Biden up to working on the pandemic, the CDC adjusts vaccine guidelines and increases death tolls around the world. Here’s what you need to know:
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Headlines
Biden institutes pandemic measures during his first days in office
Joe Biden has not wasted time tackling the public health crisis that will invariably define his presidency. On Wednesday, just hours after being sworn in as the 46th president of the United States, he signed three executive orders relating to the pandemic. The next day he issued ten executive orders and published his administration’s 198-page plan to treat the coronavirus. The new provisions cover everything from improving data collection to increasing testing capacity to increasing the manufacture of vaccine supplies with the help of the Defense Production Act. Biden described the strategy as “a war enterprise.”
Among those represented in Biden’s first series of executive orders are essential workers. The new president has ordered OSHA to more strictly enforce workplace safety rules to curb the spread of the virus and to implement a new measure that would force employers to take more precautions. He plans to sign another order today to increase the protection of federal workers. There are also new safety rules in the White House. Those who work closely with the president wear bracelets that indicate they have been tested that day and that the N95s are mandatory for anyone working in the White House.
CDC updates vaccine administration guidelines as increasing efficiency remains a challenge
Yesterday, the CDC updated the vaccination guidelines on its website, saying the second doses of Modern and Pfizer / BioNTech vaccines can be given up to six weeks after the first dose if the recommended timeframe is not feasible. This change is in line with the Biden administration’s plan to release all available doses of the vaccine instead of withholding half of it to ensure that those who have obtained the first delivery get the second at the right time. Opponents of the change have expressed concern about deviating from the way vaccines were administered during clinical trials.
Biden releases these doses as part of his commitment to vaccinate 100 million Americans in his first 100 days in office. CDC data suggest the country has already reached a rate of about one million daily vaccines administered several times in recent weeks, but it also indicates that states and cities administer less than half of the doses they have received. Rapid vaccination is more important than ever as new strains of the virus appear. Mutations develop when a virus spreads: the more people are inoculated, the easier it will be to suppress them.
A year after the coronavirus reached the state, the pandemic is almost out of control
Exactly one year ago, WIRED journalist Megan Molteni asked, “Could China’s new coronavirus become a global epidemic?” Now we know. As of this week, more than 400,000 Americans have been killed by the virus, a dark milestone that Joe Biden marked in a memorial service on the eve of his inauguration. Although hundreds of thousands of Americans are being vaccinated every day, there are still many areas — from reopening schools to safe travel — where Americans are making their way through the darkness.
All over the world, the state of the pandemic remains unchanged. Germany, once recognized for its effective response to the pandemic, has seen its death toll rise rapidly in recent weeks after cases peaked last month. In the UK, the situation continues to worsen: its daily death toll per capita is currently only second in Portugal. Even China, where life had returned to normal during the autumn, is now facing a new outbreak.
Daily distraction
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Something to read
Donald Trump is no longer online. And even if their accounts are reactivated, it will cease to be at the center of the national discourse. But, writes Jason Parham of WIRED, we are now faced with a new question: what will fill the gap left by the bewildered tweets of the former president?
Sanity Check
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A question
What community resources can be used to help vaccinate more people?
To vaccinate as many people as possible, officials will need to gather wherever they are, in their communities. According to some doctors, fire services and emergency medical service agencies could be key to doing so. Both respond daily to emergencies in their communities and are distributed based on population density. In addition, the vast majority have paramedics and communicate regularly and well with public health authorities. Giving firefighters and EMS teams the resources to administer Covid-19 vaccines could be an option worth exploring, as our national vaccination program appears to be increasing.
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