NEW YORK (Reuters) – Tennessee emerged alongside California on Wednesday as the epicenter of the latest wave of COVID-19, even as more than a million Americans have been vaccinated as U.S. political leaders try protect yourself from a highly contagious coronavirus variant that crosses Britain.
Tennessee averaged about 128 new infections per 100,000 people over the past week, the highest in any U.S. state, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. California ranked second with 111 new cases per 100,000 residents.
“Our state is zero for a rise in COVID-19 and we need Tennessees to do their part,” Governor Bill Lee said on Twitter, urging residents to wear masks and meet only with members of their own home during Christmas.
Some public health officials say U.S. trips and meetings for Thanksgiving contributed to the latest explosion of cases nationwide.
In all, 31 U.S. states have reported a bleak history of new COVID-19 infections in December, as hospitalizations and deaths also rise. More than 194,600 new cases were confirmed on Tuesday alone.
The CDC said as of Wednesday morning more than a million people across the country had been given the first of two doses needed for the two approved coronavirus vaccines. But most Americans have been told it could take six months or more before they are eligible to receive the shots, as priority is given to health care workers, nursing home residents, and in some cases, to senior government officials.
Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. head of infectious diseases, received the Modern vaccine on live television Tuesday. President-elect Joe Biden was inoculated Monday in front of the Pfizer / BioNTech camera in front of the cameras.
CONCERN GROWS BY THE MUTANT VARIANT
U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Democrat from Minnesota, criticized political leaders earlier this week for taking the lead in the firing line.
“We are no more important than front-line workers, teachers, etc. who make sacrifices every day. That’s why I won’t take it, “Omar said on Twitter.
The Trump administration said Wednesday it had reached a $ 2 billion deal with Pfizer to distribute an additional 100 million doses of its vaccine in July.
But Americans who saw a ray of hope in the release of the two vaccines in December knew that an even more transmissible variant of the coronavirus was spreading to the UK. Drug manufacturers Pfizer and Moderna tested their vaccines against the variant, but believed the drugs would be effective against the mutant virus.[n4N2J229V]
The United States, unlike many nations around the world, has not banned travelers from Britain.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city would order international travelers to be quarantined for 14 days upon arrival and provide contact information to government officials. The sheriff’s deputies will pay visits to enforce order on those arriving from Britain, the mayor said.
Travelers who violated these orders receive fines of $ 1,000 a day, Blasio said.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has asked airlines to analyze British travelers for COVID-19. The state was an early epicenter of the virus and has recorded more than 36,000 deaths from COVID, far more than any other state.
Washington State Governor Jay Inslee this week ordered a 14-day quarantine for travelers arriving from the United Kingdom, South Africa or other countries where the new variant had been detected.
In New York City, vaccination programs were expanded to firefighters, where about 6,000 troops have contracted the virus, commissioners Dan Nigro told reporters. Some 400 FDNY paramedics lined up to receive the first doses of the Modern vaccine Wednesday, including Verena Kansog, Manhattan’s advanced life support coordinator, who was shot at a Randalls Island training center.
“I feel relieved,” Kansog, worried about bringing the disease home to her elderly mother, told Reuters in a telephone interview. “I wasn’t even nervous.”
Report by Gabriella Borter and Dan Whitcomb; Additional reports by Anurag Maan, Carlo Allegri, Jonathan Allen, Peter Szekely, Lisa Lambert, Susan Heavey and Steve Gorman; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Leslie Adler