As US sees new record for Covid-19 hospitalizations, states prepare for vaccine rollout

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HOUSTON, TX – NOVEMBER 29: (Editorial use only) Medical staff Christopher Peter (R) and Paul Truna check the comfort of a patient wearing a helmet ventilator in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at United Memorial Medical Center on November 29, 2020 in Houston, Texas. Texas reports more than 1.2 million positive cases of Covid-19 and more than 21,800 deaths. (Photo by Go Nakamura / Getty Images)

With the rollout of new coronavirus vaccines in just a few weeks, the importance of inoculating people and adhering to health guidelines became even more evident on Tuesday as US hospitals reported record numbers of patients with the disease. of Covid-19.

According to the Covid Tracking Project, there were 98,691 Covid patients on Tuesday, 2,638 more than Monday’s figure, the previous high.

The volunteer tracking organization said Tuesday’s total was more than double the number of hospitalizations reported on November 1 and more than triple the total number of patients reported on October 1.

The news comes as states prepare to receive vaccines and an advisory committee from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends who gets vaccines first.

States test their vaccine data systems – submitting files which are then received by a CDC clearinghouse.

“All states are being tested,” said Claire Hannan, executive director of the Association of Immunization Managers, which helps states with their immunization plans. “Everyone must pass this test to make sure they can transmit data, that their suppliers are registered successfully, that they can transmit orders and receive communications in the data system.”

The first two vaccines available to Americans will be shipped in a few weeks, according to a document from the federal government’s Operation Warp Speed.

The first shipments of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine will be delivered on December 15 and Moderna’s vaccine will begin shipping on December 22, the document said, provided to governors ahead of a call with Vice President Mike Pence and obtained by CNN.

A CDC advisory committee on Tuesday recommended that health care and long-term care workers be vaccinated first as vaccines are released.

As Americans wait for vaccines, Covid-19 has spread rapidly. Data from Johns Hopkins University indicates that the United States has reached more than 13.7 million total cases and 270,481 deaths. More than 2,000 deaths were reported on Tuesday, just the third time since May 6.

Companies await approval to proceed with vaccines

The candidate vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna are pending Emergency Use Authorizations (EUA). States have until Friday to request the number of doses of the Pfizer vaccine, Hannan told CNN on Monday.

Stephen Hoge, the chairman of Moderna, told NBC they were “quite optimistic” about the approval of their Covid-19 vaccine candidate.

Once the US Food and Drug Administration grants EUAs, they will be ready to ship, Dr Moncef Slaoui, chief scientific adviser to Operation Warp Speed, said on Monday. And the same day or the next, the first immunizations can be given, he said.

Panel: Health workers and long-term care patients should get vaccinated first

At first there will not be enough vaccines for everyone.

Although federal officials expect 40 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine to be available by the end of December, not all of those doses will be available at the same time, CDC vaccine advisers said on Tuesday.

CDC’s Dr Sara Oliver told the Immunization Practices Advisory Committee that the CDC expects between 5 million and 10 million doses to be available each week for the first few months as vaccine manufacturers speed up manufacturing.

The decision of who should get the shots first was made by the committee, a group of independent advisers from the CDC. They decided Tuesday afternoon to recommend that health workers and residents of long-term care facilities go to the front lines.

Florida exceeds one million cases

But even after vaccine distribution begins, there won’t be enough vaccines for the general public until April or May 2021, said Dr Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading infectious disease doctor. Until then, the United States is still struggling with an all-time high.

And the upcoming holiday gatherings around Christmas and Hanukkah could spread the infections further, health officials say.

Florida became the third state to surpass one million cumulative cases of Covid-19 on Tuesday, after Texas and California, according to the Florida State Department of Health.

Oregon reported 24 deaths on Tuesday, the highest number of deaths reported in a single day, according to a press release from the state health authority.

New York City Health Commissioner Dr Dave Chokshi issued an advisory warning seniors at risk and those with underlying health conditions to stay in their homes as much as possible.

As part of the health notice, the Commissioner asks these people to limit outdoor activities and stop non-essential travel. He is also asking anyone around these populations to wear a face mask.

To manage the risk of reopening, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham on Monday announced a new “red to green” system that prioritizes counties according to their risk of spread. The data will be updated every two weeks, and if a county fails to meet the parameters, it will start operating at the most restrictive level within 48 hours.

Los Angeles County has reported its highest number of new coronavirus cases and hospitalizations since the start of the pandemic with 7,593 new cases and 2,316 hospitalizations, according to a press release from the county’s public health department.

“Today … is the worst day yet in the COVID-19 pandemic in Los Angeles County,” said Dr. Barbara Ferrer, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, in the press release. “However, this is unlikely to remain the worst day of the pandemic in Los Angeles County. It will be tomorrow, and the next day and after as cases, hospitalizations and deaths increase.”

The number of new cases reported on Tuesday easily surpassed the previous peak of 6,124 new cases seen last week, signaling “that the virus is infecting more people at a faster rate than ever before in LA County,” said the health department.

Nationally, Tuesday marked the 29th day in a row the United States has reported more than 100,000 new cases – a number that far exceeds the records set in the spring and summer, both of which have remained below 60,000 .