ATLANTA (CNN) – First, the good news: the United States reported a record high of 4.6 million doses of vaccines administered in one day, according to data released Saturday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .
“Amazing Saturday! + 4.63 million doses administered yesterday out of the total, a new record” he tweeted Dr. Cyrus Shahpar, COVID-19 White House Data Director. “Last Saturday, more than 500K more than the previous record. Incredible number of doses administered.”
The problem is that more than 75 percent of the U.S. population is not fully vaccinated, according to CDC data Saturday.
Now the bad news: for the third week in a row, new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are on the rise, according to CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walenky.
“Cases and emergency room visits have increased,” Walensky said Friday. “We are seeing these increases in younger adults, most of whom have not yet been vaccinated.”
Variant B.1.1.7 is not only more contagious than the original coronavirus strain: it is now the dominant strain in the US.
Experts say that variant B.1.1.7 can cause more serious illnesses and can also be more deadly.
Last week, the U.S. averaged more than 68,000 new COVID-19 cases each day, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
This is more than 20% above the seven-day average of March 10th.
Across the country, more Americans between the ages of 18 and 64 have gone to the emergency departments for complications from COVID-19, Walensky said.
He said trends are “magnified” in one part of the country: the West Midwest.
“CDC is working closely with public health officials in this region to understand what is driving these cases and how we can intervene,” Walensky said.
“A race of life and death”
Florida has the highest number of reported B.1.1.7 cases, according to the CDC, followed by Michigan, which reports thousands of new COVID-19 cases daily.
Michigan health officials say they are in the middle of another wave of COVID-19.
“This variant B.1.1.7 … is more contagious, and I think there’s only fatigue from this pandemic, so a lot of people don’t wear masks or have social distances, so we’ve basically taken back to Michigan,” he said. said Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Philadelphia Children’s Hospital’s Vaccine Education Center.
“It’s really frustrating, because we’re almost there,” he said. “We have to stay there for the next two months and we don’t.”
Some Michigan hospitals are delaying and rescheduling non-emergency procedures “on a case-by-case basis,” a spokesman for the Michigan Health and Hospital Association said.
“Hospitals want everyone to have the care they need and only reschedule procedures as a last resort,” John Karasinski said. “We want to stress that hospitals are safe for everyone who needs care and that any individual with an emergency medical need should seek care immediately.”
In both Michigan and Minnesota, “there is concern about broadcasting in youth sports, both in club sports and in school-affiliated sports,” Walensky said Friday.
Minnesota health officials warned that the state saw one “strong increase” in COVID-19 cases, saying it is “more important than ever” to continue wearing a mask and physical distancing.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said the number of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and ICU admissions in his state is increasing.
“Now we’re going in the wrong direction,” DeWine said Thursday. “More than half of our counties, 53, have seen it increase.”
“We can still change that if more people continue to be vaccinated,” he said. “This is a race. We are in a race. And it is a race of death or life.”
New York loosens the rules of physical distancing for some students
By contrast, New York is recording a drop in hospitalizations and the 7-day average positivity rate since early December, according to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office.
Hospitalizations are the lowest since Dec. 2, with 4,083, while New York State’s positivity rate fell just below 3%. New York City’s 7-day positivity rate also dropped to its lowest level since Dec. 1 and reached 3.58 percent, the governor’s office said.
These numbers, combined with recent CDC guidelines, prompted the New York Department of Health to update its 6- to 3-foot physical distance rules for elementary, middle, and high schools with low and moderate risk of COVID transmission. -19.
Schools with a substantial risk of transmission may also maintain a distance of 3 feet, but should also implement cohorts when possible. The cohort is when groups of students stay together and with the same staff throughout the day to reduce the spread of COVID-19, according to the CDC.
Middle schools with high risk of transmission should be kept 6 feet away when collaboration is not possible, the state said.
However, high-risk elementary schools can still meet the 3-foot requirements.
“Evidence indicates that there is a lower susceptibility and incidence of COVID-19 among younger children than compared to adolescents; therefore, face-to-face instruction poses less risk of in situ transmission in primary schools compared to primary schools. medium and secondary, ”the health department said.
There are still times when 6 feet should be held, depending on the state, including students and teachers, between students when they eat and when students are in common areas outside of classrooms, such as gyms, cafes and corridors. the new rules.
These new social distancing guidelines come after the CDC made similar recommendations in March.
CNN has contacted the New York Department of Education and the New York City Department of Education for comment.
More evidence that vaccines are safe and effective
Although younger, unvaccinated adults are hospitalized with COVID-19, the number of elderly Americans hospitalized or dying from COVID-19 continues to decline.
Health experts say this is because older people are more likely to get vaccinated than younger adults.
More than 78% of people age 65 and older have received at least one dose of vaccine and 60% have been completely vaccinated, according to CDC data.
And there is growing evidence demonstrating the safety of vaccines for adults of all age groups.
Less than 1 in 28,000 people who received a COVID-19 vaccine (or less than 0.004%) have reported serious adverse reactions, according to data from the Department of Health’s vaccine adverse event reporting system. Human Services or VAERS.
“Vaccine providers are encouraged to report any clinically significant health issues to VAERS after vaccination, regardless of whether or not they believe the cause of the vaccine,” the VAERS website said.
The good news is even when severe reactions occur, “they usually occur within the first 30 minutes,” said vaccinologist Peter Hotez of Baylor College of Medicine.
“That’s why vaccination sites keep people there between 15 and 30 minutes later,” he said.
The CDC recommends that people who have had a history of severe allergic reactions stay 30 minutes after vaccination. Others could leave in 15 minutes.
All sites where vaccines are given should be armed with epinephrine to quickly fight any case of anaphylaxis, the CDC said.
The surgeon general said there are simple steps to end this pandemic:
“One: get vaccinated as soon as possible,” Dr. Vivek Murthy said. “And two: also help vaccinate the people you care about.”
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