Coronavirus Watch: New treatments could change the course of COVID-19
Several new COVID-19 treatments are expected to become available within the next few months.
An experimental antiviral from Merck and a monoclonal antibody from AstraZeneca, along with a handful of other drugs making their way through the development process, could make COVID-19 a much less fearsome disease.
Each drug fills a slightly different role, but together they could change the course of the illness, at least in the United States. Read more here.
It's Tuesday, and this is Coronavirus Watch from the Paste BN Network. Here's more news you need to know.
- New York must allow religious exemptions to the state's COVID-19 vaccine mandate for medical workers, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.
- Southwest Airlines and its pilots union denied workers walked off the job to protest a federal vaccine mandate after thousands of flights were canceled this weekend.
- Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has issued an executive order prohibiting vaccination mandates for employees or consumers across the state, an expansion of a prior order limited to government entities.
Today's numbers: The U.S. has reported more than 44.4 million COVID-19 cases and 714,000 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Worldwide, there have been more than 238.4 million cases and more than 4.8 million deaths. About 65% of people in the U.S. have received at least one vaccine shot, and about 56% are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC. Among U.S. adults, 78% have received at least one shot, and about 68% are fully vaccinated.
Tracking the pandemic: See the numbers in your area here. See where cases are rising here. See vaccination rates here. And here, compare vaccinations rates worldwide and see which countries are using which vaccines.
– Grace Hauck, Paste BN breaking news reporter, @grace_hauck