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

This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for August 19th, 2021.   As expected, U.S. health officials announced booster shots of Pfizer and Moderna should be available for all U.S. adults starting next month. It is an acknowledgement that the effectiveness of the vaccines could wear off significantly in as little as eight months. Officials said those who got the single dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine will also probably need another shot, but they aren’t releasing plans for that yet.   Another mandate coming out of the White House yesterday; all nursing home staff will be required to be vaccinated or the facilities they work in could lose Medicare and Medicaid funding. That could also take effect as soon as next month. Hundreds of thousands of nursing home workers are not vaccinated.   Why is it so important vaccine booster shots help protect against the Delta variant? Because those cases now make up more than 98.8% of COVID-19 cases in the U.S., according to the CDC.   California has become the first state to require people to prove they’ve been vaccinated or have a negative test before they can attend any large indoor event with over 1,000 people. That could be conventions, conferences, expos, sporting events, and concerts. Event organizers will be in charge of enforcement.   If you’re supposed to wear a mask in Singapore, you should probably do it. Benjamin Glynn, a 40-year-old Brit living in Singapore for work, was filmed maskless on a public train. He was arrested and found guilty of that plus causing public nuisance and threatening public officials. At first, he was detained at a psychiatric hospital because he said COVID-19 was a hoax.   In the United States cases were up 47%, deaths are up 97%, and hospitalizations are up 54% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending up since July 5.    There are once again over 7 million active cases in the United States, at 7,089,424.   Keeping in mind several states stopped reporting daily case numbers, the five states with the most new cases: Florida 23,335. Texas 18,434. California 13,023. Georgia 8,014. And Louisiana 6,606.   The top 10 counties with the highest number of recent cases per capita according to The New York Times: Neshoba, MS. Cook, GA. Clay, KY. George, MS. Stone, MS. Columbia, FL. Tift, GA. Clarke, MS. Crockett, TN. And Attala, MS.   There have been at least 624,209 deaths in U.S. recorded as Covid-related.   The top 3 vaccinating states by percentage of population that’s been fully vaccinated: Vermont unchanged at 67.1%, Massachusetts unchanged at 64.9%, and Maine at 64.7%. The bottom 3 vaccinating states are Alabama at 35.7%, Mississippi at 36.1%, and Wyoming at 37.6%. The percentage of the U.S. that’s been fully vaccinated is 50.9%.   The 5 countries with the largest recent 24-hour increase in the number of fully vaccinated people: Bangladesh, Kyrgyzstan, Sri Lanka, and South Korea up 5%. And Zimbabwe 4%.   Globally, cases were up 5% and deaths were up 1% over 14 days, with the 7-day average trending up since June 21.   There are 17,477,559 active cases around the world.   The five countries with the most new cases: The United States 158,127. Brazil 40,693. Iran 39,174. India 35,797. And the U.K. 33,904.   There have now been at least 4,391,153 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.