The Road goes ever on and on ... Day 47 (547)

It looks as if China could end up being the "global savior" with respect to covid vaccines. It's increasing exports of the Sinopharm, Sinovac, and CanSino vaccines, all of which can be stored at room temperature. It's been nine months since vaccines became available, and 58 percent of the global population has yet to get a first dose. The analytics firm Airfinity says that the US and other Western countries could vaccinate teenagers, give everyone a booster, and still have 1.2 billion doses that could go elsewhere. Meanwhile, COVAX anticipates getting 25 percent fewer doses than expected due to production problems and export restrictions. Companies make money when they sell vaccines to the countries that can pay for them as opposed to donating them to poorer countries. 

Worry about the Delta variant is causing some restaurants to again close indoor dining. Sales and visits are falling. The Economic Innovation Group says that a quarter of small business in the US have seen revenue fall in each of the past three weeks. Only eight percent saw any sort of revenue growth. Not everyone is as worried about Delta, though. Only three NFL teams--the Seattle Seahawks, Las Vegas Raiders, and  New Orleans Saints--are requiring fans to show proof of vaccination to enter stadiums filling to full capacity. 

New York City public schools open today. The city government is ending remote work and requiring workers to go back to their offices. City employees must be vaccinated or tested weekly. Teachers must also be vaccinated and have no test-out option. However, arbitrators ruled that the city must offer non-classroom assignments to teachers with medical or religious exemptions. There is no vaccine requirement for students unless they are participating in contact sports or some extracurricular activities such as band and theater. Two-thirds of the city's 12-to-17-year-olds are already vaccinated.

Dr. Fauci says that more vaccine mandates than proposed by POTUS could be required to get vaccination rates up enough. POTUS's mandates alone may not be enough to get us to herd immunity. Dr. Fauci indicated that he would support a vaccine mandate for any domestic air travel.

Of the 23 states with new case totals per capita higher than the national rate, 21 voted Republican in  the 2020 Presidential election. Sixteen are among the 17 states with the lowest vaccination rates. Since late June, there have been about 54,000 covid deaths with almost one in five being in Florida. A state with six percent of the national population accounted for 18 percent of the covid deaths this summer. Finally, of the 18 states with new death totals above the national average, 17 voted Republican in 2020.

Hospitals remain in crisis mode. A hospital in northern New York will stop delivering babies on September 25. Too many maternity workers resigned rather than get vaccinated. Washington State is taking on patients for whom Idaho has no room. In Washington, residents must wear masks when gathering indoors, students exposed to covid must quarantine, and many workers are under vaccine mandates. None of those apply in Idaho. Finally, a man who had a heart attack died after being told by 43 hospitals that they had no room for him. In other words, you may be out of luck if you have a heart attack or are in a car wreck right now.