Tag: pandemic

New U.S. coronavirus cases rise by 12 percent; nation braces for fourth pandemic wave

Washington Post logo

NOTE: This article is provided free to all to read by The Washington Post.

New coronavirus cases in the United States continued to rise in the past week, jumping by as much as 12 percent nationwide, as senior officials implored Americans to stick to public health measures to help reverse the trend.

The seven-day average of new cases topped 63,000 for the first time in nearly a month, according to data compiled by The Washington Post, while states such as Michigan, Vermont and North Dakota reported substantial spikes in new infections. The nation appeared poised for a fourth wave of illness even as vaccine eligibility is expanding in many states.

Michigan led the nation in new cases with a 57 percent rise over the past week. The state, which relaxed covid-related restrictions earlier this month, also reported the largest increase in coronavirus hospitalizations, which grew by more than 47 percent. Continue reading.

‘Breathtaking’ interviews show Trump was ‘impervious’ to pleas to take pandemic seriously: NYT’s Haberman

Raw Story Logo

New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman on Monday described recent CNN interviews with former Trump public health officials as “breathtaking,” and said it showed how many of them were frustrated by their inability to get former President Donald Trump to take the coronavirus pandemic seriously.

While appearing on CNN, Haberman said that Dr. Deborah Birx and other former Trump health officials were now speaking freely after being muzzled for much of the past year.

“I think they wanted to peel off the muzzle,” she said. “I think it spoke to their frustration about what happened, spoke to their feelings on their own part, could they have done more, was there something else that could have been done… It’s breathtaking how quickly this happened.” Continue reading.

After Voting to Deliver Billions in Aid to Minnesota, Phillips to Visit Community Vaccination Site in Bloomington

Rep. Phillips banner

Phillips will tour the Mall of America Community Vaccination Site as vaccine eligibility expands in Minnesota

BLOOMINGTON, MINNESOTA – Today, Rep. Dean Phillips (MN-03) will visit the Mall of America Community Vaccination Site as vaccine eligibility expands in Minnesota following American Rescue Plan distribution investments. Phillips will meet with local public health leaders and health care workers at the State-run site, which was created to expand vaccine access and improve equity. Minnesota’s vaccine administration is among the best in the nation, and after a record-setting weekend, nearly one-third of adults have received their first dose. 

Earlier this month, Phillips helped pass the American Rescue Plan, a historic COVID-19 relief bill that delivered $4.9 billion in aid to the state of Minnesota and is supported by a wide majority of Americans. According to state officials, more than $850 million will go towards public health, including $85 million to expand and improve COVID-19 vaccine distribution and administration. With new funding and additional vaccine supply forthcoming, Gov. Walz expanded eligibility to include all Minnesotans age 16 or older beginning March 30.

Continue reading “After Voting to Deliver Billions in Aid to Minnesota, Phillips to Visit Community Vaccination Site in Bloomington”

Far-Right Extremists Move From ‘Stop the Steal’ to Stop the Vaccine

New York Times logo

Extremist organizations are now bashing the safety and efficacy of coronavirus vaccines in an effort to try to undermine the government.

Adherents of far-right groups who cluster online have turned repeatedly to one particular website in recent weeks — the federal database showing deaths and adverse reactions nationwide among people who have received Covid-19 vaccinations.

Although negative reactions have been relatively rare, the numbers are used by many extremist groups to try to bolster a rash of false and alarmist disinformation in articles and videos with titles like “Covid-19 Vaccines Are Weapons of Mass Destruction — and Could Wipe out the Human Race” or “Doctors and Nurses Giving the Covid-19 Vaccine Will be Tried as War Criminals.”

If the so-called Stop the Steal movement appeared to be chasing a lost cause once President Biden was inaugurated, its supporters among extremist organizations are now adopting a new agenda from the anti-vaccination campaign to try to undermine the government. Continue reading.

Company with Trump administration tie may be COVID-19 vaccine bottleneck

Roll Call Logo

Company may be part of the reason why Johnson & Johnson vaccines are delayed

A pharmaceutical contractor under scrutiny for its ties to former government officials could be one of the bottlenecks holding up the production of millions of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines.

Emergent BioSolutions, the U.S. company making “drug substance,” the active ingredient in the vaccines, is still awaiting regulatory authorization, according to a company official familiar with the process. Emergent-made doses were not included in the paperwork Johnson & Johnson submitted to the Food and Drug Administration. That means that the material Emergent makes would not be available to be used for vaccines that can be administered in the United States now. 

Johnson & Johnson is due to deliver 20 million doses by the end of March, but just 4.7 million had been delivered as of March 25, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Continue reading.

All Minnesotans 16 and older will be eligible for COVID-19 vaccine starting March 30

Star Tribune logo

Starting Tuesday, the expanded eligibility will add 1.2 million Minnesotans to the pool of candidates. 

The COVID-19 vaccine will be available to all Minnesotans 16 and older beginning Tuesday, Gov. Tim Walz announced Friday morning.

A statement from the governor’s office said Minnesota’s most critical goal is getting “as many Minnesotans vaccinated as quickly as possible to end this pandemic,” which is showing signs of increased activity in the state again.

“Minnesotans have done a remarkable job helping our most vulnerable get vaccinated and waiting their turn,” Walz said in a statement prepared ahead of a live video address at 11:30 a.m. “Now, as we prepare to receive more vaccine heading into April, it’s time for all Minnesotans to get in line.” Continue reading.

COVID death toll could have been under 300K if Trump took the pandemic seriously early on: analysis

Raw Story Logo

While the tide against coronavirus seems to be turning for the better — at least in some parts of the U.S., there is still the question of what could have been done differently at the outset of the pandemic.

“It’s likely that the government’s response to the pandemic led to hundreds of thousands of deaths that could have been prevented,” writes the Washington Post’s Philip Bump. “And it’s likely that the pandemic response cost Donald Trump the presidency.”

Bump cites research from Andrew Atkeson of the University of California at Los Angeles, who found that if widespread testing and mask mandates had been implemented early on, the country’s death toll could have been held below 300,000 in total. Continue reading.

Biden’s new goal is 200 million COVID-19 vaccinations in first 100 days

The Hill logo

President Biden on Thursday announced an updated goal to administer 200 million COVID-19 vaccinations in his first 100 days in office during his first press conference.

During his first official press briefing, Biden laid out his new target after the U.S. reached his original goal of 100 million vaccinations on Friday, the president’s 59th day in office. 

“That’s right: 200 million shots in 100 days,” Biden said. “I know it’s ambitious, twice our original goal. But no other country in the world has even come close, not even close to what we are doing. I believe we can do it. Continue reading.

Executive resigns from hospital that offered early vaccines to employees at Trump’s Chicago hotel

Washington Post logo

The chief operating officer of a small Chicago hospital resigned on Wednesday after reports that he used coronavirus vaccines meant for low-income residents to vaccinate employees at his luxury wristwatch dealer, his regular steakhouse and his condo building — which is former president Donald Trump’s Chicago tower.

The resignation of Anosh Ahmed was announced late Wednesday by Loretto Hospital, a hospital serving a majority-Black neighborhood on Chicago’s West Side.

Ahmed’s actions — reported over the past week by the news site Block Club Chicago — had raised concerns that Loretto executives were putting their friends ahead of their patients. The city of Chicago had already cut off Loretto’s supply of new vaccines while it investigated. Continue reading.

Pandemics and gun violence are real life, not ‘theater’

Roll Call Logo

And the word is not the insult Rand Paul and Ted Cruz seem to think it is

Perhaps Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky needs a refresher course on the meaning of the word “theater.” His GOP colleague Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas could listen in.

The former recently initiated a verbal brawl with Dr. Anthony Fauci, the infectious disease specialist who has been providing information and advice to guide Americans dealing, along with the rest of the world, with a deadly pandemic. The latter accused anyone proposing the consideration of gun restrictions, in light of two horrific mass shootings in the space of a week, of “ridiculous theater.”

Now, I realize the term “theatrical” can be used as an insult hurled at someone accused of exaggeration, but what is happening in America is a fact. So let me offer my own definition: “Theater” is the thrill of escaping from it all in a darkened hall with a group of strangers, to see and hear professionals act or sing or dance, and to be uplifted by the experience, if only for an hour or two. Continue reading.