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Covid-19 Mutation

US Sends Covid-19 Team To Southwest To Combat Spreading Of Delta Variant 

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The US government is sending a Covid-19 surge team to provide public health support to southwest Missouri, which is currently battling the spread of the Delta variant and causing hospital beds to fill up at exponential rates. 

In the city of Springfield, Missouri the CoxHealth hospital system has already begun transferring patients to other facilities that have better staffing. The Missouri Covid-19 caseload is currently the second highest in America with an average of 16 new cases per 100,000 people appearing everyday, according to Johns Hopkins University data. 

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“We’re already starting to see places with low vaccination rates starting to have relatively big spikes from the Delta variant,” said Dr. Ashish Jha, Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.

“We’ve seen this in Arkansas, Missouri, Wyoming … Those are the places where we’re going to see more hospitalizations and deaths as well, unfortunately. And any time you have large outbreaks, it does become a breeding ground for potentially more variants,” he explained.

According to the CDC, 39.4% of Missouri residents are fully vaccinated while 56% have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine. 

Overall, the data is showing that Covid-19 is more likely to remain in less vaccinated communities, especially as the Delta variant continues to spread, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, who heads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. “If there was ever a reason to get vaccinated, this is it. America has ample vaccine supply, but there is still a significant portion of people who don’t want the shots.”

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“There are places in the world where people would do anything to get a vaccine, and yet we have a substantial proportion of people in very specific regions of the country, who just do not want to get vaccinated.”

The Biden administration said it would be deploying response teams composed of individuals from the CDC throughout the country in response to the spreading of the Delta variant. Members of the Department of Health and Human Services and the Federal Emergency Management Agency will also be deployed to areas of the country where vaccination rates are low. 

“The surge team in Missouri will include an epidemiologist, research assistants, a health communication specialist, contact tracers and others who will help with vaccination and outreach, according to the health department. More team members will be added, both remotely and in person, to assist with data and research, vaccine uptake strategies and outreach,” said Lisa Cox, a communications director with the Missouri health department.

So far 47.5% of the US population has been fully vaccinated. Two months ago the US was fully vaccinating individuals at a rate of about 490,000 a day, that number has since plateaued. The US Food and Drug Administration could potentially approve of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine this month which would likely sway many more Americans to get vaccinated; right now the vaccine is simply approved for emergency use as all the others are. 

“That will be a telltale sign for them to say ‘Why am I on the fence any longer? This has now been fully approved by the FDA,’ and even though it’s got a great record already, that will I think be another stamp of approval,” said Andy Slavitt, a former White House senior adviser for Covid Response.

US Airline Companies Want Government Leaders To Lift Covid-19 Travel Restrictions 

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Major airline companies are urging the United States government to move quicker when it comes to lifting travel restrictions between the US and Europe. Many countries within the European Union have opened up their borders for international travel, causing many US airline leaders to urge our nation to do the same. 

This week, the heads of several major airline companies held a virtual news conference to discuss the easiest way to ease and fully remove travel restrictions, specifically between the United States and United Kingdom, where Covid-19 has been prominent. 

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The call included chief executives of Heathrow Airport, group leaders in the US Travel Association, as well as the CEOs of American Airlines, IAG unit British Airways, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, and JetBlue. 

The US has barred nearly all non-US citizens who have been to the UK from coming back to the country since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020. Airline officials have claims that no change is expected to occur, so they’re taking matters into their own hands by calling on government leaders. 

This past Friday France announced, however, that vaccinated Americans will be able to travel to the country starting June 9th. American Airlines President Robert Isom said: 

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“We know there is tremendous pent-up demand for service. We have a lot of capacity to be ready to go for European travel, so we’re going to take it whenever it comes.”

Many airline officials believed that May 2021 was going to be the month in which international travel would really be able to resume with many individuals getting vaccinated, however, the government has yet to make any major changes to the current restrictions and requirements. 

The White House is mainly focused on bringing US vaccination rates to where President Joe Biden initially planned for it to be by the 4th of July; 70% of Americans having at least one vaccine. Additionally, the Biden administration is focusing on getting younger Americans vaccinated, as adolescents currently account for 25% of all Covid-19 cases in America. 

“We certainly understand the desire of many Europeans to come to travel the United States and vice versa. We can’t respond to public pressure or even emotion. We have to rely on the guidance of our health and medical experts,”  White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

Delays In Adolescents Receiving Their Covid-19 Vaccinations Could Hinder US Recovery

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Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, an expert epidemiologist, recently spoke to the press about how some US populations are seeing an amazing increase in vaccination rates, while other groups in the nation are experiencing lags in their distribution, especially among adolescents, which could lead to a major delay in the country’s recovery as a whole. 

Children currently account for 25% of all Covid-19 cases in America due to the fact that they’re not yet vaccinated. 

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“As we’ve gotten more and more of our seniors vaccinated, more and more people with pre-existing conditions, more and more people who may be healthy and younger, the question becomes how do we protect our children?”

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently performed a study in which they examined more than 200 adolescents aged from 12 to 17-years-old who were hospitalized within the first three months of 2021, likely with Covid-19. The report showed that while there were no deaths, a third of the adolescents were admitted to intensive care units because of their illness, and 5% required mechanical ventilation. 

“Every single one of those hospitalizations, every single one of those kids in the ICU, can now be prevented now that vaccinations are available to those 12 to 17. As certain states lag behind the national average vaccination rate, however, it could spell trouble for the youngest and most vulnerable populations. What we also see is that the same places where adults are lagging, teens are lagging,” emergency physician Dr. Anand Swaminathan said to CNN. 

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About 13 states have hit President Joe Biden’s goal of getting 70% of all US adults vaccinated with at least one Covid-19 vaccine by July 4th. However, experts like Leana Wen claim that the parts of the nation with lower vaccination rates are expected to experience another wave of coronavirus infections among its unvaccinated residents. 

“Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Wyoming, Tennessee and West Virginia have the lowest vaccination rates – with less than 50% of adults having received at least one dose. Vermont, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine and New Jersey boast the highest, with 75% or more of their adult population partially vaccinated. One issue for where vaccinations are lagging is lack of access and messaging in certain communities,” Dr. Swaminathan explained.

“There are people who don’t understand the fact that this is free. That messaging hasn’t been done as much as it should be.There are barriers for people who can’t get paid time off of work or have issues finding childcare that prevent them from getting the vaccine.”

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases told CNN that he’s optimistic children younger than 12 could receive their vaccinations by Thanksgiving this year. 

“We are now doing studies that are ongoing, studies that are looking at what we call age de-escalation, children from 12 to 9 and ten 9 to 6 and then 6 to 2 and then 6 months to 2 years. We hope that as we approach the end of the calendar year we’ll have enough information to vaccinate children of any age.” 

European Union Flags

What Vaccinated Americans Need To Know If They Want To Travel To Europe This Summer 

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As more Americans receive their Covid-19 vaccinations, many are planning their first vacations for when the world begins to reopen more. On May 19th, the European Union voted to ease Covid-19 restrictions for travelers from Covid “safe” countries, as well as vaccinated foreigners from nations that are deemed “unsafe,” like the US. 

The new list of criteria for nonessential travel to Europe is likely to be enforced within the next two weeks. These restrictions will also only apply to Americans who are fully vaccinated with Pfizer, Moderna, or Johnson & Johnson; other vaccines will not be accepted. Fully vaccinated also means it’s been at least two weeks since your final dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, or two weeks from the single J&J shot. 

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The European Union is made up of 27 countries, all of which will open their borders to vaccinated Americans once the new restrictions are officially adopted. Greece, Ireland, and Italy have already begun accepting American travelers who arrive on a Covid-tested flight or provide proof of vaccination. 

Americans are also able to travel to the United Kingdom, which formally split from the European Union last year, although nonessential travel is still discouraged between the US and UK. The Bureau of Consular Affairs also has a list of all the countries accepting vaccinated US tourists.

People who are not vaccinated may travel to some countries if they show proof of a negative Covid-19 test and adhere to each country’s quarantine rules. The overall goal is to get everyone vaccinated, so quarantine policies will likely stay enforced for a while until the world reaches a greater herd immunity. 

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As of right now the only way to prove your immunity is to display the card you received after getting your Covid-19 vaccine, which carries the CDC logo and all appropriate information. Covid-19 “passports” and smartphone applications are a growing concept, and will likely be more heavily enforced not only for travel, but massive gatherings as well like sporting events and concerts. 

If you’re vaccinated, for the most part it’s safe to travel, but continue to adhere to all proper social distancing and safety procedures, including wearing a mask on public transportation. Like with the rest of the pandemic, it’s important to think about your personal health and the individuals in your house. 

According to the CDC, “all air passengers returning to the US from another country must provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken no more than three days before returning, and then test once more three to five days after returning home. Before traveling, you should consider the current prevalence of COVID-19 in your chosen country.”

USA Covid-19 Virus

Experts Claim US Is Turning A Corner On Covid-19, Expecting Cases To Drop Exponentially 

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Experts are remaining positive that while the rate of Covid-19 vaccinations is slowing in the US, in a matter of weeks we could begin to see a major decline in cases and deaths. Dr. Johnathan Reiner is a professor of medicine and surgery at George Washington University who recently spoke to the press about this optimistic outlook on the coming months. 

“This summer is going to seem so much closer to normal than we’ve had in a very long time. The key statistic to think about is … what percentage of the adult population has received at least one vaccination.”

“Roughly 58% of US adults — and nearly 46% of the country’s total population — have received at least one Covid-19 vaccine dose, and more than 34% of the US population is fully vaccinated,” CDC data shows.

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Reiner says that once the US passes the 60% mark for American adults with at least one dose, it’s likely that case numbers will plummet greatly. “I expect during the month of May we will see daily cases drop dramatically and deaths finally drop to quite low numbers.” Although the US hasn’t technically reached herd immunity yet, other experts still believe it will begin to return to a sense of normalcy this summer. 

Dr. Anthony Fauci predicted that about 70-85% of Americans need to be immune from Covid-19 for the nation to truly reach herd immunity; when enough people are immune from the virus that is spread will be suppressed. 

“However, even before you get to that, as you get more and more people vaccinated, you will reach a point … where you’ll start to see the number of cases going down dramatically, I would say we’re turning a corner.”

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Last week President Joe Biden set a goal of administering at least one Covid-19 vaccine dose to 70% of American adults by July 4th. Experts at this point, however, think getting people vaccinated will be an uphill battle this summer. 

“We’ve got a path ahead of us, which will involve getting people even easier access to the vaccine, making sure that people build their confidence, those who have questions about the vaccines, that we answer their questions. And making sure that we do … this in a fair and equitable way,” White House Covid-19 Response Coordinator Jeffrey Zients said. 

“What I really worry about is that those people who are already on the fence don’t get vaccinated and we don’t reach herd immunity come the fall. Then with the winter … we have a big resurgence, maybe we have variants coming in from other countries, and we could start this whole process all over again and have another huge pandemic come the winter.” CNN medical analyst and emergency physician Dr. Leana Wen claimed. 

Fauci claims its unlikely the US will see the kind of surge that we did last fall and winter since more Americans are vaccinated now, however, we must remain diligent with the health and safety procedures that have been keeping so many of us safe throughout the past year, at least until a greater herd immunity is met.

Vaccine Covid

Experts Claim US Covid-19 Vaccination Efforts May Begin To Slow Now

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The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention claim that more than 42% of Americans have at least one Covid-19 dose now, and roughly 29% are fully vaccinated.

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Immunity Coronavirus

Expert Claims Israel May Have Reached ‘Sort Of Herd Immunity’ From Covid-19

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Eran Segal is a computational biologist at the Weizmann Institute of Science who recently spoke with the local Israeli media about how Israel in general may have reached a “sort of herd immunity” after getting nearly 4.9 million residents fully vaccinated. This led to a 97% decrease in the amount of new Covid-19 cases appearing in the nation.

“It is possible that Israel has reached a sort of herd immunity and regardless, we have a wide safety net. I think that makes it possible to remove some of the restrictions immediately.”

Segal claimed that now that most Israelis are immunized, a multitude of economic sectors can begin reopening to assist the nation in its recovery post-pandemic. He also cited that since the gatherings over the Purim and Passover holidays did not lead to any direct spike in cases, the vaccines were proving to be more than effective.

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If Israel does actually achieve this goal, they will be the first country in the world to hit herd immunity. Last week, researchers at the University College London said that the United Kingdom would reach herd immunity by Friday; a claim that was immediately disputed.

Israel has already begun rolling back on a multitude of coronavirus restrictions within the recent months as more and more citizens received their vaccinations. Businesses were able to reopen, even venues and other gathering activities were able to occur more frequently has morbidity levels dropped exponentially with the country’s world-leading vaccination drive.

The Israeli Health Ministry is expected to lift outdoor mask mandates in public spaces later this month while some restrictions on gatherings and schools are still being enforced to protect younger generations.

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Israel is continuously limiting the number of people who can enter and/or exit the nation every day as well, as many experts are worried about the multitude of variants around the world that could potentially undermine the effectiveness of their vaccination program.

Government ministers this past week voted to further ease certain Covid-19 restrictions in schools; they removed the requirement that made fourth graders learn in much smaller class sizes. Ministers also ended the requirement that made all students present a health declarations signed by their parents to enter into a classroom. All universities and colleges are also now able to hold all tests in person.

Currently, Israeli residents are allowed to gather outdoors in crowds up to 100 and up to 20 for indoor gatherings. Cultural and even venues are allowed to host up to 750 people under the Green Pass Program. This program is designed to grant access to public venues exclusively for individuals who have been fully vaccinated or have recovered from the coronavirus.

As of this past Saturday there were 4,002 active Covid-19 cases throughout Israel; 221 of which were recently diagnosed last week. The Health Ministry claims that 268 individuals are in serious condition, but the death toll has remained at 6,292. According to the ministry over 5.3 million citizens are vaccinated with their first dose while 4.9 million are now fully immunized.

Syrigne of Covid Vaccine

China Looking For Foreign Vaccine Options After Admitting To Ineffective Vaccines

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This weekend, the director of China’s health agency claimed that Covid-19 vaccines being produced by private and state-run groups are not very effective. This announcement comes after an Oregon congressman began pushing for more effective and compassionate vaccine property rights to be shared among the world to end the pandemic more quickly.

The Associated Press initially reported that the director of the China Centers for Disease Control, Gao Fu, claimed Chinese vaccines “don’t have a very high protection rate.” Sinovac is the privately-owned company that has been producing Covid vaccines in China. Sinopharm is a state-owned firm responsible for the same thing. International testing has revealed that the vaccines from both businesses are 50% effective in preventing moderate to severe Covid-19 symptoms.

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Despite the fact that Pfizer and Moderna have both tested to be 97% and 94% effective respectively, Gao Fu casted doubt on mRNA technology in general, so both vaccines weren’t even put under consideration. This weekend, however, Gao Fu claimed that China is considering other vaccine options now, as their goal is to vaccinate 40% of it’s population by June; for reference they currently have about 5% of their 1.4 billion population vaccinated.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have claimed that 35% of US residents have received at least one of their shots by now. Earl Blumenauer is the Oregon Congressman who also discussed how access to effective vaccines “is a key to global herd immunity from COVID.”

“None of us are safe, we’re only a plane ride away form being reinfected.”

Several lawmakers share Blumenauer’s viewpoints, and have even signed a request to the Biden Administration to temporarily lift intellectual property rights to the Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson&Johnson vaccines. “The idea is for other countries to produce effective vaccines too.”

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“It’s in everyone’s interest to do this, we’ll only be safe when the whole world can be protected, but it’s hard when wealthy countries like the US bought up most of the initial supply of effective vaccines.”

“This risks further deepening of global inequities, sparking new tensions and divides, with really serious ramifications for stability and progress around the world. Letting Covid circulate in other countries will yield stronger variant strains, which may be resistant to current vaccines.”

Martha Newsome is the president of Medical Teams International, a Pacific Northwest-based organization that works to vaccinate people in poorer countries.

“It’s literally a human rights issue. I think sometimes we just think ‘I need to get my family vaccinated, I need to get my community vaccinated,’ but we will not get out of this pandemic isolation that we’re feeling until everyone is vaccinated.”

The pharmaceutical industry opposes sharing intellectual property rights, however, which Blumenaur claims is a “short-sighted, and frankly inhumane attitude to have when facing a global health crisis. If we don’t defeat this virus together, it’ll come back to bite us.”

Americans Covid-19 Vaccine

CDC Reports 22 Million Americans Have Now Been Vaccinated For Covid-19 Safely 

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Early safety data from the first month of Covid-19 vaccinations in America has shown that the shots are just as safe as the studies have suggested. So far every individual who has experienced an allergic reaction to the vaccine has been successfully treated, and no other serious problems have appeared within the 22 million people who have now been vaccinated. 

The data has been collected from several different tracking systems throughout the nation. One of the voluntary programs lets patients easily text any symptoms they experience after being vaccinated directly to the researchers collecting the information. Another program specifically seeks out people who have had a negative reaction to the vaccine and the other collects reports from medical records.

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The CDC has claimed it’s nearly impossible to prove something is 100% safe, however, the data from these tracking systems is exactly what health officials need to see in order to continue with vaccination programs, as they only further prove what the trials already told them. These systems have also ensured healthcare officials already that the approved vaccines are not causing any dangerous or negative effects among large groups of people; meaning any negative symptom that has appeared so far has been due to the individuals personal immune response and isn’t an indication of a larger problem. 

As it currently stands more than 22 million Americans have received at least one of the two vaccine doses from either Pfizer or Moderna. Of those more than 70% reported pain, 33% fatigue, 30% headaches, 23% muscle pain, and about 11% chills, fever, swelling, or joint pain. The side effects were also the same among both Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines, though people generally had a harder time recovering from the second dose than the first. 

According to the CDC’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, “more than 9,000 people reported side effects after vaccination. The problems in slightly more than 1,000 of those reports were considered serious. The majority of complaints involved headaches, fatigue, dizziness, nausea, chills, fever and pain.”

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One way that the CDC looks to see whether or not a vaccine is safe or not is to look at the number of individuals who have died within a few days of their vaccination, and compare it to the number of people expected to die over a given period of time. The reporting system showed 196 deaths after Covid-19 vaccinations, of those, 66% were residents of long-term care facilities; 1.3 million nursing home residents have been vaccinated within the past month. 

“In a group that large followed over that length of time, 11,440 people would be expected to die of all causes. That led the CDC to conclude the much lower number of nursing home deaths were not caused by vaccination,” according to Barbara Bardenheier of the Brown University School of Public Health. 

“Findings suggest that short-term mortality rates appear unrelated to vaccination for COVID-19 in skilled nursing facility residents,” according to a summary of the study’s results. The CDC is currently investigating whether or not individuals who have had Covid-19 in the past and have been vaccinated are more susceptible to an allergic response, however, no solid link has been found at this time.

UK First Covid-19 Vaccine

First Individuals Receive Covid-19 Vaccine In UK 

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The United Kingdom has become the first nation in the world to begin administering a Covid-19 vaccine to its citizens in a non-trial context. 90-year-old Margaret Keenan received the first of two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine this morning. Keenan turns 91 next week, and claims to feel “privileged” that she was given the first shot. 

“It’s the best early birthday present I could wish for because it means I can finally look forward to spending time with my family and friends in the New Year after being on my own for most of the year.”

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William Shakespere is the 81-year-old Briton who received the second shot of the Covid-19 vaccine after Keenan this morning. Throughout the rest of the UK, Nurse Joanna Sloan became the first person in Northern Ireland to receive the vaccine and George Dyer became the first individual living in London to get the shot. 

Dyer is a former butcher and hospital volunteer who claims to feel very lucky to be one of the first people in the world to receive the vaccination. “Covid-19 is a terrible thing and I feel very lucky that I can now get this vaccine to keep the virus away. It’s like I’m about to be given a new lease of life, and I cannot wait to get back out there and make myself useful again.”

Gill Rogers is a Sussex resident who received the vaccine on Tuesday. Rogers’ husband unfortunately died from the virus back in April, and she claims the grief has been “quite hard” to endure especially in isolation, so the vaccination is giving her the ability to at least go outside and see others with a little less worry. 

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All vaccinated individuals should continue to abide by all standard health and safety practices implemented by the CDC until further notice, however, the vaccine does at least provide that extra layer of security. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the UK media this Tuesday morning that the vaccine will “gradually make a huge difference. It’s amazing to see the vaccine come out, it’s amazing to see this tremendous shot in the arm for the entire nation, but we can’t afford to relax now. I would just say to all those who are scared, don’t be … you see people take the vaccine this morning, in large numbers, people are going to be taking it in the next few days, and weeks and there is nothing to be nervous about.”

The UK has ordered 40 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine but only 800,000 shots will be made available for the first wave of distribution so that other parts of the world that have already reserved dosages of the vaccine will have access to them as well once their respective governments give them the go ahead. 

The vaccine also is two doses administered at least three weeks apart, so around a third of the UK will be vaccinated after the first round of distribution. If the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine gets approved as well in the coming weeks, as it’s currently projected to, the UK will also have 7 million doses reserved for itself. 

Currently there are 50 vaccination hubs in hospitals across England and dozens others across Wales and Scotland. Individuals over the age of 80 as well as healthcare workers will be the first to be vaccinated. For now it’s only being made available via invitation for those 80 or over/all workers in the healthcare industry.