Majorities across much of Western Europe, North America and the Asia-Pacific region have a favorable view of the European Union, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey of 17 advanced economies. But perceptions of the EUs response to the coronavirus outbreak are mixed, and while many in Europe say economic relief from the Brussels-based institution has been sufficient, substantial shares in most countries feel it has not gone far enough.
A median of 63% across the 17 publics surveyed rate the EU positively. Among the eight member states surveyed, opinions are most favorable in Sweden, Spain and the Netherlands, where at least 70% have a positive view of the EU.
These three countries also have the most positive evaluation in the region of the EUs response to the pandemic; roughly six-in-ten or more say the organization has done a good job handling the coronavirus outbreak. By comparison, a median of only 48% across all 17 publics approve of the EUs response.
This analysis focuses on public opinion of the European Union, including views of the EUs response to the coronavirus outbreak. For non-U.S. data, the report draws on nationally representative surveys of 16,254 adults from March 12 to May 26, 2021, in 16 publics. All surveys were conducted over the phone with adults in Canada, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, the UK, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan.
In the United States, we surveyed 2,596 U.S. adults from Feb. 1 to 7, 2021. Everyone who took part in the U.S. survey is a member of the Centers American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. This way nearly all adults have a chance of selection. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories. Read more about the ATPs methodology.
To account for the fact that some publics refer to the coronavirus differently, in South Korea, the survey asked about the Corona19 outbreak. In Japan, the survey asked about the novel coronavirus outbreak. In Greece, the survey asked about the coronavirus pandemic. In Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Taiwan, the survey asked about the COVID-19 outbreak. All other surveys used the term the coronavirus outbreak.
Here are the questions used for the report, along with responses. See our methodology database for more information about the survey methods outside the U.S. For respondents in the U.S., see our U.S. survey methodology. Information on populist party categorization can be found here.
Although majorities in Germany, France and Belgium have a positive assessment of the EU overall, only about half or fewer think it has handled the outbreak well. Greeks are the least likely among those surveyed to view the EU favorably overall, though a majority of Greeks say the EU did well in its response to the pandemic.
The EUs economic response to the pandemic generally receives mixed reviews from the European countries polled. When thinking about the economic consequences of the coronavirus, a median of 48% say the EUs relief efforts have been about right, compared with 40% who say they have not gone far enough and just 6% who think they have gone too far. Here again, people in Sweden and the Netherlands have some of the most positive assessments of the EU, while those in Greece say the EUs economic efforts are insufficient.
Outside the EU, many express a positive opinion of the institution, while Canadians and Americans also rate the EUs response to the outbreak positively. Roughly six-in-ten Americans have a positive view of the EU and say it did a good job in response to the pandemic. But relatively few in the Asia-Pacific region approve of how the EU has handled the outbreak. Only 39% in Australia, 31% in South Korea and 21% in Taiwan think the EU did well in its response.
The sense that the EU has handled the pandemic well is related to positive assessment of the EU in every public surveyed. In France, for example, 83% of those who think the EU handled the outbreak well view the institution favorably, compared with only 38% who think the EU did a bad job dealing with the outbreak. Differences in EU favorability based on how people view its pandemic response tend to be larger in most EU countries surveyed, compared with publics in the Asia-Pacific region.
Similarly, people in the eight EU countries surveyed who rate the EUs economic response to the outbreak positively are much more likely to express a positive opinion of the organization than those who think economic relief efforts did not go far enough.
Despite more mixed ratings of the EUs coronavirus response, overall opinion of the EU has been at its highest in recent years in several countries. Favorable views of the EU in Italy and Sweden saw significant increases since last year, with two-thirds or more in each country now viewing the EU positively. Japan and South Korea also saw similar increases, with Japan going from an all-time low of 47% in 2020 to 61% this year.
On the other hand, there were also notable decreases in public approval of the EU. Belgium and Germany both saw significant decreases in approval of the EU, with Germany dropping from a high of 73% in 2020 to 63% this year. There was a similar drop in the UK, where ratings of the institution were at a historic high in 2020 after the country officially left the EU, though roughly half still have a positive opinion.
Within the publics surveyed, there are considerable divides in approval of the EU across age, education and political groups. Adults ages 18 to 29 are significantly more likely to approve of the EU than those 65 and older in 10 publics, including the UK, France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. In France, for example, 80% of younger adults approve of the EU, while just 57% of older adults say the same a 23 percentage point difference.
Similar divides can be seen across education levels in 11 of the publics surveyed. Those who have a postsecondary degree are more likely to approve of the EU. In the UK, for example, 65% of those with higher levels of education are warm to the EU, compared with 46% of those with a secondary degree or less.
Ideology and party backing are often tied to assessment of the EU within the member countries surveyed. In general, supporters of right-wing populist parties are notably less supportive of the EU. This pattern can be seen in Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands and Germany. For example, while 68% of those who do not support Alternative for Germany (AfD) approve of the EU, only 41% of AfD supporters say the same. The opposite pattern can be seen among the center and left-wing populist parties in Europe, where supporters of these parties are more likely to have a positive assessment of the EU.
Ideology is related to views of the EU outside the bloc as well. People who place themselves on the left of the political spectrum are significantly more likely than those who place themselves on the right to evaluate the EU positively in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. In the U.S., Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents have more positive opinions of the EU (78%) than Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (46%).
Note: Here are the questions used for the report, along with responses, and its U.S. methodology.
A woman walks into a newly set up coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination center which will be opened to the public the day after, in Singapore January 26, 2021. REUTERS/Edgar Su
SINGAPORE, June 24 (Reuters) - Singapore said on Thursday it expects to almost double the number of doses of coronavirus vaccines it administers each day to 80,000 from this weekend and might later ease restrictions on gatherings and travel for those inoculated.
Around 3 million people, or just over 50% of Singapore's population, have received the first dose of a vaccine. About 2 million of those have received the second dose also.
The health ministry said it hopes that by Aug. 9, two thirds of people eligible for vaccines will have received two doses and authorities plan to ease restrictions further when more are vaccinated.
"We could allow gatherings, involving just vaccinated persons to have larger group sizes, and also relax the social distancing rules in such settings," Lawrence Wong, co-chair of Singapore's coronavirus taskforce told a media briefing.
"Potentially we are working on some new guidelines for people in Singapore to be able to travel abroad."
Depending on the virus situation in destination countries, the quarantine may be reduced upon return, or waived in place of COVID-19 tests on arrival.
Singapore is drawing up a plan on returning to normalcy on expectation the virus will become endemic like influenza and as vaccination rates pick up, said ministers leading the task force. read more
Authorities said they will allow more migrant workers and migrant domestic workers to enter Singapore.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said Singapore is working closely with Novavax Inc (NVAX.O) and awaiting its application for regulatory approval and they hope to receive its vaccine by the end of the year.
Singapore's government currently uses Pfizer-BioNTech (PFE.N), (22UAy.DE) and Moderna (MRNA.O) vaccines, with Sinovac (SVA.O) vaccines available privately.
Reporting by Chen Lin; Editing by Martin Petty
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
The California Department of Public Healths vaccines dashboard said more than 47.6 million vaccine doses have been distributed in California as of Tuesday. The states dashboard said 57.3% of Californians are fully vaccinated. Thats above the national average of about 45.3% fully vaccinated so far.
According to the Bloomberg vaccine tracker California is administering about 138,539 doses per day, down from 350,000 or more six weeks ago. California still has the highest daily rate of doses administered in the nation.
There were about 1,223 hospitalizations across the state from the coronavirus as of June 20, down from a peak of 22,853 on Jan. 6.
Here are the percentages for fully vaccinated people in select Southern California counties by age:
Los Angeles County: 10,413,173 doses administered.
Orange County: 3,396,883 doses administered.
65 and older: 68.4%50-64: 68.8%18-49: 54.2%Up to 17: 24.9%
Riverside County: 2,001,976 doses administered.
65 and older: 63.7%50-64: 56.6%18-49: 35.5%Up to 17: 15.6%
San Bernardino County: 1,652,005 doses administered.
65 and older: 61.3%50-64: 55.6%18-49: 35%Up to 17: 14.9%
The map below is from the California Department of Public Healths COVID-19 vaccinations dashboard and shows vaccinations by ZIP code. Click on the image to go to the site. It may take a few minutes to load.
(Washington, DC) The Districts reported data for Tuesday, June 22, 2021 includes 9 new positive coronavirus (COVID-19) cases, bringing the Districts overall positive case total to 49,284.
The District reported no additional COVID-19 related deaths.
Tragically, 1,141 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
49,284*
100
25,687
100
23,433
100
164
100
Unknown
64
<1
20
<1
39
<1
5
3
0-18
6,392
13
3,174
12
3,195
14
23
14
19-30
13,266
27
7,286
28
5,927
25
53
32
31-40
9,759
20
5,020
20
4,702
20
37
23
41-50
6,302
13
3,178
12
3,111
13
13
8
51-60
5,823
12
2,871
11
2,938
13
14
9
61-70
4,203
9
2,116
8
2,081
9
6
4
71-80
2,108
4
1,141
5
962
4
5
3
81+
California has hit a COVID-19 vaccination milestone that most of the country has failed to achieve: More than 70% of adults in the state have now received at least one dose of vaccine.
President Joe Biden set that very goal for all Americans by July 4 but announced Tuesday that the U.S. would not reach the 70% plateau by that date.
Here's a Bay Area county breakdown of vaccination rates and how they compare to the state and nation, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
Health experts are concerned about those who have not received a vaccine because of the Delta variant, which is much more aggressive and transmissible than the current strain. The Delta variant is expected to become the dominant strain in the U.S. within the next 2-3 weeks, officials say.
"They have to start paying attention to it now because if they are unvaccinated, they are at risk," Dr. Anthony Fauci said. "Whereas those who are vaccinated can have a great Fourth of July, can do all the things you want, if in fact youre vaccinated."
The vaccines have proven effective against the current strains of COVID-19, including the Delta variant. For instance, in Marin County, the public health officer says that among all of their current COVID-19 cases, 93% of the people whove become infected did not receive the vaccine.
California has hit a COVID-19 vaccination milestone that most of the country has failed to achieve: More than 70% of adults in the state have now received at least one dose of vaccine.
President Joe Biden set that very goal for all Americans by July 4 but announced Tuesday that the U.S. would not reach the 70% plateau by that date.
Here's a Bay Area county breakdown of vaccination rates and how they compare to the state and nation, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
Health experts are concerned about those who have not received a vaccine because of the Delta variant, which is much more aggressive and transmissible than the current strain. The Delta variant is expected to become the dominant strain in the U.S. within the next 2-3 weeks, officials say.
"They have to start paying attention to it now because if they are unvaccinated, they are at risk," Dr. Anthony Fauci said. "Whereas those who are vaccinated can have a great Fourth of July, can do all the things you want, if in fact youre vaccinated."
The vaccines have proven effective against the current strains of COVID-19, including the Delta variant. For instance, in Marin County, the public health officer says that among all of their current COVID-19 cases, 93% of the people whove become infected did not receive the vaccine.
OhioHealth and Easton Town Center will be providing a pop-up COVID-19 vaccination clinic at Easton on Saturday, June 26 from 10 a.m. 2 p.m.
The vaccination clinic will be located in the Easton Community Room at 3981 Gramercy Street. Appointments are not required.
The vaccination clinic will be staffed by OhioHealth and offer the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to those 18 and older. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine only requires one dose, so those vaccinated Saturday will not need to follow up for another shot.
Easton is honored to serve as a vaccination site for the community to receive COVID-19 vaccines with no appointment needed, said Jennifer Peterson, Chief Executive, Easton.In partnering with OhioHealth to provide this service in the Easton Community Room, we encourage guests to stop by and help protect themselves and others.
OhioHealth is proud to have administered more than 218,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine throughout communities we serve, said David Lee, MD, vice president, OhioHealth Employer Services. We are excited to offer this pop-up clinic at Easton to help community members get vaccinated conveniently while theyre already out and about. Together, we can build a healthier community one person at a time and were thrilled to partner with Easton to provide this service to people enjoying their Saturday at one of central Ohios most iconic destinations.
Getting vaccinated just takes approximately 30 minutes. This includes a 15-minute observation period after receiving the vaccine.
While the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is only available to those 18 and older, team members will be available to help schedule those ages 12-17 for a future appointment for another vaccine at a convenient OhioHealth location.
To learn more about other OhioHealth COVID-19 vaccination clinics, please click here.
About OhioHealth
Based in Columbus, Ohio, OhioHealth is a nationally recognized, not-for-profit, charitable, healthcare outreach of the United Methodist Church.
Serving its communities since 1891, it is a family of 35,000 associates, physicians and volunteers, and a network of 12 hospitals, 200+ ambulatory sites, hospice, home-health, medical equipment and other health services spanning a 47-county area. It has been recognized by FORTUNE as one of the 100 Best Companies to WorkFor 14 times since 2007.
OhioHealth hospitals include OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital, OhioHealth Grant Medical Center, OhioHealth Doctors Hospital, OhioHealth Grady Memorial Hospital, OhioHealth Dublin Methodist Hospital, OhioHealth Hardin Memorial Hospital, OhioHealth Marion General Hospital, OhioHealth OBleness Hospital, OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital, OhioHealth Shelby Hospital, OhioHealth Grove City Methodist Hospital and OhioHealth Berger Hospital. For more information, please visit our website at www.ohiohealth.com.
About Easton
Co-Developed by The Georgetown Company and L Brands, Easton is a 1,300-acre mixed use destination located in the northeast quadrant of Columbus, Ohio. The master-planned development includes a business park with 30,000+ employees, a town center, a large format power center, residential development, hotels, automobile dealerships, indoor and outdoor athletic fields and more. At the heart of the master planned development is Easton Town Center, the Midwests premier destination for shopping, dining and entertainment with over 240 best-in-class shops, restaurants and entertainment venues. Ranked among the top 30 highest-performing retail centers in the U.S. with sales over $1 billion, Chain Store Age named Easton Town Center the No. 1 Retail Center Experience in the nation in 2019 and it was also designated a Top Five Most Innovative Malls in the World by Inside Retail. Most recently, Easton was selected as a Top 10 COMEBACK Retail Center Experience, based on the response to COVID and the safe phased reopening. Easton Town Center was co-developed by L Brands, The Georgetown Company and Steiner + Associates, and is managed by Steiner + Associates. It is currently undergoing a $500 million expansion which features 140,000 square feet of new entertainment, restaurant, hotel and retail offerings, in addition to 125,000 square feet of new office space and living options including recently opened RH Columbus, The Gallery at Easton Town Center, Forbidden Root, The Beeline, Crimson, Dragon Donuts, LemonShark Pok & Makai Grill, Pins Mechanical, Slurping Turtle and Ivan Kanes Forty Deuce Caf & Speakeasy Supper Club.
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OhioHealth and Easton Town Center will be providing a pop-up COVID-19 vaccination clinic at Easton on Saturday, June 26 from 10 a.m. 2 p.m.
The vaccination clinic will be located in the Easton Community Room at 3981 Gramercy Street. Appointments are not required.
The vaccination clinic will be staffed by OhioHealth and offer the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to those 18 and older. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine only requires one dose, so those vaccinated Saturday will not need to follow up for another shot.
Easton is honored to serve as a vaccination site for the community to receive COVID-19 vaccines with no appointment needed, said Jennifer Peterson, Chief Executive, Easton.In partnering with OhioHealth to provide this service in the Easton Community Room, we encourage guests to stop by and help protect themselves and others.
OhioHealth is proud to have administered more than 218,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine throughout communities we serve, said David Lee, MD, vice president, OhioHealth Employer Services. We are excited to offer this pop-up clinic at Easton to help community members get vaccinated conveniently while theyre already out and about. Together, we can build a healthier community one person at a time and were thrilled to partner with Easton to provide this service to people enjoying their Saturday at one of central Ohios most iconic destinations.
Getting vaccinated just takes approximately 30 minutes. This includes a 15-minute observation period after receiving the vaccine.
While the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is only available to those 18 and older, team members will be available to help schedule those ages 12-17 for a future appointment for another vaccine at a convenient OhioHealth location.
To learn more about other OhioHealth COVID-19 vaccination clinics, please click here.
About OhioHealth
Based in Columbus, Ohio, OhioHealth is a nationally recognized, not-for-profit, charitable, healthcare outreach of the United Methodist Church.
Serving its communities since 1891, it is a family of 35,000 associates, physicians and volunteers, and a network of 12 hospitals, 200+ ambulatory sites, hospice, home-health, medical equipment and other health services spanning a 47-county area. It has been recognized by FORTUNE as one of the 100 Best Companies to WorkFor 14 times since 2007.
OhioHealth hospitals include OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital, OhioHealth Grant Medical Center, OhioHealth Doctors Hospital, OhioHealth Grady Memorial Hospital, OhioHealth Dublin Methodist Hospital, OhioHealth Hardin Memorial Hospital, OhioHealth Marion General Hospital, OhioHealth OBleness Hospital, OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital, OhioHealth Shelby Hospital, OhioHealth Grove City Methodist Hospital and OhioHealth Berger Hospital. For more information, please visit our website at www.ohiohealth.com.
About Easton
Co-Developed by The Georgetown Company and L Brands, Easton is a 1,300-acre mixed use destination located in the northeast quadrant of Columbus, Ohio. The master-planned development includes a business park with 30,000+ employees, a town center, a large format power center, residential development, hotels, automobile dealerships, indoor and outdoor athletic fields and more. At the heart of the master planned development is Easton Town Center, the Midwests premier destination for shopping, dining and entertainment with over 240 best-in-class shops, restaurants and entertainment venues. Ranked among the top 30 highest-performing retail centers in the U.S. with sales over $1 billion, Chain Store Age named Easton Town Center the No. 1 Retail Center Experience in the nation in 2019 and it was also designated a Top Five Most Innovative Malls in the World by Inside Retail. Most recently, Easton was selected as a Top 10 COMEBACK Retail Center Experience, based on the response to COVID and the safe phased reopening. Easton Town Center was co-developed by L Brands, The Georgetown Company and Steiner + Associates, and is managed by Steiner + Associates. It is currently undergoing a $500 million expansion which features 140,000 square feet of new entertainment, restaurant, hotel and retail offerings, in addition to 125,000 square feet of new office space and living options including recently opened RH Columbus, The Gallery at Easton Town Center, Forbidden Root, The Beeline, Crimson, Dragon Donuts, LemonShark Pok & Makai Grill, Pins Mechanical, Slurping Turtle and Ivan Kanes Forty Deuce Caf & Speakeasy Supper Club.
-30-
Health officials are pouring their effort into convincing those still hesitant to get vaccinated against COVID-19, but none of the strategies appear to be a "Hail Mary pass" to get the U.S. to reach President Joe Biden's vaccination goal and curb spreading variants."I just don't know if there's something out there that we're not doing that for sure will get us over the score line," Dr. Marcus Plescia, the Chief Medical Officer at the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials told CNN. "That's the problem we're doing all the things that we know can be effective, but it's just allowing us to maintain this steady state, when what we really need to do is bump the demand back up."Biden set a goal earlier this year for 70% of American adults to have received at least one dose of vaccine by July 4. Although the country is getting close, with 65.4% of adults having received at least one dose, demand and vaccination rates have declined, leaving experts to worry if enough of the population will be vaccinated in time to curb fall and winter surges.Low vaccination rates are dangerous when combined with the spread of variants like Delta, which is believed to be more transmissible and cause more serious illness. Steve Edwards, CEO of CoxHealth, a health care system in Springfield, Missouri, told CNN the combination is to blame for a six-fold increase in hospitalizations in his system."I think it is the Delta variant and there is a lot of kindling with low vaccination rates, so it's spreading very rapidly," Edwards said. "Almost all of our cases are unvaccinated people that, in my opinion, have put themselves in harm's way during this pandemic."Fortunately, Plescia said, there are tactics underway to encourage vaccinations that have seen success. Some states, such as Colorado, are making a final push by calling unvaccinated people directly to provide them with information and help schedule appointments. Incentives -- from the big ones like million-dollar lotteries to free tickets to the zoo or food coupons -- have also worked, Plescia said.A strategy Plescia and other experts have supported recently is a transition from mass vaccination efforts to local provider's offices a plan that moves slowly but can be effective, he said."We do anticipate that this is going to be an important function of public health for quite some time," Plescia said. Young adults fall behind in vaccinationsMany officials have turned their vaccination attention to young adults a population that is low in both vaccination rates and the desire to be vaccinated, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention studies show."High vaccination coverage among all age groups is important for decreasing COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths, especially among groups with lower vaccination uptake, such as young adults," the authors of a study published Monday wrote.If the weekly pace of vaccinations continues at the rate from the week of May 22, only 57.5% of adults under the age of 30 will have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine by the end of August.More than 71% of those between 30 and 49 years would have been vaccinated with at least one dose by the same time, as well as nearly 86% of adults 50 to 64 years old and nearly 95% of seniors 65 and older, the study found.Only about half of adults under the age of 30 said they had been vaccinated or plan to get vaccinated, another CDC study found, less than those between 30 and 34 years (55%) and those 35 to 39 years (53%).The authors of the study said that "a desire to protect others and resume social activities were motivators to get vaccinated, suggesting that messages emphasizing that vaccination would allow them to resume social activities and encouraging vaccination for the greater good might be effective."Celebrations still risk infections, study findsAlong with increasing vaccinations have come more reopenings and more social gatherings, including weddings, birthday and holiday celebrations.In many places, the reopenings have not inhibited progress on combating the pandemic. On Monday, Maryland reported no COVID-19 deaths for the second day in a row and Virginia reached the milestone of having 60% of adults in the state fully vaccinated.But in counties that still have high COVID-19 rates, those celebrations could spark increased virus spread, according to research published in JAMA Internal Medicine Monday.Researchers used private insurance data from 6,535,987 individuals living in 2,926,530 households between Jan. 1 and Nov. 8, 2020. They compared COVID-19 infections between households with and without a birthday in the previous two weeks, adjusting for household size.They found that households were more likely to have confirmed COVID-19 cases two weeks after a birthday. The risk was even higher when the birthday was for a child, the study reported.While informal gatherings can impact the spread of COVID-19, they are harder to track than more formal occasions. The team says birthdays, which are often celebrated with gatherings, offer the opportunity to study their impact on the spread of COVID-19."This study suggests that events that lead to small and informal social gatherings, such as birthdays, and in particular, children's birthdays, are a potentially important source in SARS-CoV-2 transmission," the team wrote.
Health officials are pouring their effort into convincing those still hesitant to get vaccinated against COVID-19, but none of the strategies appear to be a "Hail Mary pass" to get the U.S. to reach President Joe Biden's vaccination goal and curb spreading variants.
"I just don't know if there's something out there that we're not doing that for sure will get us over the score line," Dr. Marcus Plescia, the Chief Medical Officer at the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials told CNN. "That's the problem we're doing all the things that we know can be effective, but it's just allowing us to maintain this steady state, when what we really need to do is bump the demand back up."
Biden set a goal earlier this year for 70% of American adults to have received at least one dose of vaccine by July 4. Although the country is getting close, with 65.4% of adults having received at least one dose, demand and vaccination rates have declined, leaving experts to worry if enough of the population will be vaccinated in time to curb fall and winter surges.
Low vaccination rates are dangerous when combined with the spread of variants like Delta, which is believed to be more transmissible and cause more serious illness. Steve Edwards, CEO of CoxHealth, a health care system in Springfield, Missouri, told CNN the combination is to blame for a six-fold increase in hospitalizations in his system.
"I think it is the Delta variant and there is a lot of kindling with low vaccination rates, so it's spreading very rapidly," Edwards said. "Almost all of our cases are unvaccinated people that, in my opinion, have put themselves in harm's way during this pandemic."
Fortunately, Plescia said, there are tactics underway to encourage vaccinations that have seen success. Some states, such as Colorado, are making a final push by calling unvaccinated people directly to provide them with information and help schedule appointments. Incentives -- from the big ones like million-dollar lotteries to free tickets to the zoo or food coupons -- have also worked, Plescia said.
A strategy Plescia and other experts have supported recently is a transition from mass vaccination efforts to local provider's offices a plan that moves slowly but can be effective, he said.
"We do anticipate that this is going to be an important function of public health for quite some time," Plescia said.
Many officials have turned their vaccination attention to young adults a population that is low in both vaccination rates and the desire to be vaccinated, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention studies show.
"High vaccination coverage among all age groups is important for decreasing COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths, especially among groups with lower vaccination uptake, such as young adults," the authors of a study published Monday wrote.
If the weekly pace of vaccinations continues at the rate from the week of May 22, only 57.5% of adults under the age of 30 will have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine by the end of August.
More than 71% of those between 30 and 49 years would have been vaccinated with at least one dose by the same time, as well as nearly 86% of adults 50 to 64 years old and nearly 95% of seniors 65 and older, the study found.
Only about half of adults under the age of 30 said they had been vaccinated or plan to get vaccinated, another CDC study found, less than those between 30 and 34 years (55%) and those 35 to 39 years (53%).
The authors of the study said that "a desire to protect others and resume social activities were motivators to get vaccinated, suggesting that messages emphasizing that vaccination would allow them to resume social activities and encouraging vaccination for the greater good might be effective."
Along with increasing vaccinations have come more reopenings and more social gatherings, including weddings, birthday and holiday celebrations.
In many places, the reopenings have not inhibited progress on combating the pandemic. On Monday, Maryland reported no COVID-19 deaths for the second day in a row and Virginia reached the milestone of having 60% of adults in the state fully vaccinated.
But in counties that still have high COVID-19 rates, those celebrations could spark increased virus spread, according to research published in JAMA Internal Medicine Monday.
Researchers used private insurance data from 6,535,987 individuals living in 2,926,530 households between Jan. 1 and Nov. 8, 2020. They compared COVID-19 infections between households with and without a birthday in the previous two weeks, adjusting for household size.
They found that households were more likely to have confirmed COVID-19 cases two weeks after a birthday. The risk was even higher when the birthday was for a child, the study reported.
While informal gatherings can impact the spread of COVID-19, they are harder to track than more formal occasions. The team says birthdays, which are often celebrated with gatherings, offer the opportunity to study their impact on the spread of COVID-19.
"This study suggests that events that lead to small and informal social gatherings, such as birthdays, and in particular, children's birthdays, are a potentially important source in SARS-CoV-2 transmission," the team wrote.
Dearborn Heights firefighters took a moment on
June 17 to honor one of their own for going above and beyond the call of duty during the pandemic.
Firefighter Roger Chapman received a Letter of Recognition for volunteering more than 170 hours at the Dearborn Vaccination Center this spring. It is estimated he gave more than 1,200 COVID-19 vaccines during the multi-community collaboration which ended May 27.
Chief David Brogan penned the letter, which was read by Battalion Chief Phil Hall during a brief ceremony at department headquarters. In it, Brogan noted that once the vaccines became available, the department was faced with the challenge of getting them out into the community.
DHFD had 17 members get the training and participate in this task. Many of our DHFD members worked on their days off to help get as many people vaccinated as possible, Hall said. Working that many hours represents time away from (Chapmans) home and family on top of his normal workdays at the fire station.
The letter went on to praise all of Chapmans colleagues for helping to staff the vaccination center, which was open to residents of Allen Park, Dearborn, Garden City, Inkster, Melvindale, and Redford Twp. in addition to Dearborn Heights. Wayne County supported the effort.
According to Dearborn Mayor John B. Jack OReilly, more than 65,000 vaccinations were administered at the center, which was housed in the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center on Michigan Ave.
These actions demonstrate a true dedication to the well-being of our residents, Hall said, continuing to quote the chiefs letter. Caring for and taking care of people is the heart of our jobs, and this was a great example of that.
