Biden administration orders additional 200 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine
The Biden administration is working to purchase an additional 200 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, a move that could provide enough doses for nearly every American to get fully inoculated by the end of the summer, President Joe Biden said Tuesday.
The government is seeking 100 million doses from Pfizer and 100 million from Moderna, an order that would be made available over the summer. This is in addition to the 400 million combined doses the companies had already committed to providing to the U.S., Biden said. He said he expects to be able to confirm the purchase soon.
"It will be enough to fully vaccinate 300 million Americans to beat the pandemic," Biden said.
Philadelphia ends contract with vaccination provider over for-profit status change
The city of Philadelphia has terminated its partnership with Philly Fighting COVID, a group that ran the city’s biggest Covid-19 vaccination site, after discovering the organization had changed its corporate status from nonprofit to for-profit, abruptly stopping offering testing, and updated the privacy policy on its vaccination sign up website in a way that could allow for the sale of user data.
Three weeks ago, the city’s Department of Public Health announced a “unique public/private partnership” with Philly Fighting COVID, according to NBC Philadelphia, and urged residents to pre-register for vaccination on the group’s website.
The city and the group together ran a mass vaccination site at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, and the relationship was publicized by national media, including NBC News.
Some Latino groups more wary of Covid vaccine, so messaging needs to be tailored, experts say
Experts are urging Biden administration officials to better understand the source behind Covid-19 vaccine skepticism across different Latino communities to improve vaccine rollout strategies nationwide.
Surveys have found an "element of fear and mistrust" about the vaccine, but such fears manifest differently across different Latino subgroups, according to researchers Gabriel Sanchez and Juan Peña in a Brookings Institution analysis published Monday.
At least 28 percent of all Latinos surveyed by the Latino advocacy nonprofit UnidosUS in October reported that they were unlikely to get vaccinated for Covid-19. Latinos of Puerto Rican and Mexican origins were the most likely to report they would not get vaccinated, overwhelmingly citing concerns over potential negative long-term health effects and side effects from the vaccine, according to disaggregated data from the UnidosUS survey.
"Given that Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans are the two largest national origin groups among Latinos, with roughly 41 million Latinos from these groups living in the United States, this is a significant concern for the ability the reach the goal of herd immunity through high rates of vaccine uptake across the population," Sanchez and Peña said.
North Carolina running out of vaccine doses
North Carolina has doled out 95 percent of its allotted coronavirus vaccines, with demand now on the verge of eclipsing scheduled supply, officials said Tuesday.
A new shipment of 120,000 doses is expected to arrive in the Tar Heel State on Wednesday, though officials are lobbying for a boost.
The state's vaccination efforts should show the "federal government we are ready to take on more vaccine and we need those additional doses now," Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, told reporters on Tuesday.
Boris Johnson says he's 'deeply sorry' for Covid-19 deaths, takes 'full responsibility'
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Tuesday he was "deeply sorry" for every life taken by Covid-19 as he insisted his government has done "everything we could" to ease the pain of the pandemic.
Johnson, who has been sharply criticized for his response to the coronavirus crisis, said he offered his "deepest condolences" to the relatives of Covid-19 victims, according to the PA Media news agency.
The prime minister's remarks came as the United Kingdom topped 100,000 deaths from the coronavirus.
“I think on this day I should just really repeat that I am deeply sorry for every life that has been lost and, of course, as I was Prime Minister, I take full responsibility for everything that the government has done," Johnson said, according to PA Media.
In regards to the national death toll exceeding 100,000, Johnson said it was “hard to compute the sorrow contained in that grim statistic: the years of life lost, the family gatherings not attended and for so many relatives the missed chance to even say goodbye."
California officials take control over state's slow vaccine rollout
California is changing its vaccine delivery system to give the state more control over who gets doses amid growing frustration over a slow rollout that has forced people to wait hours, and months, for their shots.
Under the new system, state officials will work with third party administrators to allocate vaccines directly to providers, including county public health systems, pharmacies, health systems, public hospitals, community health centers, pharmacies and pop-up sites.
California will also launch a new online portal, called My Turn, where residents can make vaccine appointments and check their eligibility status.
Starting next month, health care workers, individuals 65 and older and people who work in education, child care, emergency services, food and agriculture will be eligible to start making appointments to receive the coronavirus vaccine, pending availability. Future groups will become eligible based on age.
“Our state and county public health leaders have done the important groundwork to get California’s vaccination plan up and running and we are grateful to them and will continue to partner with them,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement. “We have learned that to accelerate pace we need to dial up the scale of our efforts to ensure vaccine supply goes into arms as quickly as it arrives in the state.
Global Covid-19 cases top 100 million as new strains emerge
Global Covid-19 cases topped 100 million Tuesday as virus mutations continue to create new concerns, according to a tally from Johns Hopkins University.
The milestone comes less than three months after the world hit 50 million cases, and just over a year after the first case was diagnosed in the U.S.
The U.S. remains the leader in recorded cases of the coronavirus with more than 25 million infections. India ranks second with more than 10.5 million cases, and Brazil third with almost nine million, according to John Hopkins.
Boston set to reopen some indoor facilities at limited capacity
The City of Boston will reopen some indoor facilities at 25% capacity on February 1 following their closure earlier this month.
Among those allowed to reopen at limited capacity are indoor fitness centers and health clubs, movie theaters, museums, aquariums, and indoor recreational and athletic facilities.
The move into Step one of Phase three comes after the city closed the facilities back in early January due to a spike in COVID cases.
Indoor gatherings remain limited to 10 people and outdoor gatherings are limited to 25.
L.A. sheriffs super-spreader task force break up underground parties
Members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Super-Spreader Taskforce are breaking up underground parties that continue to take place despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 5,000 L.A. residents since the start of the year.
Nearly 90 people were arrested over the weekend at two separate parties, the sheriff's office said. In videos posted to Twitter, large groups of partygoers, many of them not wearing masks, are seen standing in the street as law enforcement officers clear the houses and sidewalks.
Earlier this month, 182 people were arrested at two separate warehouse parties, NBC Los Angeles reported.
Sheriff "Alex Villanueva has made it clear he will seek out & take law enforcement action against ALL underground party events occurring anywhere within Los Angeles County, who fall under the Health Orders of the County’s Department of Public Health," the department said in a tweet. "The goal of these enforcement actions is to reduce the spread of #COVID19 and the risk to our vulnerable populations."