This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots for October 29th, 2021. As regular listeners probably know, rates of cases, hospitalizations and deaths have gone down significantly in the US since Delta peaked in September. But now health experts have a problem. Complacency and the believe it’s all over. Winter is coming, many kids still can’t get vaccinated, and the holidays mean lots of gatherings. Plus, many believe vaccination rates need be around 80-85% of adults – and we...
Oct 29, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots for October 28th, 2021. A judge in NY said no, she will not pause a vaccine mandate that starts Friday for city employees. A police union had requested a temporary restraining order. She did however order city officials to appear in court Nov. 12 to defend the vaccine requirement against a union lawsuit. As of Tuesday, 73% of police department personnel had gotten at least one dose, and the fire department’s vaccination rate was ...
Oct 28, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots for October 27th, 2021. As expected, FDA advisors unanimously voted to endorse the Pfizer vaccine for kids five to 11. Federal authorization could come in the next few days. The pediatric version would be equal to a third of an adult dose. The panel said the benefits outweigh the risks that include a rare heart-related side effect seen in teens and young adults. Things continue to look rough in Eastern Europe. The daily number of...
Oct 27, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots for October 26th, 2021. New travel guidance from the US government. Most travelers to the United States are required to be vaccinated, however if you’re from a country that has a shortage of vaccines, you for some reason don’t have to be. Airlines must get contact info on passengers for contact tracing. And starting Nov. 8, all travelers must be tested, even if you’re fully vaccinated, to get on a plane bound for the US. Moderna ...
Oct 26, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots for October 25th, 2021. Sure you got one dose of Johnson & Johnson, or two doses of Pfizer or Moderna, but you may soon no longer be considered fully vaccinated. The head of the CDC said it may update its definition of what constitutes full vaccination as initial vaccine effectiveness wanes and booster shots are being promoted. Say what you want about it, but the cottage industry of scaring pregnant women about the vaccines i...
Oct 25, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots for October 22nd, 2021. Pfizer says a booster shot of its vaccine boosts prevention of symptomatic cases back up to 95.6%. And this data was compiled when Delta was the prevalent strain. The CDC seems to be booster backers. Yesterday we told you they’ve decided mixing and matching boosters and original vaccines is okay. And, after saying those who got the Pfizer vaccine months ago are already eligible for a booster, they’ve added...
Oct 22, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots for October 21st, 2021. Sometimes it just doesn’t pay to be the leader of a country during a global pandemic. A leaked document suggests a Brazilian congressional panel is ready to recommend mass homicide charges be brought against President Bolsonaro over how he handled the virus. The charge is he deliberately allowed it to spread in hopes of achieving herd immunity. As we reported yesterday, millions of Russians are under stric...
Oct 21, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots for October 20th, 2021. Cases are going down worldwide, but in many countries, you certainly wouldn’t know it. For instance, some scientists are calling on the U.K. government to reimpose social restrictions and speed boosters as infection rates, which are Europe’s highest, keep going up. Russia had another daily record of deaths, and the country might declare a nonworking week. Romania hit daily records for infections and deaths...
Oct 20, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots for October 19th, 2021. 84-year-old Colin Powell, the retired four-star general who became the country's first Black secretary of state and chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff, died from complications of Covid-19. He was fully vaccinated. Powell had a cancer of a type of white blood cell. France's High Authority for Health decided to no longer allow the Moderna vaccine to be injected as a booster dose against Covid-19. Now onl...
Oct 19, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots for October 18th, 2021. The FDA’s advisory panel voted unanimously to recommend Moderna booster shots for emergency use authorization. That moves millions in the U.S. closer to booster eligibility. The decision now goes to the FDA, which should make a final ruling in a few days. Moderna’s boosters are expected to be a half dose. Almost 1,000 people descended on Times Square Saturday to protest the vaccine and vaccine mandates. Ro...
Oct 18, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots for October 15th, 2021. A major study shows infections among school-aged children in England are “high and rising.” That probably ups the intensity of the debate over kids and vaccines. The reproduction rate of those aged 17 and younger was 1.18, meaning on average every 10 infected young people are passing it on to about 12 others. From the gee I wish we’d known this earlier department, two new international studies show the imm...
Oct 15, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots for October 14th, 2021. After a 19-month freeze, the United States will open its land borders with Canada and Mexico to non-essential travel. Fully vaccinated foreign nationals can enter the U.S. for whatever reason starting early November. Travelers will be asked about their vaccination status as part of the standard Customs and Border Protection admissions process, and no testing will be required to enter by land or sea. Despit...
Oct 14, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots for October 13th, 2021. The British government didn’t get a very good report card from Parliament on how it handled COVID. A critical report said the country waited too long to impose a lockdown in the early days, and that missed a chance to contain the disease and led to thousands of unnecessary deaths. The delay attributed to a dangerous level of “groupthink” that caused dismissal of more aggressive strategies. The committees d...
Oct 13, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots for October 12th, 2021. Merck asked U.S. regulators yesterday to authorize the pill it has for treating COVID. If they hear what they want to hear from the FDA, and that could happen in a few weeks, that’d be the first pill shown to treat the illness. There are other drugs, but they require an IV or injection. Merck said earlier this month the pill cut hospitalizations and deaths by half among patients with early symptoms. Meanwh...
Oct 12, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots for October 11th, 2021. You might want to send Italy a congratulations. That country announced it’s reached its goal of 80% of the population over 12 being fully vaccinated. That amounts to 43 million people out of 60 million. However, a lot of people hit the streets not to celebrate, but to protest vaccine passports. Many of these gatherings turned into violent riots. A comprehensive CBS News poll shows that most Americans are s...
Oct 11, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots for October 8th, 2021. With the number of those killed by COVID having surpassed 700,000, among that number is a bonus tragedy. A study shows the number of children in the U.S. who were made orphans or partial orphans by the pandemic is larger than first believed. More than 120,000 lost a primary guardian or caregiver. Black and Hispanic children have experienced this the most. Finland joined Sweden and Denmark in halting the use...
Oct 08, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots for October 7th, 2021. As expected, Los Angeles leaders voted 11-2 to enact one of the nation’s strictest vaccine mandates. Vaccination is required for everyone entering bars, restaurants, nail salons, gyms, and indoor sporting events. Everyone needs to be in compliance by November 4. About 69% of the county’s 10 million residents are fully vaccinated. Sweden and Denmark, as a precautionary measure, stopped the use of Moderna's v...
Oct 07, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots for October 6th, 2021. Amid the nationwide shortage in qualified, experienced healthcare workers, we’re losing them by the thousands due to vaccine mandates. Northwell Health, the largest health care provider in New York state, fired 1,400 of them for non-compliance. In Detroit, around 400 workers left the job at Henry Ford Health System. We’ll see if the same thing happens with teachers. The vaccine mandate for teachers and staf...
Oct 06, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots for October 5th, 2021. They had a dream, they gave it a shot, but it didn’t work out. New Zealand has admitted it will not be able to completely get rid of the coronavirus. They’ve had a zero-tolerance approach from the beginning with strict lockdowns and aggressive contact tracing. In a country of 5 million, only 27 virus deaths have been reported. But a delta outbreak has made the government realize they’re going to have to eas...
Oct 05, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots for October 4th, 2021. More pressure on vaccinated citizens in Israel to go ahead and get their booster shot. Only those who do will be eligible for the "green pass" needed to get into restaurants, gyms, and other venues. They started giving boosters to everyone 12 and up at the end of August. For some unexplained reason, places like museums and libraries are exempt from the green pass requirement. Still a rough go of it in Russi...
Oct 04, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots for October 1st, 2021. Time to get your vaccine. We’re not talking about your COVID vaccine although you’re supposed to get that too. It’s also flu shot time. And yes, health experts are very worried that there’s plenty of vaccine fatigue out there which could result in an atypical drop in the number of people getting their flu shots. It also could be a hard sell because flu cases are at historically low levels, at least partly b...
Oct 01, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots for September 30th, 2021. YouTube had already censored videos containing what they deemed was vaccine misinformation. Now it’s gone an extra step and is censoring any video expressing any opinion about vaccines that suggest there are any possible health consequences to getting vaccinated. The 1996 Communications Decency Act that protects YouTube from liability claims is based on the notion the platform is merely a host and has no...
Sep 30, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots for September 29th, 2021. Pfizer has given the FDA research on the effectiveness of its vaccine in kids 5-11, but those shots may not come until November. First, Pfizer has to file its application, then U.S. regulators and public health officials review and consult with advisory committees. And all that takes time. Russia reported its highest Covid death toll in a single day yesterday with 852 coronavirus-related deaths in the pa...
Sep 29, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots for September 28th, 2021. The U.S. President sought to lead by example as he received his booster shot on camera just one workday after the CDC and FDA recommended a third dose of Pfizer. You’re qualified to get one if you have pre-existing medical conditions, high-risk work environments, or are 65 and older. Let’s just say the President qualified. Pfizer started a large study testing its oral antiviral drug to prevent COVID-19 i...
Sep 28, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots for September 27th, 2021. Health officials in the U.S. say supply isn’t a problem. There are more than 40 million doses of vaccines available, so that’s enough to give qualified older Americans boosters and the first rounds for young children when the vaccine is approved for them. More than 70 million Americans remain unvaccinated. Breakthrough cases in the vaccinated are still rare but growing less rare. In fact, experts expect ...
Sep 27, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots for September 24th, 2021. A CDC advisory panel recommended a booster shot of the Pfizer vaccine for Americans 65 and older and some adults with underlying medical conditions that put them at risk of severe disease. What it declined to do was recommend boosters for younger adults, including healthcare workers, who live or work in places with high risk of contracting COVID-19. Boy we hope this is true. The creator of the AstraZenec...
Sep 24, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots for September 23rd, 2021. A story for you optimists out there. An analysis by a consortium of researchers advising the CDC indicates the Delta surge looks like it’s peaking. Which means cases and deaths should decline steadily now through the spring as long as there’s not a big winter surge. The analysis was made by combining nine different mathematical models from different research groups. The optimistic model for the next six ...
Sep 23, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots for September 22nd, 2021. There are approximately 71 million unvaccinated Americans. And COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. have climbed to an average of more than 1,900 a day for the first time since early March. Many hospitals are full and health care workers demoralized, with patients dying and disbelief about the virus continuing. Dr. William Moss of Johns Hopkins said, “I think this is a failure of society.” Almost 400 Novant Healt...
Sep 22, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots for September 21st, 2021. It is now official, at least according to the numbers from Johns Hopkins, COVID-19 has now killed as many Americans as the 1918-19 Spanish flu. 675,000 Americans died during the 1918 pandemic, in waves that played out over about two years. But back then there were no vaccines. It wasn’t until the 30s researchers even understood influenza was caused by a virus and not a bacterium. Finally, some much neede...
Sep 21, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots for September 20th, 2021. Many are trying to get religious exemptions from the vaccine right now. But religious leaders are saying, we don’t agree with you. Leaders of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America said there’s no exemption for them for religious reasons. The Evangelical Lutheran Church said “there’s no evident basis for religious exemption.” The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York said any priest issuing an exempt...
Sep 20, 2021•5 min
