American Coronavirus: This is what an American endgame for Covid-19 should look like, according to Fauci

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“The only thing we know for sure … 160,000 cases a day are not where we want to be,” National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease director Dr Anthony Fauci told Anderson Cooper on Thursday. from CNN. “Unfortunately, that’s where we are at the moment.”

Speaking to Axios, Fauci said removal of the virus is the “final” to the pandemic. Ideally, the United States would get as few cases as possible, but a reasonable goal would be to go below 10,000 a day, he said.

In mid-June, before the spike in cases caused by the more transmissible Delta variant, the United States reached a seven-day average of about 11,000 new cases per day, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. .

President Joe Biden on Thursday introduced a plan that places tough new vaccine rules on federal workers, large employers and healthcare workers – requirements that could apply to up to 100 million Americans.

“We have been patient, but our patience is running out, and your refusal has cost us all,” Biden said, his tone hardening towards Americans who still refuse to receive a vaccine despite ample evidence of their safety and health. full approval. – the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine – from the United States Food and Drug Administration.

As Covid-19 hospitalizations increase, some overwhelmed hospitals are rationing care

Dr Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said Biden’s announcement was a milestone and that he “pinpointed the current problem in this country.”

And some experts insisted on more.

“I loved the speech; I wish it had gone further. I wanted the president to limit travel this holiday season to people who have been vaccinated,” CNN medical analyst Dr. Jonathan Reiner said.

However, many Republican governors – some in states with high hospitalizations and low vaccination rates – have condemned the strategy. Some even said they would challenge the action in court.

“To be clear: the vaccine is the best tool we have to fight the pandemic, but tough mandates are the wrong approach,” Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said in a tweet Thursday.

But even with vaccination and mitigation measures in place, the end of the game might not be a complete eradication, said Dr Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.

“Basically, that will end the day when we achieve a sufficient level of population immunity, that the virus will essentially become a nuisance and no longer a threat,” Jha said Thursday.

Health workers care for a patient with Covid-19 in the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit at Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center in Tarzana, California.

How the United States is fighting the virus

Changes to the Covid-19 response begin Friday, when the maximum fine for violating the federal requirement to wear a face mask while traveling will double to a range of $ 500 to $ 3,000, from 250 $ to $ 1,500.

And to help Covid-19 patients who are affected by the wave of Delta variants, the United States will increase the availability of new treatments, including monoclonal antibodies, Biden said.

He said the treatments “have been shown to reduce the risk of hospitalization by up to 70% for unvaccinated people.”

Also on Thursday, the New York Police Department confirmed on Thursday that any employee who does not get the vaccine or provide proof of a recent negative Covid test will not be allowed to work and will not be paid.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio also previously announced that any new hires for New York City agencies will need to be fully immunized.

Having workers choose between vaccination or weekly testing will likely increase vaccination, White House Covid-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients said on Thursday. “It’s impractical for most to get tested once a week,” he added.

Data expected on children’s vaccines in the fall

Much of the vaccination effort is targeting American adults, but with school going back to school across the country, many experts and parents are concerned about how children will be protected from the virus.

Children have a lower risk of severe symptoms from Covid-19 but are no less likely than adults to be infected in the first place, Fauci said in an interview with the New York Times published Thursday.

“So we are seeing more children in the hospital now because the Delta variant is more easily transmitted between everyone – adults and children,” Fauci said.

In Florida’s 15 largest school districts, at least 34,085 students and 6,347 employees tested positive for Covid-19 during the 2021-2022 school year, according to a CNN analysis.

Los Angeles School Board votes to make Covid-19 vaccine mandatory for eligible students aged 12 and over

In Kentucky, 39 of the state’s 171 public school districts have had to close at some point during the 2021-22 school year due to increased cases, quarantines and / or staff shortages, a said Joshua Shoutla, spokesperson for the Kentucky School Boards Association. CNN in a statement Thursday morning.

The Los Angeles Unified School District hopes to curb the spread among students by requiring that all eligible children be immunized by the end of the calendar year, the school board of education unanimously ruled.

Children under 12 cannot currently be vaccinated.

But those 12 and older can get Pfizer’s vaccines under emergency use authorization. According to a CNN analysis of the latest CDC data, about 43% of all 12 to 17 year olds in the United States are fully vaccinated.

Moderna’s vaccine data for younger age groups will likely be ready in late October or early November, following Pfizer data which is expected by the end of September, Fauci told The New York Times.

After the data was presented, Fauci said it is “very likely” that companies will apply for emergency use authorization.

CNN’s Lauren Mascarenhas, Virginia Langmaid, Greg Wallace, Nikki Carvajal, Laura Ly, Jacqueline Howard, Mallory Simon, Rachel Clarke and Cheri Mossburg contributed to this report.

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