Category: Covid-19

Last modified on June 10, 2021

Dear Stanford community,

Stanford continues to review and adjust campus COVID-19 protocols as public health conditions and rules change.

Some important changes in public health requirements over the next few weeks will significantly influence rules for our campus and community.

Several events occurring this month are helping guide our decisions:

In addition, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, known as Cal/OSHA, yesterday withdrew a proposed rule regarding requirements for face coverings and physical distancing in workplaces. As a result, the university must continue to follow existing requirements until at least June 28.

The changes described below are part of our ongoing plans for ramping up for the 2021-22 academic year. We are working toward a fall quarter that is as close to normal as possible, but with modifications based on the health situation.

Please note that these changes will not affect COVID-19 protocols in place for Commencement activities on June 12 and 13.

Face coverings & physical distancing

Employees:

Students (effective June 26):

Vaccinations & Health Check

The vaccination status question on Health Check, which has been voluntary, will require a response, as soon as June 17, from faculty, staff, students and postdocs coming on-site. Previously, this response was optional. Individuals are asked to provide this information if they have not already done so.

Also this month, fully vaccinated employees will be able to upload an image of their vaccination documentation to Health Check. Students will continue to upload their cards on the Vaden patient portal.

Data on vaccine status helps us learn the vaccination rate among our community and informs decisions to adjust campus policies while continuing to mitigate COVID-19 risks. In addition, as part of Santa Clara Countys May 18 health directive, employers are now required to determine which staff are fully vaccinated.

Please note: (1) No group or unit should create vaccination requirements separate from or more restrictive than university requirements. For more information, visit Health Alerts. (2) Health Check is the only approved channel through which the university asks for faculty/staff vaccination status. Individuals should not be asking peers or employees whether they have been vaccinated.

Additional guidance will be posted on Health Alerts before this requirement takes effect.

Campus zones & other outdoor spaces

As public health conditions improve and state regulations are relaxed, Stanford is restoring access to outdoor campus spaces for the university community and visitors.

Campus zones: This temporary program will end and restrictions on access to outdoor spaces will be lifted on June 16.

While the campus zones program will end, all visitors entering non-residential campus facilities need to be pre-approved and complete the visitor health attestation form.

Dish area: Users can once again walk in either direction along the main loop starting June 16.

Parking: Stanford will return to weekday enforcement of commuter and visitor parking on the main campus, rather than 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Visitor parking will again be available in all parts of the main campus starting June 16.

A careful focus will remain on indoor facility access to safely support the continued resumption of onsite teaching, research and other work.

Events

Effective June 16, Stanford Environmental Health & Safety review of events sponsored by the university and affiliated groups with fewer than 500 participants will no longer be required.

Updated guidelines on student gatherings are being developed and will be posted by Student Affairs once complete.

We appreciate the efforts across our campus community to keep one another safe.

Please continue following safety protocols and be vaccinatedfor COVID-19. Click here for resources and links to vaccination providers.

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Update on COVID-19 policies, Health Check and events - COVID-19 - Stanford Health Alerts

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) Overnight summer camps will be allowed in all 50 states this season, but COVID-19 rules and a pandemic labor crunch mean that many fewer young campers will attend, and those who do will have to observe coronavirus precautions for the second consecutive year.

The Southeast is the first region to kick off camps this month, with other parts of the country to follow in July.

Camp might look a little different, but camp is going to look a lot better in 2021 than it did in 2020, when it didnt happen, said Matt Norman of Atlanta, who is getting ready to send his 12-year-old daughter to camp.

Even though most camps will be open, reduced capacity necessitated by COVID-19 restrictions and the labor shortage will keep numbers well below a normal threshold of about 26 million summer campers, said Tom Rosenberg of the American Camp Association.

Across the country, many camps face competition for counselors in a tight job market. Traditional recruitment tactics like job fairs on college campuses have been canceled.

Its been hard to get people to work, said Josh Nelson, at Glorieta Adventure Camp, a facility in pine-covered foothills outside Sante Fe, New Mexico.

A group of Glorieta camp staffers started their orientation by rolling up their sleeves and getting vaccinated in an area between the mess hall and the water slides. But many campers are too young to get the shots because the vaccines have not been approved for children under 12.

That means this years camp experience will still involve many of the same prevention practices that were adopted at the small number of camps that operated last year. Those measures include grouping kids in cohorts, mandating masks, emphasizing social distancing and lots of hand washing. Some states, like Vermont, are offering free virus testing for campers.

At an all-girls camp called Fernwood in Maine, about 200 of the 300 counselors and campers will be vaccinated by the time the six-week term starts.

Going into it, its a much better scenario for us. Because instead of being worried about 300 people, were worried about 100 people, Fernwood Director Fritz Seving said.

Norman plans to send daughter Jane Ellen to Camp Illahee in Brevard, North Carolina, and hes glad the camp is encouraging vaccinations.

Jane Ellen agreed and said the focus on vaccines is a good idea.

If most people are vaccinated, the more people can go, she said.

Back at Glorieta, staff arrived in May from Oklahoma, Texas and a college town in Mexico called Puebla, where an in-person recruiting fair took place. They have been training on safety protocols, including virus protection, zip lining and life guarding.

The camp is running at one-third capacity 1,100 out of 3,000 slots are filled and staff will be grouped in pods. Kids are expected to wear masks, even outdoors, except when the are eating meals or in their sleeping dorm.

More than 90% of the staff agreed to be vaccinated, but there was no mandate for vaccinations.

Even with those limitations, the outlook is much better than last year, when camp was canceled and 80% of the staff was laid off by March, Nelson said. Federal Paycheck Protection Program loans helped but didnt alleviate all of the financial pain, he said.

Rosenberg said camp is more important than ever in terms of providing normalcy for kids who have dealt with remote learning, canceled events and boredom at home, not to mention health worries.

Kids have been traumatized. Theyve had some real academic losses. We still havent talked enough about the social and emotional learning losses, he said.

Camp will let them practice engaging peer to peer and offer a chance to to try new activities, take positive risks and be out in nature, and sort of regain some of the humanity theyve lost over the past year.

Last year, about 19.5 million kids missed out on camp, but most of the overnight camps that opened operated successfully. There were a few notable outbreaks. More than 250 people were infected at a camp in Georgia, and more than 80 infected at a camp in Missouri.

Continued here:

Summer camps reopen with fewer campers, counselors from COVID-19 restrictions and staff shortages - MarketWatch

The CDC said it plans to update its face masks order to reflect the change and to better align with its guidance for fully vaccinated people.

Until then, the agency said it will "exercise its enforcement discretion" to not require masks in outdoor areas of transportation hubs, such as bus or train stops, or open-air areas on ferries, trolleys or buses.

The CDC order refers to public conveyances, which includes "airplanes, trains, subways, buses, taxis, ride-shares, maritime transportation, trolleys and cable cars."

"While those who are fully vaccinated may resume many activities without wearing a mask, the travel environment presents a unique set of circumstances based on the number and close interaction of travelers (both vaccinated and unvaccinated)," the CDC said.

People who are not yet vaccinated should continue wearing masks in these areas, the CDC said.

The agency maintains that both vaccinated and unvaccinated people should continue to wear masks indoors in public transportation settings, except under certain circumstances, like when eating, drinking or taking medicine.

Surgeon general: Unvaccinated people are at risk from a potentially more dangerous variant

"For those who are unvaccinated, they are increasingly at risk as more and more variants develop," Dr. Vivek Murthy told CNN on Wednesday, specifically citing the B.1.617.2, or Delta variant, first identified in India.

"The news about the Delta variant is evidence of really why it's so important for us to get vaccinated as soon as possible," he said, adding that the variant is more transmissible and potentially more dangerous.

Concern over the risk of variants bringing an end to a nationwide reopening is shared by many health experts and officials.

"We don't want to let happen in the United States what is happening currently in the UK, where you have a troublesome variant essentially taking over as the dominant variant, which has made it a very difficult situation in the UK," he said Wednesday, adding that the Delta variant accounts for more than 6% of sequenced virus in the US.

While the US has "done very well" with vaccinating its population, Fauci said, "we cannot declare victory prematurely because there are still a substantial proportion of people who have not been vaccinated."

Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Wyoming have among the lowest vaccination rates in the country, according to CDC data. And officials are urging citizens that the best way to get ahead of the variants is with vaccinations.

"The good news is that when they looked at the Pfizer vaccine, they found that it was quite effective after two doses at protecting against even the Delta variant," Murthy told CNN.

Moderna asks FDA to OK vaccine for adolescents

"We are pleased to announce that we have submitted for an emergency use authorization for our COVID-19 vaccine with the FDA for use in adolescents in the United States," said Moderna CEO Stphane Bancel. "We are encouraged that the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine was highly effective at preventing COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2 infection in adolescents."

If authorized, Moderna's would be the second Covid-19 vaccine available in the US to adolescents. The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, initially authorized for people 16 and older, was granted EUA last month for 12- to 15-year-olds.

Initial observations found none of the children who received the vaccine got sick with Covid-19 starting 14 days after their second dose. Four kids who got a placebo tested positive for the virus.

Meantime, an FDA vaccine advisory committee is meeting Thursday to discuss, generally, what data is needed to support authorization of Covid-19 vaccines for children, including those younger than 12.

States look to reduce restrictions

In another example of local optimism with improved Covid-19 numbers, about two dozen states have decided to scale back their daily tracking of cases, hospitalizations and deaths, Johns Hopkins University said this week.

Many states have scaled back to five updates each week, while others have dropped to three times or fewer. Florida, for example, has dropped to once per week.

Some health officials are calling this move premature in the face of current vaccination rates, citing needed improvement in these areas before states can let off the gas pedal regarding Covid-19.

"As far as I know, we're still in a public health emergency as a country ... That has not been downgraded yet," Lori Tremmel Freeman, chief executive officer of the National Association of County and City Health Officials, told CNN on Wednesday.

Several states also this week announced plans to further loosen Covid-19 protocols. South Carolina lifted an emergency order placed on the state, touting what Gov. Henry McMaster called the "timid" approach the state took to closures and restrictions.

"It is no longer necessary to have a state of emergency, although it is still necessary for us to be smart, to follow the rules, to follow the guidelines and be very careful," McMaster said.

In New York, the state plans to lift "virtually all" pandemic-related restrictions when 70% of adults have received at least one dose of the vaccine, Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office said Wednesday in a news release. The state was then at 69.1%, according to the release.

CNN's Lauren Mascarenhas, Adrienne Vogt, Deidre McPhillips, Jacqueline Howard, Jamiel Lynch, Laura Ly, Lauren del Valle, Nadia Kounang, Rebekah Riess and Naomi Thomas contributed to this report.

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CDC says fully vaccinated people don't have to wear masks in open-air areas of public transit or at outdoor sections of hubs - CNN

WASHINGTONWhen the coronavirus pandemic plunged the U.S. into a recession last year, it portended another blow to the health of the Social Security system. An anticipated decline in payroll-tax revenue and increase in disability claims were expected to erode the programs reserves and pile pressure on the government to respond.

Instead, the near-term finances of the federal governments retirement and disability programs appear to have weathered the storm better than many policy analysts had predictedtaking some pressure off the Biden administration and Congress to reach a long-term solution to keep them solvent.

A faster-than-expected economic recovery has bolstered the payroll taxes that help finance the programs. And new benefit claims for disability insurance, which typically jump when the economy is weak, declined for some groups as the Social Security Administrations field offices remained closed.

I dont think its going to be as big of a hit as many people, including me, feared a year ago, said Kathleen Romig, a senior policy analyst at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a progressive Washington think tank.

Longer term, though, the programs are being squeezed by rising costs and declining revenue as the population ages, and they are on track to deplete their trust fund reserves in coming years as funding shortfalls widen. After that, beneficiaries would face automatic benefit cuts unless Congress steps in to shore up the program, for example by boosting the payroll tax rate, trimming benefits or delaying the retirement age.

See the article here:

Social Security Weathered Covid-19 Better Than Expected, but Long-Term Challenges Remain - The Wall Street Journal

By Dr. Erica Pan, California State Epidemiologist and Deputy Director of the Center for Infectious Diseases

Californias future is brighter now that protection from COVID-19 is within reach for even more of our loved ones. Adolescents aged 12 to 15 can join older teens in getting the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine the same vaccine that has been safely administered to millions of California adults, including more than 30 percent of 16 and 17-year-olds in just the first month of eligibility.

As a pediatric infectious disease specialist and a parent of two eligible adolescents, this was exciting news. My husband who is also a pediatrician and I immediately scheduled an appointment to get our teenagers first dose once available. The past year has been hard on all of us, but especially difficult for our teens who have had to put their lives on hold. Now that eligibility has expanded, we can confidently give our kids a shot at being kids again with the comfort of knowing they are protected from COVID-19.

I have spent my career treating and preventing infectious diseases in children as a pediatric infectious disease physician and a public health official. I understand the concerns that parents have when thinking about their childrens health and wellness. I am incredibly grateful that science and technology have brought us this gift of vaccines to protect us and end this pandemic in an unprecedented timeline. It is incredible to see how quickly weve vaccinated millions of people to increase our confidence in both the safety and effectiveness of these vaccines. While continuing to vaccinate more of our population is a critical step to getting back to our normal lives, this news likely brings up many questions.

We know our teens have questions, too and thats OK. Its important for everyone to get the facts on vaccination. Here are the facts:

COVID-19 vaccines are free to everyone, even if youre undocumented or dont have health insurance. Your immigration status will not be asked when you or your child is vaccinated, and information will not be shared with immigration agencies.

Young people have been heroic throughout this pandemic. They have suffered stress and isolation. Now it is their turn to join grandma and grandpa, mom and dad, aunts and uncles, guardians and neighbors, teammates, and friends in getting vaccinated so that they can safely return to fully-in person schooling and hang out more often with friends.

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On the Record with Dr. Erica Pan: Protecting Our Kids with COVID-19 Vaccines | California Governor - Office of Governor Gavin Newsom

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) Virginia Health officials announced new dates for mobile vaccination clinics in Virginia Beach, Norfolk and on the Eastern Shore.

The mobile clinics will offer free COVID-19 vaccines in a series of local clinics, primarily in rural and underserved areas where vaccine access can be challenging. No appointments are necessary.

These vendor-operated, mobile vaccination clinics will move from place to place to support local health department efforts in the region and across the state. The mobile clinics will offer the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine and eliminating the need for second-dose shots.

The schedule for the clinics is:

Virginia Beach

Norfolk

Eastern Shore

To find a vaccination site near you, please visitvaccinate.virginia.govorvaccinefinder.org.You can learn more about the vaccine, its safety and answers to frequently asked questions atVDHswebsiteandCDCs website.

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Mobile COVID-19 vaccination locations announced in Virginia Beach, Norfolk and on the Eastern Shore - WAVY.com

Japan is set on going ahead with the Olympics in July, despite Tokyos ongoing state of emergency over the COVID-19 pandemic.

By Dennis NormileJun. 9, 2021 , 12:35 PM

Sciences COVID-19 reporting is supported by the Heising-Simons Foundation.

A group of Japanese scientists, including some of the nations most senior advisers on the COVID-19 pandemic, is warning that allowing spectators at the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics will help the virus spread domestically and internationally. Their recommendation to bar or at least limit spectators, not yet formally published but described to ScienceInsider in general terms, represents an increasingly outspoken challenge from scientists to the government and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which remain adamant about going ahead with the games just 6 weeks before the 23 July opening ceremony.

Japan and IOC have already barred tourists from entering Japan to watch the games in person. But millions of people in Japan could attend competitions at more than 40 venues in and around Tokyo.

That would be a bad idea, says the informal group of 15 to 20 top public health experts, who have met virtually on Sundays since last year to discuss the pandemic. But they worry their warning will fall on deaf ears. Most of the group members likely favor canceling the games, says one member who did not want to be identified. But given the current stance of Japans government and IOC, the discussion has shifted as to whether we should welcome a domestic audience or not, this scientist says. But it may be too late to consider any drastic changes in the way that the Tokyo Olympic Games are organized, says another member, Hiroshi Nishiura, an epidemiologist at Kyoto University. He says the governmental coronavirus control headquarters, which is under the Cabinet Office, has never publicly discussed the risks of holding the games.

Shigeru Omi,chair of the governments top COVID-19 advisory panel, which reports to the coronavirus headquarters, and leader of the informal group, has said he will unveil the recommendations before 20 June. It is unclear whether Omi will present the report as coming from the informal group of experts or get his official panel to endorse it. The precise timing of the release and whether it should go to the government or IOC is still under discussion, Nishiura says.

The Olympics, originally scheduled for summer 2020, were postponed 1 year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But Tokyo and other major cities remain under a COVID-19 state of emergency, and a slow vaccination rollout has led to calls for further postponement or even outright cancellation of the games. Recent public opinion polls indicate 60% to 80% of the country favors cancellation. Yet IOC officials and Japanese politicians, mindful of the billions of dollars at stake, are pressing ahead. When asked at a 21 May virtual news conference whether the games would go forward even if Tokyo were under a COVID-19 state of emergency, John Coates, an IOC vice president, said: The answer is absolutely yes.

The fraught relationship between the experts and Japans politicians and IOC officials was on display last week when Omi appeared before two legislative committees. Holding the Olympic Games is not normal under current circumstances, he said at a 2 June appearance before a health committee of the lower legislative chamber, according to local press reports. The next day, he told the upper chambers health committee that Olympic organizers should impose stringent preparations to minimize the risk of spreading infection. He added that giving opinions was meaningless, unless they reach the International Olympic Committee. But Norihisa Tamura, Japans minister of health, labor and welfare, brushed off Omis remarks, calling them just a voluntary report of research results in comments to reporters.

Nishiura says one concern is that the games could help spread more contagious COVID-19 variants, particularly given the large numbers of athletes, coaches, officials, media, local volunteers, and domestic spectators. Guidelines from the Japanese Olympic Committee ask athletes and support staff to limit travel to official accommodations and venues; avoid public transportation, tourist attractions, restaurants, and bars; and leave the country within 2 days of the conclusion of their events. Although the guidelines say noncompliance could lead to being barred from competing, Nishiura says there is no indication of how these restrictions will be enforced. As yet, there are no contingency plans for handling clusters of cases that might overstretch health care facilities. Because of a shortage of hospital beds and oxygen supplies during the recent fourth wave of infections, a substantial number of people died in their own homes, Nishiura says. In a bit of lucky timing, however, Japan is coming off its fourth wave of infection. Daily new cases have dropped from a peak of more than 7000 on 12 May to just over 2000 on 6 June.

Japans late and slow-moving vaccination drive adds to these worries. Japan has administered more than 17 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines primarily to medical workers and those 65 and older, covering about 6.8% of the population. Vaccination will start for those younger than 65 in the middle of this month. But the slow pace of vaccination means the Olympics will be going on when only elderly people are vaccinated, Nishiura says.

The impact of any Olympic-related infections could spread throughout the country and even globally, says Hitoshi Oshitani, a public health specialist at Tohoku University who is an occasional member of the Sunday study group. Over the past year and a half, new cases rose nationwide after most long holiday periods, such as the New Year and the spring Golden Week when most workers can take a full week off. The Olympics will run into the August summer vacation period when many urban residents return to their hometowns to visit parents or grandparents. Last year, a public information campaign successfully convinced many to spend their vacations at home and new cases did not rise significantly, Oshitani says. But with the excitement surrounding the Olympics, he says, Im not sure people will listen to recommendations to limit travel.

See more here:

Japanese scientists warn that Tokyo Olympics could help spread COVID-19 - Science Magazine

ASHBURN, Va. -- Washington Football Team defensive end Montez Sweat said Wednesday he wasn't persuaded to take the COVID-19 vaccine after listening to an expert discuss the matter with him and his teammates, highlighting an issue that remains not only in the NFL but in society as well.

Washington coach Ron Rivera had an immunologist who is a leading coronavirus vaccine researcher speak to the team Tuesday. Kizzmekia Corbett answered questions and provided information about the vaccine via videoconference, hoping to lessen fears.

Rivera said his players are approaching a 50% vaccination rate, while his staff and the rest of the employees in the building have all been vaccinated. Rivera has also met privately with players, trying to present information or have a conversation about their concerns.

"I'm not a fan of it," Sweat said Wednesday of the vaccine. "I probably won't get vaccinated until I get more facts and that stuff. I'm not a fan of it at all.

"I haven't caught COVID yet so I don't see me treating COVID until I actually get COVID."

The NFL has loosened restrictions for those who have been vaccinated, allowing them to go without masks and to not be tested daily for COVID-19.

Unvaccinated players are still subject to all this, as well as contact tracing quarantine policies. They also will be unable to interact with other players when traveling, or with family and friends on the road. They can't eat in the cafeteria and must adhere to capacity limits in the weight room.

"Obviously they want everybody to be vaccinated to move freely around the facility and with traveling," Sweat said. "But everybody has their own beliefs and they're entitled to their own decision."

Sweat said the players have a "constant conversation" about this topic. Rivera called it a choice for players, one that he'd like them to make in favor of the vaccine -- but he doesn't want to force it upon them.

"The big thing is we've got to be able to facilitate the opportunity for these guys to understand," Rivera said. "There's a lot of messaging that's out there; they get it off of Twitter and some of it is good, some of it is bad. I'm not sure if these guys watch the news as much as I do and try to gather enough information, but we are really trying to help them, because if we can get to that herd immunity, we can really cut it loose and really be able to spend time with each other."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's COVID-19 tracker, 63.8% of U.S. adults have received at least one dose of a vaccination; 42.3% have been fully vaccinated.

"I know myself and all these other guys were exposed to what you might call fake news or just rumors on social media about the vaccines, and maybe conspiracies and stuff like that," Washington rookie wide receiver Dax Milne said. "Some guys are obviously for it -- getting the vaccine -- some guys still have a little bit of hesitancy. But personally, it was good to hear the real facts, and I plan on seeing a lot more people getting the vaccine on the team."

Milne said he had heard about deaths and other side effects from vaccines. But, he said, Corbett told them there were a lot of fake articles that peddled misinformation.

Milne said she also told them "that when it gets down to the real facts and the actual studies that they've done, with real information, there's been no deaths from it."

"I don't want to speak out of turn," he said, "but it sounded a lot more safe than we all thought it was. I think we're feeling a lot more comfortable with it now."

Offensive lineman Saahdiq Charles said, "Learning new stuff like that -- I learned plenty of stuff yesterday about the vaccine that I had never heard, so it was good to hear."

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Montez Sweat 'not a fan' of COVID-19 vaccine despite Washington Football Team bringing in expert to address players - ESPN

Healthcare workers wait to assist residents for their mandatory coronavirus disease (COVID-19) swab tests after some residents were tested positive for the virus, at a public housing estate in Singapore May 21, 2021. REUTERS/Edgar Su

Singapore has reported its 34th death due to COVID-19, taking its toll from the pandemic beyond the 33 casualties recorded during the 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak.

The city-state was one of the worst-hit countries by SARS outside mainland China, based on numbers of infection and death, according to the World Health Organization's data.

SARS, a previously unknown infectious disease, is believed to have emerged from the wet markets of China's Guangdong province before spreading into major cities. Globally, as many as 774 people died in the epidemic that reached nearly 30 countries.

While the current pandemic death toll has exceeded Singapore's death toll from the SARS outbreak, the city-state still has one of the world's lowest COVID-19 fatality rates.

Singapore authorities had said at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic that the experience dealing with SARS meant they were more prepared for the COVID-19 outbreak.

So far, Singapore has reported 62,219 COVID-19 infections since January last year, while it recorded 238 SARS cases between March and May 2003.

The 34th COVID-19 death in Singapore was an 86-year-old woman who had not been vaccinated against COVID-19 and had a history of comorbidities including diabetes and hypertension, Singapore's health ministry said.

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Singapore's death toll from COVID-19 tops casualties in SARS outbreak - Reuters

The White House has a handy roundup of vaccine incentives.

In a push to get at least 70% of all adults in the US vaccinatedby July Fourth, President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced a National Month of Action. As part of the push, the White House has rounded up many of the incentives for people to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

Some of those incentives include free beer from Anheuser-Busch on July Fourth; winning cruises, Super Bowl tickets and cash from CVS; $2 million in gift cards from Door Dash; on-site vaccines and free tickets for MLB games; thousands of Xboxes from Microsoft; $1 million per week to someone through Kroger; and winning a year of free flights from United Airlines.

Read more: Free beer, doughnuts and $1 million: Incentives to get your COVID-19 vaccine

Other incentives and pushes to get people the vaccine include:

Vice President Kamala Harris will also embark on a national tour encouraging people to get vaccinated. The tour will be "anchored in the south."

Around 41.5% of the entire US population is currently fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to numbers from John Hopkins University. This means 136 million people have received either both doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, or the single-dose Johnson & Johnson shot.

Keep track of the coronavirus pandemic.

The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.

See more here:

Biden pushes COVID-19 vaccine incentives to get rates past ...