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Forty-two states saw an increase in COVID-19 cases last week compared to the previous week, a sign that the pandemic is not yet over in the United States.
Only Alaska, Delaware, Iowa, Maine, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota and West Virginia recorded declines in cases from the previous week during the seven-year period. days that ended on Saturday.
The vaccination rate has slowed, and less than half of all Americans, 47.9%, are fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
CDC director Dr Rochelle Walensky said more than 99% of deaths from COVID-19 in the United States in June were unvaccinated people. In addition, preliminary data indicates that in the past six months, almost all deaths from COVID-19 in various states have been in unvaccinated people, she said.
Dr Anthony Fauci, a top advisor to the Biden administration, said on Sunday it was “horrible” to see people at the Conservative Political Action Conference applauding because the government was not in. able to vaccinate a larger part of the country.
“They’re encouraging someone who says it’s a good thing for people not to try and save their lives,” Fauci said. “It’s almost scary.”
Also in the news:
►As many teens and young adults prepare to return to school in the fall term amid the spread of the delta variant, the lagging vaccination rate among Gen Z is causing concern among experts.
►The bar scene is making a comeback in New York and other cities as revelers reappear and drop COVID precautions.
►The mayors of two islands in Tokyo, Oshima and Hachijo, have called on the metropolitan government to remove the planned Olympic torch relay from public roads amid an increase in coronavirus cases. The torch relay in Tokyo, which began on Friday, has already been pulled from all public roads except those on the islands due to the increase in cases in the Japanese capital.
►The largest casino in the Navajo Nation is set to reopen Monday for the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. The Twin Arrows Resort Casino east of Flagstaff, Arizona, has been closed since March 2020.
►CONMEBOL said guests at the Copa America final on Saturday brought false COVID-19 tests to the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro. South American football’s governing body said in a statement it had detected “a considerable amount of fraudulent PCR tests” brought in by accredited guests.
The numbers of the day: The United States has recorded more than 33.8 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and more than 607,000 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Global totals: over 186.6 million cases and over 4 million deaths. Nearly 159 million Americans, or 47.9% of the population, have been fully immunized, according to the CDC.
What we read: The CDC has updated its guidelines on masks for schools. Some states will listen, others will not. Read more here.
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Pfizer and U.S. health officials to discuss booster shots this week
Representatives from Pfizer and federal health officials, who sent mixed signals on Thursday about the need for booster vaccines, plan to meet this week. Reuters said the rally would take place on Monday.
Last week, the US pharmaceutical giant and its partner BioNTech said they would seek US and EU regulatory approval for a third dose of their COVID-19 vaccine, given the spread of variants and data that they say showed a decrease in vaccine activity six months after the initial injections. .
In a joint statement Thursday night, the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stressed that people who have been fully vaccinated do not yet need booster shots.
Pfizer and BioNTech said a third dose, given six months after the second, increases neutralizing antibodies against the original virus and the beta variant by five to ten times, first identified in South Africa.
White House denounces criticism of door-to-door vaccination campaign
For months, President Joe Biden’s administration has refrained from criticizing Republican officials who downplayed the importance of coronavirus vaccinations or sought political hay from the total federal effort to push the blows of fire in the arms. No longer. As COVID-19 vaccination rates level off across the country, the White House is fighting back against those it sees as spreading harmful disinformation or fear of gunfire. When South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster this week tried to block door-to-door efforts to increase immunization rates in his state, press secretary Jen Psaki was quick to say his reaction.
“Failure to provide accurate public health information, including the effectiveness of vaccines and their accessibility to people across the country, including South Carolina, is literally killing people, so maybe they should. be take that into account, ”she said.
India’s horrific 2021: twice as many infections as last year
India has already reported more than twice as many COVID-19 cases in 2021 than all last year, according to USA TODAY analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University.
India passed the mark early on Sunday. Of the 30.8 million cases reported by India, two-thirds occurred in less than 6.5 months in 2021. Deaths from COVID in India, largely underestimated, have risen to 259,302 this year , compared to 148,738 in 2020.
Only the United States reported more cases than India, with a margin of around 3 million. At the current rate, India would surpass the US total in about 19 weeks. India’s pace has plummeted in the past two months after a massive spring surge, while infections in the United States have jumped in the past two weeks.
The United States also has the highest recorded COVID deaths in the world with more than 607,000, and Brazil ranks second with nearly 533,000. At the recent rate, Brazil is said to exceed the death toll in the United States in about 10 weeks, although the rate of reported deaths in the South American country has declined by more than half in the past three months, while the rate of deaths in the United States has stopped declining.
-Mike Stucka
Couples flock to Las Vegas to tie the knot as pandemic subsides
Thousands of couples flock to Las Vegas as the coronavirus pandemic abates in a boom that places the local wedding industry in high demand. With COVID-19 restrictions on large gatherings relaxed, Las Vegas chapels, venues and wedding planners have said they are busier than ever.
After 30 years of marriage, Don and Cindy Couse traveled across the country from New York to renew their wedding vows at the Graceland Wedding Chapel. Friends and family at home watched and cheered via Zoom during the ceremony. The two met almost five decades ago in Albany, New York, during kindergarten class and have had a bond ever since. The trip comes at the right time for the couple, who are both 51 and work in IT. After more than a year in quarantine, they needed a getaway. “Really, it was great to come back and do things,” she told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Contributor: Mike Stucka, USA TODAY; The Associated Press
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Infections up in 42 States; CPAC participants applaud low vaccination rate
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