This Week in Coronavirus: January 15 to January 21 | KFF – Kaiser Family Foundation

Heres our recap of thepast week inthe coronaviruspandemicfrom our tracking, policy analysis, polling, and journalism.

This week marked the one-year anniversary since the first patient with COVID-19 was hospitalized in the United States. At this point, coinciding with President Joe Bidens inauguration and a new administration leading the federal response, the country has surpassed 24.6 million COVID-19 total cases and roughly 410,100 total deaths as of January 21.

On his first day in office, President Biden signed several executive orders including requiring masks and physical distancing in federal buildings and on other federal properties. On Thursday, the President signed an executive order mandating masks for interstate travel in the U.S. and released a national strategy responding to the pandemic. KHN outlines what President Biden promised during the presidential campaign and will be tracking the administrations actions on health and COVID-19 related promises.

The latest COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor reports that half the public expect the vaccine rollout to get better under President Biden. The new report also highlights that a majority of the public, including prioritized groups like older adults and essential workers, say they dont have enough information about where and when to receive a vaccine.

Meanwhile, an update to January 19 data on states COVID-19 vaccine priorities shows 12 states have moved to redefine their priority populations or open vaccine availability to people 65 and older, bringing the total number of states placing this population in the 1a or 1b category to 28. Six states moved those under age 65 with high risk medical conditions up in line as well.

A new analysis explores state-reported data on vaccination by race/ethnicity and will be regularly updated and available on KFFs COVID-19 state data and policy tracker. While it is still early in the vaccine distribution timeline for the general public, the preliminary data provided by 16 states indicate Black and Hispanic peoples share of vaccinations is smaller than their share of cases and deaths in most of these reporting states. The data and our news reporting at KHN have also shown that vaccination is lagging by various measures for people of color.

Media reports indicate some health workers are opting not to be vaccinated, particularly among those working in long-term care facilities. A new data note examines the makeup (by race/ethnicity, income level, age, gender, education, and citizenship status) and health insurance coverage of the estimated 15.5 million health care workers with direct patient contact.

Global Cases and Deaths:Totalcases worldwide stand at 97.5 millionthis week withan increase ofnearly 4.4 million new confirmed cases in the past seven days.There wereapproximately 95,400new confirmed deaths worldwide, bringing the total for confirmed deaths to nearly 2.1 million.

U.S. Cases and Deaths:Total confirmed cases in the U.S. reached 24.6 million this week.Therewas anincrease of about 1.3 millionconfirmed cases between Jan. 14 and Jan. 21.Approximately 21,400confirmed deaths in the past week brought the total in the United States to410,100.

State Social Distancing Actions (includes Washington D.C.) that went into effect this week:

Extensions: AL, ME, MD, MA, MI, NJ, OH, RI, UT, WI

Rollbacks: DC, IL, MA, MI, ND, VT

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This Week in Coronavirus: January 15 to January 21 | KFF - Kaiser Family Foundation