More than a year and a half after the coronavirus outbreak, most Americans believe the coronavirus remains a major threat to public health and the U.S. economy, according to a report from the Pew Research Center released Wednesday .
Despite widespread vaccination efforts, 54% of adults in the United States say the worst outbreak is yet to come. The report, based on a survey of 10,348 U.S. adults as of August 23-29, 2021, found that 73% of those over the age of 18 say they have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine. About a quarter of adults say they have not received any vaccine. Some of the lowest vaccination rates are seen among those without health insurance and white evangelical Protestants (57% each), as well as among Republicans and Republicans (60%).
Black adults are now as likely as white adults to say they have received a vaccine (70% and 72%, respectively). Early in the outbreak, African Americans were less likely to say they planned to get a vaccine against COVID-19.
Also in the news:
► “Saturday Night Live” student Jim Breuer says on his Facebook page that he will not act in places that require vaccination tests. Breuer says he would not attend two scheduled stand-up shows “because of the segregation that forced people to show up with the vaccines, to show that you are vaccinated.”
► A federal judge temporarily blocked New York on Tuesday to force medical workers to get vaccinated after a group of health workers reported them.
► More than 4,000 students at California State University (Sacramento) did not provide evidence that they had been vaccinated before the Sept. 13 deadline and are now denied access to campus.
►The Buffalo Bills became the second NFL team to require all eligible members of the public to submit vaccination tests. The Las Vegas Raiders previously demanded fans 12 years or older.
📈Today’s numbers: The United States has reported more than 41 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and more than 663,000 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. World total: more than 225 million cases and 4.6 million deaths. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 179 million Americans (54% of the population) have been completely vaccinated.
📘What we are reading: France reopened to all Americans in June. Despite the recent EU recommendation for member countries to ban Americans, it remains open, at least to vaccinated U.S. residents. Read what it’s like to visit Paris as an American vaccinated during the pandemic.
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Survey: August $ 3.7 million COVID hospital bills were double June and July combined
An increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations among people who have not been vaccinated is adding billions of dollars in preventable costs to the country’s health care system, according to an analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF).
In August, the new analysis estimates that the preventable costs of treating unvaccinated patients in hospitals total $ 3.7 billion, nearly double the June and July estimates combined. The total preventable costs for these three months are currently estimated at $ 5.7 billion. The estimates are based on KFF’s analysis of data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and find that each COVID-19 hospitalization accounts for approximately $ 20,000 in hospital costs.
1 in 500 Americans has died from COVID
The United States hit another pandemic milestone on Tuesday: one in 500 Americans has died from COVID-19, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. With 662,899th deaths, America reported a toll equal to 0.2% of the population, according to the number of people who responded to the 2020 census that was conducted near the start of the pandemic. Half of these deaths have occurred since just before Christmas 2020.
The country reached this point, as hospitalizations have increased due to the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus. The increase has led to a shortage of health facilities that have not been seen since the winter peak of COVID-19, before vaccines became widely available in the US.
Since last week, the United States also reported more cases of COVID-19 in 2021 than the previous year. In the last 28 days, the country has registered 4.3 million new cases and more than 39,000 deaths.
– Mike Stucka
Clinics specialize in post-infection COVID problems
Clinics are opened nationwide specifically to treat patients with post-infection COVID-19 disease. Like the virus, these new clinics are far from uniform. Some focus on one or a handful of symptoms, such as smell and taste, headaches, or heart problems. Others try to address a number of complaints. Some were specifically trained to treat long-range COVID-19. Doctors are involved in trial and error to find out what works.
Dr. Zijian Chen, an endocrinologist at the Icahn School of Medicine in Mount Sinai, New York, said he is concerned that clinics treat those who appear at their doors instead of all those who need help.
“We don’t want to preferentially treat those who seek help,” he said, “we want to contact those who may not even know there is help.” Read more here.
– Stephanie Innes and Shari Rudavsky
Biden Order: Vaccine Warrant or Test Warrant?
One week ago, President Joe Biden signed a measure requiring employees of companies with more than 100 workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or to undergo weekly tests if they were not working from home. It has been called a vaccine warrant, but experts say it can be thought of as easily as a trial warrant. Both will help the ultimate goal of fighting the pandemic, but there are trade-offs. Vaccination, although disputed by some, is free. Tests help slow the spread, but they are expensive and it is not yet known who will pay. But the evidence alone is not enough, experts say.
“You’re not going to try to get out of the pandemic,” said Daniel Salmon, director of the Institute for Vaccine Safety at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “We need high levels of immunity from the population that will come from vaccination, which provides better protection than from natural infections.”
– Elizabeth way
COVID-19 kills 6 Florida family members in 3 weeks
For months, Lisa Wilson went door-to-door in Belle Glade, Florida, trying to convince people to get vaccinated against coronavirus. Despite Wilson’s insistence that the shots save lives, some members of her own family ignored her. In the last three weeks, six of them died from complications of COVID-19.
The nightmare began in late August when her 48-year-old uncle died. One day after his funeral, his 89-year-old grandmother was hospitalized and died 24 hours later.
Quickly, three more cousins followed and on Sunday a 44-year-old assistant football coach from her family died.
“I was in his ears almost every day. “You just did that,” Wilson said Tuesday. “I’m hitting myself. Should I have pressed harder?”
– Jane Musgrave, Palm Beach Post
The Tennessee pastor banned Twitter due to misinformation of COVID-19
Controversial Tennessee pastor Greg Locke, who has been repeatedly accused of spreading misinformation about COVID-19, was banned from Twitter on Tuesday. After the permanent suspension, Locke, who is pastor of Global Vision Bible Church on Mount Juliet, posted a video on Facebook saying he was being censored for “throwing evangelical bombs.”
Locke Church has been holding face-to-face services, including a tent, since 2020 amid the pandemic. He has been vocal in his opposition to COVID-19 protocols, even declaring his church a mask-free zone.
– Natalie Neysa Alund, The Tennesseean
Arizona is suing for federal immunization standards for workers
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich on Tuesday filed a legal challenge against federal requirements for companies to require COVID-19 vaccines or weekly testing in companies with 100 or more employees, and considered it excessive scope.
“This is a violation of individual liberties,” Brnovich said Tuesday in a call to reporters, adding that the law leaves these health decisions to states.
Brnovich’s office filed a complaint with the U.S. District Court for the Arizona District to seek a ruling declaring the new federal policies unconstitutional. The Attorney General’s Office said the lawsuit was the first of its kind filed in the U.S., although greater action is expected across the country. According to President Joe Biden’s plan, the requirement for employees to be vaccinated or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing applies to employers with 100 or more employees. Employers who fail to comply could receive fines of $ 14,000 for infringement.
– Ryan Randazzo, Republic of Arizona
Collaborator: The Associated Press
This article originally appeared in the US TODAY: Americans believe the worst of the pandemic is yet to come. COVID-19 updates