Category: Corona Virus Vaccine

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) Leaders at UPMC said Tuesday theyre optimistic their frontline healthcare workers who want a COVID-19 vaccine will be able to get one by the end of January.

UPMC is expecting a shipment of thousands of COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and eventually Moderna.

In keeping with the CDCs Advisory Committee on Vaccine Practices recommendations, UPMC will focus first on healthcare workers, then nursing home residents.

Last week the CDC issued recommendations that healthcare workers be top priority to receive the new vaccine, says Dr. Graham Snyder, UPMCs medical director of infection prevention and hospital epidemiology. We need our healthcare workforce to stay healthy.

Before giving any shots though, UPMC is waiting for the FDA to grant emergency use authorization. Then for its own 92,000 employees, the COVID immunization will not be mandatory.

Vaccination for healthcare workers will be voluntary, Dr. Snyder says. We anticipate we will be able to provide vaccine to our front line healthcare workers who wish to receive it before the end of January.

In contrast, the health system requires universal vaccination against influenza.

That is based on decades of experience with the influenza vaccine. Until we learn more and build on our own experience with this vaccine, its not the right thing to make it mandatory, says Dr. Snyder.

UPMC is also having its own panel of virus and vaccine experts review the clinical trial data independently.

Until they are satisfied that the vaccine is safe and appropriate for the people we plan to offer it to, we will not be injecting it into anyones arm, he emphasizes. Speed is important, but so is safety.

UPMC plans to give the Moderna vaccine to its nursing home residents, but that product is expected to arrive at some point after the Pfizer shipments.

UPMC says the vaccine will be made available to the public as soon as possible. But that could still be months even under the best-case scenario, says Dr. Donald Yealy, senior medical director and chair of emergency medicine.

Until then, its clear that we must continue the basic public health practices that we know protect all of us, Dr. Yealy says.

UPMC also announced it is receiving an allotment of monoclonal antibody treatments from Regeneron and Eli Lilly. UPMCs own investigational monoclonal antibodies Ab1 and Ab8 will be entering the clinical trials stage soon, according to Dr. Yealy.

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COVID-19 In Pittsburgh: UPMC Optimistic Coronavirus Vaccines Will Be Available To Its Frontline Healthcare Workers By End Of January - CBS Pittsburgh

Tarrant County reported 15 new deaths on Wednesday. Dallas County reported 33, the second-highest number of deaths reported in one day, officials said.

A 17-year-old in Fort Worth is the youngest person to die from COVID-19 in Tarrant County, according to health officials.

Cook Children's confirmed the teen's death Wednesday afternoon.

County health officials told WFAA the teen had underlying health conditions and have not released the teen's name.

In Dallas County, health officials reported 33 deaths Wednesday, making it the second-highest number of deaths reported in one day since tracking began in March.

Fourteen other deaths were also reported Wednesday in Tarrant County. The people range in age from an Everman man in his 50s to a Fort Worth man in his 90s.

According to health officials, all of the patients had underlying health conditions. Tarrant County has now surpassed 900 total confirmed deaths since tracking began in March.

Health officials also reported 1,536 cases of COVID-19 Wednesday afternoon, bringing the countywide total to 114,261 confirmed cases since tracking began in March.

Overall, there are 890 coronavirus patients in area hospitals, according to the county's public dashboard. One month ago there were 628 patients.

Cook Children's stated there 21 patients currently hospitalized due to the coronavirus. The is the second-highest record, as the hospital had 22 patients during one point in the pandemic, officials said.

The state of Texas said overall, there were 10,930 cases of COVID-19 reported Wednesday, including 273 deaths.

For a daily roundup of the latest news from around North Texas and beyond,sign up for the WFAA email newsletter.

Dallas County reports 1,348 new cases, 33 additional deaths

Dallas County health officials reported 1,348 new cases Wednesday, including 258 probable cases.

Health officials also reported 33 additional deaths from COVID-19, a near-record number of deaths reported on one day.

The youngest was a man in his 20s and the oldest was a man in his 90s. A majority had underlying high-risk health conditions.

The deaths reported Wednesday include:

Unless otherwise noted, health officials said most of the people who died had underlying high-risk medical conditions.

Children's Health said in an emailed statement that the hospital has 14 patients who tested positive for coronavirus as of 3:12 p.m.

Denton County reports record single-day cases

Denton County Public Health announced a record 712 cases of COVID-19 Wednesday afternoon.

Todays report, like other record-breaking days Denton County has experienced recently, simply illustrates the reality of this infection, DCPH Director Dr. Matt Richardson said. Masks, distancing, and the forthcoming vaccines are the vehicles that will take us to normalcy in 2021, but we must do our part now to ease the burden on our stressed hospitals and ICUs.

This is the countys second record-breaking day in the last three days. Monday the county reported 592 cases.

Health officials said Denton County has eight ICU beds available.

Health experts and nurses told WFAA that the recent data is troubling for the county and for North Texas.

Were concerned. We really are, said Melissa Winans, Chief Nursing Officer at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Denton.

Right now we can safely take care of these patients, but its really a call to action to the community to help us slow the spread of this disease, she said.

Since tracking began in March, health officials have confirmed 27,897 COVID-19 cases, including 161 deaths.

Collin County reports 435 cases

Collin County health officials reported 435 cases of COVID-19 Wednesday, nearly double the number of cases from reported Tuesday.

There have been 30,232 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the county since tracking began in March.

DPS expands hours at select driver license offices

The Texas Department of Public Safety is expanding hours at select license offices beginning next year.

Officials said it's in an effort to help customers still needing services from closures during the beginning of the pandemic.

Starting Jan. 4, office hours will be expanded to 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Friday.

Locations in Carrollton, Dallas, Denton, Fort Worth, Garland, Grand Prairie, Hurst, Lake Worth, McKinney, Plano, and Rockwall are included.

Customers can make appointments online immediately and view more information here.

Fort Worth ISD employees to receive a stipend for work during pandemic

The Fort Worth ISD Board of Education announced Tuesday that eligible employees will receive a one-time stipend in recognition of their work during the pandemic.

The trustees voted to allow a stipend of $1,000 for eligible full-time employees and a $500 stipend for part-time employees.

Staff members who have worked with the district since July 1 and are still currently employed will receive the stipend.

"We are absolutely in awe of how everyone teachers, principals, nutrition workers, custodians, bus drivers, and all staff have responded, adjusted and supported our kids," President Ramos said.

The rest is here:

COVID-19 updates: 17-year-old is youngest to die from virus in Tarrant County, officials say - WFAA.com

We asked you to tell us your biggest questions about the COVID-19 vaccines. Here are some answers. USA TODAY

More than a quarter of America's coronavirus cases have been reported since Nov. 16, showing how widespread and aggressive the current COVID-19 surge is, according to a USA TODAY analysis of Johns Hopkins Universitydata.

Most of the country'scases have been reported since Oct. 4, the analysis also found. On Sunday, Georgia becamethe sixth state to report 500,000 cases. Vermont, the state with the fewest cases, surpassed 5,000 on Sunday.

Meanwhile, New York City welcomed some of its students back into the classroom Monday after a shutdown kept them in a virtual-learning setting for a few weeks.

And in California, most of the stateentered a new stay-at-home lockdown that will last through the Christmas holiday. Indoor and outdoor dining is banned, people cannot gather with anyone outside their households, and hair salons, barber shops and movie theaters must shut down.

Today's numbers:The U.S. has reported more than 14.9millioncases and over 283,500 deaths,according to Johns Hopkins University data. The global totals: 67.4millioncases and 1.54 milliondeaths.

What we're reading:Are there side effects from the COVID-19 vaccines? How much will they cost? And what are the ingredients? We're answering your vaccine questions here.

Mapping coronavirus:Track the U.S. outbreak in your state.

This file will be updated throughout the day. For updates in your inbox, subscribe toThe Daily Briefing newsletter.

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The U.S. government should use its entire inventory of coronavirus vaccines right away instead of saving half of it to complete the two-dose treatment down the road, the former head of the FDA said.

The federal government hopes to have close to 40 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine by the end of the year, and itplans to distribute half of them in December and hold back the rest to administer the second shot to the same people in January.

Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a former Food and Drug Administration commissioner who's now aboard member of the vaccine-making company Pfizer, says that's the wrong approach.

We should get as many shots in our arms as possible right away, Gottlieb told the USA TODAY Editorial Board on Monday. The idea that we need to cut (the doses) in half and give half of it now and hold onto it, so we have supply in January to get the second dose I just fundamentally disagree with that.

Gottlieb said he anticipates another 40 million doses should be ready in time for the second shot of the regimen. The Pfizer vaccine requires a second dose to be administered three weeks after the first one, while the Moderna vaccine calls for a second shot four weeks after the initial one. Both have shown about 95% effectiveness in trials.

Adrianna Rodriguez

Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green, a three-time All-Star and former NBA Defensive Player of the Year, and rookie center James Wiseman have tested positive for the coronavirus, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Both players missed Monday's first group practice of training camp and will have to quarantine for 10-12 days. Theabsence from the team could be especially detrimental for Wiseman, the No. 2 overall pick in last month's draft, as he begins his NBA career after playing only three games in college.

Without masks and a vaccine, we could reach Herd Immunity from COVID-19, but deaths would skyrocket. We break down the science of it. USA TODAY

Get ready for even worse COVID news over the rest of the holidays.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nations top infectious disease expert, said the upcoming holiday season may be even worse than Thanksgiving in terms of spreading the coronavirus. Faucitold CNN on Monday that the prospects for virus transmission as people travel may be even more compounded than what we saw at Thanksgiving.

Fauci said its a very critical time in this country right now with the virus surging and more important than ever for people to take precautions like avoiding indoor gatherings, wearing masks and social distancing. The U.S. has been averaging nearly 200,000 new COVID-19 cases a day during the current surge.

-- The Associated Press

Tennessee state Rep. David Byrd has been hospitalized with COVID-19 after attending a House Republican caucus meeting with nearly 70 lawmakers on Nov. 24.

Byrd, 63, was flown by helicopter to a Nashville hospital over the weekend. Fellow Republican state Rep. Mike Carter was hospitalized earlier this year after contracting the coronavirus.

Nursing home residents and workers should get top priority for the nation's limited vaccine supply, advocates say.

American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living officials on Monday urged governors to ensure nursing home residents and workers are immunized with the two-dose vaccine by March 1.

Last week, an influential advisory committee of theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention recommended residents of long-term care facilities join frontline health workers as the first priority group for vaccines. But governors and state health departments can decide who gets first dibs on the vaccine.

About one in five nursing home residents with COVID-19 die from the illness, according to the CDC."The single best way to very quickly reduce the number of COVID deaths is to get the population vaccinated who is dying from the disease," said Mark Parkinson, president and CEO of the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living.

Ken Alltucker

The weekend death from COVID-19 of a third-grade teacher has provided further impetus for a South Carolina teacher group to ask school districts to return to virtual classes at a time when coronavirus cases are surging in the state.

The family ofStaci Blakely, 50, asked the Lexington One School District to announce her death publicly to remind people how serious the disease can be, District Superintendent Greg Little said in a statement.Blakely, who taught for 28 years,was diagnosed with the virus Nov. 11.

At least four school districts in South Carolina have returned to all virtual learning. Nearly a quarter of the states districts are teaching in person every day.

The yearly Pearl Harbor commemoration in Honolulu has joined the extensive list of public events impacted by the coronavirus.A moment of silence was held at 7:55 a.m. Monday,the same time the attack by Japanese forces on an American naval base began in 1941, but public health measures imposed because of the pandemic meant no survivors were present this year.

The military broadcast video of the ceremony live online for survivors and members of the public to watch from afar.USS Utah survivor Warren Upton, 101, said he would have liked to attend in person but couldn't for safety reasons. He planned to watch the ceremony from his home in California.

More than 2,400 people died inthe Pearl Harbor attack, which prompted the U.S. to formally enter World War II.

California hopesa smartphone app will help stem the worrisome spike of coronavirus cases and hospitalizations in the state, which has prompted the imposition of several restrictions. The app, called CA Notify, wouldalert people if they spent time near someone who tests positive for COVID-19.

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the voluntary tool Monday and said people can opt in to use it starting Thursday by activating it through the settings menu on iPhones or downloading the app on Android phones. The technology was developed ina joint effort between Apple and Google.

Officials say the tool doesnt track peoples identities or locations but uses Bluetooth wireless signals to detect when two phones are within 6 feetof each other for at least 15 minutes, then sends notifications when one of the phone users in that group tests positive for the virus.

Sixteen other states, plus Guam and Washington, D.C., have already made the system available, though most residents don't useit. The apphas been used on a pilot basis on University of California campuses.

Newsom has issued a set a new,restrictive mandates that went into effect Sunday night across most of the state and will be in place for at least three weeks.California, with a population of 40 million people,has reported more than 1.3 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and about 20,000 deaths.

Nicole Hayden,Palm Springs Desert Sun, and John Bacon

Nearly allintensive care unit beds on theNavajo Nation reservation were being used as health care workers fear having to makedifficult decisions about providing care with limited hospital resources.

Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez said Sunday evening that there are few options to transport patients to other regional hospitals that are near full capacity. This second wave of COVID-19 is much more dire and much more severe than the first wave we had in April and May, Nez said in a statement.

The tribe extended its stay-at-home order, which took effect Monday, to stop the spread of the virus.

About 50 hospitals in the United Kingdom will receive the first batch of the coronavirus vaccine created by American drugmaker Pfizer and Germany's BioNTech, according to the BBC.Vaccinations will be administered starting Tuesday in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The U.K. became the first country to authorize Pfizer's candidate vaccine for emergency use last week. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is scheduled to evaluate Pfizer's vaccine Thursday, anddistribution is expected to start within 24 hours of authorization.

The Arizona Legislature will close for a week "out of an abundance of caution" after Rudy Giuliani, President Donald Trump's personal attorney, possibly exposed several Republican lawmakers to COVID-19.

Trump announcedGiuliani had tested positive for the virusSunday afternoon, less than a week after the former New York City mayor visited Arizona as part of a multistate tour aimed at contesting 2020election results. Giuliani, 76, was later admitted to Georgetown University Medical Center.

Giuliani had spent more than 10 hoursdiscussing election concernswith Arizona Republicans including two members of Congress and at least 13 current and future state lawmakersat the Hyatt Regency Phoenix last Monday.He led the meeting maskless, flouting social distancing guidelines and posing for photos.

Giulianialso met privately with Republican lawmakers and legislative leadership the next day, according to lawmakers' social media posts.And Democratic legislators noted Sunday evening that some representatives-elect who'd attended the Hyatt event attended an orientation for new lawmakers later in the week, possibly exposing additional legislators and Capitol staff.

Maria Polletta, Arizona Republic

An Ohioclub has been citedfor "egregious violations" of public health orders after undercover agents said they observed about 500 people attending a concert there Saturday night.

Columbus' Aftermathwas citedby the Ohio Investigative Unit for improper conduct and disorderly activities in violation of its liquor permit, according to a news release.

The club was packed withhundreds of patrons who made no attempts to maintain social distancing, and most of the crowd and employees were not wearing facial coverings, the release said. Agents also observed patrons standing, walking freely and sharing alcoholic beverages from the same bottle, passed between groups.

Dean Narciso, The Columbus Dispatch

A COVID-19 vaccine could start having an impact on some people's lives as soon as January,Moncef Slaoui, the science adviser of the White House Operation Warp Speed said Sunday.

Slaoui, who is leading the vaccine development and distribution plan for the government, said "we have light at the end of the tunnel." Still, he urged Americans to continuesocial distancing, wearing a mask and washing their hands.

"We may start to see some impact on the most susceptible people probably in the month of January and February,"Slaoui told CBS News' "Face the Nation" when asked when infections will lower.

For most Americans, though, wondering when life will start getting back to normal: "We're talking about April or May,"Slaoui said. Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is less bullish on the timing, saying last month he expects it to be the second or third quarter of 2021.Read more about Slaoui here.

A sign regarding mask use to help curb the spread of COVID-19 hangs on Sunday outside a business in Vancouver, British Columbia.(Photo: Darryl Dyck, The Canadian Press via AP)

Some of New York City's public school students are returning to the classroom Monday after a short-lived shutdown sent them home for virtual learning amid rising COVID-19 infection rates.

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced schools were closing for in-person instructionlast month, but less than two weeks later said they would reopen Monday for preschool and elementary school students.

De Blasio has vowed to try to keep the nation's largest school districtopen, using new testing protocolsinstead of relying on local infection rates to determine whether classrooms should shutter.

Austin Quinn-Davidson, the acting mayor of Alaskas largest city, is isolating at home after testing positive for COVID-19, her office announced Sunday. She felt cold-like symptoms beginning Nov. 29 and isolated at home until taking a test the next day. That test and another test came back negative. However, Quinn-Davidsons third test came back positive Saturday.

The 41-year-old is experiencing mild symptoms, the office said. Her wife, Dr. Stephanie Quinn-Davidson, has tested negative and is not experiencing symptoms, the mayors office said.

Quinn-Davidson became Anchorage's acting mayor on Oct. 23 following the resignation of Ethan Berkowitz. Shes the citys first female mayor.

Contributing: Mike Stucka and The Associated Press

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Coronavirus updates: Former FDA head says to use all vaccine doses right away; more than a quarter of US cases reported since 11/16 - USA TODAY

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ) Gov. Larry Hogan is expected to give Marylanders an overview of the states COVID-19 vaccination plan Tuesday afternoon as the state readies a campaign to get people to trust the vaccine.

>WJZ has a new news app! Download it now!<<

The governors communications director Mike Ricci said in a tweet Monday that Hogan will give Marylanders a look into what they can expect on receiving first doses of the coronavirus vaccine and the states plan.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES:

On Monday, the Johns Hopkins International Vaccine Access Center held a forum with some of Marylands top health officials stressing the need for people to get vaccinated once COVID-19 vaccines are available.

Vaccines do not work to protect people; vaccinations do, said Dr. Jinlene Chan of the Maryland Department of Health.

Maryland will soon begin a high-profile campaign to convince the public to trust the vaccines.

Itll be important to really target and focus our messaging to address and dismantle what we know those concerns are. We have to address and acknowledge the root cause, and theyre rational. Theyre rational concerns and rational fears, said Baltimore City Health Commissioner Dr. Letitia Dzirasa.

The vaccines cant come soon enough: Maryland reported more than two thousand new infections Monday, but the positivity rate and hospitalizations went down slightly.

Dr. Stuart Bell, a MedStar Health vice president, told WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren he is still worried about hospitals filling up.

It is very clear we are in a significant second surge and have been for at least three or four weeks, Dr. Bell said. Its sort of a slow, steady crescendo increase.

It comes as they are also trying to care for patients without COVID-19.

The next two or three weeks will really tell the tale, he said If we do a really good job, we can stay just a little bit ahead of where the COVID numbers are as long as we dont have a major surge. If we have a major surge, I think all bets are off.

Dr. Bell acknowledged there are different strains of COVID-19.

The Baltimore Ravens said four unique strains were found in their facility during a recent outbreak and one was highly contagious.

To date, 4,705 people have died in Maryland. Among the recent COVID-related deaths: Rob Cadrette, a 22-year veteran of the Charles County Sheriffs Office and Antwion Busta Ball, a 43-year-old teacher from Baltimore City. Balls family has now raised more than $6,000 from a GoFundMe for his funeral expenses.

During the early days of the pandemic, Maryland struggled to buy ventilators and personal protective equipment.

Back then, Governor Larry Hogan blasted Blue Flame Medical, a company run by Republican operatives that he said did not deliver more than $12 million worth of equipment on time.

The state later settled with Blue Flame with both sides admitting no wrongdoing. The co-founder of the company defended his actions in a new interview with CBS 60 Minutes.

We have been under a lot of pressure, Blue Flames John Thomas told CBS News Lesley Stahl. And while I couldnt disagree more in some of the things people have said about me and my company, I can assure you this, first and foremost that my company and I have behaved 100% legally and ethically.

Hogan will speak at 3 p.m. on Tuesday. Watch live on WJZ or WJZ.com.

For the latest information on coronavirus go to the Maryland Health Departments website or call 211. You can find all of WJZs coverage on coronavirus in Maryland here.

This story was originally published on Dec. 7, 2020.

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Gov. Larry Hogan To Lay Out Marylands COVID-19 Vaccination Plan Tuesday As State Readies Campaign To Increase Trust In Vaccine - CBS Baltimore

Just weeks before a COVID-19 vaccine is expected to be made available to U.S. medical workers and first responders, a firefighters' union internal survey taken by members of the country's largest fire department shows that more than 50% say they would not take it, mirroring what appears to be a nationwide hesitancy to get the shot.

The Uniformed Firefighters Association (UFA) survey of 2,000 members of the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) showed that 55% of participants said they would not bother to get inoculated.

Andrew Ansbro, president of the UFA, said the results of the survey are concerning in light of 200 members of the fire department currently being out sick with coronavirus.

"As a union, we are encouraging our members to get the vaccine, but we are defending that right to make that choice, Ansbro said at a news conference Sunday.

An injured worker is brought to a waiting FDNY ambulance, Nov. 14, 2020.

The FDNY has a total of nearly 11,000 uniformed employees, and Anbro said the survey results are likely indicative of the overall attitude among members of the department.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, emphasized the importance of convincing the majority of the U.S. population to get the vaccination during a COVID-19 press briefing with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday.

When you have 75% to 80% of the people vaccinated, you have an umbrella of protection over the community, that the level of community spread will be really, really very low. The virus will not have any place to go," Fauci, who has been tapped to be President-elect Joe Biden's chief medical adviser, said. If 50% of the people get vaccinated, then we dont have that umbrella of immunity over us."

Ansbro said the reluctance among FDNY members to get the vaccine is generally fueled by a lack of information.

"The reasons for that are probably the same reasons everyone else doesn't want it: It is a new vaccine, they don't have enough information, Ansbro said.

Two vaccines are within weeks of being released -- one by Pfizer and the other by Moderna. The pharmaceutical giants have requested emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration to begin distributing the vaccines.

The FDA is set to review Pfizer's request on Thursday and Moderna's on Dec. 17. Both companies have announced vaccine efficacy rates of more than 90%.

The federal government's Operation Warp Speed has said there will be "shots in arms" within 24 hours of authorization.

Ansbro said the union plans to launch a program to educate fire department members on the vaccine in hopes of making them less reluctant to take it.

Members of FDNY exit a building while on a call in New York City, Nov. 14, 2020.

"That is going to be the hurdle the department and the union is going to have to overcome," Ansbro said.

FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro and FDNY Chief of Department John Sudnik issued an internal order last month that said the vaccination will not be mandatory to firefighters and emergency medical service workers, though it recommended that employees consider "the overall benefits" of getting vaccinated.

The results of the FDNY survey are similar to recent nationwide polls. A Gallup Panel survey, which was conducted in late October before Pfizer and Moderna released results about the likely effectiveness of their vaccines, found that 58% of Americans would be willing to get a COVID-19 vaccine, a decrease from July, when 66% said they would.

Medical experts say the results of the surveys are similar to how people feel about getting the flu vaccine, with about 50% of the population not bothering to get the influenza shot.

Gen. Gus Perna, who is leading Operation Warp Speed, said in a CBS "60 Minutes" interview last month that the one thing that keeps him up at night is the possibility that "we get vaccines to the American people, and they don't take them."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently announced a new strategy to "educate and promote vaccination," a CDC spokesperson told ABC News. In the vein of "I Voted" stickers, the agency plans to give health providers a template for buttons and stickers people can wear to declare they have been "vaccinated for COVID-19."

The resistance to taking the vaccine comes as a second wave of the virus has again pushed hospitals across the country to the brink of capacity.

For the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the United States is reporting an average of nearly 2,200 deaths from the disease per day, according to an ABC News analysis of data collected and published by the COVID Tracking Project.

The national seven-day average of COVID-19 deaths per day is currently 2,171. That figure has increased by 139% in the past month.

Last week, there were nearly 15,000 fatalities from the disease recorded nationwide, including five days where the daily death toll surpassed the 2,000 mark. That's roughly equivalent to over 80 COVID-19 deaths reported each hour.

Meanwhile, the U.S. has reported over 100,000 new cases of COVID-19 every day for more than a month straight, including three consecutive days where the daily count topped 200,000.

In an interview Monday on ABC's "Good Morning America," U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams urged Americans to take the coronavirus pandemic seriously and encouraged them to take the vaccine when it becomes available.

"It's a way that we can ultimately end this pandemic, but it doesn't matter if people won't get the vaccination," Adams said.

ABC News' Celia Darrough, Desiree Adib and Morgan Winsor contributed to this report.

Continued here:

Over half of NYC firefighters would refuse COVID-19 vaccine, survey finds - ABC News

Nursing home residents and staff members will be among the first people in the United States to receive the coronavirus vaccine, NBC News reports.

But there are significant challenges to overcome before the vaccine is broadly administered to this high-risk population, which has been hit harder than any other by the pandemic.

The federal government hascontracted with CVS and Walgreensto distribute the vaccine to long-term care facilities and open on-site clinics to vaccinate residents. Thats no small logistical feat, but its far from the only hurdle this mass vaccination effort faces.

Full coverage of the COVID-19 outbreak and how it impacts you

Each state has to figure out where long-term care staff members must go to get vaccinated; some may have to go off-site. Public health officials are also confronting hesitancy among some workers, as well as residents and their family members, about getting a new vaccine that some are concerned has not been sufficiently tested on elderly, medically frail people.

Read the full story at NBCNews.com.

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Nursing Homes Are Top Priority for COVID-19 Vaccines. But Vaccinating Everyone Won't Be Simple. - NBC10 Boston

Medical science is succeeding in the midst of a global health crisis.

Since bursting onto the scene over a year ago, the COVID-19 pandemic has so far claimed well over one million lives. The ferocious spread of the virus first witnessed in the spring is now being dwarfed by an even larger surge, with hospitalizations at record highs. More deaths will inevitably follow. Yet despite this grim reality, hope has emerged.

Medical science is progressing faster than even the optimists had expected. So far, two of the most innovative COVID-19 vaccine candidates have reported efficacy over 95 percent, and a third with slightly lower efficacy but no need for freezer storage was just announced, making future distribution easier. Other newfound medical interventions have also more than halved the death rate from the virus.

Antibodies whether spurred by a vaccine or directly injected remain our best hope for ending the pandemic. Those who survive COVID-19 produce these virus-halting proteins in the process. For everyone else still living in fear, alternative ways of acquiring antibodies may be essential. Luckily, there are two ways to get them. One is to have antibodies directly injected into you, which may confer temporary immunity to or even treat infection if it hasnt progressed very far. The other way is vaccination, which turns the body into its own antibody factory.

The global race to deliver proven antibody treatments and vaccines for COVID-19 is well underway. A slew of candidates including many made possible by advances in synthetic biology are in late-stage clinical trials. Beyond positive vaccine news, two antibody treatments by Eli Lilly and Regeneron were recently granted limited approval as treatment for COVID-19.

In March, I partnered with Leaps by Bayer, the impact investment arm of Bayer to create a visual overview of the race to develop treatments and vaccines against COVID-19. It has been a year of blindingly fast scientific progress in a year that felt like a decade of social and economic stress. said Jrg Eckhardt, Head of Leaps by Bayer. Here is an updated version showing where that race stands today.

SynBioBeta

Back in March, many scientists explored whether already-approved drugs could be reused to treat COVID, as this could deliver results quickly. Unfortunately, few of these bets paid off. The scientific method, however, did prevail. Hydroxychloroquine, the antimalarial drug touted by some as a COVID-19 remedy, did not show any benefit after a double-blinded placebo-controlled trial. In these trials, half the population receives the real drug, and the other half receives a placebo, a drug designed to appear like the real thing. Both groups are blind as to which version they are receiving and the researchers administering the experiments also dont know, to prevent any biases from those giving the drug.

We wasted a huge amount of public discourse on hydroxychloroquine, when the real story was scientists collaborating to quickly invent over a hundred vaccine and an additional one hundred antibody projects against Covid, said Karl Handelsman, a biotech investor with San Francisco investment fund Codon Capital.

Remdesivir, an Ebola-fighting drug that did win FDA approval for coronavirus, was recently slammed by the World Health Organization to have no meaningful effect on COVID-19.

Dexamethasone, an anti-inflammatory steroid that was also seen as a hopeful candidate, has not shown positive results from careful trials.

And then there are treatments without any kind of scientific basis. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, a former neuroscientist, took the herbal supplement oleander extract being touted by Mike Lindell who served as President Trump's Minnesota campaign chair. Carsons condition then became serious and he was also admitted to Walter Reed Medical Center to take the same antibody treatment that president Trump had received. "You know, what happened with Mike Lindell, who is a fantastic salesperson, but not a scientist, perhaps distorts the process," Carson said at the time.

Repurposing sounded like a short cut. But people starting from scratch made antibodies and vaccines that were directly designed to target the virus showed efficacy in less than a year, said Handelsman.

Among antibody treatments that directly target the virus, two have won approval. One developed by New York-based Regeneron Pharmaceuticals received global attention when it was infused into President Trump following his COVID-19 diagnosis. Although he appears to have beaten back his infection, no one knows for sure whether the antibody treatment actually helped as the president was at the same time also receiving other experimental drugs.

The Regeneron product, called REGN-COV2, is a mixture or cocktail of two different monoclonal antibodies, both of which target proteins on the surface of the virus. They were discovered early in the year using Regenerons VelocImmune technology, which allows researchers to quickly identify human-like antibodies in mice.

To make the drug, both antibodies in the cocktail must be grown inside cells, extracted, and then mixed together to form the final product. This manufacturing detail matters as separate supply lines are needed for each protein component. Global capacity for making antibodies was already limited before the pandemic. Some factories are now dialing down production of other antibody drugs in order to free up capacity for COVID-19 treatments.

To further complicate matters, high doses of the Regeneron cocktail may be needed. President Trump was infused with a whopping eight grams of REGN-COV2. If much smaller doses prove ineffective, the worlds finite supply and limited manufacturing capacity will not stretch far. Operation Warp Speed, launched in April by the White House to hasten COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, has poured millions of dollars into boosting factory capacity for coronavirus antibody drugs.

In October, Regeneron filed for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) with regulators in the United States. In November, REGN-COV2 was approved for limited use. An earlier trial involving hospitalized patients was halted, however, due to a possible safety concern with the drug.

An EUA was also granted in November for a different antibody drug. LY-CoV555, which is still in Phase 3 testing, was discovered by Vancouver-based AbCellera Biologics and developed by American pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly. Unlike Regenerons cocktail, this treatment contains just one active antibody ingredient. It may therefore become the cheaper and more available option.

But treatments based on just one antibody must do more with less. Unfortunately, it appears LY-CoV555 alone cannot treat the sickest COVID-19 patients. In October, the National Institutes of Health, which oversees clinical testing of the drug, put a stop to trials involving hospitalized patients after initial findings revealed a low likelihood that the intervention would be of clinical value for that population.

In March, we projected the arrival of the first approved antibody treatments at the end of September. They arrived in November, but having two win limited approval before the years end reveals just how quickly modern tools for antibody discovery can produce life-saving treatments.

We also projected in the spring a standard path for COVID-19 vaccine trials: Phase 1 safety testing in a small, healthy group followed by Phase 2 safety testing in an expanded cohort followed by massive Phase 3 efficacy trials. In these extraordinary times however, regulators green lit an alternative approach: for several vaccine candidates, Phase 2 testing began before Phase 1 was complete. And some Phase 3 trials commenced before any Phase 2 trials had finished. This tiled approach where one phase of a trail overlaps the end of another still allows for the same amount of safety and efficacy date to be collected over time, but at a much accelerated pace. In the midst of a global pandemic, each month shaved from the testing timeline could save thousands of lives.

Luckily, no phase of any COVID-19 vaccine trial has had to end because of safety issues, though some have paused temporarily to investigate health scares. In September, AstraZeneca paused its Phase 3 vaccine trial to investigate a rare form of inflammation that appeared in one healthy volunteer. Following an investigation, regulators allowed the trial to resume. In October, Johnson & Johnson paused its Phase 3 vaccine trial over a single unexplained illness, resuming the trial eleven days later after a safety review.

Such pauses are common in late-stage clinical trials. Among any large group of people, random illness is bound to pop up, and Phase 3 vaccine trials, which can include tens of thousands of volunteers, are no exception. Safety pauses can even be interpreted as a good thing as they reveal that scrupulous safety monitoring of the clinical trials volunteers is indeed underway.

All vaccines try to train the body to guard against an invader. Many coax the body into making its own protective antibodies, but how they accomplish this can vary. The race for COVID-19 vaccines is pitting new strategies against older, more established ones, with scientists hoping to maximize their chances of success.

Here are the most promising vaccines currently in Phase 3 testing, sorted by vaccine type.

Nucleic acid vaccines contain short gene segments either RNA or DNA which can temporarily cause your cells to produce foreign proteins. For COVID-19, it appears that inoculation with RNA molecules encoding a protein from the coronavirus is sufficient to kickstart immunity. Pfizer announced recently that its RNA vaccine candidate for COVID-19, developed in partnership with the German firm BioNTech, is more than 95 percent effective. This claim is based on initial data from a large Phase 3 trial. Moderna, which is also testing an mRNA vaccine for COVID-19, reported 94.5% efficacy from its interim Phase 3 results. These stunning positive results were delivered by a new approach with the fastest path from identified pathogen to clinical trial. A speed which I hope can now be replicated again in the future said Handelsman.

Rather than injecting RNA directly, the AstraZeneca/Oxford and Johnson & Johnson vaccines both rely on weakened cold virus to shuttle coronavirus genes into the body in order to spur an immune response. This virus-as-ferry technology is relatively new and largely unproven. Though both candidates remain promising, only one vaccine has ever been fully approved based on similar technology. That vaccine, made by the Chinese firm CanSino, is for Ebola. CanSino, as well as the Gamaleya Research Institute in Russia, are also trialing viral vector vaccines for COVID-19.

Early Phase 3 results from the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine appear to show 70% efficacy. A potential advantage of this vaccine is its stability it does not need to be stored at very cold temperatures, making it much easier to distribute.

A more conventional route to vaccination is to inject proteins or other non-genetic subunits from a pathogen. This has led to successful vaccines for whooping cough, anthrax, and cervical cancer. At the moment, only one company Novavax, based in Gaithersburg, MDhas a subunit vaccine in Phase 3 testing. That vaccine contains the coronavirus spike protein arrayed onto a recombinant protein nanoparticle.

Finally, the most established method for achieving vaccine-induced immunity is to inoculate with a weakened or killed virus directly. This method has produced successful vaccinations for polio vaccine, hepatitis A, and rabies. At present, Sinovac, Bharat Biotech based in India, and the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute in Australia are pursuing virus-based vaccines for COVID-19.

In the end, several vaccines that use different technologies will likely prove successful. This outcome would be good news for all. With more vaccine options, there will be more supply and more lives saved. Similarly, additional antibody treatments for stopping the virus as well some that counteract the immune overreaction which characterizes severe COVID-19 are likely to emerge in the coming months.

We are living through a remarkable moment in science, where it is easier than ever to build life-saving compounds using biology. That at least is something to feel good about.

Im the founder of SynBioBeta and also an operating partner at the venture fund DCVC, which is an investor in Abcellera. Leaps by Bayer is a sponsor of the SynBioBeta Conference and Newsletter.

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The Stunning Pace Of Progress: One Year In, Covid-19 Treatments And Vaccines Are Close At Hand (INFOGRAPHIC) - Forbes

The number of coronavirus cases in the City of Houston surpassed 100,000 over the weekend.

HOUSTON The City of Houston's COVID-19 positivity rate has increased to 8.8%, according to Mayor Sylvester Turner. That's up from 8.4% from last week. The goal is to get to 5% or below.

Houston surpassed 100,000 COVID-19 cases over the weekend. As of Monday, there have been 101,300 total cases reported since the pandemic began in March.

One bright spot, Turner said, is hospitalizations were down this week and are much lower than during the summer surge.

Based on key numbers, the mayor said a curfew isn't necessary right now but it's still on the table.

I reserve the right to do it based on the numbers we are watching. That is a nuclear option. Youll hurt not only your bad actors but your good actors as well," Turner said. "Ill look at numbers, talk to medical pros first. If we need to go there, Ill go there. Not there yet to pull the trigger."

Here are other key bullet points from the Monday afternoon briefing:

On Sunday, infectious disease expert Dr. Peter Hotez said we're in a dire situation in Texas and nationally and the Thanksgiving surge hasn't even reached its peak.

"People are coming in sicker than they were in the past," Hotez said. "That gives me a lot of concern that people aren't taking this seriously."

Hotez said things will get worse before they get better.

"This is going to be a very grim next couple of months, unfortunately," Hotez said. "These next two months is when the loss of life will be at its maximum."

The virus could kill 10,000 to 15,000 more Texans by Feb. 1 so Hotez and other public health officials are urging folks to not let their guard down this holiday season.

"This is a tough time. The key is not to lose your mother, father, brother or sister when we know if get them to the other side we can get them vaccinated," Hotez said.

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Mayor Turner says Houston COVID-19 positivity rate increases to 8.8%; Curfew isn't needed at this time - KHOU.com

As Oregon COVID-19 cases climb, a surge of diagnoses are in the Portland area - OPB

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By Staff (OPB)

Dec. 8, 2020 2:22 p.m.

Another 12 people have died of COVID-19 in Oregon, including a 37-year-old man with no underlying medical conditions, state health officials said Monday. He died Nov. 29 at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in Portland, two days after being diagnosed.

The Oregon Health Authority reported that the virus appears to be widespread across the state. Of 1,331 diagnoses announced across 27 counties Monday, 330 were in Multnomah County and 225 were in Washington County. Another 134 people were diagnosed in Clackamas County.

The virus strain on hospitals has also continued to climb, with 19 coronavirus patients admitted for treatment Monday. Oregons hospitals presently house 565 COVID-19 patients, including 120 in intensive care unit beds, the Oregon Health Authority said.

Sign up to get important news and culture from around the Northwest, delivered to your inbox six days a week.

Fall sports seasons for Oregon high schools were planned to begin later this month, but the intensifying coronavirus pandemic has delayed them again.

As COVID-19 cases rise and parents push for Oregon schools to reopen, some students caught in the middle are struggling more than others.

Tags:Oregon, Health, COVID-19

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As Oregon COVID-19 cases climb, a surge of diagnoses are in the Portland area - OPB News

Those likely to confront the issue during the first weeks that vaccines are available include hospitals and health care systems whose high-risk workers will be given priority access to the shots.

The ethical issues surrounding Covid-19 vaccine mandates are particularly thorny for hospitals, said Lawrence Gostin, director of Georgetown University's O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law.

The hospital is there to heal, he said. Theyre mandated to protect all their staff, and all of their patients, and somebody certainly has rights to freedom and autonomy but they dont have the right to expose other people to dangerous infections.

The two vaccines now undergoing FDA review, from Moderna and Pfizer, have proven more than 90 percent effective in late-stage human studies of tens of thousands of people, with no serious side effects. They are poised for emergency authorization less than a year after they were created a record-breaking achievement made possible by accelerating the normal development timeline.

But hospitals and health systems have so far seen a tepid response to the vaccines among their workers. National Nurses United, the countrys largest nursing union, is fighting against any vaccination mandates until detailed data from the Moderna and Pfizer trials is publicly available.

We do believe this will be an experimental vaccine for some time, said Michelle Mahon, a representative of the union. She added that nurses are not generally skeptical of vaccines and that last year, more than 92 percent of registered nurses got a seasonal flu shot.

Another major health workers union, SEIU-United Workers West, has been urging for months that Covid-19 vaccines remain voluntary. But the group says that its members should still be given priority to access to the shots.

A representative of the Federation of American Hospitals said none of its members all for-profit health systems are making vaccination mandatory at this point. A hospital lobbyist told POLITICO that some health systems are considering requiring their employees to get the vaccines only after they have full FDA approval.

Those plans could change if health care workers become more comfortable with the vaccines over time. Americans overall trust and willingness to get Covid-19 shots has ticked up since Moderna and Pfizer released the final results of their vaccine trials last month.

Roughly 60 percent of U.S. residents would be willing to get a coronavirus shot, according to a Gallup poll released in November up from 50 percent in September.

Getting health care workers on board with Covid-19 vaccination will be crucial to increase acceptance of the shots, a top Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Official said Friday.

I know the person most people listen to most is their health provider, said Jay Butler, CDCs deputy director for infectious diseases. We want to make sure information is provided to providers as quickly as possible.

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Vaccine opponents rebrand as rollout of Covid-19 shots looms - POLITICO