Florida governor Ron DeSantis earned a new moniker this week as the resurgent coronavirus continued to wreak havoc on his state: the Pied Piper of Covid-19, leading everybody off a cliff.
Dan Gelber, the mayor of Miami Beach, coined the term as Florida continued to set records for new cases and hospitalizations, recorded worrying increases in both deaths and rates of positivity, and led the nation in pediatric Covid admissions.
With the highly contagious Delta variant spreading, a state comprising little more than 6% of the US population was accounting for one in five of the countrys new cases, recording 50,997 in the three days to Tuesday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
DeSantissays the spike is seasonal and opposes lockdowns or new restrictions. The Republican governor followed up his executive order banning mask mandates in schools by dismissed the burgeoning crisis in Floridas hospitals as media hysteria.
You try to fearmonger, you try to do this stuff, DeSantis snapped at a reporter who asked him at a press conference in Miami on Tuesday about the states new high for Covid hospitalizations a total of 11,863.
Our hospitals are open for business. Were not shutting down. Were gonna have schools open. Were protecting every Floridians job in this state, we are protecting peoples small businesses. These interventions have failed time and time again throughout this pandemic, he said, referring to mask mandates.
The governors single minded desire to keep the state open despite the Delta variant-fuelled spike has drawn criticism from local political leaders to the White House, where Joe Biden said on Tuesday: I say to these governors, Please help. But if you are not going to help, at least get out of the way of the people who are trying to do the right thing.
DeSantis, a likely Republican presidential candidate in 2024 if Trump doesnt run, and a possible running mate if he does, shares the former presidents prioritizing of the economy.
But Gelber said he thought DeSantiss stance could backfire and end up hurting businesses.
Im the mayor of a hospitality town. I think most people coming here would rather be in a place that they feel safer than a place that they feel like they may be getting the virus, he told CNN.
Hes like the Pied Piper, just leading everybody off a cliff right now, letting them know that they dont have to like the CDC, they dont have to wear masks, they can do whatever they want in the midst of an enormous pandemic and Florida, by wide margins, is easily the worst state in the country.
The mayor said he felt hamstrung by legislation signed by DeSantis in May that gave him veto power over coronavirus mandates by municipalities.
Were not allowed a mask edict now. We were one of the first cities to require it and the governor stopped allowing us to do it, then immediately we saw a surge across our county and state.
Charlie Crist, a former Florida governor and Democrat seeking to unseat DeSantis next year, said his rivals betrays a blatant disregard for the health and wellbeing of children and teachers.
On Tuesday, officials in Broward county, the nations sixth-largest school district, which last week voted to enforce mask-wearing, said they would back down, although appeared to be reconsidering their position a day later.
With his latest stunt the Governor ignores science and the facts that masks work, Crist said in a statement to the Guardian.
For the past year, masks kept Floridas schools from becoming major contributors to the viruss spread. They enabled our kids to be in the classroom safely. Now, with only a week until school starts back, Florida tragically leads the nation in children hospitalized due to the virus.
He wants to defund the school systems trying to keep them safe. Its unconscionable.
In an emailed response to the Guardian, DeSantiss press secretary, Christina Pushaw, countered Gelber and Crists assertions that mask mandates were effective. In Texas, she said, cases declined following the lifting of a mandate in March, while in California numbers surged at the start of the year with a mandate in place.
The governor and Florida department of health have always encouraged Floridians to protect themselves and their communities. The best way to do that is to get vaccinated, she said.
Dr Jay Wolfson, professor of public health medicine at the University of South Florida, does not expect DeSantis to change course.
The one driving force that most affects the governors decisions in the states policies is deaths. As long as deaths remain stable or under control, the rates of hospitalization and infectiousness are likely not going to elicit mandating masks or vaccines or doing anything else that would jeopardize the economic policies, he said.
Balancing public health policy interests against economic policy interests can be a delicate game and there are compelling interests on both sides.
These judgment calls are not always based exclusively on educational or health issues, theyre based on political, pragmatic realities, and thus far the governor has been successful in demonstrating he has a significant amount of political support for the positions that hes taking.
6.34pm EDT 18:34
Heres a round up of this evenings Coronavirus news
5.51pm EDT 17:51
Travellers to US will have to be vaccinated White House says
The United States government is working on plans to introduce mandatory vaccination requirements for travellers hoping to enter the country. The Associated Press report that a White House official said on Wednesday that nearly all foreigners arriving into the US will have to be vaccinated against Covid.
If it goes ahead the new requirement will be part of the Biden administrations phased approach to easing travel restrictions on foreign visitors. No timeline has been put in place for the rule and travel restrictions remain in place severely curtailing international trips to the US.
5.32pm EDT 17:32
Jessica Elgot
UK Government announces changes to travel rules
Millions of Britons have been given the green light to travel to Europes holiday hotspots, avoiding quarantine on return from France and Spain where concerns have been raised about Covid variants.
Ministers announced on Wednesday that fully vaccinated holidaymakers returning from France would no longer need to quarantine and ditched plans for a watchlist of amber countries such as Spain.
The move is likely to partially revive the struggling tourism sector but will raise questions about whether the government is being complacent about the spread of the Beta variant.
The decision to abandon plans for a watchlist under pressure from mutinous cabinet ministers will also put UK tourists at risk of having their plans aborted without any notice, raising the spectre of a repeat of last summers chaotic travel corridors.
A number of key destinations as well as international travel hubs will be removed from the red list India, Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE. Indias placement on the red list was the subject of substantial controversy after MPs accused Boris Johnson of delaying its inclusion in the spring as cases rapidly rose and the new Delta variant emerged.
Mexico, Georgia, Runion and Mayotte are to be added to the red list. More countries will also be added to the green list where travellers can go regardless of vaccine status. New green list countries are Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Slovakia, Latvia, Romania and Norway. All changes come into effect at 4am on Sunday 8 August in England.
5.08pm EDT 17:08
Australian authorities warn Covid cases will rise despite lockdowns
Coronavirus cases in Australia, while still low, are rising in some areas despite weeks of lockdown, with authorities warning that infections will rise further because of the more contagious Delta variant.
New South Wales, Australias most populous state, reported 124 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, up from 110 a day ago. Most cases were in the state capital Sydney which is in its fourth week of a lockdown.
We anticipate case numbers will continue to go up before they start coming down and we need to brace ourselves for that, said Gladys Berejiklian, premier of NSW. She added: Until we have enough of our population fully vaccinated, we will be living with some level of restriction.
Vaccination rates have not matched those seen in some European countries, with only about 20 per cent of over 16s fully vaccinated.
The country is still pursuing a hardline Zero Covid policy, attempting to eliminate all cases through tough border controls and contact tracing internally. In Melbourne a school of 2000 students and 300 staff was closed after one female teacher in her 20s tested positive. The entire school are now isolating and being tested.
Victoria state, entering a second week of stay-at-home orders, had 26 new cases, up from 22.
Sydney is in lockdown until August 28th at the earliest.
4.33pm EDT 16:33
Mental health services across Europe suffered during the pandemic new research shows
The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared early on that mental health services should be considered an essential service to be maintained during the pandemic. But new pan-European research shows that psychiatric services were reduced to emergency care only in many countries, with many other services being switched from in person to online.
The European Psychiatric Association (EPA) surveyed 857 psychiatrists and found that in most European countries, 50% of face-to-face psychiatric consultations were replaced with remote consultations. In Western Europe this was much higher.
3.14pm EDT 15:14
Rupert Neate
City of London still fairly empty says L&G boss as Covid restrictions lift
The boss of one of the UKs largest insurance firms has suggested that employers in Londons financial district may be struggling more than those in other cities to persuade office workers to return to their desks as coronavirus restrictions ease.
Nigel Wilson, chief executive of Legal & General, said there were a lot fewer people working in the City compared with urban centres across the UK, Europe and the US, adding that it may take years for the historic streets to return to pre-pandemic levels of bustle.
Some 525,000 people work in the City, thats an awful lot of people, he said in an interview from his office in L&G headquarters near Moorgate station in the City of London. When Im looking out of my office window, the streets look fairly empty.
Wilson said central London employers, local authorities and the Lord Mayor of London would need to do a really good job over the next few years to attract workers who often commute long distances into the centre of the capital to come to their offices more regularly.
2.46pm EDT 14:46
Vaccinating older teenagers has been welcomed by many scientists as the logical next step in the rollout of the vaccine PA Media reports.
But some experts believe more research is needed before extending the programme further. Prof Russell Viner, professor of child and adolescent health at UCL, said more safety data is needed before we consider vaccinating younger teenagers.
He said: Any decisions about vaccinating children and teenagers must balance risks and benefits, and this is never easy.
He welcomed the decision to vaccinate teenagers, saying: Vaccinating older teenagers is a reasonable first step and will be important for young people themselves in the return to school, and also benefit wider society including the elderly and younger children.
This step is particularly useful now as high vaccination levels are concentrating infection amongst the unvaccinated children and teenagers.
Chief executive of NHS Providers Chris Hopson said: We urge everyone, including 16 and 17-year-olds, to have their Covid-19 jab when they are offered it, in line with the advice of Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.
Englands deputy chief medical officer. Prof Jonathan Van Tam, said the governments scientists are committed to giving the JCVI time to assess the impact of vaccination on healthy children aged 12 to 15, adding the option has not been ruled out.
Updated at 3.25pm EDT
1.43pm EDT 13:43
Christopher Knaus
Errors with the Australian immunisation register have prevented a frontline health worker from properly recording her two Covid vaccine doses, a problem that is being increasingly reported.
Guardian Australia this week revealed multiple instances of erroneous coronavirus vaccine records on the Australian Immunisation Register, the national database used to track vaccine status.
Some reported errors with only a first dose or second dose showing when both doses had been administered. Others said they were recorded as already being fully vaccinated despite not having a single dose.
1.29pm EDT 13:29
Denis Campbell
The NHS has lost its prestigious ranking as the best health system in a study of 11 rich countries by an influential US thinktank.
The UK has fallen from first to fourth in the Commonwealth Funds latest analysis of the performance of the healthcare systems in the nations it studied.
Norway, the Netherlands and Australia now provide better care than the UK, it found. The findings are a blow to the NHS, which had been the top-rated system in the thinktanks two previous reports in 2017 and 2014. The US had by far the worst-rated system, despite spending the most on care.
The Washington-based Commonwealth Fund blamed the NHSs slip down its league table on the delays patients face in accessing care and treatment, lack of investment in the service and poverty.
1.18pm EDT 13:18
The makers of the Russian Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik V have pledged to resolve delivery delays this month after several South American countries complained to Russia.
The delays occurred due to a production scale up and would be fully resolved this month, Russias Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) that financially backs Sputnik V, said, according to AFP.
Sputnik V will double its capacity in September thanks to a partnership with the worlds largest vaccine producer, the Serum Institute of India, the statement said. It added that Sputnik V has built production partnerships with producers in 14 countries.
Several Latin American countries that have relied on the Russian vaccine to protect their populations have in recent weeks complained to Moscow about delivery delays. Inoculation with Sputnik V requires two doses that differ from one another and cannot be swapped or mixed with other vaccines.
Guatemala last week cancelled its order of a second batch of eight million Sputnik vaccines due to a delivery delay of a previous order. Argentina the first Latin American country to approve the Sputnik vaccine also complained to Moscow about the delivery delays, AFP reports.
1.11pm EDT 13:11
Vincent Ni
As the highly transmissible Delta variant continues to spread across at least 17 provinces, China is now facing a new dilemma: is its once-successful zero tolerance approach to containing the spread of the virus over, and what comes next?
Unlike Britain and Singapore, where officials have explicitly encouraged people to learn to live with the virus, China has yet to officially shift its messaging.
But experts are asking what next for the countrys strategy, now that its clear the virus is not going away any time soon. Last week, Chinese virologist Zhang Wenhong widely known as Chinas Dr Fauci wrote in an essay about the need for the wisdom of long-term coexistence with the virus.
Zhang said the recent outbreak in the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing should serve as food for thought for the future of our pandemic response. The data tell us that even if each of us were to be vaccinated in the future, Covid-19 would still be endemic, but at a lower level with a lower fatality rate. After the liberalisation of vaccines, there will still be infections in the future he wrote.
Less than a week after Zhangs opinion piece was published, the Delta variant has now spread to more than half of Chinas 31 provinces, shutting down transport routes.
On Wednesday, China reported 96 new cases 71 of them were locally transmitted. Residential areas, including those home to more than 10,000 people in the capital Beijing, have been sealed off for mass testing. In Wuhan, where the virus was first reported in late 2019, authorities have begun testing all 11 million residents.
Updated at 2.17pm EDT
Another 126coronavirus cases have been reported across the state, Maine health officials said Wednesday.
Wednesdays report brings the total number of coronavirus cases in Maine to 70,844,according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Thats up from 70,718 on Tuesday.
Of those, 51,651have been confirmed positive, while 19,193were classified as probable cases, the Maine CDC reported.
The number of coronavirus cases diagnosed in the past 14 days statewide is 1,170. This is an estimation of the current number of active cases in the state, as the Maine CDC is no longer tracking recoveries for all patients. Thats up from 1,091 on Tuesday.
The new case rate statewide Wednesday was 0.94 cases per 10,000 residents, and the total case rate statewide was 529.32.
Maines seven-day average for new coronavirus cases is 103, up from 93.1 a day ago, up from 66.9 a week ago and up from 22 a month ago. That average peaked on Jan. 14 at 625.3.
No new deaths were reported Wednesday, leaving the statewide death toll at 900.
The most cases have been detected in Mainers younger than 20, while Mainers over 80 years old make up the majority of deaths. More cases and deaths have been recorded in women than men.
So far, 2,159Mainers have been hospitalized at some point with COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus. Information about those who are currently hospitalized wasnt immediately available.
The total statewide hospitalization rate on Wednesday was 16.13 patients per 10,000 residents.
Cases have been reported in Androscoggin (8,521), Aroostook (1,999), Cumberland (17,626), Franklin (1,422), Hancock (1,431), Kennebec (6,767), Knox (1,203), Lincoln (1,129), Oxford (3,706), Penobscot (6,561), Piscataquis (613), Sagadahoc (1,490), Somerset (2,355), Waldo (1,170), Washington (965) and York (13,886) counties.
An additional 723 vaccine doses were administered in the previous 24 hours. As of Wednesday, 769,763 Mainers have received a first dose of the vaccine, while 817,929 have received a final dose.
As of Wednesday morning, the coronavirus had sickened 35,242,078people in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as caused 614,317deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.
Correction: An earlier version of this report misstated the number of cases reported in the past 14 days.
More articles from the BDN
Much of the pathology underlying Covid policy arises from the fantasy that it is possible to eradicate the virus. Capitalizing on pandemic panic, governments and compliant media have used the lure of zero-Covid to induce obedience to harsh and arbitrary lockdown policies and associated violations of civil liberties.
Among all countries, New Zealand, Australia and especially China have most zealously embraced zero-Covid. Chinas initial lockdown in Wuhan was the most tyrannical. It infamously locked people into their homes, forced patients to take untested medications, and imposed 40-day quarantines at gunpoint.
On March 24, 2020, New Zealand imposed one of the most onerous lockdowns in the free world, with sharp restrictions on international travel, business closures, a prohibition on going outside, and official encouragement of citizens to snitch on neighbors. In May 2020, having hit zero-Covid, New Zealand lifted lockdown restrictions, except quarantines for international travelers and warrantless house searches to enforce lockdown.
Australia also took the zero-Covid route. While the initial steps focused on banning international travel, the lockdowns there also involved closed schools, occasional separation of mothers from premature newborns, brutal suppression of protests, and arrests for wandering more than 3 miles from home.
New Zealands and Australias temporary achievement of zero-Covid and Chinas claimed success were greeted with fanfare by the media and scientific journals. Chinas authoritarian response seemed so successfuldespite the countrys record of lying about the virusthat panicked democratic governments around the world copied it. The three countries lifted their lockdowns and celebrated.
CNN
Coronavirus testing in the United States is down from where is has been at previous points in the pandemic. However, health officials are working to get those numbers up again.
In a discussion on Tuesday hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci said there are plans to expand testing capacity in the United States, and that research is ongoing into improving test access.
In a briefing by the White House Covid-19 Response Team on Monday, White House Covid-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients said the federal government has communicated to states that it is prepared to help increase testing capacity.
Last week we reiterated to all governors that we stand ready to help them in meeting this moment, whether that be through more testing, increasing treatments, vaccine access and uptake, or other state-specific needs, he said.
The 7-day average of new tests is now just over 584,000 per day, down from over 1.5 million per day six months ago and about 900,000 per day a year ago, according to data from the US Department of Health and Human Services.
Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images
Medical personnel conduct Covid-19 testing at a "drive-through" site in Miami, on August 3, 2021. - In Florida cars are lining up for Covid-19 testings once again, amid record hospitalizations, as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis downplays the outbreaks severity, blaming media hysteria. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP) (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images)
Dr. Patrick Godbey, president of the College of American Pathologists, agreed that there is a need for greater testing.
I think more testing is a good thing, for many reasons. One of the important things to remember is, first of all, bad data is worse than no data at all, Godbey told CNN.
When we talk about testing, we need to remember that all testing is not created equal. And we need to have reliable, accurate testing. Thats always been, and continues to be, fundamental in dealing with this pandemic. The basic question is, do you have it or not? Only good testing can answer that question.
Testing at this stage of the pandemic takes many forms, including at-home tests performed alone or with a virtual aide, or a test administered by a doctor or pharmacist. The gold standard of Covid-19 tests is an rt-PCR test, a type of nucleic acid amplification test, which detects viral RNA.
PCR tests are what the CDC uses to assess community positivity rates, or the percent of positive tests in a community, which is typically a county.
A persons risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection is directly related to the risk for exposure to infectious persons, which is largely determined by the extent of SARS-CoV-2 circulation in the surrounding community, the CDC said in its latest guidelines for Covid-19 prevention strategies.
The agency uses the percentage of positive PCR tests in an area combined with the weekly number of new Covid-19 cases per 100,000 people to assign communities a transmission level ranging from low to high. Transmissions levels then feed into decisions about Covid-19 mitigation efforts in an area.
PCR tests are also what Godbey would get in a scenario where he is a vaccinated person worried hes been exposed to Covid-19.
I would like nucleic acid amplification test. I would like it performed in a laboratory close to home so that I can get the results quickly, he said.
Under guidelines released last week from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people vaccinated against Covid-19 should be tested three to five days following a known exposure to the virus. The guidance is a change from the agencys previous recommendation that vaccinated people dont need be tested for Covid-19 following exposure unless they became symptomatic.
The advantage in getting a vaccine is to keep you from getting severely ill. It doesnt mean that you cant harbor the virus for some time. And in order to keep the spread down, its still important for you to be tested, Godbey said.
Godbey said some available testing options, like over-the-counter tests which a person performs themselves, may present accuracy issues. To get an accurate result, the person getting the test would need to follow the directions meticulously, and even then, environmental factors can get in the way.
If you buy it, and you put it in your car in Atlanta and then leave it in the car for a while, it gets to be over 100 degrees in the car. That can affect the accuracy of the test. The ones that you have to send away, you have to be careful about how theyre shipped, he said.
The UK government will updateits "green" travel liston Thursday to add Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Slovakia, Latvia, Romania and Norway to the list.
Travelers returning from green-listed countries do not need to quarantine unless their required PCR test result is positive. The travel list changes announced will come into effect on Aug. 8 in England.
Arrivals to England from France will also no longer need to quarantine beginning Aug. 8 if they are fully vaccinated, according to a Department for Transport statement released Wednesday.
The British government will also move India, Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE from the "red" list to the "amber" list, meaning that travelers arriving from those countries will no longer need to quarantine if they test negative for Covid-19 and are fully vaccinated with a vaccine approved by the UK.
The UK considers travelers to be fully vaccinated two weeks after having received two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine authorized by the UK government, the European Medicines Agency or the US Food and Drug Administration. Approved vaccines include the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, the Moderna vaccine, the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, or the Janssen vaccine (only one dose of Janssen is required).
Meanwhile, Georgia and Mexico will be added to the "red" list on Thursday, requiring travelers arriving from those countries to quarantine for 10 full days in a government-run hotel at a cost of about $3,200 per single adult.
The overseas French departments of La Reunion and Mayotte will also be put on the "red" list due to the prevalence of the Beta variant, according to the Department for Transport.
"This virus is highly infectious. If you decide to try to run the game clock out, don't try to do it. This virus will find you, it will infect you eventually," Michael Osterholm, director for the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, told CNN's Pamela Brown.
"If that's not enough to motivate people to get vaccinated," he added, "then the only other things I think we have are the mandates that say, 'If you're going to work here or go here ... you have to get vaccinated.'"
"If you are a case and you become infectious, you do two things: one is you pose a risk to others including your own loved ones, but number two is you're also using hospital resources right now which in many instances are very, very short," he said.
"If we don't crush the outbreak to the point of getting the overwhelming proportion of the population vaccinated, then what will happen is the virus will continue to smolder through the fall into the winter, giving it ample chance to get a variant which, quite frankly, we're very lucky that the vaccines we have now do very well against the variants -- particularly against severe illness," Fauci said in an interview with McClatchy. "There could be a variant that's lingering out there that can push aside Delta."
And if a variant arises that's also highly contagious but also more likely to cause severe illness, "then we really could be in trouble," Fauci added.
"People who are not getting vaccinated mistakenly think it's only about them. But it isn't. it's about everybody else, also," he said.
Roughly 58% of the US population has received at least one Covid-19 vaccine dose, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Roughly 49.8% of the population is fully vaccinated, the data shows.
More than 90 million eligible people in the US are still unvaccinated. And though the seven-day average of people initiating vaccination each day is the highest it has been since July 4 at 446,300, many experts say the US is still not where it needs to be to get the pandemic -- and the rapidly spreading Delta variant -- under control.
On Tuesday, for the first time since February, more than 50,000 hospital beds across the country were occupied by Covid-19 patients, according to new data from the US Department of Health and Human Services. That number is more than triple what it was a month ago.
"This surge that we're going through right now has every potential to be -- and already looks to be -- the worst surge we've faced so far," former US Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams said during a live online interview with The Washington Post.
Delta variant now accounts for more than 93% of Covid-19 cases in the US
The Delta variant now accounts for an estimated 93.4% of coronavirus circulating in the US, according to figures published by the CDC.
This includes several sub-lineages of Delta, all of which are classified as variants of concern. Together, they made up about 93.4% of cases during the last two weeks of July.
This number is even higher in certain parts of the country, including the region that includes Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska, where Delta accounts for more than 98% of circulating virus.
These figures have shown a rapid increase over the past two months. In the two weeks ending May 22, for example, Delta's prevalence was estimated around 3%.
At that same time in May, another variant first identified in the UK -- Alpha, or B.1.1.7 -- was the dominant one in the US, causing 69% of cases. Now, CDC's most recent estimates put that variant at just under 3%.
Experts considering boosters for immunocompromised people, Fauci says
Although experts have said data so far does not indicate a need for the general population to get vaccines boosters, Fauci said there is an effort underway to get them for immunocompromised people.
Some conditions -- including autoimmune diseases, transplants and cancer treated with chemotherapy -- compromise people's immune systems.
"Those individuals we know almost invariably do not have an adequate response, so the need to give them an additional boost is much more emergent than the general population," Fauci said during a virtual event hosted by Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam on Tuesday.
Vaccine advisers to the CDC have met to discuss whether immunocompromised people may need additional protection from a vaccine booster but have not yet presented a formal recommendation or voted on guidance.
"We are trying very hard to get the regulatory mechanism in place very soon to get those individuals a boost that might bring up their immunity to the level where it should be, if possible," Fauci said.
During a discussion hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies on Tuesday, Fauci said it's "very likely" Covid-19 variants evolved in the bodies of those who are immunosuppressed.
People with immune suppression may be unable to fight off Covid-19 infections for weeks or even months, meaning the virus has plenty of time to evolve and change.
"Variants, we all know, have emerged because of the pressure that the human immune system has put on the virus, very likely from people who are immunosuppressed ... and had virus in them for days and days and days before they cleared it and/or died, and then essentially led to the emergence of a variant," Fauci said.
'Substantial' increase in cases among children and teens
With the new school year stirring concerns about protecting children from Covid-19, the American Academy of Pediatrics said Tuesday there's been a "substantial" increase in cases among children.
Nearly 72,000 children and teens caught Covid-19 last week -- five times as many as at the end of June, the group said.
The definition of a child varies by state, but generally includes those up to age 17 or 18.
Covid-19 protocols vary across the country, but when children go back to school, districts will need to know how to respond to outbreaks quickly.
Districts need to be prepared to enact contact tracing, testing, the quarantining of people who were exposed to the virus and the isolation of people with infections, Dr. William Schaffner, a professor at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, told CNN.
While most schools follow those steps to isolate cases, contact trace and test, response plans can vary state by state and school district by school district, Kim Anderson, executive director of the National Education Association, told CNN.
"From what we understand, it does depend on what district you are in. The district should have very well thought-out outbreak plans that have included the voices of educators and parents and community members in the crafting of those plans, and they should have plans that follow the CDC recommendations," Anderson said.
"Our recommendation to all students and school districts is to follow the medical experts and follow the CDC," she said.
CNN's Deidre McPhillips, Matthew Hilk, Jacqueline Howard, Virginia Langmaid, Lauren Mascarenhas, Michael Nedelman and Jen Christensen contributed to this report.
With the delta variant surging, some businesses have begun announcing COVID-19 vaccine mandates for employees with some exceptions on religious and medical grounds.
The announcements have led to relief for some and strong opposition and protests for others as well as a handful of states introducing legislation to block them.
While there may be opposition to those policies, ultimately the mandates -- which also come as efforts stagnate to reach the remaining unvaccinated Americans -- are on solid legal ground, public health experts contend.
In the last two weeks, private companies big and small, such as Google, the NFL and Disney (the parent company of ABC News) and many public offices, have announced that vaccines are mandatory for staff before they return to offices in the fall.
In addition, the federal government and some states are issuing testing mandates for any of their public employees who aren't vaccinated.
A woman gets a COVID-19 vaccination from an EMT at a Medi-Vaxx Program of the San Fernando Valley pop up clinic at the Montague Charter Academy in Arleta, Calif., Aug. 2, 2021.
In a few localities, such as New York City, proof of vaccination is required for indoor activities such as movies and restaurants -- actions that take a harder line to incentivize vaccination.
The subject is tricky given that the vaccines are not fully approved by the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have said vaccines will not be federally mandated and public health officials have largely been trying to incentivize inoculation rather than making it compulsory given the hesitancy in the population.
Dr. Howard Koh, a former assistant secretary for health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, told ABC News that there will be more organizations that follow suit given the rise in coronavirus cases among the unvaccinated, and they have solid arguments for the policies.
"Businesses want to go forward and they know that their status quo isnt working," he told ABC News.
Here's what to know:
Long-standing legal precedent
States have over a century of legal precedent for mandating vaccines, according to Koh, who currently serves as a professor of the practice of public health Leadership at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health.
The courts have not determined if the federal government can issue a vaccine mandate, however, the Supreme Court's decision in the 1905 case Jacobson v. Massachusetts gave state governments the power to issue such a mandate.
The 7-2 decision ruled that Massachusetts's smallpox vaccine mandate was constitutional stating, "it is for the legislature, and not for the courts, to determine in the first instance whether vaccination is or is not the best mode for the prevention of smallpox and the protection of the public health."
All states and the District of Columbia have mandated vaccines for ailments such as measles, rubella and polio, for school-age children, although requirements differ by state. There are also a range of exceptions, most commonly medical and religious reasons.
As of June, 44 states and Washington, D.C., grant religious exemptions for people who have religious objections to immunizations, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, which tracks the state regulations. Fifteen states that allow philosophical exemptions for children whose parents object to immunizations because of personal, moral or other beliefs, the NCSL found.
The situation is largely different for adults, for whom vaccines are generally not required for employment or in other forums. However, in certain states, such as New York, there is a requirement for health care workers, for instance.
Koh added things get tricky when it comes to a federal mandate.
"The president, from what I can tell, can not announce a federal mandate. No federal vaccination mandate has ever been tested in court," he said.
More leeway for private businesses
There is some legal uncertainty around the current batch of COVID-19 vaccines because they are being administered under an emergency use authorization from the FDA, Koh said. Opponents to vaccine mandates have argued states or businesses cannot enforce mandates unless the inoculations have received full approval.
But a ruling by the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel last month, ruled that Section 564 of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act doesn't prohibit private businesses from mandating vaccines. States and local municipalities, however, still have the power to prohibit a vaccine mandate within their own offices.
A Jackson State University police officer watches as a nurse gives him a dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at an open vaccination site at Jackson State University in Jackson, Miss., Aug. 3, 2021.
Koh noted that the Justice Department's ruling has given private and public businesses the legal backing to order their own mandates.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio recently issued an executive order Tuesday that required vaccination for certain indoor activities, such as the gym, movie theaters and concerts.
Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy told ABC News' podcast "Start Here" that similar requirements will be popping up.
"I think it's not only reasonable, but I think it's part of what's going to, I think, nudge more people to get vaccinated while making it even safer for those who are vaccinated to be able to get back to their way of life, which is what we all want," he told ABC News.
Once the vaccines get full approval, there will be more push from all sectors to mandate the vaccine, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told the Center for Strategic and International Studies on Tuesday. Pfizer's approval could come as early as September.
"Youre not going to see a central mandate coming from the federal government, but youre going to see more universities, colleges, places of business who, once they get the cover of an officially approved vaccine, theyre going to start mandating vaccines," Fauci said.
There have been some signs that governors would change their rules once the vaccines get the full approval. During a virtual town hall Wednesday, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards told residents he would do just that.
"It would be my expectation that once full authorization or sometimes it's called licensure is granted, then that vaccine will be added to the list, and then it will work just like the current mumps, measles, rubella, and other vaccines," he said.
Attempts to block mandates
When it comes to local public government offices, rules for vaccine mandates differ and in a handful of states, mandates on the COVID-19 vaccines have been banned outright until full approval.
States that have enacted bans on vaccine mandates
As of Aug. 4, six states have enacted legislation in the last year that would block state and municipal offices from mandating a COVID-19 vaccine among staff members. Those six states and another six also have laws that prevent schools from issuing mandates.
Only one state, Montana, has banned private businesses from issuing a vaccine mandate.
Some of the states with bans, such as Alabama, North Dakota and Arkansas, have lagged behind the rest of the country when it comes to vaccinations and seen a jump in cases, according to the CDC. Alabama's seven-day average of new cases has jumped from nearly 200 at the beginning of July to over 2,500 this week, CDC data shows.
During a news conference Tuesday, President Biden urged governors to lift restrictions on businesses and schools so they could increase vaccination numbers.
"I say to these governors, please help. But if you aren't going to help, at least get out of the way," he said.
Another way: Testing mandates
Koh noted that the vaccine order that Biden borrowed from New York and other states that required unvaccinated public employees to get tested weekly.
Koh and other experts contend the rule from the president and other leaders would ensure that workspaces would have fewer outbreaks and give those unvaccinated workers a bigger push to get their shots.
It also gives the states firmer legal standing because the testing mandate doesn't lead to a termination or penalty for the unvaccinated employee, they noted.
"The goal is to make vaccine the norm and the goal is to make vaccine the healthy choice," Koh said.
Ultimately, Koh said the biggest motivator for vaccine mandates will be from the private businesses. Their efforts will force the public sector to enact stricter measures, he argued.
"Our country has been trying to tame this pandemic for 18 months and counting. The other [vaccination] measures until now have not been completely successful in getting us through this," Koh said.
This report was featured in the Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021, episode of Start Here, ABC News daily news podcast.
"Start Here" offers a straightforward look at the day's top stories in 20 minutes. Listen for free every weekday on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, the ABC News app or wherever you get your podcasts.
According to local media, when reporters asked House Minority Whip Steve Scalise in the beginning of April when he planned to get a COVID-19 vaccine, he replied, Soon. A month later, when asked again, his sense of urgency or lack thereof remained the same.
Then in July, something changed. Sitting inside a clinic in his home state of Louisiana, the No. 2 Republican in the House posed for a photo as he got vaccinated at last. Four days later, at a press conference outside the U.S. Capitol, he encouraged others to do so too. I have high confidence in it, Scalise said of the vaccine. I got it myself.
Scalise isnt the only Republican who has suddenly changed his tone. That same week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose 2022 reelection campaign merchandise features drink koozies that say Dont Fauci My Florida, noted that nearly everyone hospitalized now for COVID-19 was unvaccinated. These vaccines are saving lives, he said at a press conference. Even hosts on Fox News, where COVID-19 was initially denied as a hoax, are encouraging viewers to get vaccinated.
But their statements of support prompted by the spread of the highly transmissible delta variant are unlikely to change the minds of those who are certain they dont want the shot. Some prominent members of the party and conservative media networks spent months downplaying the severity of the pandemic and spreading misinformation about the vaccines, and their sudden about-face is unlikely to be enough to change that dynamic. But for those who were hesitant but not necessarily opposed there may be some chance for Republicans to change minds.
Not all Republicans have rejected the vaccine, but most vaccine refusers are Republican. That doesnt mean their resistance is partisan alone but it may mean its difficult for partisan leaders to persuade people to get the vaccine.
For one thing, vaccine resistance is well-entrenched at this point, and concerns about how fast the vaccine moved through clinical trials not to mention social media disinformation about the efficacy of the inoculation are still prevalent. On top of that, some well-known members of the GOP, like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, are still embracing vaccine skepticism.
Republican leaders pleas to get the vaccine also arent new. Just ask former President Donald Trump. Having gotten the vaccine himself in January but out of the public eye he encouraged his supporters to follow suit. I would recommend it to a lot of people that dont want to get it, he said in a phone interview on Fox News in March. Its a great vaccine, its a safe vaccine, and its something that works.
But his endorsement carried little weight with Republicans who rejected the vaccine. According to a survey experiment conducted by CBS News/YouGov in March, Republicans which include Republican-leaning independents who were flat-out noes on getting a vaccine were not moved by Trumps words or deeds. However, among Republicans who were undecided, hearing that Trump himself was vaccinated and encouraging others to do the same did move the needle. Unvaccinated Republicans were interviewed twice, and in the second survey, half were told that Trump had endorsed the vaccine. Per the findings, those who said yes or maybe on the first survey were 15 percentage points more likely to say they would get the jab after hearing about Trumps endorsement, compared with the group who didnt hear the cue. However, those who said no on the first survey largely werent influenced by Trumps statements.
A similar dynamic was at play among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, just with President Biden. That group was less likely overall to say no or maybe when asked whether they would get the vaccine, but CBS News/YouGov found that Bidens endorsement made them less certain; it both softened some noes to maybes and moved some yeses to maybes. However, in follow-up questioning, most of those maybe respondents said they would probably get the vaccine.
Likewise, an Economist/YouGov survey from late July/early August showed that Republicans who said they didnt plan to get the vaccine wouldnt be swayed even if they were told that Trump had gotten it and encouraged others to do the same. Just 3 percent of respondents who told the pollster they didnt plan to get vaccinated said they would be persuaded to get the shot if Trump urged them to do so, including only 5 percent of Republicans. In a separate survey from June, The Economist/YouGov found that among adults who said they would not get the vaccine, a larger share said they trusted medical advice from Trump (53 percent) than from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (14 percent), Dr. Anthony Fauci (9 percent) and Biden (7 percent). Still, only 3 percent said that Trumps endorsement would sway them to get the vaccine themselves.
Whats also working against Republicans new pro-vaccine push is that hesitancy and refusal rates have been stagnant so far, especially in red states. According to Morning Consults tracking, the share of Americans who said they were either unsure or unwilling to get vaccinated has decreased by only 3 points in two months, from 34 percent in May to 31 percent in July. That trend is particularly entrenched in states that heavily supported Trump. On average, in the 20 states that backed him by more than 10 points in the 2020 election, 25.2 percent of respondents said in the July survey that they were unwilling to get vaccinated (essentially unchanged from 25.9 percent in May). By contrast, in the 16 states that voted for Biden by more than 10 points, an average of only 15.0 percent of respondents in the July survey said they were unwilling to get vaccinated, similar to the 15.4 percent who said the same in May.
Still, the future is unknowable, and some newly released research suggests the opposite of what these polls were finding: that vaccine endorsements from elite Republicans may in fact have a positive impact on everyday voters. But that research is based on a study from March, a time when a greater share of unvaccinated Americans were on the fence about the vaccine. Yet new Morning Consult polling shows that vaccine skepticism has decreased slightly among Fox News viewers after more hosts began promoting vaccinations, suggesting that the networks new attitude may be having some impact on its audience though Fox News Republicans were already less hesitant about vaccines than Republicans who get their news from more far-right sources.
Moreover, its possible that hesitancy might decrease as the delta variant continues its spread, and vaccine rates had been ticking up slightly in the last half of July. However, a July survey from Echelon Insights suggests the increase may be due more to Democrats getting vaccinated than to any changes among Republicans: The share of Republicans saying they probably wouldnt get the vaccine increased by 3 points from their June survey, while the share of Democrats who said the same decreased by 3 points.
Its also possible that GOP leaders touting vaccines will have the opposite effect and cause some Republicans to double-down on their anti-vaccine sentiments. Thats because when people resist persuasion, they can become more firm in their beliefs. Plus, public figures dont typically influence peoples actions. As the Kaiser Family Foundation previously noted, pro-vaccine messages from doctors, family members and friends have the greatest impact on vaccine skeptics.
So, if nothing else, its objectively a good sign that some elected Republicans are beginning to take the pandemic seriously. It shows their concern about the countrys stalled progress, and represents a broader acknowledgment that a complete return to normalcy requires their base to step up.
Former Vice President Mike PenceMichael (Mike) Richard PenceVirginia couple gets home detention in Jan. 6 case Officers' powerful Capitol riot testimony underscores Pelosi's partisan blunder RealClearPolitics reporter says Freedom Caucus shows how much GOP changed under Trump MORE on Wednesday urged young conservatives to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as the country grapples with rising case counts amid the spread of the highly contagious delta variant.
"Now let me say this about the vaccine: I got the shot. My family got the shot. And I want to encourage anyone here who hasnt gotten the shot whos eligible to go get it. And if youre not sure about it, go ask your doctor and get the very best advice you can," Pencetold the Young America's Foundation's National Conservative Student Conference.
The direct call from Pence to young Republicans to get vaccinated comes as younger Americans in particular have shown resistance to getting the shot. And it was a notable plea from a top-ranking Trump administration official as red states see their vaccination rates lag behind other parts of the country.
Pence, who led the White House coronavirus task force last year, boasted of the success of Operation Warp Speed, the initiative under the Trump administration that cut regulatory red tape to rapidly develop and test the COVID-19 vaccines last year before they received emergency authorization from the Food and Drug Administration.
And the former vice president argued the vaccines should help prevent the U.S. from imposing economic restrictions like the ones that were common last year andwhile the virus raged during the winter.
"As we do our part, each and every one of us, to put this pandemic in the past, we need to also stand firm on the principle that we can defeat this virus without lockdowns and mandates," Pence said to applause. "We can protect the vulnerable and get our kids back to school. And we can keep America open withoutforfeiting our freedoms."
Pence received his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on camera in December in an effort to instill public confidence in the shot. He was joined at the time by his wife and then-Surgeon General Jerome AdamsJerome AdamsIt's time we had 'safe havens' for vaccinated Americans The Hill's Morning Report - Presented by Facebook - Crunch time for bipartisan plan; first Jan. 6 hearing today Trump surgeon general: 'Pandemic is spiraling out of control' MORE.
Former President TrumpDonald TrumpMajority of Americans in new poll say it would be bad for the country if Trump ran in 2024 ,800 bottle of whiskey given to Pompeo by Japan is missing Liz Cheney says her father is 'deeply troubled' about the state of the Republican Party MORE has scarcely used his massive platform to encourage his supporters to get vaccinated, despite privately getting the shot himself in January.
The U.S. is grappling with a spike in COVID-19 cases as the delta variant accounts for more than 90 percent of infections, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Biden administration officials have pleaded with Americans to get vaccinated against the virus, arguing it is the most effective and surest way to bring the pandemic to an end.
