Hospitalizations due to coronavirus in North Texas have increased 292% over the past month, according to data from UT-Southwestern Medical Center. Chief State Epidemiologist Jennifer Shuford said she and others at the Texas Department of State Health Services are concerned.
We've been living this pandemic now for a year and a half, Shuford said. We thought we had seen the worst of it with those first two pandemic waves that we experienced. This third wave that we're having right now in Texas is showing a very steep increase in cases and hospitalizations, as great or even steeper than what we were seeing with those first two waves.
So What Does Coronavirus In Texas Look Like Right Now?
Shuford said the case counts are increasing at an astonishing rate. UT-Southwestern estimates there will be more than 1,500 new COVID-19 infections per day by mid-August.
We are about 90% more cases this week than we were even last week, and almost 10 times as high as we were just a month ago, Shuford said.
Hospitalizations are also increasing. Across the state, more than 7,600 people are currently hospitalized due to coronavirus, and in North Texas its more than 400. For comparison, last years summer surge in July saw nearly 700 people hospitalized in North Texas, and the more recent winter surge was close to 1,200 people.
The issue with more and more people being hospitalized, Shuford said, is the potential issues with staffing and medical equipment.
The problem with that is that hospitals usually get prepared when they think flu and pneumonia season is coming up, Shuford said. They make sure their staffing is ready, and that their ICUs are ready. And with this steep increase in cases and hospitalizations that were seeing, people just weren't prepared.
A big reason is new variants of coronavirus, like delta, that are more easy to transmit. Another factor is the number of people who are unvaccinated. In Dallas this week, Dallas County Health and Human Services Director Phillip Huang said around 90% of people hospitalized have been unvaccinated.
That is the primary thing that we need to not lose track of, its this high percentage of people that are still unvaccinated that are important," Huang said. "Virtually all hospitalizations and death continue to be among the unvaccinated.
Keren Carrin / KERA News
In Dallas County, 52% of people 12 and older are fully vaccinated, which is on par with 53% statewide.
We know that this pandemic is spreading more readily through people who are not fully vaccinated, Shuford said. But there's pockets of unvaccinated people all across the state, and so we are seeing spread of this disease all across the state.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported the first case of delta variant in the United States in March. Since then, its become the dominant coronavirus strain in both Texas and the U.S. as a whole.
Viruses mutate, Shuford said. Thats just what they do. If they have a mutation that somehow makes them a little more aggressive or more easily spreadable, than those things can help that one mutant strain or that variant become the one that increases in proportions.
As coronavirus variants mutate, Shuford said she and other health officials have seen the way the virus spreads from one person to another, also known as transmissibility, continue to increase. One of the first coronavirus variants called alpha was found in the United Kingdom last winter. It was 50% more transmissible than the original coronavirus strain (called SARS-CoV-2). Shuford says the delta variant is 50% more transmissible than alpha.
"People who get infected [with the delta variant], on average, they just have more virus in their respiratory tract than people did when they were infected with previous strains of this virus," Shuford said. "When there's more virus sitting in the respiratory tract, you can expel more of that virus with every breath or sneeze or a cough or nose blow.
Most likely, said Shuford, because thats how viruses stay alive.
We expect that delta is not the last chapter in this book, said Shuford. We will continue to see ongoing mutations in this virus. Were just going to have to work to keep up with it and keep changing whatever we need to the guidance, any vaccines, therapeutics.
Shuford said COVID-19 vaccines highly decrease the likelihood of severe symptoms and hospitalizations, even with more transmissible variants like delta. Although its important to note the CDC said no vaccines are 100% effective at preventing illness in vaccinated people.
In terms of new recommendations, back in May, the department said fully vaccinated people dont need to wear masks indoors. In July, the CDC then recommended people in counties with substantial or high transmission wear a mask indoors, which means 50 or more cases per 100,000 people in a week. More than 230 of Texas 254 counties fall within the substantial or high transmission threshold.
While kids 12 and older are approved to get the Pfizer vaccine, and trials are underway for kids under 12, that still leave a lot of kids unvaccinated.
It's something that we're also concerned about, Shuford said. Anytime that we gather people together in a setting where a lot of them aren't vaccinated, there's chances for outbreaks. It's not just in schools, it's in any sort of public setting.
LM Otero
New CDC guidelines for kids returning in-person to school recommend anyone who isnt fully vaccinated wear a mask indoors, students stay 3 feet apart in the classroom and that schools practice other safety measures like frequent cleaning and handwashing.
Some school districts in other states have reintroduced mask mandates for schools to prevent community spread. A recent executive order from Gov. Greg Abbott prevents school districts, county governments and other state agencies in Texas from implementing mask mandates.
For Shuford, she continues to recommend people who arent fully vaccinate wear a mask and physically distance from people not in their household. She also emphasized the importance of getting everyone vaccinated who is able.
For children who are in that 0 to 11 age range and can't get the vaccine, it'll be important for the people in their lives who surround them to make sure that they're fully vaccinated, so that they can help protect those vulnerable populations," Shuford said. "Thats true not only for the kids, but also for people who are immunocompromised.
Shuford said this third pandemic wave is a little different than the first two, mostly because of the availability of vaccines, but the same prevention steps still apply.
Physically distancing from people who are outside of your household, wearing masks when you're around people who are outside of your household, making sure that you wash your hands or clean them on a regular basis and improving the air circulation or the ventilation in your living spaces or working spaces all of those things work now, even with the new variants, Shuford said.
Texas Department of State Health Services is also monitoring cold and flu season, which starts in the fall.
Last year, so many people were wearing masks, and they were socially distancing, that we didn't really have a flu season, Shuford said. Now we're at a different place where people are mixing a little bit more. We are worried about not only COVID-19, but also influenza and any number of other respiratory viruses that circulate in the fall and winter months.
Texas Health and Human Services has information about vaccine eligibility and where to find a vaccine appointment across the state.
Got a tip? Email Elena Rivera at erivera@kera.org. You can follow Elena on Twitter @elenaiswriting.
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In a matter of just six minutes, a factory worker from a Mexican border city stepped off a bus in Texas last week, received the Covid-19 vaccine and was heading back home across the international bridge to Mexico.
The vaccination took place near El Paso, the west Texas city where the coronavirus was raging so relentlessly nine months ago that jail inmates were being used to load bodies into mobile morgues because funeral homes were overflowing.
After a hard pandemic and with concerns over continued infections in Texas and northern Mexico, vaccination efforts are being stepped up.
El Paso now has one of the highest vaccination rates among US cities, according to government data progress which prompted outreach across the border and an international initiative.
As of 2 August, 69.7% of El Pasos population aged 12 and up were fully vaccinated and 81.4% were partially vaccinated.
To go from one of the top Covid-19 infected cities in the nation last fall, to fifth among all cities in the country [for vaccinations] is nothing short of phenomenal, El Pasos Democratic mayor, Oscar Leeser, said last month. This demonstrates once more the incredible spirit of our community.
In one outreach effort, El Paso county judge Ricardo Samaniego launched a program to vaccinate workers from the many maquiladoras or factories in Juarez, El Pasos Mexican sister city, where hundreds of thousands toil for US-owned companies with operations there.
Lines of coaches came trundling across the border throughout July, bringing Mexican workers and their families to the US to get vaccinated at a specially designated site at the Tornillo port of US entry, just east of El Paso.
Up to 50,000 one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccines were requested, and supplies were channelled through the Texas department of health and human services. That brand was chosen so that visitors could avoid a second trip.
Many people on both sides of the border are eager to see peoples health protected but also to see the international boundary reopened for non-essential travel, because pandemic restrictions continue to stifle the normal bustle of commerce between El Paso and Juarez.
Texan Yuriko Ibarra received her vaccination some time ago as a healthcare worker she was one of the first groups eligible. Her brother and sister-in-law, who live in Juarez and work for a US company, had to wait longer, but recently received the shot through the maquiladoras program.
They asked me a lot about vaccination and of course I motivated them to do it, Ibarra said, adding: They had a little fever and fatigue, a little sore arm, but nothing more.
During Covid surges, maquiladora industry workers were among the hardest hit in Juarez.
Right now, they feel safer, Ibarra said of her relatives. But they continue to take care of themselves, the use of masks and [hand sanitizer] remains the same, without going out so much, only for necessary things.
While many workers flocked to the vaccination site, others resisted vaccination, so registration was opened to the general public in Mexico. People could call to sign up for a spot on a bus to Tornillo.
We were one of the worst [counties] in the country then when the numbers [of infections] went down, we couldnt get people to [take a] test, Samaniego said. He went on: Same thing is happening with the vaccine.
Although the situation in El Paso county is much better than at the height of the pandemic, the border remains closed to non-essential travel, although Samaniego had hoped that initiatives like his would raise the vaccination rate to the point where reopening would be possible.
We dont know what levels theyre looking for, Samaniego said of the federal authorities. But were doing everything we can to [try to achieve] herd immunity.
On Monday the Biden administration extended the controversial Trump-era Title 42 policy that allows the authorities to summarily expel undocumented migrants arriving in the US, in an attempt to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in holding facilities.
Meanwhile, the Maquiladora Index Association, a workers organization in Mexico, paid for the employees and their families to come to the American vaccination site in El Paso county, while the US government funded the vaccine, equipment and personnel on the US side.
Fabiola Luna Avila, Index president, told Mexican media outlets last week that most of the employees in the factory sector in the region have now been vaccinated.
Coronavirus cases are increasing again in El Paso, a pattern that is repeating reaping across the United States.
But, as elsewhere, the county judge explained that the vast majority of positive cases in the area were coming from one population: unvaccinated El Pasoans.
That tells you the story of how powerful the vaccine is, Samaniego said.
The maquiladora vaccination program wrapped up on 30 July, with almost 30,000 shots administered.
Its incredible, Samaniego said on the final day. We were worried about the hesitancy, but when you say its the last day, now buses are lining up.
Last minute vaccinations started at 8.30am and in just three hours more than 2,000 doses had been administered.
Florida officials reported 134,506 coronavirus cases over the seven-day period from July 30 to Aug 5. At more than 19,000 infections per day, its the states highest infection rate since the start of the pandemic.
The latest tally brings the total number of cases up to 2,725,450 since the pandemics first two cases in Florida were reported 17 months ago on March 1, 2020.
The state added 616 deaths since the previous weeks report, bringing the total statewide number of pandemic deaths to 39,695. The report indicates that 175 deaths occurred in the past seven days, but it can take officials up to two weeks to confirm and report a coronavirus-related death.
The Florida Department of Health announced last month that it would no longer release daily COVID-19 data. Instead, it is now releasing a weekly report every Friday, but withholds information that was publicly available before.
As of June 4, the state no longer reports non-resident vaccinations, coronavirus cases and fatalities. The state has declined repeated requests to provide non-resident data to the Tampa Bay Times.
Florida is transitioning into the next phase of the COVID-19 response, and has shifted reporting to parallel this, the agency said in a June 18 email to the Times. Among reportable diseases monitored by the department, such as HIV and Hepatitis, it is not typical to calculate cases for non-Florida residents.
Florida is the only state that updates its coronavirus caseloads and data once a week. Although weekly reports can be more reliable than daily updates, experts warn that infrequent data updates may delay identifying emerging trends.
Vaccinations: Florida administered 380,576 doses of vaccine in the past week, nearly 50,000 more than the week before. Included in the count are 278,375 who received their first dose of the vaccine.
So far 63 percent of Florida residents age 12 and up have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, according to the state. About 53 percent of eligible residents have been fully vaccinated.
That still leaves 64 percent of Floridas total population not fully protected, including children 11 and under who are not eligible to receive the vaccine.
Vaccination rates are highest among Floridas older adults. Eighty-five percent of Floridians over the age of 65 have been vaccinated, and 78 percent of those ages 60 to 64 have been vaccinated, according to state data.
The largest vaccination gains was among teens and young adults for the second week in a row: 41 percent of those 12 to 19 are vaccinated, and 43 percent of those 20 to 29 and 49 percent of those 30 to 39 have received the vaccine.
In Hillsborough County, 58 percent of residents age 12 and up have been vaccinated; in Pinellas, 61 percent; in Pasco, 58 percent; in Manatee, 60 percent; in Polk, 55 percent; in Hernando, 52 percent; and in Citrus, 54 percent.
Positivity: Floridas positivity rate rose to 18.5 percent in the past week, up from 18.1 percent the week before.
Before reopening, states should maintain a positivity rate of 5 percent or less for at least two weeks, according to the World Health Organization. A positivity rate of 5 percent or less indicates testing is widespread enough to capture mild, asymptomatic and negative cases.
Positivity rates increased for the fifth week in a row in the Tampa Bay area, where the positivity rate was 22.8 percent in Hillsborough, 18 percent in Pinellas, 24.3 percent in Pasco, 18.5 percent in Manatee, 26.3 percent in Polk, 27.2 percent in Hernando, and 23.1 percent in Citrus.
Hospitalizations: Florida had 12,864 confirmed COVID-19 patients in the hospital as of Friday, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Its the highest level of hospitalizations since the start of the pandemic.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 12,227 confirmed COVID-19 patients were admitted to Florida hospitals from July 29 to Aug 4. Thats an increase of about 3,300 new hospitalizations compared to the prior seven-day reporting period.
The Tampa Bay area saw 2,569 hospital admissions. Hillsborough county hospitals had 782 admissions, Pinellas had 635 admissions, Pasco had 303 admissions, Manatee had 126 admissions, Polk had 518 admissions, Hernando had 141 admissions, and Citrus had 64 admissions.
Local numbers: Tampa Bay added 26,962 cases in the past week, bringing the area total up to 483,058 cases.
As of Thursdays count, Hillsborough added 8,853 new cases, Pinellas had 5,125 cases, Pasco had 3,404 cases, Manatee had 1,985 cases, Polk had 5,703 cases, Hernando had 1,346 cases, and Citrus had 816 cases.
The state no longer reports deaths by county. According to CDC data, Hillsborough, Pinellas, Polk, Manatee, Pasco, Hernando and Citrus counties each recorded fewer than 10 confirmed COVID-19 related deaths in the past week. The federal agency does not report exact deaths by county when the count is under 10.
DELTA VARIANT: COVID-19 is resurgent and school is starting. Heres what parents and kids need to know about the fourth coronavirus wave.
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CNN has fired three employees for going to work without being vaccinated against COVID-19. Ric Feld/AP hide caption
CNN has fired three employees for going to work without being vaccinated against COVID-19.
NEW YORK CNN has fired three employees who violated company policy by coming to work unvaccinated against the COVID-19 virus.
CNN chief Jeff Zucker told staff members of the firing in a memo sent Thursday that reminded them that vaccines were mandatory if they report to the office or out in the field where they come into contact with other employees.
"Let me be clear we have a zero tolerance policy on this," wrote Zucker, chairman of news and sports for WarnerMedia.
The memo was obtained by The Associated Press after its contents were first tweeted by CNN media reporter Oliver Darcy. CNN offered no details on the firings, or where the employees were based.
Most of CNN's offices are already open on a voluntary basis, and Zucker said more than a third of news staff members have returned. Proof of vaccination has been left to the honor system, he said, but that may change in coming weeks.
The CNN leader said that masks will be required in Atlanta, Washington and Los Angeles offices when people aren't eating, drinking or in an enclosed private space. Even in offices where mask-wearing is not mandated, people should do what feels comfortable to them "without any fear of retaliation or judgment from co-workers," he said.
The CNN memo also said a planned Sept. 7 company-wide return to the office will be delayed until at least early to mid-October. Other media companies have been making similar decisions because of the rise in COVID cases; the AP told employees on Thursday that an expected Sept. 13 return is also be delayed.
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Texas A&M Universitys new president M. Katherine Banks said this spring that she anticipated a fall [semester] of joy when the university reopens after 15 months of lockdowns and remote learning.
She wasnt alone. As coronavirus case numbers dropped throughout the spring, higher education leaders across the state excitedly announced the return of in-person classes, 100% capacity at football games and an end to social distancing requirements for the fall.
But just a few weeks before students are expected to return to campus, university leaders are faced once again with uncertainty as the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus spreads throughout the state and country. This time, public university administrators are tasked with trying to mitigate the virus on campus without the ability to reinstitute mask mandates or require vaccines due to Gov. Greg Abbotts executive order banning such directives. Theyll be limited in how they can respond even as the Centers for Disease Control has advised fully vaccinated people to wear masks indoors to prevent the spread of the virus and some students and faculty have expressed worry about how safe their return to campus will be.
As the fall semester approaches, I have a feeling of dj vu, albeit an unwelcome one, wrote University of Texas at Austin President Jay Hartzell in a letter to the university community on July 30. I recall last summer and winter, as we prepared to start semesters in the face of a COVID-19 virus that has an uncanny ability to time increasing threats to coincide with the academic calendar.
While universities say they are monitoring the delta variant and whether theyll need to pivot, many are moving ahead with previously decided reopening plans, including full football stadiums and in-person classes, while encouraging everyone to wear a mask and get vaccinated. Yet faculty and some students say they are increasingly worried about how they can effectively protect themselves and others on campuses where leaders cant prevent unmasked or unvaccinated students and employees from entering and unknowingly spreading the virus.
Positive cases in Texas have not risen this high since the mask mandate was rescinded in March, while hospitalizations across the state have reached levels not seen since February, right after Texas experienced its largest spike in cases. Meanwhile, 44% of the eligible Texans are fully vaccinated.
Its almost feeling a little bit of helplessness in the sense that, What can we actually do to make the situation better in the fall? said UT-Austin senior Steven Ding, who is president of the Senate of College Councils. Theres a little more hope because there is a clear answer to resolving a lot of this mess: to get vaccinated. But Im going to be a senior next year and [for] other students at this age, its the frustration that its this all over again.
At least one school made a slight change to its reopening plan this week. Banks, A&Ms president, announced that everyone must participate in COVID-19 testing within the first two weeks of returning to campus regardless of their vaccination status. The school is also starting a drawing to incentivize students to get the vaccine. Winners could get some educational expenses covered.
The University of Texas at Arlingtons leaders said while they are moving forward with reopening as announced, they have started to discuss what to do if the university is forced to scale back operations this fall, including hybrid classes and telework options.
Weve got 40,000 students on the campus that we need to serve, said John Hall, vice president for administration and campus operations, at UT-Arlington. [We] didnt have that a year ago.
Meanwhile, some smaller private universities in Texas have made more drastic changes in response to increased cases, including mask requirements indoors and weekly testing for unvaccinated students and employees.
Much of the frustration among faculty, staff and students is due to Abbotts executive orders limiting masks and vaccine mandates. The faculty senate at A&M is scheduled to vote next week on a resolution calling on the state to allow universities to make their own decisions and follow the science in their efforts to combat COVID-19.
There are heavy concerns when you think about the fact that institutions like A&M, the University of Texas ... have a rich history based on the study of scientific principles, said Dale Rice, speaker of the Texas A&M Faculty Senate. And now theyre being constrained from following the science.
Last week, a group of student leaders at UT-Austin slammed the governor for not allowing universities to make decisions on their own campuses, but also urged UT-Austin to do more.
[I]t is also irresponsible for the University of Texas to plan for a full re-opening with little to no virtual classes available, the letter from student leaders across various colleges read. We have been made witness to the vast benefits of virtual learning for students, faculty, and staff who are disabled, have to work 2-3 jobs to keep up with the rising living costs in Austin, or have adapted to working or learning from home.
UT-Austin did not respond to requests for comment.
While some faculty say they are sympathetic to administrators, others said there has been much less communication about how to handle this semester compared to last fall. As cases increase, faculty leaders on campuses across the state said they have heard from increasingly anxious professors, especially those with young children or immunocompromised family members at home who cannot get a vaccine.
Its not one person rocking the boat. It's not one person expressing concern, said Gina Nuez-Mchiri, professor and faculty chair at the University of Texas at El Paso, who said shes been inundated with texts and phone calls from fellow professors seeking guidance. That fear is real, that anxiety is real, its palpable. And I think leaders in higher education need to be listening, need to be aware and not ignore these concerns.
Public universities in multiple states across the country, including California, Minnesota, Missouri and Michigan, have reinstated mask mandates in recent weeks. Indiana University instituted a vaccine mandate for students and employees, which an appeals court upheld after it was challenged by some students.
Recently, a group of nearly 30 national higher education organizations, including the NCAA, released a joint statement condemning states that have banned mask and vaccine mandates in higher education.
These restrictions undermine the ability of all organizations, including colleges and universities, to operate safely and fully at a time of tremendous unpredictability, the statement read. Furthermore, these restrictions prohibit higher education institutions from taking responsible and reasonable public health measures and ultimately threaten the health and safety of students, faculty, staff, and neighboring communities.
In a statement, Abbotts spokesperson defended the governors decision to end the mask mandate.
Governor Abbott has been clear that the time for government mandating of masks is overnow is the time for personal responsibility, said Renae Eze. Every Texan has the right to choose whether they will wear a mask, or have their children wear masks.
In messages to university communities, officials say they encourage, but dont require masks and vaccines. Many universities are continuing to offer free COVID-19 testing and will continue contact tracing efforts, mandatory reporting of a positive COVID-19 test and quarantine requirements for students who become infected.
UTEPs leaders said they feel they can reopen safely due to high vaccination rates in the surrounding community, citing in a note to the school community that more than 80% of El Paso residents 12 years or older have had at least one dose of the vaccine. The school has also ended testing for faculty and staff, encouraging them to use community testing centers, but will provide testing for students throughout the fall semester.
UTEP, along with some other Texas public and private universities, has asked students to voluntarily share their vaccine status.
Officials at UTEP estimated two-thirds of students and 90% of employees are fully vaccinated. Texas Tech University in Lubbock estimated about 75% of students and 90% of faculty are vaccinated, based on a voluntary spring survey. Baylor University said in a note that 47% of the campus community is vaccinated. Texas Christian University is also asking students to share their vaccine status ahead of the fall semester, but are not requiring vaccines and has said masks are expected but not required for unvaccinated students.
Other university officials said they have shied away from voluntary surveys because they often have low response rates that dont provide enough data to draw conclusions about the entire school community. For instance, at Texas Tech, the spring survey had just a 21% response rate out of the entire university population.
Some private universities across the state have reacted to the increase in positive cases with stricter measures, though vaccines remain optional. On Tuesday, Rice University in Houston announced masks will be required indoors in group settings. Rice is also asking all students and employees to share their vaccination status. Those who are fully vaccinated must get tested every two weeks. Unvaccinated members coming to campus must test two times per week.
Trinity University in San Antonio is also requiring masks indoors and weekly tests for those who are unvaccinated. Baylor told students it will require weekly COVID-19 testing for the first part of the fall semester for students and employees, except for fully vaccinated students and students who have had a positive test within the last 180 days. St. Edwards University in Austin initially said it would require a vaccine for all students, but later stated students could be exempt from that requirement under the governors executive order.
Last year, much of the spread among college students occurred off campus as most schools required masks for in-person classes. Rice, the faculty leader at A&M, anticipates a similar situation with students attending parties and events that lead to the spread of the virus, especially at the start of the academic year. He worries how that will contribute to the situation this fall, despite the fact that people can get vaccinated now.
So many people have a strong desire to get back to normal, they will treat the opening of the semester as a normal academic year, he said. And I think its anything but. Its incredibly far from a normal academic year. We can pretend that it is to some degree. But thats whats going on. Were pretending.
Disclosure: Texas A&M University, Baylor University, Rice University, St. Edward's University, Texas Christian University, Texas Tech University, University of Texas at Arlington, University of Texas at Austin and University of Texas at El Paso have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
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The Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 is wreaking havoc on the US right now. It accounts for 89 percent of the 85,000 daily reported Covid-19 infections among Americans. Delta is more transmissible than earlier strains of SARS-CoV-2, and it increasingly is putting younger, healthier people in the hospital compared to what we witnessed in 2020. But some good news: The data is in, and Covid-19 vaccines are working. It's time to get a shot.
The vaccines might not prevent you from catching Covid-19 entirely. Delta can still break through, but the point of being vaccinated is that, even if you do contract the Delta variantor any other variantyou'll have a much milder illness. Breakthrough caseseven mild onesare still quite rare. So far, less than 7,000 people (0.004 percent) of the 160+ million fully vaccinated people have developed a case of Covid-19 severe enough to cause hospitalization or death.
The three vaccines used in the US have been taken by hundreds of millions of people around the world by now, and they've been found to be safe and effective. All three use unique technologies to stimulate an immune response in your body, but none of them involve injecting a live virus into your arm. In short, they cannot get you sick with Covid-19.
Vaccines, along with social distancing, masks, and smart policy decisions regarding reopening businesses, will be our ticket out of this hellish mass experience. States, territories, and our one state-like district (DC) all have wide latitude to set their own Covid-19 policies and procedures. Advice and paths to a Covid-19 vaccine are going to differ based on which part of the US you live in, but we've put together a guide that should give you an accurate overview of how to get the jab.
If this guide (or any other) may help others get vaccinated, please send them a link.
Updated August 2021: We've updated information on where to find vaccination appointments, statistics about the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2, and which vaccines are available for kids age 12 and over.
Table of Contents
Step 1: Check Your State's Rollout Process
All adult Americans, regardless of age or preexisting health conditions, are able to sign up for a vaccination appointment. Also, children age 12 and up are able to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Odds are that a vaccine appointment is already available near you. About 90 percent of the population in the US has a vaccine site within 5 miles of where they live.
There's no federal or nationally centralized list onto which you sign up for a vaccine. Each state, territory, and freely associated state has sign-up information available on its own health department website.
Here is a list of health department websites for each state.
Some health department sites are more helpful than others, offering telephone hotlines, statewide sign-up lists, and eligibility checkers that will say whether you can get a vaccine yet if you answer a few questions about your age, gender, profession, and health conditions. Other states merely direct you to a list of vaccination providers to call yourself.
Back to Table of Contents
Step 2: Find Places You Can Get Vaccinated
Check out VaccineFinder, built by Boston Children's Hospital and the CDC, to locate available vaccines near you, and follow its Twitter account for updates. Other places to check include:
Despite months of public and private efforts to make vaccines widely accessible, about 40 percent of adults in the United States are not yet fully vaccinated. As coronavirus cases surge, overwhelming hospitals in some parts of the country, colleges and universities, private employers, and states and cities are imposing vaccine mandates for employees, students, and customers. With new evidence suggesting that the delta variant is more transmissible than prior strains and that a majority of the remaining unvaccinated are unlikely to seek out vaccination, the United States urgently needs to use all available tools to increase vaccination rates and avoid continued surges, along with their health and economic impacts. The Medicare and Medicaid Conditions of Participation and Conditions for Coverage are untapped levers the federal government can use to support this effort.
To date, more than 500,000 health care workers have contracted the coronavirus and 1,673 have died from COVID-19. Unvaccinated health care workers put patients at high risk, given that their jobs require close interaction with unvaccinated patients and others who are immunocompromised and at higher risk for complications. Yet by the end of May,1 in 4 hospital workersstill had not been vaccinated at all.
Congregate settings, such as long-term care (LTC) facilities, are particularly susceptible to the spread of infectious disease. In December 2020, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended that health care workers and LTC facility residents be prioritized for the COVID-19 vaccination to protect those at the highest risk of severe illness and death. Yet according to an analysis of 300 LTC facilities published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), only 46 percent of aides and 57 percent of nursesproviders who have the most patient contacthad been fully vaccinated by the beginning of April, with 1 in 3 aides declining the vaccine. Partial vaccination of staff provides insufficient protection: COVID-19 outbreaks have occurred through spread among unvaccinated workers even in LTC facilities with high vaccination rates among residents. As of March 2021, residents and staff of LTC facilities accounted for almost one-third of COVID-19-related deaths in the United States.
According to one public health expert, vaccinating workers in nursing homes is a national emergency. In addition, a CDC presentation obtained in late July by The Washington Post asked its audience to consider vaccine mandates for HCP [health care personnel] to protect vulnerable populations; it did not, however, propose any mechanism for expanding mandates.
As the largest payers of health care in the United States, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have a variety of regulatory policy tools that can support COVID-19 vaccine administration. One of the most powerful tools the Biden administration has at its disposal is the Conditions of Participation (CoPs) and Conditions for Coverage (CfCs), the federal health and safety standards that health care organizations must meet in order to participateand receive funding from the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Under Section 1861(e) of the Social Security Act, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has the authority to adopt proposed CoPs that are found to be necessary in the interest of the health and safety of the individuals who are furnished services in hospitals. Other health care providers must similarly meet health and safety standards.
Although, typically, CMS must go through notice-and-comment rulemaking to modify Conditions of Participation and Conditions for Coverage, the agency may waive this process and instead adopt changes through interim final rules when it finds there is good cause, meaning that notice-and-comment rulemaking is impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest. CMS has already waived notice-and-comment rulemaking when amending these health and safety standards in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
For example, in August 2020, CMS added new universal hospital COVID-19 data reporting requirements and critical access hospital CoPs to support virus tracking, prevent spread, and protect the health and safety of patients. CMS invoked a good-cause exception to notice-and-comment rulemaking as well as the typical 30-day delay in a rules effective date, stating that time is of the essence in controlling the spread of COVID-19 and that universal resident and staff testing will assist public health officials in detecting outbreaks and saving lives.
More recently, in May 2021, CMS issued an interim final rule establishing new requirements for educating LTC residents and staff about COVID-19 vaccines and for offering the vaccine. Again, CMS explained that these changes were critically important given the ongoing pandemic, as it would be impracticable and contrary to the public interest for [CMS] to undertake normal notice and comment rulemaking procedures under these circumstances. Moreover, the agency explained it could not afford sizable delay in effectuating this [change] due to the ongoing crisis.
CMS should now update these standards to mandate that health care and LTC staff and contractors, as well as health care providers with hospital privileges, are vaccinated against COVID-19; the emergence of the delta variant, stalling vaccination rates, and the threat to patient safety posed by unvaccinated health care workers have created the need for action beyond staff education and vaccine access. It is in the public interest to increase vaccination rates without delay, and mandatory vaccinations for health care workers are of critical importance in protecting patients health and safety. Providers would have eight weeks from the effective date of the rule to ensure compliance, allowing the time needed for full vaccination. CMS should also evaluate whether it can impose civil monetary penalties, set to increase over time, for noncompliant organizations.
Importantly, CoPs and CfCs are national in scope, making them a powerful tool to effectuate change when there is local or regional reluctance. For instance, in 1965, federal officials required hospitals to desegregate to be eligible for Medicare reimbursement, leading more than 1,000 hospitals to integrate their medical staffs and hospital floors in less than four months.
Vaccination rates vary significantly from region to region and from state to state. In areas with low vaccination rates, employersincluding health care and LTC employersmay be less likely to adopt mandates on their own. State and local officials who have been resistant to public health measures such as masking are unlikely ever to adopt vaccine requirements for all workers in health care, as California has done, or for all nursing home staff, as Massachusetts has done. Some states even have passed laws to limit employer-mandated vaccination. Yet patients, facility residents, and health care workers in all communities deserve the protection afforded by vaccination.
A consistent, national policy is necessary to overcome employers perceived financial disincentive to mandate vaccination. While hospitals and other health care employers are well aware of the risks of transmission, the concept of a self-imposed vaccine mandate presents them with a conundrum: In a tight labor market, they fear imposing new restrictions will cause them to lose workers to competing institutions at a time when they are already short-staffed. However, a federal rule requiring full vaccination in virtually all health care jobs would level the playing field, ensuring that no individual facility is disadvantaged by mandating employee vaccination.
The movement to ensure that all health care workers are fully vaccinated is gaining momentum. More than 50 health care professional societies and organizations have urged all health care employers to require their employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 to protect the safety of patients, residents, and communities. Meanwhile, dozens of medical centers and hospital systems, including the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, are requiring their workers to get vaccinated. While this movement is encouraging, it is unlikely that all health care and LTC facilities will independently adopt worker vaccination mandates without federal policy intervention.
Making COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for providers participating in Medicare and Medicaid would protect vulnerable patients, set a positive example for other employers, and contribute to the national effort to contain the virus.
Jill Rosenthal is the director of Public Health Policy at the Center for American Progress. Emily Gee is the senior economist for Health Policy at the Center. Maura Calsyn is the vice president and coordinator for Health Policy at the Center.
To find the latest CAP resources on the coronavirus, visit ourcoronavirus resource page.
I'm USA TODAYeditor-in-chief Nicole Carroll, and this is The Backstory, insights into our biggest stories of the week. If you'd like to get The Backstoryin your inbox every week,sign up here.
Today, ourfront pageencouragespeople to get the COVID-19 vaccine. I agree completely with the message because overwhelming evidence shows vaccines save lives, but wonderif it willmake a difference. Those against the shot areadamant in their beliefs.
One of them is my brother.
About 2,000 people a week in the U.S. are dying from COVID-19, mostly infected by the fast-spreadingdelta variant,according to a USA TODAY analysis of Johns Hopkins University data.About 99% ofdeaths today arepeople who did not get vaccinated. Patients dying in hospitals are telling loved ones they regret not getting the vaccine.
First of all, he doesn't trust it. He's worried about long-term effects years down the road.
I pointed out that all three U.S. vaccines went through rigorous clinical trials. Moderna was tested on 30,000 people,Pfizer on nearly 44,000,Johnson and Johnson on more than 39,000.Side effects, including pain at the injection site, headache, fatigue and nausea, were mild to moderate and resolved within a few days.
And since then, about 165 million Americans (about 50%) have been fullyvaccinated.Long-term side effects are extremely unlikely, according to the CDC, because historically vaccine monitoring has shown side effects appear within six weeks.
A study out Wednesday, published by JAMA, showed that for every 1 million Americans vaccinated against COVID-19, only 60 developed heart problems.Complications were short-lived.
My brother, Chris Carroll,also says fully vaccinated people are getting breakthrough viruses, so why bother. The vaccinated can getCOVID. Sen. Lindsey Graham announced this week he tested positivedespite being vaccinated. But, as Graham pointed out, those with the vaccine generally have mild cases and are far less likely to die than the unvaccinated.
Fully vaccinated people made up nearly three-quarters of COVID-19 infections afterFourth of July events in Provincetown, Massachusetts.CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in a statement the findings "raised concern that, unlike with other variants, vaccinated people infected with delta can transmit the virus." But experts agree the outbreak, where seven were hospitalized and no one died,could have been much worse without vaccines.
And breakthrough infections overall are rare.A Kaiser Family Foundation analysis of data available from 23 states and Washington, D.C., found the rate of breakthrough cases among the fully vaccinated was below 1% in each state. More than nine in 10 COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths were in people either not vaccinated or not fully vaccinated.
Not really, he said, as the FDA is a government organization, and maybe President Joe Biden pressured them to approve it."He's going overboard trying to sell it," Chris said. "Because Bidenwants me to get it so bad, that makes me skepticalof getting it."
So does politics play into his decision not to get a vaccine? Absolutely, he says. He doesn't trust the president.But the vaccine was developed under President Donald Trump, I pointed out. "He was under pressure" to get a vaccine quickly to reopen the economy, Chris replied.
Chris is a Christian conservative and lifelong Texan. He's bothered by the pressure to get what he calls "the jab," such aslotteries, financial incentives, employer mandates.
Will these types of mandates encourage him to get the vaccine? "No." He had COVID-19 late last year, and while there are people now sick for a second time, he isn't worried about getting it again. He said blood tests have confirmed he has COVID antibodies, and he feels comfortable with his natural immunity.
However, it'snot known exactlyhow long antibodies from infection lastor how mutations of the virus may impact that. Researchpublished Feb. 5in Science magazine found natural immunity can last at least eight months. More recent research,published May 24in Nature, detected cells producing coronavirus antibodies in patients at least 11 months after they had mild COVID-19 cases.
Chris doesn't look down on those who get the vaccine. He thinks vaccines are purely a personal choice.
For example, unvaccinated people can keep the virus spreading to those unable to get vaccines, like kids or those with weakened immune systems. Does he worry his individual decision can harm others?
"Government does have a role to play in community safety," he said. "We should have a police force, a military to protect people, food and water safety. But that's a bit different than requiring the masses to take something."
And what about those who can't get vaccinated, like kids, shouldn't we protect them?
"How many kids were killed in car accidentsversus kids killed by COVID," he asked. "Should I be out there driving? There is always some risk.I feelmore at risk by driving my car around.
"I don't want to see any kids die;I've actually had a child who died. If I believed me taking this vaccine would stop kids from dying, I would take it."
Medical experts agree that vaccines and masking can help control the spread of the virus, including to kids.
In 2019,612 children younger than 13 died in motor vehicle traffic crashesand more than 97,000 were injured.
The American Academy of Pediatrics said that as of July 29, almost 4.2 million children have tested positive for the virus,nearly 72,000 of them in the last week.That's almosttwice as many as the 39,000 infections from the previous week. Since May2020, more than 17,000 kids have been hospitalized with COVID-19; 358 have died.
Two children withCOVID-19died over the weekend in Tennessee,according to Le Bonheur Children's Hospital.
"It's important for everyone to know that we're seeing sicker kids, we're seeing more kids be admitted that are sick with actual COVID illness, and that those kids, some of them are in our intensive care unit and some of them are intubated," Le Bonheur's Dr. Nick Hysmith, a pediatric infectious disease specialist, toldMemphis Commercial Appeal reporterLaura Testino.
My brother says he'snot sure that's true.
On Tuesday, the CDC's Walensky said it is, telling reporters, "For the amount of virus circulating in this country right now largely among unvaccinated people, the largest concern that we in public health and science are worried about is that the virus …(becomes)a very transmissible virus that has the potential to evade our vaccines in terms of how it protects us from severe disease and death."
Still, he said, "How many things have they been wrong on?"
And that, in the end, is his biggest problem. Trust.
"It's hard to believe anything," he said. "There is so much information out there, and so much bad informationout there. There is so much distrust.For me, I try to read everything I can, pray for wisdom, and make the choice I feel is best for myself and my family.
So, back to my first question. Can professional journalists make a difference? We're giving it everything we have.
We are fact checking statements in the news, giving you original sources so you can see the evidence for yourself. Our expert health reporters followed the trials carefully, watchdogging the process and the results.
And we've got reporters across the country reporting first-hand what is going on in different communities, talking to health care workers, COVID patients, grieving families, stressed out parents.
There is no higher calling in journalism than to give people accurate information to help them make decisions that can save lives.
"We don't knowwhat to believe," my brother said."We don't know who to trust."
We know that trust is earned.
We work to earn your trust with every story, every day.
Delta variant: Why the respiratory illness is so easily transmissible
The Delta variant is one of the most contagious respiratory illnesses. Find out why its easily transmissible.
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Nicole Carrollis the editor-in-chief of USA TODAY. Reach her at EIC@usatoday.com orfollow her onTwitterhere.Thank you forsupporting our journalism.You cansubscribe here.
San Franciscos sheriffs union on Friday threatened that a number of deputies will quit or retire early if they are forced to get a COVID-19 vaccine under the citys mandate.
The policy issued last month requires San Franciscos roughly 35,000 public employees to be vaccinated by Sept. 15 or risk possibly getting fired.
There are religious and medical exemptions for the mandate, however those without exemptions who still refuse to get inoculated will face repercussions [that] go all the way up to termination, said Mawuli Tugbenyoh, chief of policy for the citys Department of Human Resources.
The San Diego Deputy Sheriffs Association said on its Facebook page that the ultimatum would force officers from the already short-staffed agency to retire early or move on something it warned the city cannot afford.
If deputy sheriffs are forced to vaccinate a percentage of them will retire early or seek employment elsewhere, the statement said.
Staffing levels at the department are already low, and losing more deputy sheriffs or any first responders would affect public safety even more, the union said.
It asked San Francisco to follow state guidelines that allow regular COVID-19 testing as an alternative to vaccination.
A majority of the Sheriffs Association, which numbers about 700 is vaccinated, the union said. About 160 of its members are not vaccinated, preferring instead to wear masks and test for the virus weekly due to religious and other beliefs.
We would like San Francisco to be in alignment with the state guidelines which require vaccination or test weekly, the union said.
The union said it believes masking works, and said its members have always worn face coverings and provided them to responders and the public.
City officials slammed the unions position, saying that those who are not vaccinated against COVID-19 pose an undue and unacceptable health and safety risk on employees and the public.
Vaccines are safe, effective and readily available to our employees.
The city has reported a major uptick in violence in the first half of 2021, with 119 shootings reported in the first six months of 2021, compared to 58 in the first half of last year, according to a Fox News report.
Utah law applies to vaccines under emergency authorization. Full FDA authorization for the Pfizer vaccine is expected by Labor Day.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) People are vaccinated against COVID-19 at the former Provo High School gym at 1125 N. University Ave. on July 28, 2021.
| Aug. 6, 2021, 11:45 a.m.
| Updated: 7:19 p.m.
Editors note The Salt Lake Tribune is providing free access to critical stories about the coronavirus. Sign up for our Top Stories newsletter, sent to your inbox every morning. To support journalism like this, please donate or become a subscriber.
Utah has a law, passed earlier this year, that blocks state and local governments from requiring vaccinations against COVID-19.
The ban extends to state colleges and universities, which cannot require students, faculty or employees to get vaccinated. Public schools are also blocked from requiring vaccinations.
But the prohibition soon may fall by the wayside.
HB308, which passed almost unanimously during the 2021 session, blocks government from requiring that people receive the COVID-19 vaccine as a term of employment or even as a requirement for attendance or participation in an activity. But the bill applies only to vaccines that are authorized for emergency use. Right now, all three of the vaccines being administered in the U.S. from manufacturers Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are under emergency authorization by the federal government.
Rep. Robert Spendlove, R-Sandy, sponsored the vaccine mandate ban. He told fellow lawmakers during a legislative hearing in February that people may be uneasy with a vaccine that was under only emergency approval.
Usually a vaccine takes four years to develop, Spendlove said. They were able to develop this in nine months. We dont know what the side effects are. We havent been able to do long-term studies on the effects. We need to encourage people to get the vaccine, but we need to draw the line at allowing the government to mandate that people get this vaccine right now.
The Food and Drug Administration is moving to give full approval to the Pfizer vaccine as early as next month. It was originally thought final authorization would come later in the fall, but the FDA is accelerating its timeline and aiming for Labor Day or sooner. When that approval is granted, Utahs ban on governmental entities requiring that particular vaccine ends. The same applies to other vaccines when they win full authorization.
Leaders have been urging Utahns to get vaccinated against COVID-19, especially as the delta variant of the virus is powering a surge in new cases. Do they take the next step and require vaccinations?
When COVID-19 cases were falling and states were beginning to lift restrictions, Gov. Spencer Cox was crowing to anyone who would listen that Utah was one of the first states to ban so-called vaccine passports for government. Cox did say he believed private businesses could and should have the right to make rules about vaccinations for themselves and their employees.
The Cox administrations stance hasnt changed. On Tuesday, Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson said she and Cox said they would back businesses that made vaccinations mandatory.
We are big believers in the free market, and were also big believers in personal responsibility and consequences of action, Henderson said. My message for business owners is Governor Cox and I support you. If you decide to require your employees to be vaccinated, we support you in that.
Coxs office did not respond when asked if its stance on mandatory vaccinations for state government would change if and when the emergency approval for the Pfizer vaccine was lifted.
The federal government is requiring that employees and contractors get the vaccine. California, New York and North Carolina are also requiring state employees to do the same. Several large companies like Walmart, Walt Disney, Google, Facebook and Tyson Foods are making employees get vaccinated.
Once the vaccines win full approval from the FDA, theres nothing to stop Utahs public schools, colleges and universities, or even state and local governments, from issuing their own vaccination requirements. The Republican-controlled Legislature could stop that, but it would require Cox calling lawmakers into a special session to enact an updated ban, or legislative leaders declaring an emergency to pass a new ban.
Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, says he hopes government agencies wont implement a requirement once the emergency use authorization is lifted.
I have a tough time with government mandates, Adams said. Im encouraging everyone to get vaccinated. Before we go to a mandate, lets see if the public steps up and gets vaccinated.
It may be some time before leaders do issue a mandate.
It is way too early to speculate since the vaccines are currently only being used under an emergency use authorization, said Chloe Morroni, spokesperson for Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson.
Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhalls office was also taking a wait-and-see approach to a possible mandate.
We know the sooner we get people vaccinated, the quicker we head toward the percentages we need to more widely protect our community, Lindsey Nikola, Mendenhalls spokesperson, said. Once vaccinations start getting FDA approval, the mayor will evaluate whether or not a vaccination requirement is something we need to pursue based on up-to-date vaccination percentages.
