Birth rates in the U.S. have been on the decline in recent years, and the coronavirus pandemic has caused even more couples to hold off on having children.
Health officials warn that amid the spread of variants, the US could be on the cusp of a fourth surge in COVID-19 cases.
Here are the latest global coronavirus numbers, provided by researchers at Johns Hopkins:
Confirmed cases: 116,463,253
Fatalities: 2,586,760
Recoveries: 116,463,253
While nearly 83 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine have been administered throughout the U.S., health experts and community leaders are growing concerned over equity in access when the vaccine program eventually expands to pharmacies. While 90% of Americans live within 3 miles of chain pharmacy, others live in areas called food and health care deserts, lacking a single grocery store or pharmacy in close range,” Dr. James Hildreth, president and CEO of Meharry Medical College and member of President Biden’s COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force, told ABC News. In fact, there are 150 counties across the U.S. that do not have a pharmacy, and 4.8 millions people live in a county where there is only one pharmacy for every 10,000 residents or more, according to an ABC News analysis. In short, this means that people living in these pharmacy deserts could have fewer options to get vaccinated when the U.S. begins to vaccinate the general public, health experts say.
The U.S. Senate approved President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan on Saturday that will provide Americans who qualify a direct payment of $1,400. The decision took 24 hours of debate and the final vote was 50-49, NPR reported. In addition to the direct payments for eligible Americans, the relief package will also extend supplemental unemployment benefits and increase the child tax credit.
Coronavirus vaccines are still very limited across the U.S. making it difficult for people to get vaccinated, but a group of people is volunteering their time to help those who are struggling to book an appointment. These Good Samaritans are called ‘vaccine hunters.’
“I spent a good month pretty much going at it all hours of the day - you know, early in the mornings, late in the evenings,” Carl Cimini told the BBC. He even had alerts on his phone to tell him when appointments may be available, but even with that Cimini was not able to get the jab. He ultimately enlisted the help of a ‘vaccine hunter’ named Kevin Hayes who used a computer program to find and book a vaccine appointment for Cimini. “Even myself, with a modest amount of computer knowledge and ability, I had to basically recruit a young lad to run the show because I couldn’t get an appointment,” Cimini told the BBC. Watch the full interview below to learn more about how ‘vaccine hunters’ are helping people get vaccinated:
The Dalai Lama, who is an 85-year-old Tibetan spiritual leader, received his first dose of the coronavirus vaccine on Saturday, The Associated Press reported. In addition to receiving his first dose, he encouraged others to get vaccinated as well. “In order to prevent some serious problems, this injection is very, very helpful,” he said. After the shot was administered, a hospital worker said he was observed for 30 minutes. Ten other people who live in his residence also received the first shot of the vaccine.
Spring break in Florida has kicked off despite the pandemic, and a lack of social distancing is not bothering the students who traveled from all over the U.S. to partake in the festivities, Fox News reported. One traveler from Michigan told The Sun Sentinel of South Florida that he was not concerned because the people on spring break are “not in the at-risk group.” While some business owners are excited about the return of spring break and the customers that come with it, medical experts have expressed concern over the potential outcome of so many people traveling to party. “With crowding, particularly within bars and without masks, there is a high risk that visitors will acquire the infection and take it back home," said Dr. J. Glenn Morris Jr., director of the Emerging Pathogens Institute at the University of Florida. Morris said Florida has one of the highest rates for variant strains of the coronavirus in the U.S.
Despite concerns from medical experts, Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis said he believes the concerns are blown out of proportion, and that most businesses are following COVID-19 safety guidelines. "People will always find random evidence of non-compliance and make it appear that’s the norm," he said. "Most people are aware of the rules and obey the rules. We have beaches and open-air environments, and open-air environments are not considered to be putting people at risk. I think people should spend more time focusing than trying to play gotcha with other people visiting our community."
More than one year since the coronavirus outbreak started, millions of Americans are still out of jobs which led banks to see an increase in savings rates. Wealthy people, who typically spend money on travel and entertainment, are now stuck at home and forced to give up leisure spending, leading to even more savings in the bank, according to France 24. Americans have accumulated $1.8 trillion in excess savings in the 11 months since the start of the pandemic, according to figures released this week by Barclays and Oxford Economics.
For most areas in the U.S., entering Phase 2 of the vaccination program probably means opening up vaccine eligibility to a few more people of the local population. But for Gila County in Arizona, located east of Phoenix, Phase 2 means everyone. Due to the area’s low percentage of vaccine usage, local health officials told CBS News that the vaccine availability was opened to everyone over the age of 18 in order to increase interest and distribution. "Prior to that, we were struggling to find enough people to make appointments to that, so the state gave me permission to offer it to any resident 18 and older," Michael O’Driscoll, director of the county’s Public Health and Emergency Management, said. "We did a survey before to get a sense of how many people in Gila County would consider getting the vaccine, and our survey came back about 50-60% of the residents would choose to get the vaccine if available.”
The number of births across the U.S. has been slowly but steadily declining in recent years, and a new study suggests that the trend will continue through the pandemic. Around 300,000 fewer babies are expected in 2021, the BBC reported, citing a study by Brookings Institution think tank. One factor behind this prognostication is the unstable job market due to the pandemic. "When the labour market is weak, aggregate birth rates decline; when the labour market improves, birth rates improve," the authors of the study said. The economic cost of having a child during the pandemic has also given some couples pause about getting pregnant, the BBC reported. The official birth data for the U.S. is not expected to be released until later this year.
A nurse holds a 11-day-old baby boy infected with COVID-19, who arrived just four days after his birth at the intensive care unit of the Prof. Dr. Feriha Oz Emergency Hospital, after feeding him in Istanbul, Saturday, Dec. 19, 2020. The hospital is a new infirmary offering some of the most advanced intensive care treatment in the country. When the pandemic first struck, Turkey was credited for quickly bringing infection rates under control. It is now seeing an explosion in COVID-19 cases that is putting a serious strain on its health system.(AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
The Big Apple's cinemas reopened on Friday, one year after they were abruptly closed by officials on March 17. "Oh my God, I'm so excited to be back. I'm not working so I gotta have something to do!" movie enthusiast Cindy B told AFP. Cinemas were allowed to reopen when Governor Andrew Cuomo announced they must operate at 25 percent capacity or with no more than 50 people per screen. Inside the movie theatre, social distancing and mask-wearing are mandatory. AMC has installed special air filters and is disinfecting each auditorium between screenings.
More than half of U.S. seniors aged 65 or older have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine. The growing number of vaccinated individuals has put a growing stress on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to release official guidelines pertaining to what people can safely do after receiving the vaccine, NBC News reported. Despite vaccinations rising in the U.S. with 2 million administered on Thursday alone, new cases are now hovering at a steady pace after what was a decline. "These are complex issues and the science is rapidly evolving," CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said. "CDC is working to ensure that the communications we release on this guidance are clear. We are making sure, and taking the time, to get this right."
As spring approaches and vaccine programs gain momentum, apparel sales trends are showing that some Americans are ready to trade in sweat pants for “go-out fashion.” Apparel sales dropped by 19% last year, according to market researcher The NPD Group, CNBC reported. The drop came as Americans stayed home, their spending habits focusing on groceries and household essentials rather than new clothes to go-out in. However, Anthropologie’s website went from seeing dresses rarely breaking into the top 10 selling items once or twice to seeing seven dresses on the list during the last week of February — a positive change, according to Urban Outfitters CEO Richard Hayne. Anthropology is a unit of Urban Outfitters. “Up until recently, the fashion predominantly has been… casual and home comfortable,” Hayne told CNBC. “We’re beginning to see — what I’m calling ‘go-out fashion’ start to take hold. The apparel business will be in for a change in terms of what categories we sell.”
Jamaica is changing its travel restrictions to now require a negative coronavirus test from all travelers within three days of the trip. The new rule goes into effect on March 10, Fox News reported. It only applies to travelers over the age of 12. The negative coronavirus tests will need to be shown to an airline representative during the check-in process for the flight. The previous restrictions for the country required travelers show a negative coronavirus test within 10 days of the trip.
The recent approval of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine is opening doors for new ways that people in the U.S. can get vaccinated, NBC News reported. Because the previous vaccinations approved in the U.S. required cold storage and two doses, officials were limited in how they could administer the vaccines. “We want to make sure they can complete the vaccination series,” Albert Peguero, manager of emergency preparedness for Bristol Health in Connecticut, said. “When you go out into the community to find people to vaccinate, it can be a logistical challenge to go out two or three weeks alter and find them again.” With the newly approved Johnson & Johnson vaccine, government agencies and healthcare providers across the country have more leeway and plan to use experimental vaccine administration in their jurisdictions. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city plans to devote a lot of the Johnson & Johnson vaccines to mobile clinics made for homebound senior citizens. “This is one of the very best uses for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine,” he said.
Depending on the age, some teenagers could begin getting vaccinated soon in the U.S. The Pfizer vaccine has been cleared for peopled age 16 or older, and some high schoolers with medical conditions or who live in areas with availability could be next in line to receive the vaccine, The Associated Press reported. In addition, Pfizer and Moderna have finalized enrollment for studies involving children ages 12 and older, and the data should be available at some point this summer. Vaccinations with younger children become more complicated, which is why trials start with older children first, as younger children can have different responses or require different dose sizes. “It’s unlikely we could get community protection without immunizing children,” Drexel University pediatrics professor Dr. Sarah Long said. “This is the lynchpin to getting everything back to some kind of normalcy.”
The AstraZeneca vaccine may be effective against the coronavirus variant P1 discovered in Brazil, according to some preliminary data from a study conducted at the University of Oxford. The data suggests the vaccine will not require modification to be effective against the variant, an anonymous source told Reuters. According to the source, the full results of the study could possibly be released this month. Earlier study results suggested the AstraZeneca vaccine was less effective against the variant discovered in South Africa, which led to the country halting the use of the vaccine entirely.
More than 1 million Wisconsin residents have received their 1st dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, equating to 17.6% of the state’s total population. The announcement came from Gov. Tony Evers on Friday, The Associated Press reported. Among that one million, 570,000 people in the state have been fully vaccinated. Wisconsin’s vaccinations puts the state at 18th place nationwide for coronavirus vaccinations. Next week, the first shipment of Johnson & Johnson one-dose vaccines is scheduled to arrive in the state containing 48,000 doses.
The excitement for the new Johnson & Johnson vaccination option wasn’t shared by all this week. Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said during a news conference this week that the city would be turning down an initial allocation of the vaccine because it is only “a very good vaccine” but not as effective as Moderna and Pfizer’s. "So, Johnson & Johnson is a very good vaccine. Moderna and Pfizer are the best. And I am going to do everything I can to make sure the residents of the City of Detroit get the best," Duggan said, according to CNN. The Food and Drug Administration announced last weekend the J&J vaccine was found to be 72% effective in the US, while Pfizer and Moderna were previously found to be 95% effective. The J&J vaccine is also manufactured in Michigan, just 2 hours away in Grand Rapids, and has been proven to be highly effective at preventing serious illness from COVID-19.
Despite the demand for dosages being far higher than the supply of vaccines, Duggan said he is committed to keeping the third vaccine option on the back burner for the time being. "The day may come in March or April when every single Moderna and Pfizer is committed, and we still have people who need a vaccine. And at that point we will set up a Johnson & Johnson center. I don't see that in the next couple of weeks," he said.
Two days after Texas and Mississippi announced that they would be ending mask mandates, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey extended the state’s current mask mandate by one month. The mandate was set to expire next week, but is now expected to come to an end on April 9, The Associated Press reported. “We need to get past Easter and hopefully allow more Alabamians to get their first shot before we take a step some other states have taken to remove the mask order altogether and lift other restrictions,” Ivey said on Thursday during a press conference. As of Thursday, 14% of the state’s total population had received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, according to the CDC. Ivey encouraged people that they should still take proper measures to remain safe and healthy as the restrictions are loosened across the state. “Even when we lift the mask order, I will continue to wear my mask while I’m around others and strongly urge my fellow citizens to use common sense and do the same,” Ivey added.
The search for a mystery person who tested positive for the coronavirus variant P1, which originated in Brazil, has been identified, the BBC reported on Friday. On Feb. 26, U.K. health officials discovered three people that tested positive for the variant, but one of the people did not give all of their information when taking the test, Dr. Susan Hopkins of Public Health England said. An investigation was opened to find this mystery person that ultimately lead to the individual being identified on Wednesday, March 3. “This individual has been interviewed extensively and lives within a household that had recently returned from Brazil, and who had all quarantined at home,” Hopkins said. The neighborhood around the individual is being tested to determine if the variant has been transmitted in the community.
On Friday, Canadian health officials gave the green light to the Johnson & Johnson one-dose coronavirus vaccine, the fourth vaccine that the country has approved, The Associated Press reported. “This is the fourth vaccine to deemed safe by Canada’s health experts — and with millions of doses already secured, we’re one step closer to defeating this virus,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a tweet. Canada is now the first country in the world to prove four different vaccines for the virus, having recently approved those developed by Pfizer, Modern and AstraZeneca.
However, it may be some time before the first shots from Johnson & Johnson make it into the arms of Canadians. The country is not producing vaccines of its own, so it is relying on supplies from other countries. According to the AP, Canada has pre-ordered 10 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, but it is unclear when they will arrive as the U.S. is not yet allowing its vaccines to be exported. Canada also has an option to order an additional 28 million vaccines after the initial 10 million are shipped.
As more data continues to show that low-income and minority groups in California are being severely impacted by COVID-19, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Thursday that 40% of the next batch of vaccines will be for people living in the state’s poorer zip codes. “Households earning over $120,000 have twice the access to vaccines than those communities that have been disproportionately impacted,” Newsom said, according to AFP. Out of the 10 million vaccine doses given to the state of 40 million residents, just 1.6 million have gone to Californians in the poorest quarter of regions. No other state in the country has seen as many deaths as California, whose 53,000 fatalities make up over 10% of the nation’s world-leading total.
Of their total cases, over 3.5 million, Latino populations account for over half of the infections. "That disproportionately has fallen on the Latino community in the state of California -- African-American community, yes, but disproportionately even more so on the Latino community in California," said Newsom.
A more contagious variant of the coronavirus, B.1.1.7, has spread across the U.K. and into other countries around the world in recent weeks, but now, health officials are monitoring the spread of yet another variant. The change is being called E484K and was first identified in the U.K. on Feb. 15, the BBC reported. More than a dozen individuals tested positive for this variant that experts believe originated in the country and could evade some immunity that the body builds up after receiving a coronavirus vaccine. For the time being, Public Health England has placed this new variation on the country’s watch list and has stated that they are not immediately concerned, the BBC said.
More than 67,000 new coronavirus cases were tallied across the country on Thursday, according to Johns Hopkins University researchers, the second day in a row new infections ticked upward. Total cumulative cases in the U.S. are inching toward 29 million of the more than 115 million global cases. More than 65 million of those infected with COVID-19 have recovered globally. For a closer look at the data surrounding the spread of the virus, watch the video below.
Delta Air Lines is providing bonuses to managers within the company spanning from a few thousand dollars to more than $100,000 to make up for pay cuts that were made at the beginning of the pandemic— while frontline workers within the company receive no bonuses at all. Delta received billions of dollars in federal aid last year, according to NBC News. Thousands of workers’ hours were cut by 25% in the company last year due to the lack of travel demands amid the pandemic and 18,000 employees were either bought out or accepted early retirement packages, which helped the company avoid furloughs.
“While all Delta people were affected by the worst year in our history, following a comprehensive pay review of all levels in our organization below the executive officer level, we identified levels that were disproportionately impacted as a result of last year’s events and made a one-time adjustment payment,” Delta said in a statement. The pilots’ union was critical of the bonuses provided to managers within the company. “While we are confident that Delta will recover quickly once the country comes through the pandemic, the payment of special bonuses to management while the airline is still burning cash is premature and inappropriate,” said Chris Riggins, spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Association.
The number of new cases of COVID-19 is starting to increase across Europe, a reverse in course following six consecutive weeks of decline, according to AFP. "Last week, new cases of COVID-19 in Europe rose 9% to just above 1 million,” WHO Europe's regional director Hans Kluge said. "We are seeing a resurgence in central and Eastern Europe. New cases are also on the rise in several western European countries where rates were already high," he added. As the number of new cases across the continent starts to trend upward, so too does the spread of three variants. The U.K. variant B.1.1.7 has been reported in 43 counties, the South African variant B.1.351 has been identified in 26 countries and the Brazil variant P1 has been identified in 15 countries, according to the World Health Organization. These variants may be more contagious than the novel coronavirus that initially spread around the globe.
The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center began administering its first doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the first one-shot coronavirus vaccine to receive US approval, this week. The doses administered at the Wexner Medical Center were some of the first in the country. “We’re thrilled to have the J&J vaccine as another tool in our toolbox,” Dr. Andrew Thomas, chief clinical officer of the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, said. “We think there’s a group of patients that have been sitting on the sidelines and not getting vaccinated up until now because they’ve been waiting for a single-dose vaccine.” He said they had “no trouble” in finding people willing to receive the vaccine, with many saying they were waiting for an opportunity for a single-dose vaccine. “I was scared to death at first and I got the shot and I just felt a little bit of warmth, and then all of a sudden it was like… the weight was lifted off of me,” one person who received the vaccine said.
Five of 789 U.S. professional athletes infected with COVID-19 were later found to have suffered inflammatory heart disease, according to ESPN. In this study, what is now the largest study to date on the cardiac impact of the virus in sports, doctors across six U.S.-based leagues kept tabs on 789 infected players from May to October, 2020. Before returning to the fields or courts, the athletes underwent three noninvasive tests surrounding their hearts’ health. Of the 30 athletes who had abnormal test results, five were diagnosed cases of inflammatory heart disease — three of which were identified as myocarditis and two as pericarditis. The five athletes were not identified for the purpose of the study.
Social distancing appears to be missing at a coastal resort in Quintana Roo, Mexico, located near Cancun. A video from AFP reveals tourists enjoying the beach and playing volleyball. Despite over 185,000 people in the country having died from COVID-19 so far in the pandemic, Mexico has left its borders open without closing them once. The country has also never required negative coronavirus tests from travelers and was the third most-visited country in 2020. Some hotels are offering free stays to visitors who become infected while on vacation in an attempt to bring in more business.
A second variant of COVID-19 has been discovered in the U.K., The BBC reports. Public Health England has labeled the new discovery as a 'variant under investigation,’ meaning it is one they are not immediately concerned about but is being monitored on their watch list. Scientists have discovered 16 cases of the new variant in the U.K. so far, which were first discovered on Feb. 15. The mutations of the variant shows some similarities to the variants first discovered in South Africa and Brazil. The individuals who tested positive and their close contacts discovered through tracing have been advised to isolate
San Diego Zoo orangutans and bonobos have received an experimental COVID-19 vaccine specifically formulated for animals. The vaccinations make them the first non-human primates to get vaccinated for COVID-19, according to CBS News. One of the orangutans named Karen has made history before for being the first ape in the world to receive open-heart surgery in 1994. The group of primates to receive their vaccines consisted of four orangutans and five bonobos. They each received two doses of a vaccine developed by the company Zoetis. "This isn't the norm. In my career, I haven't had access to an experimental vaccine this early in the process and haven't had such an overwhelming desire to want to use one," Nadine Lamberski, chief conservation and wildlife health officer at the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, said.
Schools and stores have shuttered across Hungary as the country imposes a new round of lockdowns, Reuters reported. The latest restrictions come as the third wave of the virus sweeps the nation. “The third wave (of the pandemic) is strong, very strong and worse than the second wave had been,” said Gergely Gulyas, the chief of staff for Prime Minister Viktor Orban. On Thursday, Hungary reported 6,278 new cases of COVID-19, the highest daily total since early December, according to data gathered by Johns Hopkins University. The lockdowns come as vaccines begin to be administered across the country with Hungary using the Sinopharm vaccine from China and the Sputnik V vaccine from Russia, Reuters reported. “We hope we are in the last phase of the pandemic and we will reach vaccination levels within a few weeks or months that allow a reopening (of the economy), which will start from March 22 in a gradual manner,” Gulyas said.
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