Coronavirus vaccine and COVID variant updates for 12-16-2021

Vaccine 4 1 1 - Daily News on the Covid-19 and Coronavirus Vaccines

This is Vaccine 411, the latest coronavirus vaccine information for December 16th, 2021.

The Los Angeles school district is the latest in California to delay forcing thousands of unvaccinated students to return to distance learning. Officials decided enforcement would disrupt the education of about 27,000 unvaccinated students, overwhelm the independent study program which already has staff shortages, and risk losing teachers.

A federal appeals court panel lifted a nationwide ban against the vaccine mandate for health care workers but did block the requirement in about half the states. It’s not clear if the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid is going to continue suspension of the rule for all states or go ahead with a patchwork of policies. Plus, the court itself said it looks like mandate opponents will prevail as the case moves through the courts.

We hear about poorer nations having trouble accessing vaccines but guess who’s running short. Germany. The Federal Health Minister says they’re facing a shortage in the first quarter of 2022, right when Omicron will probably be wreaking havoc.

Did you get the Johnson & Johnson vaccine? CDC advisers are revisiting the benefits and risks of it today. They’ll hear presentations about thrombosis and TTS, a rare, serious type of blood clotting that’s been linked to J&J, but not Pfizer or Moderna. The CDC Director wouldn’t say if she still believes the benefits outweigh the risks.

Omicron is a rapid spreader. In the U.S., the percentage of cases caused by it jumped seven times in one week. But why? What makes it spread so fast? Preliminary data tells us Omicron multiplies about 70 times faster in our respiratory tract tissue than Delta does, then reaches higher levels in the tissue 48 hours after infection. This focus on the respiratory tract, instead of deep in the lungs, may suggest Omicron could cause less severe disease but scientists say it’s still too soon to conclude that.

In the United States cases were up 40%, deaths are up 34%, and hospitalizations are up 20% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending up since November 29.

The five states that had the most daily deaths per 100,000 are Montana, Michigan, Arizona, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

There are 10,124,028 active cases in the United States.

The five states with the greatest increase in hospitalizations per capita: Connecticut 77%, New Jersey 65%, Rhode Island 63%, North Carolina 62%, and Washington DC 55%.

The top 10 counties with the highest number of recent cases per capita according to The New York Times: Pike, IL. Piatt, IL. Thompkins, NY. Franklin, ME. Aroostook, ME. Piscataquis, ME. Jefferson, IN. Edgar, IL. Clay, IL. And Roosevelt, NM.

There have been at least 802,502 deaths in the U.S. recorded as Covid-related.

The top 3 vaccinating states by percentage of population that’s been fully vaccinated: Vermont at 75.6%, Rhode Island at 75.1%, and Maine at 74.5%. The bottom 3 vaccinating states are Idaho unchanged at 45.8%, Wyoming at 46.7%, and Alabama at 47%. The percentage of the U.S. that’s been fully vaccinated is 61%.

Globally, cases were up 6% and deaths down 2% over 14 days, with the 7-day average trending up since October 15.

There are 22,348,772 active cases around the world.

The five countries with the most new cases: The United States 136,590. The U.K. 78,610. France 65,713. Germany 55,650. And Russia 28,363.

There have been at least 5,329,000 deaths reported as Covid-related worldwide.

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