NEW YORK (Reuters) – Tennessee emerged alongside California on Wednesday as an epicenter of the latest wave of COVID-19, although more than 1 million Americans have been vaccinated as U.S. political leaders sought to protect themselves against a variant of the highly contagious coronavirus that sweeps Britain.
Tennessee had an average of almost 128 new infections per 100,000 people last week, the highest rate of any U.S. state, according to data from the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. California came in second with 111 new cases per 100,000 residents.
“Our state is ground zero for a wave of COVID-19 and we need Tennesseans (to do) their part,” said Governor Bill Lee on Twitter, asking residents to wear face masks and meet only with members of their own families. at Christmas.
Some public health officials say Americans’ Thanksgiving Day trips and meetings have contributed to the latest explosion of cases across the country.
In all, 31 U.S. states reported a dismal record of new COVID-19 infections in December, as hospitalizations and deaths also increase. More than 194,600 new cases were confirmed on Tuesday alone.
The CDC said that on Wednesday morning more than 1 million people across the country received the first of the two doses required for the two coronavirus vaccines that were approved. But most Americans have been told that it may take six months or more before they are eligible for vaccines, as priority is given to healthcare professionals, nursing home residents and, in some cases, senior government officials.
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious disease officer, received the Modern vaccine live on television on Tuesday. President-elect Joe Biden was inoculated with the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine in front of the cameras on Monday.
CONCERN GROWS ABOUT THE MUTANT VARIANT
US Representative Ilhan Omar, a Democrat from Minnesota, criticized political leaders earlier this week for putting themselves on the front lines for the shooting.
“We are no more important than frontline workers, teachers, etc. who are making sacrifices every day. That’s why I’m not going to accept it, ”said Omar on Twitter.
The Trump administration said on Wednesday it had reached a $ 2 billion deal with Pfizer to distribute 100 million additional doses of its vaccine by July.
But Americans who saw a ray of hope at the launch of the two vaccines in December found that an even more transmissible variant of the coronavirus is spreading across the UK. Drug makers Pfizer and Moderna were testing their vaccines against the variant, but believed the drugs would be effective against the mutant virus.[n4N2J229V]
The United States, unlike many nations around the world, has not banned travelers from Britain.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city would order international travelers to be quarantined for 14 days on arrival and provide government officials with contact information. The sheriff’s deputies will pay visits to impose order on those arriving from Britain, the mayor said.
Travelers who violate these orders face fines of $ 1,000 a day, said de Blasio.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has asked airlines to select British travelers for COVID-19. The state was an initial epicenter of the virus and recorded more than 36,000 COVID deaths, far more than any other state.
Washington State Governor Jay Inslee this week ordered a 14-day quarantine for travelers arriving from the UK, South Africa or other countries where the new variant was detected.
In New York City, vaccination programs have expanded to the Fire Department, where about 6,000 employees contracted the virus, fire commissioner Dan Nigro told reporters. About 400 FDNY paramedics lined up to receive their first doses of the Moderna vaccine on Wednesday, including Verena Kansog, coordinator of advanced life support for Manhattan, who was shot at a training center on Randalls Island.
“I feel relieved,” Kansog, concerned about bringing the disease to his elderly mother, told Reuters in a telephone interview. “I was not at all nervous.”
Reporting by Gabriella Borter and Dan Whitcomb; Additional reporting by Anurag Maan, Carlo Allegri, Jonathan Allen, Peter Szekely, Lisa Lambert, Susan Heavey and Steve Gorman; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Leslie Adler