Starting Tuesday, November 23, the Juneau Public Health Center is offering COVID-19 vaccines for ages 5 and up Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. through December 30, excluding holidays. Make an appointment on juneau.org/vaccine, call 586-6000, or simply walk in.
The following COVID-19 vaccinations are available every weekday at Juneau Public Health Center, 3412 Glacier Highway:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last Friday expanded eligibility for COVID-19 booster shots to all adults. People age 18 years and older who received Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines may get a booster six months after completion of their primary vaccination series.
If you initially received the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, you can get a Pfizer, Moderna, or Johnson & Johnson booster 6 months or more after the initial series. If you initially received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, you can get a Pfizer, Moderna, or Johnson & Johnson booster 2 months or more after the initial vaccine.
For more information on getting a COVID-19 vaccine or booster, go to juneau.org/vaccine or call 586-6000.
The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) reports 11 new residents in the Juneau community identified with COVID-19 for November 20 thru November 22. Bartlett Regional Hospital doesnt have any COVID-19 patients, and no one has tested positive for COVID-19 within the Juneau School District since Friday.
Statewide, DHSS reports750 new peopleidentified with COVID-19 744 are residents and six are nonresidents in the past three days. Alaska has had 143,454 cumulative resident cases of COVID-19 and a total of 5,371 nonresidents.
COVID-19: Top news stories about the coronavirus pandemic on 23 November World Economic Forum
WASHINGTON, Nov 22 (Reuters) - The White House confirmed on Monday that more than 90% of the 3.5 million federal employees covered by a presidential COVID-19 vaccine mandate had received at least one dose ahead of a Monday deadline.
In total, the administration has deemed that 95% of federal workers have complied with its requirements in that they have either been vaccinated, are completing vaccinations or have a pending religious or medical exemption request, the White House said.
Officials declined to disclose the total number of fully vaccinated federal employees, but said the "vast majority" of the 90% had received both doses.
Register
White House officials on Monday confirmed the figures first reported by Reuters.
The figures suggest relatively high vaccination rates for federal employees compared with the U.S. population as a whole, and underscore the Biden administration's effort to get every American inoculated in a drive to bring COVID-19 under control.
Officials said the final numbers would change as employees continue to submit documentation until the deadline later on Monday, and as all employee submissions may not yet have been processed. The figures suggest that potentially 175,000 federal employees may not be vaccinated and are not yet in compliance with the rules.
The administration has repeatedly said that it will not immediately seek to suspend or fire unvaccinated employees. Officials said the fact that thousands of employees had not yet complied would not affect holiday travel or government services.
"Already 95% of (U.S. government) employees are in compliance with the presidents vax requirement. There are no disruptions related to the requirement," White House spokesman Kevin Munoz said on Twitter.
White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients said 99% of employees at the Federal Aviation Administration, nearly 98% of Customs and Border Protection and 93% of Transportation Security Administration employees are in compliance with the vaccine and exemption requirements.
"Looking at the federal workforce vaccination data makes one thing obvious: Vaccination requirements work," Zients said.
Zients added that 99% of employees at the FBI, 98% at the Internal Revenue Service and 99% of employees in the White House Executive Office of the President are in compliance.
On Nov. 1, the Pentagon said 97% of the active-duty force had received at least one COVID-19 dose.
'EDUCATION AND COUNSELING'
The vaccine mandate imposed by President Joe Biden in September does not cover federal employees in the judicial and legislative branches or the U.S. Postal Service.
The White House has told agencies that for federal employees not in compliance, agencies should begin "a brief period of education and counseling" to last five days. If employees do not "demonstrate progress toward becoming fully vaccinated," that "should be followed by a short suspension" of no more than 14 days. If an employee gets a first shot, agencies are directed to halt any disciplinary action.
Officials are confident that as the disciplinary process begins, a rising number of federal employees will get vaccinated.
On Wednesday, the White House Office of Management and Budget will release agency-by-agency data on vaccinated employeesand those in compliance with the rules from 24 major federal agencies like the Defense Department, Transportation Department, Health and Human Services and others. More granular data will be released in the following week.
Employees who have an exemption request denied have two weeks to get their first shot and a further six weeks to get their second.
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Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Peter Cooney
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Michigan's Health and Hospital Association is urging residents to take precautions to reduce the spread of COVID-19as the state approaches its highest number of hospitalized patients since the pandemic began.
The state's hospital association on Monday issued a series of measures including masking up and getting vaccinated against the virus,to help prevent overwhelming hospitalizations. The move comes a year after Michigan faced a similar surge in cases leading up to the winter holidays.
"We are extremely concerned because our best predictions are that COVID-19 patients will continue to increase during the weeks ahead as we enter the yearly flu season," according to the statement.
Over the previous seven days including Friday, Michigan reported 53,575 new COVID-19 cases, the highest weekly caseload since the pandemic began in March 2020.
As of Sunday,3,785 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized across the state, including 784 in intensive care units. The vast majority of patients in the ICU and on ventilators, the MHA noted, are unvaccinated.
The state's record for most adult hospitalizations with confirmed cases of the virus occurred on April 19 with 4,158 inpatients.
In addition, the hospital association said it is witnessinghigh numbers of patients with other medical conditions requiring care.
"This combination is straining or exceeding the capacity of emergency departments and hospitals across the state," according to theMHA statement."We cannot wait any longer for Michigan to correct course; we need your help now to end this surge and ensure our hospitals can care for everyone who needs it."
Across the state, staffing shortages and more patients in emergency departments have resulted in long wait times, patients being placed in hallways or conference rooms, and diverting patients away from the hospital due to no room or staff to care for them, the hospital association said.
Michigan added 17,008 cases and 83 deaths from COVID-19 on Monday, including cases from Saturday and Sunday, as the state continued to lead the country in new cases of the virus per population over the last seven days. The latest figures mark an overall total of 1,259,261 confirmed cases and 23,315 deaths since March 2020.
The picture reflects nearing the beginning of the pandemic when healthcare workers compared the inside of hospitals to "war zones" with patients dying in the hallways.
At the same time, the MHA said Monday, the need for care for heart disease, cancer and other diseases "will continue at some of the highest rates weve seen in recent history."
In the battle against COVID-19,evidence shows that patients who receive monoclonal antibody therapy early have markedly lower rates of hospitalization and complications from the virus, according to MHA.
"Many hospitals have reprioritized staff and resources from ambulatory services such as testing, outpatient treatment or rehab to free up caregivers to dispense monoclonal antibody therapy and vaccines in the hope of reducing hospitalization and death," according to the statement."While these actions may lead to longer wait times for ambulatory services, it is important that patients who meet the criteria seek out monoclonal antibody therapy to reduce the chance of a hospital stay."
The MHA is asking residents to understand that hospitals are operating atcontingency levels of care, which means waiting times are longer and staffing shortages are now the norm and not an exception.
"This situation is a result of our ongoing pandemic response, the serious illness of non-COVID-19 patients, the increased length of stay of all patients, and the resulting high number of patients in Michigan hospitals," the hospital association added.
If the pressure on hospitals and EMS increases further, "we all risk facing increasing delays and challenges in accessing care for everyone who needs emergency services and inpatient hospital care."
The hospital association warnings come after Michigan'sDepartment of Health and Human Services issued an advisory on Friday recommending people wear masks at indoor gatherings regardless of their vaccination status.
The state also encouraged businesses to impose policies to ensure that all people entering, including employees, wear masks and advised individuals who are not fully vaccinated or who are immunocompromised to avoid large crowds or gatherings.
"The increases in case counts, percent positivity and hospitalizations have us very concerned, Elizabeth Hertel, director of the state health department, said Friday.
"We are issuing the face mask advisory and are looking to Michiganders to do their part to help protect their friends, their families and their communities by wearing a mask in indoor settings and getting vaccinated for COVID-19 and flu as soon as possible if they have not already done so."
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The state advisory, which is not a mandate, will remain in effect until further notice, according to the Fridayannouncement.
The state health department and Whitmer's office did not immediately respond to requests Mondayon whether mandates are expected to be issued this week.
The MHAadvisory noted Michigan is "experiencing another wave of infection driven by the delta variant" along with an uptick in cases of other respiratory illnesses, including influenza and respiratory syncytial virus, which is more commonly known as RSV.
The hospital association also stressed thatresidents should get vaccinated and thatbooster doses of the COVID-19 vaccine are now approved for individuals ages 18 and up. Find a vaccine location at vaccine.gov.
As of Thursday, about 54.8% of Michigan residents 12 and older are fully vaccinated.
Michigan is seventh nationally for the most boosters administered. Approximately 1.5%, or 78,000, of those who are fully vaccinated have had breakthrough cases. Of those, 2,009 individuals were hospitalized and 944 died, the majority being older than 65, state figures show.
The hospital association saidresidents should social distanceat indoor gatherings, wear a mask at all times, and limit interaction with others ifthey become aware of potential COVID-19 exposure.
"Our healthcare teams have worked tirelessly for the past 20 months to serve every community in our state," MHA concluded. "Now more than ever, they need your support."
srahal@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @SarahRahal_
US lifts travel ban for vaccinated international tourists
After more than 600 days, the U.S. lifted its COVID-19 travel ban for vaccinated tourists.
Associated Press, USA TODAY
COVID-19 case numbers in Shasta County remained lower overall throughout November than in October. The number of patients hospitalized with the virus daily dropped into the 50s and 60s over the past two weeks.
Shasta County Public Health reported daily it confirmedthree to sevenCOVID-19 deaths among county residents since Nov. 2. Some of those fatalities occurred in October, when outbreak was higher.
Here are daily COVID-19 updates with new cases, hospitalization numbers, vaccination percentages and deaths announced.
Scroll down for updates this week, Nov. 1-5, 2021. For updated case numbers and data, scroll below daily updates.
Six more people in Shasta County died of COVID-19.
Their deaths bring the total number of COVID-19 fatalities in the countyto 439 since March2020. Of that number,75 were reported in October by Shasta County Public Heath.
The four men and two women whose deaths the agencyannounced Monday were:
Also on Monday, state public health reportedthe following information for last week, fromNov. 15-21:
Here are daily case, hospitalization and othernumbersreported Monday by public health.
New cases by age group:
Read more: Families navigate plans with unvaccinated relatives as another pandemic Thanksgiving nears
Last week, the percentage of eligible people who were fully vaccinated meaning they had the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine or both of the two-doseModerna or Pfizer series dropped this week from 52.6% to48.1%.
That's because the number of people eligible to receive the vaccine now includes children ages 5 to 11. The week before last, only county residents ages 12 and older were eligible.
Another 7.1% had one dose of either theModerna or Pfizer two-dose series.
In Shasta County, during the three months fromAug. 16 to Nov. 16:
Almost all the fully-vaccinated people who died were 70 years old or older, Shasta County Public Health said.
Elderly people are more vulnerable to the effects of COVID, as are people with certain health conditions, according to the CDC. See a list of conditions athttps://bit.ly/3DYgK2F.
For more information, to get vaccinated or tested, or to schedule a booster shot or third dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, go to Shasta County's COVID-19 website athttps://bit.ly/3GLFoFoor call 833-422-4255 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekends.
Jessica Skropanic is a features reporter for the Record Searchlight/USA Today Network. She covers science, arts, social issues and entertainment stories.Followher on Twitter @RS_JSkropanicand on Facebook. Join Jessica in theGet Out! Nor Calrecreation Facebook group. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today. Thank you.
COVID-19 cases among kids up in Wisconsin, as the state is averaging more than 3,000 cases a day Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Vehicle exhaust rises as people wait at Visit Healthcare COVID-19 testing site at the Loussac Library during the cold snap on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021. (Bill Roth / ADN)
Alaska over the weekend reported 750 new cases of COVID-19, continuing down a path of decreasing daily case counts.
Fairbanks Memorial Hospital reported two additional deaths among two COVID-19 patients ages 52 and 79, according to a release from the hospital Monday morning.
COVID-19 hospitalizations had decreased significantly by Monday, with 112 patients who had active cases of the virus hospitalized statewide.
The portion of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in the state, at 11%, is about half of what it was during a peak in hospitalizations earlier in the fall. Those numbers dont include some people who are recovering from the disease and need continued care, often for several weeks after they are admitted.
The decreases follow a period in which cases and hospitalizations peaked and then continued at high levels in September and October.
Cases reported over the weekend included 287 on Saturday, 305 Sunday and 158 Monday.
Alaska ranked eighth among states for its COVID-19 case rate on Monday with 394 cases per 100,000 people. Through most of September and October, Alaska had the highest case rate per capita in the country.
By Monday, cases rates nationally had risen 18% over the last seven days while hospitalizations had increased by 6.4%, said state epidemiologist Dr. Joe McLaughlin, who received the updated figures while on a call with officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The highest case counts were among states that are cold, like New Hampshire, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Vermont, Alaska and Colorado, which shows the viruss seasonality, he said.
The colder regions of the country are being disproportionately impacted, McLaughlin said. This is consistent with what we know about respiratory pathogens like cold viruses and influenza viruses, is that they tend to be more pronounced during the winter months when people are inside together, sharing air and in closer proximity to each other.
Alaska is just coming off its major surge fueled by the Delta variant of the virus. But when it comes to what the future could look like in the state, the virus can be unpredictable.
While we are on this downward trajectory and were very happy about that, we also need to make sure that we remain vigilant and dont let down our guard, especially as we enter the holiday season, McLaughlin said.
He underscored the importance of vaccinations, as well as the availability of vaccine boosters to anyone ages older than 18 if theyre far enough away from their previous dose of the vaccine.
Additionally, ensuring good indoor ventilation, masking and avoiding crowds can all help reduce transmission.
by: Nexstar Media Wire, The Associated Press
FILE A pregnant and intubated COVID-19 patient sits in the Surgical Intensive care unit (SICU) at St. Lukes Boise Medical Center in Boise, Idaho on Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021. Pregnant women with COVID face increased chances for stillbirths and that risk spikes to four times higher with the delta variant compared with uninfected women, new CDC data show. (AP Photo/Kyle Green, File)
(AP) Pregnant women with COVID-19 face increased chances for stillbirths compared with uninfected women, and that risk spiked to four times higher after the delta variant emerged, new government data shows.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report Friday that examined 1.2 million deliveries in 736 hospitals nationwide from March 2020 through September 2021.
Stillbirths were rare overall, totaling 8,154 among all deliveries. But the researchers found that for women with COVID-19, about 1 in 80 deliveries resulted in stillbirth. Among the uninfected, it was 1 in 155.
Among those with COVID-19, stillbirths were more common in people with chronic high blood pressure and other complications, including those in intensive care or on breathing machines.
These findings underscore the importance of COVID-19 prevention strategies, including vaccination before or during pregnancy, CDC researcher Carla DeSisto and co-authors said.
Theres no information on how many had received COVID-19 shots, although the authors noted that the U.S. vaccination rate among pregnant people after delta emerged this past summer was 30%.
Pregnant people with COVID-19 are more likely than others to develop severe, even fatal, illness and they face increased risks for preterm birth and other complications. Previous studies on stillbirths and COVID-19 had mixed findings, but the report bolsters concerns among obstetricians and anecdotal data.
While the absolute risk for stillbirth is low, anyone who is pregnant shouldnt underestimate the dangers of COVID-19, said Dr. Mark Turrentine, a professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. He helped write the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommendations for COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy.
Whats really sad is we have 10 months of a vaccine thats been highly effective and we just cant convince people to take advantage of this, Turrentine said.
Some experts have speculated that the virus may cause inflammation in the placenta or other abnormalities that could harm the fetus.
Dr. Joseph Biggio, a specialist in high-risk pregnancies at Ochsner Health in New Orleans, said the study doesnt prove that COVID-19 caused stillbirths. He said its possible some women were so critically ill that physicians trying to keep them alive couldnt intervene on behalf of a fetus that they knew was in trouble.
The researchers relied on medical records, and they noted that they were unable to determine if the COVID-19 diagnoses listed at the time of delivery represented current or past infections.
Generally, stillbirths are more common among Black people, those who become pregnant over age 35 or those who smoke tobacco during pregnancy.
The study didnt include pregnancy outcomes by race, an area the authors said they plan to investigate in future research because COVID-19 has disproportionately affected many racial and ethnic minority groups, putting them more at risk of getting sick and dying.
