Top U.S.infectious-disease expert Anthony S.Fauci on Wednesday reiterated the stark warning that the coronavirus will probably infect most Americans eventually, but added an important caveat: While “virtually everybody is going to wind up getting exposed and likely get infected,” he said, “if you’re vaccinated and if you’re boosted, the chances of you getting sick are very, very low.”Fauci made the statement at a White House news briefing, echoing what other top health officials have said in recent days.His comments add to the growing list of clarion calls to the unvaccinated, urging them to get shots by citing grim numbers that show the uninoculated are in danger of serious illness.At a Senate hearing Tuesday, Fauci said that unvaccinated people are 20 times likelier to die, 17 times likelier to be hospitalized and 10 times likelier to be infected than the vaccinated.In that same session, acting commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration Janet Woodcock said that “it’s hard to process what’s actually happening right now, which is most people are going to get covid.”A World Health Organization official on Tuesday predicted that the omicron variant will have infected more than half of the population in the European region in the next six to eight weeks, if current trends hold.Here’s how fast the omicron variant is spreading around the world.Here’s what to know Overwhelmed U.S.hospitals are pleading with people not to come to emergency rooms for coronavirus tests, warning that they could wait many hours to be seen and cause delays for others needing immediate medical care.Although the Biden administration is ramping up access to at-home tests, millions of Americans need tests every day to ensure that they can safely go to school and work as infections surge.
Adding to the U.S.strain, about 10 percent of Americans do not have health insurance and testing prices can vary widely, making them even harder to come by for some.The United States, though, is far from the only country battling yet another wave of coronavirus cases, coupled with a shortage of antigen and PCR tests.
Advertisement Updates continue below advertisement Brits recall lockdown sacrifices they made – the same day Boris Johnson attended a party Return to menu By Jennifer Hassan 11:00 p.m.Link copied Link
LONDON — What were you doing on May 20, 2020?That’s the question people around Britain are asking for one very simple reason: on that day, Boris Johnson attended a party hosted at 10 Downing Street, his office and residence.It is at least the third time the government reportedly broke the strict social distancing rules they had imposed on the nation.A leaked email with the words “bring your own booze!” suggests Johnson’s private secretary invited some 100 staff to a party at the garden of the prime minister’s residence.
An estimated 40 people reportedly took part in the event – including Johnson and his wife Carrie.On Wednesday, Johnson apologized for attending the party, but said that at the time he “believed this was a work event.”The news has enraged and devastated Britons because May 2020 was a time when citizens were being urged to stay at home and limit social contact in order to stop the spread of a virus that would go on to claim more than 150,712 lives in the United Kingdom.
Advertisement Updates continue below advertisement Grocery store employee Leilani Jordan died of covid-19 at the start of the pandemic.Her mom wants justice.Return to menu By Ovetta Wiggins 10:00 p.m.
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Zenobia Shepherd can’t wrap her mind around her daughter’s death.Her heart won’t let her.Leilani Jordan , who had developmental challenges and was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, died in April 2020 of complications from covid-19.She was 27 and working in a Maryland grocery store when she fell ill and days later became one of the first faces of the pandemic’s devastating death toll.
While she continues to grieve her second-oldest child, Shepherd is also on a quest for justice.On Tuesday, she will appear virtually before a Prince George’s Circuit Court judge who is expected to decide whether a lawsuit she and her husband filed last year against Dominion Residence, an assisted-living facility for the developmentally disabled where Jordan lived; the owners of the Giant store where she worked; and a supervisor at the store will move forward.
Advertisement Updates continue below advertisement Trump endorses booster shots and criticizes ‘gutless’ politicians who refuse to reveal their vaccination status Return to menu By Reis Thebault 8:49 p.m.Link copied Link
Former president Donald Trump, who mostly avoided promoting coronavirus vaccines while in office, embraced booster shots in an interview Tuesday and said politicians who refuse to reveal their vaccination status are “gutless.”Even though the shots were developed under his administration, Trump did not forcefully advocate for vaccination while he was president , and he persistently downplayed the threat of the virus — a stance that has contributed to a large and growing party-line divide on vaccination, with Republicans far more hesitant to get the shots than Democrats.But in an interview Tuesday evening with the far-right television network One America News, Trump took a different tone.“I’ve had the booster,” he said in the interview.“I watched a couple of politicians be interviewed and one of the questions was, ‘Did you get the booster?’ Because they had the vaccine.
And they’re, ‘Oh, oh’ — they’re answering it, like, in other words, the answer is yes, but they don’t want to say it.
Because they’re gutless.You got to say it, whether you had it or not.Say it.”Trump did not call out anyone by name, but last month Florida Gov.
Ron DeSantis (R) gave a muddled response to a Fox News host who asked him whether he had received a booster.“So, uh, I’ve done, whatever I did, the normal shot,” DeSantis replied.“And that, at the end of the day, is people’s individual decisions about what they want to do.”Trump on Tuesday went on to say that he has not experienced any serious side effects from the shots.“The fact is that I think the vaccine has saved tens of millions of people throughout the world,” he said.It’s at least the second time in recent weeks Trump has applauded coronavirus vaccines.
At an event in Dallas last month, the former president told the crowd that he had received his booster — and the audience booed .
Key update Omicron waves appear to slow in New York City, other major metropolitan areas Return to menu By Fenit Nirappil and Hannah Knowles 7:54 p.m.Link copied Link
The explosion of omicron cases along the I-95 corridor from the Mid-Atlantic to New England is showing signs of slowing down, according to health officials and epidemiologists, offering reason for cautious optimism that the turning point could be near and that the variant’s U.S.
trajectory is similar to that of other countries.New York Gov.Kathy Hochul (D) said Tuesday the rate of tests returning positive and the rate of case increases seems to be slowing — particularly in New York City, which emerged as an early epicenter of the highly contagious variant.“They’re still high, but we are not at the end, but I want to say that this is, to me, a glimmer of hope, a glimmer of hope in a time when we desperately need that,” Hochul said at a news conference.
Advertisement Updates continue below advertisement Army disciplines nearly 3,000 soldiers for vaccine refusal Return to menu By Alex Horton 7:11 p.m.Link copied Link
Almost 3,000 soldiers have received letters of reprimand for refusing coronavirus vaccines, the Army said Wednesday, underscoring the continued challenge for leaders to get troops in line with policy even after deadlines have passed.Those troops received general officer written reprimands, the Army said in a news release.
Those letters are often considered career-ending measures that halt promotions and development opportunities, especially for officers and noncommissioned officers tasked with leading more junior soldiers.
The news release said 97 percent of the active-duty Army has received at least one vaccine dose.Six Army leaders have been fired from command for vaccination refusal, including two battalion commanders, the Army said.Battalion commanders are culture-setting officers with years of experience and are responsible for hundreds of soldiers.“We hold them to a higher standard of conduct,” Lt.Col.Terrence Kelley, an Army spokesman, said of leaders that the Army has spent considerable resources to train.The Army has yet to discharge a soldier for vaccination refusal, Kelley said, nearly after a month after the deadline for active-duty troops to get immunized, seek an exemption or face punishment.
Guidance on discharging soldiers for vaccination refusal is forthcoming, Kelley said.The Marine Corps has discharged 251 service members for vaccination refusal, and the Air Force has forced out 75 airmen, according to data released last week.The Navy kicked 20 people out for refusal during their initial training.Each of those services had an vaccination deadline earlier than the active-duty Army, the largest military branch, with about 475,000 service members.
Key update Covid-19 was the No.1 cause of death for law enforcement officers last year, two reports say Return to menu By Reis Thebault 6:37 p.m.
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A pair of year-end reports have found that covid-19 was the leading cause of death for law enforcement personnel in 2021, far outpacing gunfire and traffic incidents, as the coronavirus pandemic drove officer fatalities to the highest level on record.The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, a nonprofit organization that maintains the D.C.monument to officers killed in the line of duty, reported that 458 officers died last year and that at least 301 of those deaths were due to covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.“The year 2021 will go down as the year of the most line-of-duty fatalities since 1930 due to the covid-19 pandemic and increases in traffic fatalities and firearms ambushes,” Marcia Ferranto, the memorial fund’s chief executive, said in a statement.Last year’s total easily outstripped the previous record of 312, set in 1930, and it represents a 55 percent increase from the 2020 toll, according to the fund’s report.Just like virus trends across the country, the numbers are expected to get worse.“Law enforcement officers nationwide continue to be exposed to the covid-19 virus in the course of their daily assignments; therefore, the number of line-of-duty deaths is sadly ever-increasing,” the report says.Texas, Florida, Georgia, California, Missouri, North Carolina and Tennessee reported the most covid-19 deaths among officers, each with seven or more fatalities.The second-leading cause, firearm-related incidents, accounted for 62 deaths, an increase over last year and average marks set since the turn of the century, but lower than the level of gunfire fatalities in the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s.A second tally, from the Officer Down Memorial Page, puts the toll at 502 , with 341 deaths attributed to covid-19.
As the coronavirus was sweeping across the United States last summer and the country was still without a vaccine, Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker promoted a “mist” that he claimed would “kill any covid on your body.”Walker, who is vying to unseat freshman Sen.Raphael G.
Warnock (D-Ga.) and has been endorsed by former president Donald Trump, did not name the supposed product, which he claimed during an August 2020 podcast appearance was “EPA-, FDA-approved.” The Daily Beast reported Wednesday on the interview.The newly unearthed comments bring renewed scrutiny to Walker, who is already facing criticism over allegations that he threatened the lives of two women, including his ex-wife, and embellished his business record.There is no known mist or spray that can prevent covid-19.The coronavirus is mainly spread through close contact with droplets that are released when a person coughs, sneezes, speaks or breathes.It can also be spread through smaller virus-containing particles that remain in the air over longer distances and time, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Advertisement Updates continue below advertisement What to know about the coronavirus vaccine for children younger than 5 Return to menu By Lindsey Bever 4:50 p.m.Link copied Link
Nearly 23 million eligible children have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine since the most recent group of 5-to-11-year-olds got the green light late last year and started rolling up their sleeves.But many families are anxiously awaiting a pediatric vaccine for the youngest Americans — ages 6 months through 4 years — as the omicron variant surges across the United States.Pediatricians say coronavirus vaccines probably will be important well beyond this wave.Here are some things we know about the vaccine for the youngest children.
U.S.to buy 500,000 additional doses of AstraZeneca covid treatment Return to menu By Brittany Shammas 4:09 p.m.Link copied Link
Federal health officials said Wednesday that the United States has agreed to buy hundreds of thousands of doses of a covid-19 treatment developed by drugmaker AstraZeneca.The Biden administration is “in the process of ordering another half-million doses of AstraZeneca as preventive therapy for immunocompromised individuals,” White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeffrey Zients said during a task force briefing.“The federal government was instrumental in the research and development of this product,” he added, “and our latest order will also bring us to over 1 million doses available through the end of March.”AstraZeneca officials cheered the news.
Iskra Reic, the drugmaker’s executive vice president of vaccines and immune therapies, said in a statement the agreement between the company and the government “will bring protection to some of the most vulnerable people in the US.”The Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency-use authorization last month for Evusheld, an antibody cocktail designed to help prevent covid-19 in immunocompromised people.
It is authorized only for those who have a moderate to severely compromised immune system or a history of severe adverse reactions to the coronavirus vaccines or their components.Officials hope the drug can serve as an alternative prevention option for those whose immune systems are unable to mount an adequate response to the vaccines, as well as those who cannot take them.Zients touted the treatment as one of several the U.S.government has worked to help make available.He noted the purchase of 20 million courses of Pfizer’s antiviral pill and 600 million additional treatment courses of GlaxoSmithKline’s monoclonal antibody treatment.“Bottom line, we’ve acted aggressively to support and secure a diverse portfolio of covid treatments,” he said.“And as a result, our nation’s medicine cabinet has never been more stocked .”
Key update Key coronavirus updates from around the world Return to menu By News Services and Staff Reports 3:33 p.m.Link copied Link
Here’s what to know about the top coronavirus stories around the globe.
Key update Biden administration considering making high-quality masks more widely available Return to menu By Brittany Shammas 1:53 p.m.
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The Biden administration is weighing making high-quality masks more widely available, officials said Wednesday, as some experts urge the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to recommend KN95 and N95 masks amid the case surge driven by the highly transmissible omicron variant.Speaking at a news briefing, White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeffrey Zients said the CDC continues to recommend that well-fitting masks be worn in indoor public settings.That could include multiple-layered cloth masks, N95s or KN95s, he added.“Right now we are strongly considering options to make more high-quality masks available to all Americans,” Zients said.“And we’ll continue to follow the science here.The CDC is in the lead, but this is an area that we’re actively exploring.”The CDC has been weighing whether to recommend that Americans wear N95s or KN95s over cloth masks if they can do so consistently.N95s and KN95s, which are worn by health-care workers, offer a higher degree of protection — an important consideration, experts say, as omicron’s contagiousness spurs record levels of infections and hospitalizations.The seven-day average of cases in the country is about 751,000 per day, up about 47 percent from last week, according to figures released during the briefing.The seven-day average of hospital admissions is about 19,800 per day, an increase of about 33 percent over the previous week.The seven-day average of deaths is about 1,600 per day, about 40 percent higher than the previous week — though health authorities attribute that increase to the delta variant.CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said at the briefing that the agency is updating its website to provide more information on the types of masks and the protection they offer.
She added that the best mask is one a person can tolerate wearing when needed.“The CDC continues to recommend that any mask is better than no mask,” she said.“And we do encourage all Americans to wear a well-fitting mask to protect themselves and prevent the spread of covid-19.”
We’re just into 2022, and already social media is swamped with pictures of empty grocery shelves — from cream cheese to paper towels, children’s juice boxes and cat food.Some of the culprits for this round of shortfalls are the same as in the early days of the pandemic, and some can be chalked up to new problems bumping up against old ones.
Britain’s Boris Johnson apologizes amid national anger over controversial lockdown party Return to menu By William Booth and Karla Adam 12:42 p.m.Link copied Link
LONDON — Boris Johnson went into the House of Commons on Wednesday and apologized.And wiggled.And apologized some more — amid shouts from the opposition that he is a liar and should resign — that he attended a “BYOB” garden party at his own home during the height of the coronavirus lockdown in May 2020.“For 25 minutes,” Johnson said.To thank the staff.After saying he had no knowledge of lockdown parties at 10 Downing Street, the British prime minister admitted that he had attended a “bring your own booze” catered gathering, organized by his private secretary, at the height of the first coronavirus wave, when ordinary citizens were forced to forgo weddings, funerals, school, office work and certainly parties..