On the same day that it hosted the Super Bowl LV, Florida on Sunday became the first state to report 200 variant cases of COVID-19, according to an analysis by USA TODAY.
The worrying news comes as public health officials across the country are preparing for a possible increase in coronavirus cases if Americans do not follow warnings not to meet for the Super Bowl parties.
The game itself was played in front of 22,000 masked fans, many of them vaccinated health workers, at the Buccaneers stadium in Tampa Bay, but videos on social networks after the game showed revelers in Tampa, many without a mask and ignoring social distancing guidelines, celebrating on the streets.
The country now has 699 known cases of virus variants, up from 618 on Thursday. The cases of highly contagious variants have more than doubled since January 27.
Experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are among many health officials urging Americans to meet with friends to take Zoom, not to take bowls of guacamole in their living rooms, so that parties do not become events of over-spreading across the country.
“I’m concerned about Sunday’s Super Bowl, honestly. People get together, watch the games together. We’ve seen outbreaks of football parties,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, earlier. “So I really think we need to watch this and be careful.”
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In the headlines:
►The United States on Sunday reported less than 100,000 new COVID-19 cases, one of the lowest records in three months, shows a USA TODAY analysis of Johns Hopkins University data. Sunday’s record of 88,044 still averages more than one case per second, but the country has reported no fewer than 100,000 cases in one day since November 2, except on Christmas Day, when some states have not reported numbers.
►Pfizer expects to cut nearly half the time needed to produce a 110-day batch of COVID-19 vaccine to an average of 60 days as it makes the process more efficient and production is increased, the company told USA TODAY.
► South Korea’s daily record of new confirmed cases of coronavirus dropped to less than 300 on Monday for the first time in more than two months, while officials slightly eased the country’s strict physical distance rules.
► Researchers in Britain say that a new study of 2,000 people indicates that the AstraZeneca / Oxford vaccine offers minimal protection against mild or moderate diseases of the South African variant of the coronavirus. The study, which did not evaluate the vaccine’s effectiveness in preventing serious diseases, raises serious concerns about efforts to contain the pandemic mainly through inoculations. South African officials said they would postpone the launch of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the country while studying the findings.
📈 Today’s numbers: The United States has more than 27 million confirmed cases of coronavirus and 463,400 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Global totals: More than 106 million cases and 2.31 million deaths. More than 59.2 million doses of vaccine have been distributed in the United States and about 41 million have been administered, according to the CDC.
📘 What we’re reading: Fatigue, fever and loss of taste or smell are commonly known symptoms of COVID-19. A British researcher has documented other diseases linked to the coronavirus and they are not pleasant.
Chicago schools will reopen this week; San Francisco schools reach agreement
Schools in Chicago are scheduled to reopen this week after an interim agreement was reached with the teachers’ union on COVID-19 security protocols, potentially avoiding a strike in the nation’s third largest school district.
Under the possible agreement, which still requires approval from the Chicago Teachers’ Union, pre-K and special education programs would return on Thursday and other groups would be staggered. Students from kindergarten through fifth grade would return to school on March 1 and high school students a week later. No return dates have been set for high school students.
Elsewhere, unions representing San Francisco’s school district workers said on Sunday that they also provisionally agreed to an agreement that would allow public schools to reopen, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
And some churches in California opened their doors to worshipers after the state revised its guidelines following a Supreme Court decision that lifted the ban on closed services during the coronavirus pandemic.
Pfizer expects increased efficiency to ease vaccine launch bottlenecks
Pfizer expects to cut the time needed to produce a 110-day batch of COVID-19 vaccine to almost an average of 60 as it makes the process more efficient and production is increased, the company told USA TODAY.
As the country increases its vaccination programs, the increase may help to alleviate bottlenecks caused by vaccine shortages.
“We call it ‘Project Light Speed’ and it’s called it for a reason,” said Chaz Calitri, vice president of sterile injectable operations at Pfizer, who runs the company’s factory in Kalamazoo, Michigan. “Just last month, we doubled production.”
The increase in speed and capacity is not unexpected, said Robert Van Exan, president of Immunization Policy and Knowledge Translation, a vaccine production consultancy.
– Elizabeth Weise
Dr. Fauci: There is not enough time to study the impact of postponing the second dose
The country’s leading infectious disease expert said on Sunday that it would not be prudent to delay second doses of COVID vaccines because it would take too long to study the impact.
“From a theoretical point of view,” it would be nice to know the durability of a dose, he said. But the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were thoroughly tested for a second dose in three and four weeks, respectively, he said.
“The amount of time it will take, the amount of people you will have to put in the study – by then, we will be in the arena of having enough vaccines to distribute anyway,” said Fauci on NBC News’ Meet the press. “What we have now, and what we should follow, are the scientific data that we have accumulated and are really very solid.”
Contributing: The Associated Press
This article was originally published in USA TODAY: COVID Updates: Super Bowl unmasked parties; 200 Florida variant cases