COVID-19 killed more than 436,000 Americans, and infections continued to increase, despite the introduction of a pair of vaccines in late 2020. USA TODAY is following the news. Keep updating this page to get the latest updates. Subscribe to our Coronavirus Watch newsletter for updates to your inbox, join our Facebook group or go through our detailed answers to readers’ questions.
Are you thinking of using public transport soon? You will need a mask.
The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an order on Friday requiring people on planes, ships, ferries, trains, subways, buses, taxis and rides to wear a face mask while waiting, boarding, traveling and disembarking . The request applies to anyone traveling to, within or outside the U.S.
The agency said it reserves the right to enforce the order through criminal penalties. It takes effect at 23:59 on Monday.
Meanwhile, Johnson & Johnson said on Friday that data from its last testing stage in the United States and seven other countries showed that its unique vaccine had an overall 66% effectiveness in preventing moderate to severe illnesses.
Once fully protected, there were no deaths in the vaccinated group and several among those who received the placebo, although the company has not detailed these cases.
Because of its single dose regimen, the J&J vaccine has been described as a “game changer” in the campaign against the coronavirus pandemic. And the vaccine does not need to be kept frozen, allowing it to be distributed through normal vaccine supply chains, without the need for new and expensive equipment.
In the headlines:
►The Biden administration announced on Friday that it is running ahead of its initial vaccination target, with an average of 1.2 million shots per day administered in the previous seven days. Biden said earlier this week that he hopes to reach 1.5 million vaccinations a day.
►The European Union drug regulator on Friday authorized AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine for use in all adults, despite concerns that there is insufficient data to prove that it works in older people. On Thursday, Germany’s vaccination advisory committee said in a draft recommendation that the vaccine should only be given to people aged 18 to 64 for the time being.
► Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan is asking the state to prevent hospital systems from giving special access to the COVID-19 vaccine to donors, board members or other members of the connected community after reports from various area hospital systems doing so. She also asked the state to relocate vaccines to community health clinics that serve low-income communities of color.
►This Kentucky couple did everything together for 56 years. Then, one of them died alone from COVID-19.
►The Arizona Department of Health Services reported that the UK strain was confirmed in three-person COVID-19 tests. The agency is working with other public health agencies, including the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to monitor the situation.
►Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday announced stricter restrictions on travelers in response to new and probably more contagious variants of the new coronavirus – including making it mandatory for travelers to be quarantined in a hotel on their own when they arrive to Canada and suspend the airline service to Mexico and all Caribbean destinations until April 30.
► “I cried. I begged. I screamed”: Couples fight over COVID-19, as men don’t take the virus as seriously as women and are less likely to follow safety measures, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Disease Control and Prevention.
📈 Today’s numbers: The United States has more than 25.9 million confirmed cases of coronavirus and more than 436,800 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Global totals: More than 102.1 million cases and 2.2 million deaths. About 48.4 million doses of vaccine have been distributed in the United States and 27.8 million have been administered, according to the CDC.
📘 What we’re reading: Side effects of COVID-19? Painkillers like Tylenol and Advil are “perfectly fine” – but only after vaccination, experts say. Read the full story.
Medical school enrollments increase among black Latino students
Enrollments for medical school next fall increased 18%, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges, which represents 155 American institutions. Some schools saw jumps of 30%. And many school officials specifically note that the number of candidates from traditionally underrepresented Americans is helping to drive the increase.
Miriam Cepeda watched helplessly as her grandfather, an immigrant from the Dominican Republic who was ill with COVID-19, resisted calls last March to go to the hospital. “He told us that he had sad memories of hospitals at home and that he simply did not trust the medical system,” said Cepeda, 19, whose grandfather passed away after COVID-19. “For many minority communities, going to the doctor is not our first choice or solution.”
Cepeda, from New York, hopes to change that. The sophomore at Columbia University plans to enroll in medical school in a few years so she can see patients of color, whose health inequities have been highlighted by a virus that has sickened and killed people of color in disproportionate numbers. Read More.
– Marco della Cava
US vaccinated representative Stephen Lynch presents positive tests for COVID-19
A Massachusetts congressman who received both doses of the Pfizer vaccine against coronavirus tested positive for the virus.
US Deputy Stephen Lynch’s office said on Friday that the legislator had a negative test result before appearing for President Joe Biden’s inauguration. The office says the positive Lynch test came after a team member in his Boston office tested positive earlier this week.
A statement states that Lynch is not showing any symptoms of COVID-19. Lynch will be quarantined and will vote by proxy in Congress next week.
Lynch is the second member of the state’s Congressional delegation to test positive in a few days. On Thursday, US Congresswoman Lori Trahan announced that she had tested positive after several negative tests.
Colorado Mayor Compares COVID-19 Restrictions to George Floyd’s Death
The mayor of a Colorado village compared COVID-19 county restrictions to the death of George Floyd in a statement he later said was a “bad choice,” according to a local vehicle.
Snowmass Village Mayor Bill Madsen defended lighter COVID-related restrictions during a Pitkin County Health Council meeting on Thursday, when he made a comparison with the death of Floyd, a black man who died after a police officer in Minneapolis stuck his knee to Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes.
“We are creating an enormous amount of ill will in the community,” said Madsen, according to Aspen Daily News. “To get back to George Floyd’s scenario, we put our foot down the throat of the restaurant industry and they can’t breathe.”
He later backtracked on his comments: “I was just trying to make it clear that the restaurant industry is suffering, and that was probably a bad choice of words,” said Madsen. “It was a bad choice. … I just wanted to make sure that the restaurant industry is being heard and I think that throughout this process they didn’t feel that way.”
Iowa County leaders plead for patience amid a shortage of the COVID vaccine
Leaders in some Iowa counties warned on Friday that their supply of COVID-19 vaccine will remain well below demand for at least a few more weeks. At the same time, the state is preparing to expand vaccine eligibility for Iowa residents aged 65 and over, as well as for people in certain high-risk professions.
“We are begging you to be patient as we continue to navigate this impossible situation,” Polk County Supervisor Angela Connolly told a news conference. “It is a difficult and difficult time. People want to be vaccinated and we want to have this vaccine in their arms.”
Helen Eddy, director of the Polk County Department of Health, said her agency will have just enough vaccine to offer the first doses to 2,575 county residents next week, in addition to the second doses to 4,500 people who have already received the initial vaccines. Iowa county health officials face challenges similar to Polk’s.
– Tony Leys, Des Moines Register
Mexican president says he’s recovering from COVID-19
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador posted a video of himself walking slowly through his offices on Friday and speaking for about 13 minutes straight, saying he is recovering from COVID-19.
López Obrador has not been holding his famous daily press conferences for hours for the first time since he took office on December 1, 2018 and, evidently, misses the opportunity to speak.
The president, who has been isolated since a positive test for coronavirus over the weekend, said: “The doctors told me that I am passing the critical stage. I am fine.”
Contributing: The Associated Press
This article was originally published in USA TODAY: COVID news: J&J vaccine trial; Canada tightens travel restrictions