American Coronavirus: Under threat of an even larger outbreak of Covid-19, here is what could further delay precautions

“It’s heartbreaking considering we never thought we would be back in this space,” Dr Francis Collins told Fox News.

Murthy is especially concerned for parents who have worked hard to protect their children as the nation grapples with the pandemic. This fear is all the more pressing as more children are hospitalized with the virus, such as Kyle Butrum’s one-year-old son, Carter, in Arkansas.

Butrum urged people to get vaccinated so other families don’t have to watch their child struggle in the hospital.

“The only thing you can do to stop someone else from doing this is get yourself vaccinated, so that another child doesn’t have to do it and another family doesn’t have to send it back. his child. So another dad doesn’t. I don’t have to stand in the back of the ambulance and wonder if this is the last time you’re going to see your son, “Butrum told CNN.

With the rise of the Delta variant and the start of the new school year, CNN medical analyst Dr Leana Wen has said this is the pandemic’s most dangerous time for children.

Experts shared best practices for keeping families safe, but “we as a society have let our children down,” Wen said, citing swathes of people navigating unmasked and unvaccinated communities and politicians ignoring directives.

“As a result, we’ve made it harder for schools to stay open, we’ve made children more susceptible to infection,” Wen said. “It is a truly sad reflection that children have to pay the price for irresponsible adults and reckless politicians.”

Officials disagree over the masking

Many health experts have pointed out that mask warrants are a necessary step to bring the pandemic under control as authorities work to increase vaccination rates, but some local leaders are increasingly at odds over such mandates.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has taken the fight against mask warrants in his state to the Texas Supreme Court after various defeats in lower courts.

Abbott and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis received letters from the Department of Education in which Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said he was “deeply concerned” about the restrictions on the mask’s tenure.

“The Department recognizes that several school districts in your state have already decided to adopt such policies in accordance with CDC guidelines for reopening and operating school facilities despite state-level bans. The Department is supporting those dedicated educators who are working to reopen safe schools and maintain safe in-person education, ”Cardona wrote in the letter to DeSantis, which was also addressed to Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran.

In May, DeSantis issued two executive orders limiting any Covid-19 restrictions counties and cities could impose, including mask warrants, and has since threatened punitive action if a county or city defied them.

The Broward County School Board chairman criticized DeSantis on Sunday for his stance on school mask mandates.

“We believe that we have a constitutional obligation to protect the lives of our students and our staff. And we have received threats from our governor, and it has been really, really dramatic and horrible to be put in that position.” said Dr Rosalind Osgood. on CBS’s “Face the Nation” Sunday.

Health officials monitor data on additional vaccine doses

Another layer of protection that some health experts are considering is booster doses to increase the effectiveness of the vaccine.

Last week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized an additional dose of vaccine for some immunocompromised people, which Wen told CNN’s Kaitlan Collin was a good move for a group that “clearly needs a booster because they don’t have enough immune response the first time. “

What health officials are yet to agree on over whether the rest of the population could benefit from a booster dose.

Israel has already advised an extra dose for people over 50, which the United States cannot yet do because there is less data collection, Wen said. So, she hopes officials will make a concerted effort to look at data from other countries in addition to that from the United States to make the decision.

Wen noted that there are many people who may not be severely immunocompromised but “may have some degree of immunodeficiency and may be in high risk conditions, for example, they are living with an unvaccinated person. , they are essential workers, maybe they should get a booster too. ”

Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on Sunday that the United States foresees the possibility of booster vaccines and would be “absolutely ready” to act quickly if certain groups needed them.

Fauci said on CBS ‘Face the Nation, officials examine data from the United States and other countries every day “to determine if, when and to whom we should give this. So if it turns out that, as the data comes in we see that we need to give an extra dose to the people in the nursing homes, actually, or to the elderly, we will absolutely be ready to do that very quickly. ”