to the continued degradation of US-China ties, but it also makes it even less probable for the two nations to work together to address a shared challenge,” said Yanzhong Huang, director of Seton Hall University’s Center for Global Health Studies. “We haven’t seen any bilateral collaboration on vaccinations, tracking the virus’s course or mutations, or anything like that.”
Unvaccinated Delta Air Lines workers will be charged extra to remain on the corporate health plan beginning Nov. 1. Credit… The New York Times’ Stefani Reynolds
In the next weeks and months, Delta Air Lines will increase the pressure on workers to be vaccinated with a series of more onerous regulations, but it will fall short of the restrictions enacted by other airlines and companies.
The carrier’s chief executive, Ed Bastian, wrote to workers on Wednesday, saying that anyone who had not been vaccinated would be forced to wear masks inside immediately. They will also be required to undergo weekly coronavirus testing beginning September 12.
Employees who test positive for the virus and miss work due to quarantine will lose pay protection on Sept. 30 if they are unvaccinated. Finally, beginning Nov. 1, any employee who has not been vaccinated will be charged an extra $200 per month to stay on the company’s health care plan.
“This fee will be required to handle the financial risk that our business faces as a result of our choice not to vaccinate,” Mr. Bastian said. “All Delta workers who have been hospitalized with Covid in recent weeks after the emergence of the B.1.617.2 strain were not completely vaccinated.”
According to him, the typical coronavirus-related hospitalization costs the business $50,000 per person. (The airline originally said that the cost would be $40,000, but subsequently changed its mind.) Delta, like many big businesses, insures its own employees, which means it pays for health care out of pocket and employs insurance companies to administer the programs.
According to Mr. Bastian, the onerous rules apply to a decreasing portion of the airline’s workforce, with 75 percent of workers already immunized.
“In the face of this global health catastrophe, we’ve always recognized that vaccines are the most effective instrument to keep our people safe and healthy,” he added. “As a result, we’re taking extra, aggressive steps to boost our immunization rate.”
According to Mr. Bastian, Delta runs the largest immunization site in Georgia out of its flight museum, which is located in Atlanta, the airline’s major hub. There have been more than 115,000 doses provided to state citizens and more than 150,000 doses given to workers, their families, and friends.
According to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, around 50.5 percent of Georgia’s adult population is completely vaccinated, putting the state towards the bottom of the nation.
The airline takes a different strategy than some of its rivals. United Airlines, for example, declared last month that all passengers will be required to get vaccinations. On September 27, the requirement will go into force. Employees who provide evidence of immunization by September 20 will be paid for a full day’s work. Frontier Airlines, a smaller airline, has announced that vaccination will be required by Oct. 1.
Roundup of the World
In March, vaccinations were administered in Wuhan, China. China has already immunized about 55% of its population. Credit… Getty Images/Getty Images/Getty Images/Getty Images/Getty Images/G
Residents in at least 12 Chinese cities have been advised that refusing Covid-19 vaccines may result in punishment if they are discovered to be spreading outbreaks.
The most recent official warnings, which were issued this and last week, show China’s concern about eradicating the more transmissible Delta strain, which has lately spread in many cities. China has completely immunized around 55% of its population, but authorities say the country needs to attain an 80 percent vaccination rate to achieve herd immunity.
While many commercial businesses and government organizations are requiring Covid-19 vaccines, China seems to be taking things a step further by linking refusal to get the vaccine to punitive punishment.
Unless they had a medical exemption, officials warned they would “hold accountable” anyone who refused to get vaccinated if they were responsible for spreading an epidemic. They didn’t say what kind of punishment they were planning. People who refuse to get vaccinated will have their refusal recorded in their “personal credit score,” according to numerous cities in central Hubei Province. They may not be allowed to go to work or access hospitals or railway terminals.
Some Chinese voiced their displeasure with the new requirements on Weibo, a popular social media site. Many people said that the policy went against their wishes.
Although China has reduced the number of daily cases to single digits, the current outbreak has put the government’s commitment to a zero-Covid policy in jeopardy.
In other news, here’s what’s going on in the world:
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On Wednesday, New South Wales, Australia’s most populated state, set a new day record with 919 new coronavirus cases. Sydney, the country’s capital, has been shut down for the last two months. Following reports that one hospital in the cluster’s core has begun limiting the number of new patients it can accept, there are fears that Sydney’s health care system is struggling to deal with the Delta epidemic. Queensland closed its borders on Wednesday to New South Wales, Victoria, and the Australian Capital Territory, all of which are battling to control outbreaks, citing an overburdened quarantine system.
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Last month, at a facility in Auckland, New Zealand’s biggest city, five individuals may have been given saline solution instead of a vaccination dosage. At a press conference on Wednesday, New Zealand’s senior health officer, Ashley Bloomfield, said there was only a “possibility” that any of the 732 individuals vaccinated that day had not gotten a dosage. According to statistics collected by Johns Hopkins University, New Zealand recorded 62 new cases on Wednesday, the highest daily total in more than a year, increasing the overall number of cases for the pandemic to 3,160. Before an outbreak last week, the country had gone months without a case, prompting an urgent nationwide lockdown.
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The World Health Organization said in a briefing on Wednesday that the western Pacific’s proportion of worldwide coronavirus infections and fatalities is “increasing rapidly,” owing in part to the Delta variety. Dr. Takeshi Kasai, the W.H.O. western Pacific regional director, said, “Until a few weeks ago, our area had fared relatively well, with about 2% of worldwide cases and deaths.” According to him, that figure rose to 10% of new worldwide cases and 8% of new global fatalities in the first three weeks of August.
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On Wednesday, a day after the Tokyo Paralympics had a spectator-free opening ceremony, Japan extended its state of emergency to eight additional prefectures, bringing the total number of prefectures under emergency orders to 21. According to a New York Times database, the number of new daily cases has risen by 65 percent in the last two weeks, reaching an average of 23,003 every day. The state of emergency will be in effect until September 12th. The Paralympics, which end on Sept. 5, are similar to the Olympics, in that they are being conducted nearly completely without spectators.
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Vice President Kamala Harris offered a million doses of the Pfizer vaccine to Vietnam on Wednesday, citing the country’s biggest epidemic to yet. The commitment brings the overall number of vaccine doses donated to the country by the United States to six million. According to Reuters, Vietnam has started giving patients who have recovered from Covid a monthly stipend if they agree to remain on at overburdened hospitals to assist health staff. According to the news agency, a hospital head offered patients “personal protection equipment, food, lodging, and a monthly stipend of 8 million dong,” or $350, in a letter to patients.
Yan Zhuang, Natasha Frost, and Hikari Hida contributed reporting.
The date has been changed to August 25, 2021.
The overall number of coronavirus cases in New Zealand was incorrect in a previous version of this story. The nation has recorded 3,160 cases, not 210, since the epidemic started.
Florida has seen the worst of the pandemic so far. The delta variant in florida by county is a map that shows where the virus has spread most in Florida.
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