More vaccine shots….
Less tests…
Less infections…
The seven day infection case average is slightly below what it was last August….
Governor’s opening up their states more….
More pandemic money on the way to states from Biden/Congress Stimulus/Rescue Bill passage…
And a possible 4th vaccine could be approved in the near future…
Washington Post….
In the past week in the U.S….
Among reported tests, the positivity rate was 4.3%.
The number of tests reported fell 7.7% from the previous week.Read more
Since Dec. 14, more than 98,203,000 doses of a covid-19 vaccine have been administered in the U.S.
More than 33,863,000 people have completed vaccination, or about 10.2% of the population. Read more in our vaccination tracker.
Wash Post …Link
NY Times….
The State of the Virus
Update for March 9
- March began with some of the lowest case numbers the country had seen since last fall, though the pace of progress has slowed.
- While many states have continued to see significant declines in new cases, others, especially on the East Coast, have seen infections plateau at relatively high levels.
- Daily death reports have fallen steadily from their peak earlier this year. But thousands of people continue to die from the virus each week.
- The pace of vaccination has increased steadily in recent weeks, to more than 2 million doses on average each day. With three vaccines now in circulation, many states are expanding eligibility for the shots.
- The source of our hospitalizations and testing data was changed to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services after the Covid Tracking Project stopped collecting data on March 7.
NY Times….Link…
A possible 4th vaccine….96% effective….
The COVID-19 vaccine from Novavax was found to be 96 percent effective against the original strain of the coronavirus in new a UK trial, the company announced Thursday.
The shot from the Maryland-based company was also 86 percent effective against the more contagious variant first discovered in the UK and now spreading across the US and in New York City.
In a smaller South Africa trial, the Novavax vaccine was only around 55 percent effective in preventing disease when tested against volunteers primarily exposed to the new variant first identified there.
But in both the UK and South Africa trials, the shot was 100 percent effective in preventing serious illness and death.
The company will use the findings to seek authorization for the vaccine’s use in various countries. It was not immediately clear if it will seek FDA authorization based on the UK findings, or if it will wait for the completion of an ongoing US test….
Dr.Marty Makary, a Johns Hopkins MD and frequent Fox News contributor ,says Covid will be “mostly gone” by the end of April.
Either a prophet or another Carlson like ,hyperbolic entertainer?
DreamerNo hoping is a better word ….Looking for something only other humans have some control over….
The numbers ARE steadily dropping…
Shots are climbing….
Bit there is the Florida bike drive in
Wash Post….
White House press secretary Jen Psaki cautioned Friday that people should not misinterpret Biden’s goal of July Fourth backyard gatherings as a pledge for a full return to “total normalcy” by then….
I take a cautious approach too.
However,it did seem to me the CDC guidance issued for fully vaccinated people was extremely cautious.
It appears ,based on the Israeli study ,that the vaccine has an over 90% efficacy against asymptomatic cases .Accordingly ,the feared possibility of a vaccinated asymptomatic person infecting another person is remote.
Hopefully ,some more extensive and realistic guidelines will be forthcoming.(Fauci hinted at such recently).In my view, people who are fully vaccinated are going to be less likely to follow overly restrictive directives as time goes on.
I agree Jack….
But does the Israeli study include the effect of the variants? Did it include all three manufacturers, but exclude AstraZenica? And did the Israeli study only observe people of Israel? Did the Israeli study indicate how long the effect of the vaccine will last (hint: no)? For example, for all we know, the vaccine effect might only last 4 months.
We don’t even know all of the questions to ask at this point because we know relatively little about Coviv-19 other than it is mutating, is highly contagious and highly deadly, and that people who survived getting infected the first time can die when they are subsequently infected by a different variant. So I am skeptical about non scientists disagreeing with CDC guidelines every bit as much as I am skeptical of non scientists saying the US is overly concerned about global warming,
Presumably as we learn more, the CDC guidelines will be adjusted. Conservatives would typically argue that the CDC guidelines were too restrictive from day 1. In fact, They weren’t restrictive enough. In February 2020, we were told that wearing masks was not needed.
Communications about Covid in the U.S. have been a complete and utter disaster. What maddens me most is that the mistakes about masks were then repeated about testing and now about vaccinations.
The reason that masks were downplayed except for the most urgently-necessary immediate medical staff is just that at the beginning there were enough to go around, especially the gold standard at the time, N-95 masks. There was even a huge black and grey market in masks (sorry, Mexico, we just got a higher bid from Tokyo).
What’s happened since has been that simultaneously a massive campaign to promote vaccines or tests together with a huge shortage of them, combined with massively-inefficient, ever-changing and highly-confusing methods and criteria for distributing them.
Most sane people who aren’t directly affected (e.g. me, who has had both shots and gets tested every week) no longer track the particular group of people eligible this week or half-week, how, when, where and whether they need to apply, or receive treatment. Two results of the confusion:
(a) Massive anxiety, frustration and impatience among many hopeful recipients;
(b) Huge resistance and reluctance among a minority.
Over-selling and under-delivering can only work once in the commercial world, Lose credibility and you’re done.
(If Bill Gates or Steve Jobs had whipped up those enormous expectations for the latest operating system or gadget and then only produced vaporware, they would never have been able to rally demand for another product.)
FINAL EXAM QUESTION:
(A) Whether, when, where and how to register or vaccinate a 62-year-old asthmatic school-librarian who lives in Providence, RI 02904 with an 84-year old mother and a 30-year-0ld daughter who’s recently overcome pneumonia?
FOR EXTRA CREDIT:
(B) Was this answer true two weeks ago?
(C) Will it be true two weeks from now?
A) Go online for the state list of places for two oldest…Or consult a doctor….Youngest?
B) Maybe….
C) Two weeks from now ALL should be able to get shots…
The United States has passed 100 million vaccine doses administered, a big milestone that shows the pace of the vaccination campaign is accelerating.
The U.S. also set a new record for shots administered in a day on Friday, at 2.9 million, according to the White House, with the seven-day average up to 2.3 million per day.
About 35 million people have been fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, while about 65 million have received at least one dose….
More…
Judge rules against Texas nullifying Austin Texas NOT canceling the state wide mask requirement ….
Italy is now facing a new lockdown given its recent sharp rise in COVID-19 cases attributed to a new variant. You may recall that Italy faced a strict lockdown from March to May of last year. The lockdown will differ by region, but the entire country will be locked down over EASTER weekend.