Japan suspended use of some 1.63 million doses of the Moderna vaccine after some unused vials were found to be contaminated. Some of the contaminated doses might have been inadvertently given, but no bad effects have been reported. Contamination was found at several Japanese vaccination sites. The contaminated vaccine was manufactured in Spain. Japan now has 43 percent of the population fully vaccinated.
Cruise lines have detected covid among vaccinated crew and passengers including an elderly passenger who died. The CDC now advises people at higher risk not to cruise. It also recommends that passengers be required to show proof of vaccination plus a recent negative test. Cruise companies are also requiring masks be worn indoors. The companies are offering full refunds if people test positive or decide to cancel after the cruise line shortens the length of the trip. Royal Caribbean International is also offering to fly people home if they or anyone in their party tests positive during the cruise. I know people who love to cruise and have missed it greatly during the pandemic. The only cruises I have been on were on Norway's coastal ferry; they were totally unlike what I've heard the mega-large-jumbo cruises in the Caribbean. Alaska is tempting, but not for several years at least.
Covid cases are on the rise in 46 states. Cases have gone down 0 to 20 percent in Maine, Missouri, and Arkansas, and down over 20 percent in Louisiana. Tennessee showed the largest increase followed by Mississippi, South Dakota, Georgia, Indiana, West Virginia, and Kentucky. Right now, the US is averaging over 150,000 new cases daily, a 22 percent increase over the last two weeks.
There are currently more cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in Florida than at any previous point in the pandemic. The average for new known cases hit 23,314 one day last weekend, 30 percent higher than the previous peak in January. At the state level, 52 percent of Floridians are fully vaccinated, though there are some counties in which fewer than 30 percent are fully vaccinated.
Some quickies from out there on the Interwebs: Pfizer will have booster shot information to the FDA by the end of this week. WHO is starting a program to manufacture vaccine in Latin America and the Caribbean; the aim is addressing vaccine inequity. Maine's Episcopal diocese has ordered all staff and clergy to be vaccinated. Hawaii is reinstating restrictions such as crowd limit for gatherings. The governor is asking tourists to please not come right now. Health officials in Nebraska are so desperate for staff that they are recruiting unvaccinated nurses offering incentives such as a $5,000 sign-on bonus as well as "no mandated covid-19 vaccinations." Myocarditis is more likely to come after a case of covid than after a vaccination. WHO's weekly assessment reports that new cases around the world are flattening while new cases in the US are rising. The fastest case growth is in Japan.
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