Coronavirus vaccine and COVID variant updates for 12-17-2021

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

This is Vaccine 411, the latest coronavirus vaccine information for December 17th, 2021.

After the meeting we told you about yesterday, the CDC has come out and said most Americans should get Pfizer or Moderna instead of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The advisers said a blood clotting problem has caused nine confirmed deaths after J&J vaccinations — while the other top vaccines don't have that risk and appear more effective. J&J will stay on the market because the condition is rare, but it is no longer considered a one dose vaccine.

You may as well accept that Omicron is everywhere, even in places that have had almost no cases of clinical infection. Take Orange County, Florida for example, home of Disney World and Universal. Wastewater testing shows Omicron is already the dominant strain of COVID-19 in the county. In fact, it represented almost 100% of the strains in the wastewater samples.

It’s become almost comically naïve, thinking travel restrictions will slow or stop the Omicron variant. But countries have to do something and travel is an attractive target. France is sharply restricting travel to and from Britain, putting limits on reasons for traveling and requiring 48-hour isolation on arrival. And Sweden will make citizens from its fellow Nordic countries show a vaccination certificate when entering starting next week.

We hear health care systems expressing grave worry about their ability to care for people. And here’s just one example of such a situation. Hospitals in England are 94% full right now and four out of five critical care beds are occupied. And this is before the expected massive influx of patients from Omicron.

Yeah, yeah, humans and all that. But what you really might want to know is can your pet get COVID? Well, the answer is yes, and they’d probably get it from you. However, it’s unlikely they’d get seriously ill, and the risk of them spreading it to other people is low. Still, as much comfort as they may provide, the CDC says if you’re infected you should stay away from your pet.

In the United States cases were up 40%, deaths are up 34%, and hospitalizations are up 21% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending flat since December 7.

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

There are 10,204,336 active cases in the United States.

The five states with the greatest increase in hospitalizations per capita: Connecticut 82%, New Jersey 67%, Rhode Island and North Carolina 65%, and Washington DC 59%.

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 803,633 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 at 45.8%, Wyoming at 46.7%, and Alabama at 47%. The percentage of the U.S. that’s been fully vaccinated is 61.1%.

Globally, cases were up 8% and deaths up 1% over 14 days, with the 7-day average trending up since October 15.

There are 22,569,787 active cases around the world.

The five countries with the most new cases: The United States 144,871. The U.K. 88,376. France 60,866. Germany 53,057. And Spain 28,900.

There have been at least 5,335,758 deaths reported as Covid-related worldwide.

For the latest updates, subscribe for free to Vaccine 411 on your podcast app or ask your smart speaker to play the Vaccine 411 podcast.

---

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.