US might need 90% vaccination rate to crush delta variant: Live COVID updates – USA TODAY
The nation’s 70% vaccination goal, once touted as a level crucial to ending the pandemic, may not be nearly enough, a Rhode Island health official says.
Tom McCarthy, the executive director of the Rhode Island Department of Health COVID Response Unit, says the delta variant’s infection boom has been a game-changer. New England is home to the five states with the highest percentage of a fully vaccinated population. Vermont leads with 69.4%, followed by Connecticut, Maine, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. New Hampshire is 10th with 61.5%. Yet hospitalizations and deaths hover near pre-vaccination levels.
“What we’ve learned with delta and looking beyond delta, is … to give you that true population-level protection, you need to be in excess of 90%,” said Tom McCarthy, the executive director of the Rhode Island Department of Health COVID Response Unit.
Dr. Tim Lahey, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington, said it’s important to look at the situation optimistically. His hospital is busy but not overwhelmed. People still need to be cautious, but they are not locked down.
“Has vaccination made it so we can withstand the brunt of delta with losing fewer of our neighbors while still having the quality of life that we enjoy in Vermont?” he said. “Yeah.”
Also in the news:
► New Mexico State University says less than one-third of its students submitted proof of COVID vaccination by this week’s deadline, though it is not clear how many plan to submit to weekly testing. By contrast, about 70% of the university’s employees complied. Failure to receive the vaccine or be tested weekly can lead to suspension.
► Alaska now has three hospitals operating in crisis mode amid a surge of COVID-19 patients. The protocols allow the hospitals to ration care and resources that are being stretched thin.
► A pill to treat COVID-19 has shown it is effective in trials, according to drugmaker Merck. The company says it plans to submit its findings to regulatory bodies, including the FDA soon. If approved, it would be the first COVID-19 treatment in pill form.
► American Airlines, Alaska Airlines and JetBlue are the latest to announce they will require employees to become vaccinated against COVID-19. The airlines provide services to the government and consider themselves government contractors covered under President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate.
📈 Today’s numbers: The U.S. has recorded more than 43.6 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 700,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Global totals: More than 234.7 million cases and 4.79 million deaths. More than 185.1 million Americans – 55.8% of the population – are fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
📘 What we’re reading: When the clock ticked down to zero on 2020, the nation watched the ball drop in Times Square and said good riddance to a year marked by a brutal pandemic. So far, 2021 has brought little relief. Friday, the United States passed the dark threshold of 700,000 coronavirus deaths. Will the pandemic ever end?
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New York hospitals oust workers in preview of 50-state mandate
New York is giving the nation an early glimpse of what the Biden administration’s 50-state vaccine mandate for health care workers might look like. The Empire State’s hospitals dismissed or suspended dozens of workers for failing to meet last week’s deadline requiring them to get at least their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Anticipating service disruptions from front-line health workers quitting or getting fired, health systems from New York City to upstate delayed non-emergency operations, cut clinic hours and paid travel nurses up to $200 an hour to fill vacant shifts. The dismissals represented a small percentage of workers at large health systems.
President Joe Biden last month announced all hospitals that take Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement must vaccinate their workers. The agency that oversees those federal health programs has yet to announce details on when the national mandate will take effect. Read more.
– Ken Alltucker, USA TODAY
Judge slams suit opposing hospitals’ COVID-19 vaccine rule
A federal judge in Cincinnati sharply criticized attorneys seeking to block COVID-19 vaccine mandates at five local hospital systems, saying they made false claims and espoused “unsupported conspiracy theories.” Judge Timothy Black refused to block the hospital groups from requiring that employees receive the vaccine. The mandate went into effect at two of them on Friday. Black said data shows COVID-19 continues to devastate the community. He noted that in the seven days ending Thursday in Hamilton County, there were 2,304 confirmed cases, 172 new hospitalizations and 10 deaths.
“Those deaths may well have been preventable. Next month’s deaths still are,” Black said. “Against this objective data, plaintiffs allege unsupported conspiracy theories.”
– Kevin Grasha, Cincinnati Enquirer
Contributing: The Associated Press
