Tag: pandemic

Biden Pledges Federal Vaccine Campaign to Beat a Surging Coronavirus

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Facing looming shortages and rising infections, the president-elect promised mobile vaccination sites, National Guard troops and a federal push to increase vaccine production.

WASHINGTON — President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., racing against a surge in coronavirus cases and the emergence of a new variant that could worsen the crisis, is planning a vaccination offensive that calls for greatly expanding access to the vaccine while using a wartime law to increase production.

In a speech on Friday in Wilmington, Del., Mr. Biden told Americans that “we remain in a very dark winter,” allowing, “the honest truth is this: Things will get worse before they get better.”

“I told you,” he said, “I’ll always level with you.” But he also tried to offer hope for an end to a pandemic that has taken nearly 390,000 American lives and frayed the country’s economic and social fabric. Continue reading.

CDC warns highly transmissible coronavirus variant to become dominant in U.S.

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NOTE: This article provided to the public free of charge by The Washington Post.

The highly contagious variant of the coronavirus first seen in the United Kingdom will become the dominant strain in the United States within about two months, its rapid spread heightening the urgency of getting people vaccinated, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicted Friday in its most sobering warning yet about mutations in the virus.

In every scenario explored by the CDC, the U.K. strain, which British researchers estimate is roughly 50 percent more transmissible than the more common coronavirus strain, will account for a majority of cases in the United States by some point in March.

The CDC released modeling data to back up its forecast showing a rapid spike in infections linked to the U.K. strain. The agency said the emergence of these mutation-laden variants requires greater efforts to limit viral spread — immediately, even before the U.K. variant becomes commonplace. Continue reading.

Vaccine reserve was exhausted when Trump administration vowed to release it, dashing hopes of expanded access

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States were anticipating a windfall after federal officials said they would stop holding back second doses. But the approach had already changed, and no stockpile exists.

When Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced this weekthat the federal government would begin releasing coronavirus vaccine doses that had been held in reserve for second shots, no such reserve existed, according to state and federal officials briefed on distribution plans. The Trump administration had already begun shipping out what was available, starting at the end of December, taking second doses for the two-dose regimen directly off the manufacturing line.

Now, health officials across the country who had anticipated their extremely limited vaccine supply as much as doubling beginning next week are confronting the reality that their allocations will remain largely flat, dashing hopes of dramatically expanding access for millions of elderly people and those with high-risk medical conditions. Health officials in some cities and states were informed in recent days about the reality of the situation, while others were still in the dark Friday.

Because both of the vaccines authorized for emergency use in the United States are two-dose regimens, the Trump administration’s initial policy was to hold back second doses to protect against manufacturing disruptions. But that approach shifted in recent weeks, according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter. Continue reading.

Fact-checking Biden’s speech on his coronavirus economic relief plan

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President-elect Joe Biden on Thursday night announced his nearly $2 trillion economic plan to deal with the economic fallout from the coronaviruspandemic. There were five factual claims he made that caught our interest.

When we queried the Biden-Harris transition team, we received citations for each factoid within 15 minutes — setting a standard for a response that we hope is maintained. The Trump White House, of course, rarely responded to such queries, generally because the president’s claims almost never could be supported.

“Just since this pandemic began, the wealth of the top 1% has grown by roughly $1.5 trillion since the end of last year — four times the amount for the entire bottom 50%.”

The source for this statistic is the Federal Reserve, which has a website showing the distribution of household wealth in the United States since 1989. Continue reading.

Gov. Walz and Lt. Gov. Flanagan Update: January 15, 2021

Governor Walz Calls for Civility, Calm, and Peace on Statewide Tour

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This week, in the wake of last week’s events in Washington D.C., Governor Walz visited American history monuments across Minnesota to call for calm, civility, and peace. At the Minnesota History Center in St. Paul, a Civil War Memorial in Wasioja, and a Vietnam War Memorial in Duluth, Governor Walz encouraged Minnesotans to reflect on the greater context that led to this dark moment in history.

As our nation works to hold those who incited last week’s violence accountable, Governor Walz urged Minnesotans to reflect on how divisive rhetoric undermined our democratic institutions over time and called on Minnesotans to come together to restore democracy for all.

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Continue reading “Gov. Walz and Lt. Gov. Flanagan Update: January 15, 2021”

Experts warn of vaccine stumbles ‘out of the gate’ because Trump officials refused to consult with Biden team

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Even as COVID-19 cases continue to overwhelm hospitals, the Trump administration balked at close communication with its successor

The last time a presidential transition began during a national emergency — in 2008 amid the Great Recession — the outgoing Bush administration set aside partisanship to work closely with incoming Obama officials on how to deal with the economic collapse.

“Everyone was completely responsive to any question,” said Lawrence Summers, director of the National Economic Council under President Barack Obama. “They talked to us about major decisions.”

That smooth handoff is in stark contrast to what is happening now as President-elect Joe Biden prepares to assume power during a double-barreled crisis involving a lethal virus and its economic fallout that experts say demands close cooperation. Instead, as thecoronavirus overwhelms U.S. hospitals and kills more than 3,300 people a day on average, the Trump administration has balked at providing access to information and failed to consult with its successors, including about distributing the vaccines that offer the greatest hope of emerging from the pandemic. Continue reading.

Minnesota widens COVID-19 vaccine eligibility

Leftover doses can go to those 65 and older, it says. 

Health care providers and other vaccinators can start giving COVID-19 vaccines to people who are not in the designated high-priority groups, including those 65 and older, but the shots will still not be widely available for now.

State health officials said Thursday that the new guidance applies only to sites that have some leftover doses after completing vaccinations of front-line health care and other high-priority workers.

“It is really more to give the providers flexibility with what little extra doses they have right now,” Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm said. “Today’s announcement is designed simply to remove barriers.” Continue reading.

Biden pushes for $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package

GOP critics immediately call it too much, too fast

President-elect Joe Biden began lobbying Congress to quickly approve a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 aid plan to improve vaccine distribution, provide direct payments to Americans and bolster state and local government coffers.

In a televised speech Thursday evening, Biden delivered a message that appeared tailored for Republicans and more fiscally moderate Democrats who are unlikely to cheer the prospect of another costly pandemic relief bill just weeks after lawmakers approved a $902 billion package.

The former Delaware Democratic senator argued that lawmakers not only have an “economic imperative to act now” but a “moral obligation” to help the nation weather a pandemic that has killed more than 385,000 Americans. Continue reading.

Post-holiday COVID-19 surge hits new deadly records

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Even as Washington’s attention is focused on President Trump’s second impeachment, the coronavirus pandemic is setting a string of new records as it gets increasingly worse in the U.S.

The anticipated surge following holiday gatherings has now arrived, leading to a stunning number of cases, hospitalizations and deaths rising every day.

On Tuesday alone, a record 4,327 people in the U.S. died from the virus, according to Johns Hopkins University. In just the past week, a New York Times tracker showed the seven-day average for deaths rose from about 2,600 per day to about 3,300. Continue reading.

Coronavirus updates: U.S. sets single-day death record, and new variants emerge

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

The United States reported more than 4,200 deaths Tuesday, bringing the nation’s total to more than 381,000 deaths since the onset of the pandemic, according to Washington Post data.

The single-day death total, which is a record, and peak levels of new infections and hospitalizations are grim milestones for a country still reeling from the attempted insurrection at the U.S. Capitol last week.

President Trump has announced sweeping changes to coronavirus vaccine rollouts, quickly making all vaccine supplies accessible, encouraging states to provide shots to residents 65 and older and cautioning states with slow vaccine rollouts that they could lose some of their supply to faster-moving states. Continue reading.