Tag: COVID-19

Posted on

Biden Reaches 100 Million Vaccine Shot Promise In 58 Days

President Joe Biden
President Joe Biden campaigned on a promise to get 100 million vaccine shots in arms before his the end of his first 100 days in office. That goal was reached today – 42 days early. Speaking to reporters at the White House today, Biden said he’ll set a new goal by next week, teasing the possibility of hitting 200 million vaccinations by Day 100. In related news, Biden’s coronavirus coordinator Jeff Zients announced today that the U.S. would “loan” Mexico 2.5 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine and 1.5 million doses to Canada. Zients said because the AstraZeneca shot is not yet authorized in the U.S., “This loan will not reduce the supply of vaccine to Americans.” Meanwhile, folks took to social media to celebrate the 100 million mark.

Posted on

Diner Posts ‘Surcharge’ For Having To Explain Face Mask Rule

Legends Diner in Denton, Texas, says it will charge customers $50 if they don't wear a face mask

Legends Diner in Denton, Texas, says it will charge customers $50 if they don't wear a face mask From the Dallas Morning News:

Customers at Legends Diner in Denton are met with a new pink sign on the door when they visit the breakfast spot: “Our new surcharge,” the sign says: “$50 if I have to explain why masks are mandatory” and “$75 if I have to hear why you disagree…”

Co-owners Wayne and Kat LaCombe are asking their customers and employees to continue to wear masks even though the mask mandate lifted in Texas on March 10.

“I just can’t afford to get the virus. We’d have to shut our business down,” said Wayne LaCombe, a 41-year resident of Denton. His wife, Kat, is a retired nurse. She is now the chef and co-owner of Legends, and she makes what her husband says is “the best patty melt in town.”

Lacombe says the sign is meant to be humorous, but adds the bulk of his customers are over 60-years-old and the restaurant wants “to stay safe for them.”

Posted on

Nevada Will Open Vaccinations To All Adults April 5

Gov. Steve Sisolak of Nevada announced during a press conference today that on April 5 all Nevadans 16-years-old and up will be able to schedule a vaccination for the coronavirus. Prior to that, on March 22 vaccine availability will open up to anyone 16 and older with underlying health conditions. Investigative news journalist David Charns reports Sisolak noted that appointments will be based on availability and doses received. The Silver State is currently receiving nearly 65,000 doses of vaccine a week.

Posted on

Pharmacist With Extra Vaccine Makes House Call To LGBTQ Seniors

Pharmacist vaccinating senior
Pharmacist vaccinating senior
(stock image via Depositphotos)

An independent pharmacist in Brooklyn came to the aid of LGBTQ seniors who were having difficulties trying to get vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Ambar Keluskar, a pharmacist who supervises Rossi Pharmacy in Brooklyn, found himself with hundreds of doses of vaccine he had “just sitting in the freezer.”

The state of New York allows pharmacies to dispense the vaccines, but with some limitations. Citing the lack of ability to verify the identity and occupation of some eligible candidates like essential workers, the state limits pharmacists to giving the vaccine to teachers, child care workers and people over the age of 60.

In January, Keluskar began making the shots available at his pharmacy. At first, he received 100 doses a week from the state, and then upped that to 200.

But by March, the number of eligible people signing up for vaccinations began to decline. Keluskar pointed to the opening of a mass vaccination site in the area for the lessening demand.

With state laws requiring him to notify the state if he hadn’t used all doses sent to him, Keluskar became worried state authorities would stop sending him doses.

So, he decided to look outside his pharmacy for eligible folks including taking to social media to make it known he had doses to spare.

Thanks to an aide in the office of State Senator Jabari Brisport, Kelsukar got in touch with Stonewall House, New York City’s first LGBTQ-only senior housing building in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene neighborhood.

It turns out most of the residents there, many homebound, had not been able to get their vaccination. With scheduling done primarily online, many seniors with limited income and/or poor internet access can find themselves left out of the process of signing up for vaccine appointments.

One resident, 78-year-old Emma DeJesus, told the New York Times, “I can’t handle the phone. Everything is on the computer now and I don’t have a computer.”

After weeks of unsuccessful attempts to schedule an appointment for a vaccine shot, DeJesus is now looking forward to receiving her second shot so she can visit her nieces in the Bronx.

Keluskar was able to deliver nearly 50 vaccinations in that first visit to Stonewall House. And since then, he’s had outreach from two city councilmen for additional pop-up visits.

This past Saturday, Keluskar vaccinated more than 150 more eligible candidates at Ingersoll Houses, a large public housing development in Fort Greene.

Keluskar told the New York Times he hopes restrictions on vaccine eligibility will be lifted soon, but until then, “we have to do everything can to stay in the program, and keep providing, keep vaccinating people.”

Posted on

Poll: 49% Of GOP Men Don’t Plan On Getting COVID Vaccine

Image of a vaccine shot

Image of a vaccine shot The latest NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll, which surveyed 1,227 American adults, shows 49% of Republican men say they don’t plan on getting vaccinated against the coronavirus compared with just 6% of men who identify as Democrats. Overall, 67% say they either plan to get their shot or already have, while 30% say they will not be getting the vaccine. More from NPR:

Among those who responded to the survey, 73% of Black people and 70% of White people said that they either planned to get a coronavirus vaccine or had done so already; 25% of Black respondents and 28% of white respondents said they did not plan to get a shot.

Latino respondents were slightly more likely to say they would not get vaccinated at 37%, compared with 63% who either had or intended to get a vaccine.

Read the full article.

Posted on

COVID-19 One Year Later

New York state is about to drop its face mask mandate as COVID-19 cases continue to drop in the Empire State.

A man wearing a face mask during the pandemic Today marks one year to the day that the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Axios looks at where we were then:

A year ago today, the U.S. had confirmed 1,000 coronavirus infections. Now, we’re approaching 30 million.

In those early days, Americans were terrified by White House projections — informed by well-respected modeling — that 100,000 to 240,000 Americans could die from the virus. 

Many models thought the virus would peak last May — nowhere close. The deadliest month of the pandemic was January.

We now have 530,606 American deaths from COVID, but we do have vaccines. Vaccines that by all analysis are working. (p.s. yes, I’ve gotten my first shot of the Pfizer vaccine) President Biden will announce tonight that he will order all states to offer vaccinations against COVID to all adults by May 1. Currently, the U.S. is getting an average of 2 million shots in arms each day. Estimates says 25% of adults in the U.S. have gotten at least one shot. And – the federal government has now ordered an additional 100 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine adding to the 300 million from Pfizer, 300 million from Moderna and previously ordered 100 million from J&J. #Forward

Posted on

News Round-Up: March 10, 2021

Uber driver being assaulted by three women refusing to wear face masks during pandemic

Uber driver being assaulted by three women refusing to wear face masks during pandemic Some news items you might have missed: • AP News: The European Parliament is scheduled to debate a resolution on Wednesday that would declare the entire 27-member European Union a “freedom zone” for LGBT people. The move is seen as a reaction to actions in Poland, where many local communities have adopted symbolic homophobic resolutions declaring themselves free of “LGBT ideology.” • Pink News: There was widespread shock when LGBT+ Rights Ghana, an advocacy organisation, had its offices raided and shut down by national security forces in February. On Monday, parliamentarian Samuel Nartey George announced that he and seven other MPs will bring forward legislation in an effort to criminalize the promotion of LGBTQ rights. • NowThis News: An Uber driver (above image) in San Francisco, CA, was assaulted by passengers after one of them allegedly refused to wear a mask (warning: distressing). The San Francisco police are now investigating the women for possible charges. A GoFundMe was launched to help the driver here.

• Washington Post: President Biden confirmed Wednesday that his administration plans to secure an additional 100 million doses of the single-shot vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson. The additional doses will reinforce the supply needed to offer all American adults a vaccine by the end of May. • Twitter: Donald Trump issued a pathetically lame statement tonight “reminding” people HE should get credit for the COVID vaccines. He notably doesn’t take responsibility for the 529,000+ American deaths that occurred thanks in part to his admitted ‘downplaying’ of the virus.

Posted on

CDC Issues Guidance On What’s Safe After Being Vaccinated

New York state is about to drop its face mask mandate as COVID-19 cases continue to drop in the Empire State.

A man wearing a face mask during the pandemic The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have issued guidance for those people who have been fully vaccinated (two weeks past your final shot) in regard to what is or isn’t safe to do. From the New York Times:

  • Fully vaccinated Americans may gather indoors in private homes with one another in small groups without masks or distancing.

  • Vaccinated people may gather in a private residence with unvaccinated people from a single household who are at low risk for developing severe disease if they contract the coronavirus, also without masks or distancing.

  • Vaccinated Americans need not quarantine or get tested if they have a known exposure to the virus, as long as they do not develop symptoms of infection. If they do develop symptoms, they must isolate themselves, get tested and speak with their doctor.

  • In public, vaccinated people must continue to wear masks and maintain social distance, and take other precautions, such as avoiding poorly ventilated spaces, covering coughs and sneezes, washing hands often and following any other protocols that are in place.

  • Vaccinated people should continue to avoid large and medium gatherings, though the agency did not specify the gathering size with numbers.

As I reported yesterday, over 90 million people in the U.S. have received at least one shot of vaccine. In related news, new polling shows 68% of Americans approve of President Biden’s handling of the COVID crisis. By comparison, the highest approval marks Donald Trump received during the COVID pandemic was 55% in mid-March 2020. The poll also showed a majority of Americans (56%) think face mask mandates are being lifted too soon.

Posted on

90.4 Million Americans Have Received COVID Vaccine

Vials of COVID-19 vaccine

Vials of COVID-19 vaccine The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that, as of Sunday, 90,351,750 Americans have received at least one shot of coronavirus vaccine. Breaking those numbers down, 58,873,710 Americans have received one shot of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine (which constitutes 17.7% of the population), and 30,686,881 have received both shots (9.2%). So far, 116,363,405 doses of vaccine have been delivered to healthcare professionals to use. Herd immunity would be reached, at the earliest, with an estimated 70% of the 330,000,000 people in the U.S. vaccinated, which would be about 231,000,000 people.

(graphic via CDC)

Posted on

Brazil: President Tells His Country To Stop “Whining” About COVID

Former President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro

President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil (photo: Flickr/Isac Nóbrega – CC license)
President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil told the people of his country they need to stop “fussing and whining” about the surging COVID-19 cases and move on. Bolsonaro has repeatedly denied the severity of the pandemic even as the country is seeing record cases of coronavirus. From Reuters:

Brazil has the world’s second-highest death toll over the past year, after the United States. While the U.S. outbreak is ebbing, Brazil is facing its worst phase of the epidemic yet, pushing its hospital system to the brink of collapse.

“Enough fussing and whining. How much longer will the crying go on?” Bolsonaro told a crowd at an event. “How much longer will you stay at home and close everything? No one can stand it anymore. We regret the deaths, again, but we need a solution.”

The Health Ministry registered 75,102 additional cases of coronavirus on Thursday, the most in a single day since July and the second-highest on record. Brazil also recorded 1,699, decreasing slightly from the previous two days of record deaths.

Reuters adds that only 3.5% of Brazil’s population has received even one shot of vaccine for the coronavirus. Read the full article here.