The Road goes ever on and on ... Day 93 (593)

Not too much new news on the coronavirus front, or am I just getting jaded? Russia and Eastern Europe are not in good places, and China has its own troubles. I'll get to those. First, though, the FDA officially approved the Pfizer vaccine for use in children ages five through 11. Kids will get one-third of the adult dose for two injections three weeks apart. It was not included in the report I read, but I assume the same two weeks will be needed for the vaccine to have its full effect. If children are vaccinated first thing, the vaccine will have had its full effect before the Christmas holidays; that will likely weaken any post-holiday winter surge. The CDC must now approve this; if it does, vaccinations could begin as soon as Wednesday. Pfizer will be shipping millions of doses this weekend to help get things started. As of this week, 8,300 children ages five through 11 have been hospitalized, and 170 have died. The national totals are 3.2 million hospitalizations and 740,00 deaths.

On Monday, England will stop requiring travelers to quarantine in government-designated hotels. It will also remove the last seven countries from its "red list," though every three weeks it will review whether countries should be added to this list. The seven countries being removed are Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Haiti, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela.

Over half of the new cases between October 18 and 23 were reported in Europe. The low vaccination rates in Eastern Europe are a large factor. The global number of cases is increasing for the first time in two months driven by the rise in Europe offsetting declines in other regions. Europe is currently seeing 29 cases per 100,000 people; the US is seeing 22. Within Europe, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are averaging over 100 new cases per 100,000 people. Cases in Germany have doubled since October 1. Britain is averaging 66 new cases per 100,000 people and has been seeing a persistently high positivity rate.

China is now the only country practicing the "zero covid" policy of trying to stamp out outbreaks as they occur. Aiding this policy have been exports keeping the economy going and the Communist government's tight grip on lockdowns and testing. Now, though, the economy is slowing and it's unclear just how long China can maintain its zero covid policy. The Winter Olympics are less than 100 days away. The Olympic bubble planned will be an extremely tight one. Leaving the bubble could result in immediate expulsion from the Games and the country. If you thought the bubble in Tokyo was impermeable, Beijing's will likely be stronger.