Coronavirus, COVID-19, coronavirus variants, and vaccine updates for 8-16-2021

This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for August 16th, 2021.   The director of the National Institutes of Health said the U.S. could decide in a couple of weeks to offer booster shots to Americans this fall. First in line to get them would be health care workers, nursing home residents and other older Americans.   It’s been peer reviewed, published in the American Journal of Therapeutics, and is the most comprehensive review of data taken from clinical, in vitro, animal, and real-world studies. The report’s conclusion - ivermectin is an effective prophylaxis and treatment for COVID-19. Statistically significant reduction in mortality, time to recovery and viral clearance in COVID-19 patients. South Africa, Zimbabwe, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Mexico, and India have already approved the drug for use.   Afghanistan has fallen to the Taliban, and while that has many implications, there are also implications related to COVID. They have reportedly already started banning the vaccine in certain regions of the country. Regional hospital employees have been warned to stop distributing it and vaccine wards are being closed.   The number of children hospitalized for COVID-19 reached an all-time high in the US over the weekend according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Kids now make up 2.4% of those hospitalized with COVID. Texas leads the country in that with 311 pediatric hospitalizations.   A 70-year-old hermit lives in a small mountain cave in Serbia. He moved there 20 years ago, sleeps on a bed of hay and lives mostly on foraged mushroom and fish from a nearby creek. He emerged from isolation a year ago to discover the pandemic ravaging the world. And even though he’s an isolated hermit, even he wanted the vaccine immediately. He said he didn’t understand the hesitancy, and that the virus isn’t picky, and it could come to his cave.   In the United States cases were up 65%, deaths are up 113%, and hospitalizations are up 69% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending up since July 5.    There are 6,675,581 active cases in the United States.   Keeping in mind several states stopped reporting daily case numbers, the five states with the most new cases: California 6,524. Texas 4,627. New York 4,597. Arizona 3,052. And Pennsylvania 1,982.   The top 10 counties with the highest number of recent cases per capita according to The New York Times: Neshoba, MS. Stone, MS. Columbia, FL. Wayne, MS. Lafourche, LA. Livingston, LA. Newton, MS. Tift, GA. George, MS. And Ascension, LA.   There have been at least 621,605 deaths in U.S. recorded as Covid-related.   The top 3 vaccinating states by percentage of population that’s been fully vaccinated: Vermont at 66.8%, Massachusetts at 64.6%, and Maine unchanged at 64.4%. The bottom 3 vaccinating states are Alabama at 35.1%, Mississippi at 35.5%, and Wyoming at 37.3%. The percentage of the U.S. that’s been fully vaccinated is 50.4%.   The 5 countries with the largest recent 24-hour increase in the number of fully vaccinated people: Russia up 5%. Suriname 4%. And Malaysia, Trinidad & Tobago, and Argentina 3%.   Globally, cases were up 8% and deaths were up 5% over 14 days, with the 7-day average trending up since June 21.   There are once again over 17 million active cases around the world, at 17,160,916.   The five countries with the most new cases: Iran 36,736. India 33,221. The United States 30,883. The U.K. 26,750. And Mexico 23,642.   There have now been at least 4,361,399 deaths reported as Covid-related worldwide.   For the latest updates, subscribe for free to Coronavirus 411 on your podcast app or ask your smart speaker to play the Coronavirus 411 podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.