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There’s good news on the Covid-19 front. But we’ve seen this movie before, when the data trended in the right direction only to be reversed.
There was a very robust we-turned-the-corner attitude in June and July before the Delta variant sent things in the wrong direction.
Obviously, the percentage of the population that is vaccinated is higher than it was then, but it feels like we’ve consistently been ready to declare this virus conquered before the science or numbers are there.
But the good news this time is hard to ignore.
I cribbed this from a graphic John King put on his Magic Wall on CNN Thursday showing positive signs:
- Covid-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths down.
- 66% of those eligible are vaccinated.
- Vaccine mandates are having an impact.
- There are fewer infections in schools requiring masks.
The best news is that Pfizer has officially applied for emergency use authorization for its Covid-19 vaccine to be used in children ages5-11. Read CNN’s full report here.
While not as severely affected by the disease as older people, this group, more than 28 million strong, represents the largest block of unvaccinated Americans. Vaccinated kids would be a major step toward controlling the spread of the disease.
Only about a quarter of parents in a recent Kaiser Family Foundation survey said they would not get their kids ages 5-11 vaccinated against Covid-19. About a third said they would vaccinate their kids in this age range immediately, and another third said they would wait to see how the vaccine is working.
You still have to get vaccinated. Mask in indoor public places! It’s too early to say we’re on the back end of the pandemic even if the numbers are moving in the right direction.
“The honest answer is none of us have that crystal ball and every single time we’ve gotten through a horrific wave and we relax and breathe easier and think it has to be over now there’s another wave that comes,” Dr. David Kimberlin, co-director of the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, said on CNN Thursday.
Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the former Food and Drug Administration commissioner, noted this week to CNN’s Dana Bash that behind the good news of lower case rates and hospitalizations, the deadly Covid surge is still a major threat. Americans should not get complacent.
“Delta isn’t done with us,” Gottlieb said. “Cases are coming down sharply in the states. That’s creating the illusion things are improving nationally. You see dense outbreaks now in the West, Midwest, Alaska, West Virginia.”
He also said the current situation will test areas with high vaccination rates.
“It’s a big question mark whether the Northeast is impervious to a Delta surge because of high rates of vaccination and previous infection, or will we have a wave of our own? Hopefully by Thanksgiving we’re on the back end of this.”
Here to say. At some point, when enough people have immunity through vaccination and prior infection, the threat of Covid-19 is more sustained and controlled, and something we live with in our daily lives.
“I have bad news for you: We’re stuck with this novel coronavirus in our environment perhaps indefinitely,” Dr. Sanjay Gupta wrote in a CNN story Tuesday. His top piece of advice to live with Covid-19 and other dangers over the long term? Eat healthier. Seriously.
Protection from vaccines wanes over time. CNN reported on two new studies showing that while vaccines continue to protect people from severe disease, hospitalization and death, the immune protection from Pfizer’s vaccine wanes. Read more.
The strongest vaccine protection was among people who contracted Covid-19 and also got the vaccine, according to an Israeli study.
There is also a huge divergence in vaccine uptake around the country. Many states, particularly in the South, remain persistently below 50% full vaccination. Northeastern and Western states are above 60%. See the full data on vaccines.
When will the FDA approve the Pfizer vaccine for kids? It’s not clear. Pfizer submitted its application for emergency use in adults on November 20, 2020, and the FDA granted approval on December 11. The Centers for Disease Control and Preventionweighed in two days later. Vaccines were administered beginning December 14, 2020. Applying that timeline here, approval could come at the tail end of October, shortly after an FDA advisory committee meeting planned for October 26. Kids ages 5-11 could be getting shots in arms – from pediatricians, pharmacies, vaccine clinics and schools – soon after Halloween. Many could be fully vaccinated by Thanksgiving.
When the emergency use authorization does come and there is a crush of demand, a Pfizer official said there could be some delays in getting the vaccine to pediatricians, but it should not be on the level of what transpired for adults early this year. Kids will get one-third the dose adults have received.
“We’re ready, we have the supply,” said Jeff Zients, the White House Covid-19 Response coordinator, appearing on CNN’s New Day. “We’re working with states to set up convenient locations for parents and kids to get vaccinated, including pediatricians’ offices and community sites. We’ll be ready pending the CDC and FDA action.”
While vaccinated Americans have been almost entirely protected from hospitalizations and death, vaccines have not stopped Covid-19.
Turning points of the past. Reading CNN’s coverage of those first vaccine rollouts for adults in December 2020 brought back the excitement the country felt at that moment, like a corner was being turned. On that day when vaccines started going into adult arms, CNN’s story noted the country had surpassed 300,000 Covid-related deaths. We’ve now shot past 700,000 deaths.
That means more than 400,000 Americans have died in the 10 months since vaccines were approved for use in adults and teens than died in the 10 months of the pandemic before that turning point.
Even an amazingly fast vaccine rollout did not make up for miscues about mask wearing, the rise of the Delta variant and the stubborn people who have refused to get vaccinated.
Meanwhile, experts now say they’ll be traveling and celebrating with their families this holiday season.
“I will be spending Christmas with my family,” Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN’s Kate Bolduan this week. “I encourage people, particularly the vaccinated people who are protected, to have a good, normal Christmas with your family.”
However, the CDC is still recommending caution, particularly for the unvaccinated, by encouraging meals outdoors and other Covid precautions.
“Telling people not to get together is impractical. We need to tell people how to do it safely,” said Gottlieb, who sits on Pfizer’s board.
The latest on vaccine requirements. Canada will require people over the age of 12 to be vaccinated for plane and train travel.
In the US, President Joe Biden had requested theOccupational Safety and Health Administration to write rules to require companies with more than 100 employees to mandate vaccines for most workers – but that is still weeks away.
He traveled to Chicago Thursday and pushed the importance of vaccine requirements.
Requirements for school kids. California has become the first state to require vaccines for older kids in schools. It will become part of the state’s required vaccine protocol for students once it achieves full FDA approval. Right now, Pfizer’s vaccine is only fully approved for those 16 and older. But there’s confusion over the opt-out allowed for religious and ideological reasons, which is broad, and has some lawmakers wondering if the state’s vaccine law should be changed.
Religious exemptions. New York’s requirement for health care workers to be vaccinated faces a decision in court as a federal judge considers calls for the state to accommodate religious exemptions, even though no major denomination opposes vaccination.
Meanwhile, Zients has pushed airlines to require vaccines among employees. Airlines that have imposed a vaccine requirement – like United – have higher vaccination rates than those that don’t, like Delta. American, Alaska, JetBlue and Southwest are also moving toward vaccine requirements.
Less than 1% of United employees – 593 people – face dismissal for not getting vaccinated, according to United.
