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Coronavirus Watch: Vaccinations need to speed up – and fast

Grace Hauck   | Paste BN

If you're hoping for a worry-free Fourth of July, COVID-19 vaccinations need to speed up – and fast.

Every month, Paste BN convenes a panel of experts to address questions about the status of the vaccine development, manufacturing and distribution process. This month, the panelists found the country had taken one step forward, with the Biden administration pursuing more concrete actions to fight the pandemic, and one step back, with new variants that threaten vaccines and add urgency to the campaign.

At the current rate of vaccination, trees would be losing their leaves this fall by the time most American adults could be vaccinated. Read more.

It's Thursday, and this is the Coronavirus Watch from the Paste BN Network. Here's more news you need to know:

  • More vaccinations, deliveries delayed amid storms: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said doses expected this week were delayed by winter weather elsewhere in the country and that the city might run out of vaccine Thursday. Officials in Florida and Texas also reported delayed shipments.
  • A recent study found pregnant women in Washington state were infected with COVID-19 at a 70% higher rate than others at similar ages. Additionally, rates of infection among pregnant women of color were far higher than researchers expected, according to the study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
  • "Very early data" suggests that just up to two-thirds of service members offered a vaccine have accepted, according to Air Force Maj. Gen. Jeff Taliaferro, vice director of operations for the Joint Staff.
  • Neutralizing antibody response from the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine diminished by two-thirds against the variant first identified in South Africa, but it's not known how that might impact the vaccine's level of protection, according to a preliminary report published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine.
  • The number of Americans applying for unemployment aid rose last week to 861,000, evidence that layoffs remain painfully high despite a steady drop in the number of confirmed viral infections.
  • Police in Mexico arrested six people Wednesday in the northern border state of Nuevo León for allegedly trafficking in fake coronavirus vaccines.

Today's numbers: The U.S. has reported more than 27.8 million COVID-19 cases and 490,000 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Worldwide, there have been more than 110 million cases and more than 2.4 million deaths. More than 12% of people in the U.S. have received at least one vaccine shot, and about 4.7% of people have received both doses, according to the CDC.

See the numbers in your area here, check out where cases are rising here, and see how many vaccines your state has received here.

– Grace Hauck, Paste BN breaking news reporter, @grace_hauck

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