Florida officials reported 45,604 coronavirus cases over the seven-day period from July 9 to July 15. That is nearly double the number of weekly cases from the last reporting period and more than four times the number of weekly cases seen last month.
That brings the total number of cases up to 2,406,809 since the pandemics first two cases in Florida were reported on March 1, 2020, more than 16 months ago.
The state added 231 deaths since the previous weeks report, bringing the total statewide number of pandemic deaths to 38,388. 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 Florida Department of Health 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 224,326 doses of vaccine in the past week. The number of first doses administered dropped to 110,525, the sixth consecutive week that first-dose vaccines have fallen.
So far 59 percent of Florida residents age 12 and up have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, according to the state. Thats the same percentage the state reported last week. Just over 51 percent of eligible residents have been fully vaccinated.
Vaccination rates are highest among Floridas older adults. More than 84 percent of Floridians over the age of 65 have been vaccinated, and 74 percent of those ages 60 to 64 have been vaccinated, according to state data. Meanwhile, vaccination rates for those under 40 remain low. Only 33 percent of those 12 to 19 are vaccinated, while 38 percent of those 20 to 29 and 46 percent of those 30 to 39 have received the vaccine.
In Hillsborough County, 54 percent of residents age 12 and up have been vaccinated; in Pinellas, 58 percent; in Pasco, 55 percent; in Manatee, 57 percent; in Polk, 50 percent; in Hernando, 49 percent; and in Citrus, 51 percent.
Positivity: Floridas positivity rate rose to 11.5 percent in the past week, up from 7.8 percent the week before, and double the rate from two weeks earlier.
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 were up for the second week in a row in the Tampa Bay area, where the positivity rate was 13.7 percent in Hillsborough, 9.2 percent in Pinellas, 13.2 percent in Pasco, 12.6 percent in Manatee, 13.3 percent in Polk, 12 percent in Hernando, and 11.2 percent in Citrus.
Hospitalizations: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 3,652 confirmed COVID-19 patients were admitted to Florida hospitals from July 7 to July 14. Thats an increase of over 1,200 new hospitalizations compared the week before.
The Tampa Bay area saw 723 hospital admissions from July 7 to July 14. Hillsborough county hospitals had 257 admissions, Pinellas had 160 admissions, Pasco had 64 admissions, Manatee had 22 admissions, Polk had 169 admissions, Hernando had 30 admissions, and Citrus had 21 admissions.
Local numbers: Tampa Bay added 7,701 cases in the past week, more than doubling the weekly cases from the previous week. This brings the total number of cases in the Tampa Bay area to 420,426.
As of Thursdays count, Hillsborough added 2,918 new cases, Pinellas had 1,365 cases, Pasco had 885 cases, Manatee had 657 cases, Polk had 1,424 cases, Hernando had 294 cases, and Citrus had 158 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.
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(Washington, DC) The Districts reported data for Thursday, July 15, 2021 includes 37 new positive coronavirus (COVID-19) cases, bringing the Districts overall positive case total to 49,652.
The District reported that one additional resident lost his life due to COVID-19.
Tragically, 1,146 District residents have lost their lives due to COVID-19.
Visit coronavirus.dc.gov/data for interactive data dashboards or to download COVID-19 data.
Below is a summary of the Districts current ReOpening Metrics.
Below is the Districts aggregated total of positive COVID-19 cases, sorted by age and gender.
Patient Gender
Total Positive Cases
%
Female
%
Male
%
Unknown
%
All
49,652*
100
25,869
100
23,619
100
164
100
Unknown
64
<1
20
<1
39
<1
5
3
0-18
6,443
13
3,201
12
3,220
14
22
14
19-30
13,370
27
7,346
28
5,971
25
53
33
31-40
9,864
20
5,069
20
4,758
20
37
23
41-50
6,353
13
3,202
12
3,138
13
13
8
51-60
5,851
12
2,882
11
2,955
13
14
9
61-70
4,216
9
2,120
8
2,089
9
7
4
71-80
2,118
4
1,147
5
966
4
5
3
81+
Coronavirus: Canada set to overtake US in terms of fully vaccinated population as it happened Financial Times
Free COVID-19 vaccines are offered in May before a baseball game between the Rochester Red Wings and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders in Rochester, N.Y. Joshua Bessex/Getty Images hide caption
Free COVID-19 vaccines are offered in May before a baseball game between the Rochester Red Wings and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders in Rochester, N.Y.
The death rate from COVID-19 in the U.S. is rising steadily for the first time in months as the nation grapples with a renewed burst of cases in what's become "a pandemic of the unvaccinated," the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday.
The seven-day average of new cases has increased by nearly 70% to almost 30,000 per day; hospitalizations are up 36%. And deaths from the virus have risen steadily in recent days, reversing a months-long downward trend that began in mid-January.
"There is a clear message that is coming through: This is becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated," Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the CDC's director, said at a Friday briefing of the White House COVID-19 Response Team. "Our biggest concern is we are going to continue to see preventable cases, hospitalizations and sadly deaths among the unvaccinated."
The upward trend in national statistics is being driven almost entirely by outbreaks in places with low vaccination rates, such as the Ozarks, Florida and parts of the Mountain West. Some counties, especially in Missouri and Arkansas, are recording more cases now than they did during the winter.
"Unvaccinated Americans account for virtually all recent COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths," said Jeff Zients, the White House COVID-19 response coordinator. "Each COVID-19 death is tragic, and those happening now are even more tragic because they are preventable."
More than 99% of recent deaths were among the unvaccinated, infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said earlier this month on NBC's Meet the Press, while Walensky noted on Friday that unvaccinated people accounted for over 97% of hospitalizations.
About 56% of the U.S. population has received at least one dose of the vaccine, but in many counties especially in rural America that number is under 20% despite the widespread availability of the vaccine.
Officials said that low rate has created environments where the virus can spread relatively unimpeded, and they urged unvaccinated Americans to seek a shot as soon as possible.
"Every person matters. Every shot matters. Every shot is progress," Zients said. "It's another life protected, another community that's safer. It's another step toward putting this pandemic behind us."
Though the number of daily vaccinations nationwide continues to decline, the states currently hardest hit by the virus Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Missouri and Nevada all had higher rates of people seeking the vaccine than the national average, Zients said.
The White House has ramped up efforts in recent weeks to convince more young people to get vaccinated. On Wednesday, pop star Olivia Rodrigo visited the White House to record public service announcements, and Fauci has begun doing interviews on TikTok.
Administration officials view misinformation as a major obstacle to reaching vaccination goals. Conspiracy theories and lies about coronavirus vaccines have proliferated among right-wing media and on social media sites such as Facebook, where posts with bad information about vaccine safety spread faster than administrators can remove them.
"Health misinformation has cost us lives," said Dr. Vivek Murthy, the surgeon general, at Friday's briefing.
This week, Murthy issued a surgeon general's warning about misinformation online and called on social media companies to do more to combat the spread of conspiracies.
Asked Friday about his message to social media companies, President Biden said, "They're killing people. I mean, look, the only pandemic we have is among the unvaccinated. And they're killing people."
KANSAS CITY, Mo. The number of new coronavirus cases is increasing in every state, setting off a growing sense of concern from health officials who are warning that the pandemic in the United States is far from over, even though the national outlook is far better than during previous upticks.
The 160 million people across the country who are fully vaccinated are largely protected from the virus, including the highly contagious Delta variant, scientists say. In the Upper Midwest, the Northeast and on the West Coast including in Chicago, Boston and San Francisco coronavirus infections remain relatively low.
But the picture is different in pockets of the country where residents are vaccinated at lower rates. Hot spots have emerged in recent weeks in parts of Missouri, Arkansas and Nevada, among other states, leaving hospital workers strained as they care for an influx of coronavirus patients. Less than a month after reports of new cases nationally bottomed out at around 11,000 a day, virus cases overall are increasing again, with about 26,000 new cases a day, and hospitalizations are on the rise.
The country is at an inflection point, and experts said it was uncertain what would come next. While nationwide cases and hospitalization numbers remain relatively low, more local hot spots are appearing and the national trends are moving in the wrong direction. Many of the oldest, most vulnerable Americans are already inoculated, but the vaccine campaign has sputtered in recent weeks.
This will definitely be a surge, said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. It wont be as big as what happened in January. But we still have 100 million people in the United States who are susceptible to Covid-19.
Intensive care beds in hospitals have become scarce in parts of Missouri, where officials in Springfield on Wednesday asked for an alternative care site. In Mississippi, where cases are up 70 percent over the past two weeks, health officials have urged older adults to avoid large indoor gatherings even if they have been vaccinated. And in Los Angeles County, officials said on Thursday that masks would once again be required indoors, regardless of vaccination status, because of the spread of the Delta variant.
The slowdown of the vaccination effort has amplified concerns. About 530,000 people are now receiving a vaccine each day, a sharp decrease from 3.3 million shots a day in April. Less than half of the United States population has been fully vaccinated.
Still, the countrys prognosis remains better than at previous points in the pandemic. The vaccines are widely available, cases and hospitalizations remain at a tiny fraction of their peaks and deaths are occurring at some of the lowest levels since the early days of the pandemic.
Yet daily case numbers have increased in all 50 states, including 19 states that are reporting at least twice as many new cases a day.
Mayor Quinton Lucas of Kansas City, Mo., where cases are increasing but remain far below levels in other parts of the state, said he worried that the outbreak in southwestern Missouri would keep spreading, given low vaccination rates there. He said strong recommendations for mask wearing or even new mandates may become necessary if his citys outlook continued to worsen.
I think when you start to see Springfield-level hospitalizations here in the Kansas City metro, then well have to very seriously consider whether its time to return to previous restrictions, Mr. Lucas said.
July 17, 2021, 4:28 p.m. ET
In a string of news conferences this week, public health officials pleaded with people who have not gotten shots to change their minds, urging them to consider that coronavirus vaccines are safe, free and available to anyone 12 and older.
To any who have been hesitating about being vaccinated, please, I implore you to hesitate no longer, Dr. Kiran Joshi, the senior medical officer for the Cook County Department of Public Health, which serves suburban Chicago, said on Thursday.
Even in places in the United States that have not yet seen a significant uptick in infections, governors and public health officials worried that their states were vulnerable to an outbreak.
I hope and pray that it doesnt come to West Virginia and just absolutely runs across our state like wild, said Gov. Jim Justice, whose state has recorded relatively few cases recently but has a low vaccination rate. But the odds are it will.
Few places are more worrisome than in Missouri, where a surge among unvaccinated people has left hospitals scrambling to keep up.
Just two months ago, when there were only 15 active coronavirus cases in his southwestern Missouri county, Larry Bergner, the director of the Newton County Health Department, had hoped the end of the pandemic might be in sight.
That has not happened.
As the Delta variant has spread across the country, it has sent case totals spiking in Newton County, where less than 20 percent of residents are fully vaccinated. Mr. Bergners county now has a higher rate of recent cases than any state.
It does give, I guess, some depression to think that we thought we were coming out of it, now here we go again, how high are we going to get, Mr. Bergner said.
In Milwaukee County, where 48 percent of residents are fully vaccinated, the health department has tried to push the number higher by setting up a vaccine site outside the Fiserv Forum, where the Milwaukee Bucks are playing in the N.B.A. finals. Fewer than two dozen people have received a vaccine each day the site was in place, said Dr. Ben Weston, the director of medical services for the Milwaukee County Office of Emergency Management.
In March, people flooded to our vaccination sites all we had to do was open a door, Dr. Weston said. Now we have to go out and find people.
As case numbers slowly rise, a sense of worry has begun to creep in for some Americans, even those who are fully vaccinated.
Vince Palmieri, 89, who gets around Los Angeles on public transportation, said he worried when he saw fellow riders not wearing masks as required. Though per capita case rates remain relatively low in Los Angeles County, they have grown sharply in recent weeks. The county is averaging about 1,000 new cases a day, up from fewer than 200 a day in mid-June.
Once you get on a bus or a train youre in no mans land, said Mr. Palmieri, who continues to wear a mask. Their sneeze could take somebody out, but Im frightened to talk up about the disease because people get ugly.
Debora Weems, 63, who lives in New York City, has been following the case numbers closely. Her anxiety about the virus has risen alongside cases. New York City, which averaged fewer than 200 new cases a day in late June and early July, is now averaging more than 400 a day, far below past peaks.
Im just afraid were going to have to shut down again, Ms. Weems said. Both she and her mother, who is 85, are vaccinated, but now she worries that their protection is not enough.
When the case numbers were at their lowest, she moved through the city more freely, with less thought about whether people nearby were vaccinated. But now she is trying to avoid leaving her neighborhood, and recently put up a new sign on her apartment door with a request: She and her mother are not receiving visitors because of Covid-19.
Mitch Smith reported from Kansas City, and Julie Bosman from Chicago. Matt Craig contributed reporting from Los Angeles, and Sophie Kasakove from New York.
As Covid numbers rise and the more contagious delta variant spreads throughout the United States, people want to know what they can do stay safe.
With talk of some vaccines being less effective against infection with delta, and news of third booster mRNA shot being tested and in some countries selectively administered, some people are even wondering if they should try and hack more protection by independently seeking out a third shot or by mixing and matching vaccines.
But Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, the World Health Organization's chief scientist, cautioned people who are "voluntarily thinking about [getting] an additional dose," during a press briefing Monday.
Without more data on the safety and efficacy, taking additional doses beyond the two-dose regimen or mixing and matching vaccines is "a little bit of a dangerous trend," she said.
Here's why.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the WHO, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration all agree that Americans who are fully vaccinated do not need a booster shot at this time. The vaccines authorized in the U.S. as currently prescribed are all effective against severe illness and death from Covid.
"Virtually all Covid-19 hospitalizations and deaths in United States are now occurring among unvaccinated individuals," White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients said at a press briefing July 8.
For those who are fully vaccinated, seeking out a third dose or getting more doses than are recommended generally brings up two particularly relevant risks, according to Dr. Jay Butler, deputy director for infectious diseases at the CDC.
First, since there tend to be stronger side effects after the second dose of a two-dose regimen, there's a chance that a third dose could also be associated with higher risk of adverse reactions, Butler said during an Infectious Diseases Society of America briefing Tuesday. There's just not enough data at this stage to determine if that is the case.
Additionally, with other types of vaccines, there can be "a rare problem whereas you get more and more doses, you actually have a muted immune response," Pavia said in the briefing. This may be an issue with some Covid vaccines, but it is not likely to be the case with the mRNA Covid vaccines, he said.
In the United States, 48% of the total population is fully vaccinated against Covid and 67.7% of people have received at least one dose. With those numbers, it's "not appropriate" to assume that everyone needs a booster at this stage, Fauci told CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin on "Squawk Box" Tuesday.
"We still haven't vaccinated enough people in the primary part of this," he said.
Butler agreed that the "top priority" should be to vaccinate people who have received no doses of the Covid vaccine "as soon as possible," before fully vaccinated people get boosters, he said.
And globally, "to [give out boosters] prematurely would use up a lot of vaccine that much of the world needs, as well as divert our efforts in getting people their first dose of vaccine," Dr. Andrew T. Pavia, IDSA fellow and chief of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the University of Utah School of Medicine, said in a briefing Tuesday.
"We are talking about the possibility of a third shot boost and a major component of the world has never even received a single shot," Fauci told CNBC's Becky Quick on "Squawk Box" Tuesday.
(The White House announced in June that the U.S. would be purchasing 500 million Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines to donate to 92 low- and lower middle-income countries and economies and the African Union that lack access to vaccines.)
Beyond the ethical complications, there are logistical considerations too. "It will be a chaotic situation in countries if citizens start deciding when and who should be taking a second, or a third or a fourth dose," Swaminathan said.
Individuals deciding to mix and match their vaccines like someone who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine going in search of a shot of an mRNA vaccine as booster, for example is also not advised.
The CDC says that Covid vaccines are "not interchangeable" because the safety and efficacy of "a mixed-product series" hasn't been examined. (The Covid mRNA vaccines are the first of their kind to be approved, so there's no precedent for what effect it could have when mixed with another type of vaccine, according to the global vaccine organization Gavi.)
"We're in a data-free, evidence-free zone here as far as mix-and-match," Swaminathan said during the WHO briefing.
That said, the National Institutes of Health is conducting studies that involve giving people a third dose, either of the same vaccine or booster doses of a different vaccine. Results and safety information from the study should be available in the summer or early fall.
And AstraZeneca's Covid vaccine, which is not yet available in the U.S., utilizes the same technology as J&J's. Researchers from Oxford University recently published findings that combining the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine with a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine generates a "robust" immune response against the virus.
Fauci did say that the U.S. is not ruling out the idea of a third booster shot, noting that the situation is fluid and contingent upon data that comes out, during an interview with NPR Tuesday.
The FDA and the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will determine if, when and who should receive boosters, according to data, Butler said.
According to Butler, there are two groups that are most concerning with regards to getting boosters: older people over age 75 to 80, because they are at highest risk of getting severe Covid and received their vaccines earliest; and people who are immunocompromised and therefore "have a more limited immune response to the Covid vaccines that are currently available," he said.
Pfizer said that data from its current booster study will be available in August, and the company plans to apply for emergency use authorization from the FDA for its booster.
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U.K. Health Secretary Sajid Javid, pictured in 2015, tested positive for coronavirus on Saturday. The nation is poised to lift sweeping restrictions, despite a spike in cases led by the delta variant. Leon Neal/AP hide caption
U.K. Health Secretary Sajid Javid, pictured in 2015, tested positive for coronavirus on Saturday. The nation is poised to lift sweeping restrictions, despite a spike in cases led by the delta variant.
Sajid Javid, the top government official tasked with leading the United Kingdom's coronavirus response, announced Saturday that he has tested positive for COVID-19 after being vaccinated.
In a video posted to Twitter, the health secretary said he learned of his results from a rapid lateral flow test, generally used for people without coronavirus symptoms, and was awaiting a more accurate PCR test as he isolates at home.
Javid said he took the test on Saturday after "feeling a bit groggy" the night before. He has had both doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine and says his symptoms have so far been "very mild."
It comes as England is poised to roll back restrictions following one of the world's most stringent lockdowns.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced earlier this month that by Monday face masking and social distancing requirements would be lifted, along with crowd limits at private gatherings, concerts and sporting events. At pubs, patrons will once again be allowed to order pints at the bar.
At the same time, infections are up sharply. In the past week, 300,000 people tested positive for the coronavirus in the U.K. up 40% compared from a week earlier.
The delta variant, which has been found to spread about 225% faster than the original version of the virus, now accounts for more than 90% of infections in the country and is behind COVID-19 surges in some areas.
Two-thirds of British adults are fully vaccinated; children are not yet eligible.
Javid supports the national reopening. Days before his positive test result, he said vaccinations would build a "protective wall" to help "withstand a summer wave."
On Saturday, Javid encouraged unvaccinated people to get their shots. He also recommended getting tested for COVID-19, whatever one's vaccine status, if exposure to the disease is suspected or if symptoms are felt.
AstraZeneca says its vaccine fully protects against death and is 92% effective against hospitalization from the delta variant.
Javid has been serving as health secretary for less than three weeks. Matt Hancock abruptly stepped down last month after breaching coronavirus distancing rules. Hancock was caught on closed circuit TV kissing an aide.
NIAMEY,NigerThis desert capitals main coronavirus ward has been empty for months and hastily erected isolation facilities are gathering dust. Masks are almost unheard of in the streets and many days go by without a single person testing positive forCovid-19. There is so little demand for vaccines that the government has sent thousands of doses abroad.
Welcome toNiger, the land that coronavirus somehow forgot.
This vast West African nationhome to one of the worlds highest birth and poverty rateswas once identifiedby the World Health Organizationas one of the most vulnerable to the coronavirus outbreak on a continent that the United Nations predicted would kill millions. Over a year later, many other countries across Africa are in the grip of the pandemics third wave, with new variants sending infections to record levels.
But whileNigeris struggling with a host of economic and security challenges, it is among a small group of nations on the southern edge of the Sahara that so far has mostly escaped the coronavirus scourge.The reasonswhich appear to include a hot and dry climate, sparsely populated and poorly connected settlements and the worlds youngest populationhavemadeNigera crucial case study for virologists studying the evolutionof Covid-19, experts say.
Doctors say the spread of the highly transmissible Delta variant and the reopening of land borders in recent weeks still poses a threat to the largely unvaccinated country and its health system. But in Niamey, the quiet capital perched on the riverNiger,there is little evidence of the pandemic raging in many other countries across the continent.
As COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths continue to surge among unvaccinated Louisianans, Gov. John Bel Edwards is calling upon all Louisianans to take action to slow the spread of COVID-19 in the state by getting their vaccine if they have not yet done so or by helping their family, friends and neighbors get the shot. Between February and July of 2021, unvaccinated people in Louisiana were 20 times more likely to become ill with COVID-19.
If you have not taken one of the COVID-19 vaccines and youre 12 or older, its time to run, not walk, to one of the more than 1,400 locations where they are readily available all across the state of Louisiana, Gov. Edwards said. The Delta variant of COVID is now the dominant strain in Louisiana and without the protection that the safe and effective vaccines offer, you are far more likely to become ill with COVID in Louisiana. Our hospitals are again stretched thin with limited staff capacity, and the vast majority of COVID patients are not yet fully vaccinated against the illness.
To those who are vaccinated, thank you for taking this important step to protect yourselves and those around you. Today, Im drafting you all into advocacy for vaccination against COVID-19, because research shows that many people who had questions changed their minds after hearing from doctors, family members and friends, Gov. Edwards said. Please, reach out to the people in your life who you know have not been vaccinated and have private conversations with them about their questions, fears and the barriers they may face in getting the COVID-19 vaccine. Help them get good information about how safe it is, and explain that you care about them and want them to be protected. Consider assisting them in getting an appointment or even offering transportation to get the shot. Were all in this together and we can turn things around but we have a limited time to do so.
COVID-19 cases are surging among the unvaccinated in Louisiana. Its not one outbreak, its not one region. This is a statewide problem, said Dr. Joseph Kanter, State Health Officer. And because our statewide vaccination rate is too low everyone is at elevated risk and should take precautions immediately for the safety of themselves and their families.
LDH reaffirms the following guidance for individuals in Louisiana:
FACTS ABOUT THE DELTA VARIANT
Having had COVID-19 before does not offer protection against the Delta variant, which is much more contagious and is now the dominant strain in Louisiana and the country. Getting any one of the three vaccines, however, has proven to be effective against COVID-19 in general and the Delta variant specifically.
As a result of the current pace of vaccinations and the spread of the more contagious Delta variant, Louisianas COVID-19 trends continue to worsen:
Getting a COVID-19 vaccine remains the single best way of protecting yourself, your family and your community against COVID-19. While the protection provided by each of the three currently available COVID-19 vaccines (Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson) is very good against COVID-19 and the variants currently spreading in Louisiana, the protection is not absolute. LDH is aware of a small number of breakthrough cases, or individuals who contracted COVID-19 despite being fully vaccinated.
So far, more than 184 million Americans including more than 1.8 million Louisianans have taken at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccines, which are safe and effective against COVID.
The CDC says 99.2% of all COVID-19 deaths are in unvaccinated people, meaning the available vaccines are very effective against the current COVID-19 variants, including Delta, which is the dominant strain in Louisiana.
HOW TO GET A COVID VACCINE IN LOUISIANA
Everyone aged 12 and older is eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine in Louisiana. The FDA has only authorized one of the three COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer for children ages 12 to 17. Parents should confirm with the vaccine provider that their child is under 18 to ensure Pfizer vaccine is available before making an appointment.
Clickhereto view gating criteria.
ATHENS, July 17 (Reuters) - Greece banned music in restaurants and bars and imposed a nighttime curfew on its popular holiday island of Mykonos on Saturday after a rise in new coronavirus infections there.
Known as the party island of the super-rich, Mykonos is one of Greece's most popular destinations, attracting more than a million visitors each summer, among them Hollywood stars, models and world-famous athletes.
Following a "worrying" local outbreak, the Civil Protection Ministry said it was banning music on the island around the clock, including in shops, cafes and beach bars. It also said it would restrict movement between 1 a.m to 6 a.m except for those going to and from work or to hospital.
Greece depends on tourism for a fifth of its economy and desperately needs a strong season this year following a disastrous 2020 when visitor numbers and revenues collapsed.
The number of infections has been rising in Greece in recent weeks, forcing the government to mandate the vaccination of healthcare workers and nursing home staff, and to introduce new restrictions across the country, including allowing only vaccinated customers indoors at restaurants and clubs.
Mykonos's Mayor Konstantinos Koukas said imposing measures at the heart of the tourism season was "unfair" and "misguided."
"Mykonos cannot be the only island where music won't be heard... the only thing this will achieve is that visitors will go to another island," he wrote on Facebook.
The government banned music in restaurants and bars across the country in May to avoid people having to get close to one another to be heard, increasing the chances of transmitting the virus. It lifted that measure when infections dropped.
"We call on the residents, visitors and professionals on our beautiful island to strictly follow the measures... so that we can quickly control and contain the spreading of the virus and Mykonos can return to normality," the ministry said.
The restrictions on Mykonos will be in place until July 26.
Reporting by Karolina Tagaris; Editing by Christina Fincher
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
