In Colorado, most who are eligible to be vaccinated against Covid-19 have received at least one dose so far, Gov. Jared Polis said Friday, highlighting the milestone.
With 75% of eligible Colorado residents who have started vaccination, the governor noted that it is “a major success, but it also means that there are 25%, one in four Coloradoans, who are eligible, who still have to get out and protect yourself because we can end this pandemic. “
Polis begged the unvaccinated to receive their shots, arguing that they hold the key to the availability of critical health care.
“Actually, we have the lowest ICU rate we have had since the beginning of this crisis, in part due to vaccination with Covid and other types of trauma that increase seasonally at this time of year. year, “Polis explained. “Some hospitals come very close to their capacity limits. And that wouldn’t happen if people were vaccinated.”
Meanwhile, on the east coast, Vermont, Connecticut and Massachusetts have completely vaccinated at least two-thirds of their population. The trio is also among the states that recorded the lowest rate of new cases per capita over the past week, according to CDC data.
And while the unvaccinated now make up a slight minority of the total population, Covid-19 patients are straining health resources in a way that health experts have insisted can be prevented by inoculation.
Vaccines offer critical protection against variants
Among all ages, the Modern vaccine was 95% effective against hospitalization, while the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine was 80% effective and the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was 60% effective, according to study.
But among those over 75, the study found that the effectiveness of the hospitalization vaccine was lower. The effectiveness against hospitalization for adults under 75 was 89%, but it was 76% among those over 75, according to the study.
Meanwhile, the Mu variant of Covid-19 has appeared on the radar of health experts, but Dr. Anthony Fauci on Friday assured people that it shows no signs of being more resistant to vaccines than the Delta variant.
“The reason for the attention was drawn, it had several mutations that were of interest. But when you look at the effect of antibodies against these mutations, it’s not a matter of alarm, because, although it decreases a little protection, falls well within the range of Delta and Beta (another variant of the coronavirus), “Fauci said at a briefing on the White House Covid-19 response team.
And, as federal health officials consider a booster dose of vaccine for most Americans, full vaccination still means two doses of a Covid-19 mRNA vaccine or a dose of Johnson & Covid-19 vaccine. Johnson said CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky on Friday. But he acknowledged that this may change.
“I anticipate that it can be updated over time, but we will leave it to our advisors to make us some recommendations,” he said during a briefing by the White House Covid-19 response team.
Tests help prevent school quarantine, the expert says
Meanwhile, as schools across the country struggle to return to classrooms safely, a former federal health official urged Covid-19 testing to be an effective approach to preventing outbreaks.
Putting students on “pods” in schools and doing asymptomatic routine tests are the most effective ways to try to reduce diffusion in schools, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
He explained that regular tests can prevent a large number of students from being quarantined and therefore not miss classes.
“Instead of quarantining this entire classroom, you just need to test them seriously to make sure you haven’t had an exposure that has resulted in a later case, so you can use evidence to prevent quarantine.” he said Friday during an Axios act.
He added that even as Covid-19 case indices decrease, children continue to experience an increase.
“While cases are declining in all age categories, the only age category in which it continues to increase is in school-age children,” he said.
Students at Westlake High School, Sandtown Middle School and Renaissance Middle Schools are moving to remote learning due to a “high volume of positive cases and direct contacts” and have reached level 2, which includes having 3 or more students. or staff members who test positive in the same place. The school system said it plans to resume face-to-face learning at these three schools on September 21st.
CNN’s Virginia Langmaid, Deanna Hackney, Deidre McPhillips and Kay Jones contributed to this report.