Until now, the slow pace of distribution has meant that vaccine demand in most states has exceeded their supply as they rushed to protect their priority populations, often health care workers and older Americans.
Now, New York, with about 75% of hospital workers vaccinated, may become the first state to offer access to the vaccine to people with the simultaneous presence of two or more medical conditions, regardless of age. The governor’s office listed cancer, chronic kidney disease, lung disease and heart problems as some of the underlying comorbidities and conditions that the state will use to determine eligibility for the Covid-19 vaccine.
Governor Andrew Cuomo also said on Friday that the state is now vaccinating those in the prison system according to the same guidelines as the general public.
And in Texas, the Houston Department of Health said on Friday that it will prioritize “vulnerable populations” and “underserved communities” when receiving additional doses of vaccines.
When it comes to reaching the needy, like homeless, uninsured and migrant workers, pharmacies and local health centers are a better option than trying to “reinvent the wheel” with mass vaccination sites, said Admiral Brett Giroir in a radio interview it aired on Friday.
“I think trying to create a big federal website in the middle of Dallas that will immunize 10,000 a day is a lot less pleasant,” said the former Secretary of Health and Human Services in SiriusXM’s “Doctor Radio Reports”. “It is not about finding people where they are and it is much less efficient than having the distributed network that we have established and used for decades.”
Variant outbreaks are possible, but not inevitable
Health experts have warned that the spread of new variants, some of which appear to be more transmissible, could cause the pandemic to dominate – and many fear that it could mean another outbreak.
But the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said that this is “a possibility, but not necessarily an inevitability”.
The virus can only mutate if it is able to replicate, explained Fauci.
“When you have a lot of infections in your country, when you have three to 400,000 new infections a day, the virus has an open playing field to replicate itself so much that it starts to mutate. That’s where you start dangerous mutations. “
To prevent variants from replicating and mutating, Fauci asked the public to continue to follow evidence-based public health measures.
One of the best ways to prevent mutations, he said, was “to double public health measures to prevent the virus from passing from one person to another: masking, detachment, avoidance of crowded environments.”
Most importantly, Fauci urged the public to get vaccinated.
“As soon as the vaccine is available, please go out and get vaccinated, because the combination of vaccination and public health measures will lower the level of the virus so much that you won’t give it a chance to mutate. That’s what we need to do. “
Schools return to campus
Meanwhile, teachers and school staff have also been prioritized for vaccination, as many states seek to resume face-to-face education for the first time in almost a year.
Vermont began allowing sports competitions to resume on February 12, as long as teams have no more than two games in a seven-day period, keep a minimum of three days between competitions and bar spectators.
However, after months of remote learning, officials from the School District of União Escondido in San Diego County brought students back to campus on Tuesday.
However, two days later, more than 100 students and staff were forced into quarantine due to Covid-19 infections reported on their various K – 8th grade campuses.
The fear of this transmission between students and staff hindered negotiations in the public school system in Chicago, the third largest in the country.
Late Friday, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and CPS Chief Executive Janice Jackson said in a letter to teachers that pre-K and non-accommodation cluster teachers and staff will not show up for work on Monday. fair will be blocked from the school’s online systems.
The union, in turn, said city leaders “have moved away from the bargaining table again”.
Officials defend Super Bowl parties
While officials are trying to increase vaccines, many are begging citizens to avoid Sunday’s Super Bowl parties.
“Now is not the time for a Super Bowl party,” Alabama state health officer Dr. Scott Harris said in an interview on Friday. “Now is not the time to fumble because you have become careless while spending time with a lot of people who are not at your home.”
Kentucky Public Health Commissioner Dr. Steven Stack made a similar call earlier in the week, asking residents to stay home on Sunday.
“Throw virtual Super Bowl parties. Enjoy the Super Bowl in the privacy of your own home,” said Slack. “When people gather in private homes nearby, this is one of the most effective ways to spread the disease. We cannot allow the disease to spread now, with these mutations and variants.”
Jason Hanna, Kristina Sgueglia, Chuck Johnston, Chris Boyette of CNN, Lauren Mascarenhas, Christopher Rios, Anjali Huynh, Alexandra Meeks, Brad Parks, Hollie Silverman, Tina Burnside and Rebekah Riess contributed to this report.