The CDC today joined the FDA in authorizing a third dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine for people with compromised immune systems. The authorization applies to transplant recipients, cancer patients, patients with HIV/AIDS, and other people with immune systems compromised in some way. Vaccinations are moving slowly in the US, but in the right direction. On July 29, 615,000 people were vaccinated; on August 12, 699,000 people. Our neighbor to the north, Canada, has the world's highest vaccination rate with 82 percent of the eligible population over the age of 12 having gotten at least one shot. Some 70.3 percent are fully vaccinated.
San Francisco is barring unvaccinated people from indoor spaces; the order takes effect August 20. Showing a negative test result is not enough, nor is being only partially vaccinated. The order applies to indoor dining, bars, gyms, large concerts, and theaters. It does not apply to dining outdoors, entering restaurants to pick up takeout, or to children under 12 who cannot yet be vaccinated. Cases in California are about 10 times higher than they were in mid-June despite 65 percent of eligible residents being fully vaccinated. In San Francisco itself, 78 percent of the eligible population is fully vaccinated; 96 percent of residents between the ages of 12 and 17 are fully vaccinated. The city would like to see those percentages increase. For a group of at least five people, the city will send a mobile vaccination team to a home or business. People even get a choice of the Pfizer, Moderna, or Johnson & Johnson vaccines.
Vaccine mandates continue to make the news. The Department of Health and Human Services will require its health workers, including contractors and volunteers, to be vaccinated; there will be no option of submitting negative test results. Medical and religious exemptions will be allowed. Many Health and Human Services workers are already required to have flu and other vaccines. The Supreme Court will allow Indiana University to require students be vaccinated. Exemptions will be permitted on religious, ethical, and medical grounds. Exempted students muse wear masks and be tested frequently. I checked the Indiana University website in search of an explanation of the "ethical" grounds. There, it listed "ethical objection" with no explanation. I will have to give thought to just what that might involve. Closer to home, the local county is requiring public school teachers and staff to be vaccinated or be tested regularly.
Some brief numerical factoids: Over the past week, the national average for cases is 125,800, up 78 percent from two weeks ago. Deaths rose by 92 percent to an average of 616 per day. There were 68,800 patients hospitalized each day, up 82 % from two weeks ago. Florida, Mississippi, and Oregon reported more cases in the last week than in any other seven-day period. Texas and Florida accounted for almost 40 percent of new hospitalizations last week.
It turns out that the prevalence of covid among migrants at the border is the same as for the US overall. In other words, the surge in covid cases can't be linked to migrants. It looks as if we owe it all to the Delta variant despite what some politicians are saying.
So much lately seems like "been there, done that" moments. Part of me would like to get angry about that, but most of me want to shrug and say, "Meh." It is what it is and will be what it will be. I've made it this far and can keep on keeping on.
No comments:
Post a Comment