The "double mutant" variant could be more infectious and make vaccines less effective, although that's still being studied.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. It may sound like something out of a science fiction movie. A "double mutant" COVID-19 variant first discovered in India has made its way to the United States with 15 documented cases.
We've heard of the UK and South African coronavirus variants. Now, there's a new, potentially more contagious one.
The Indian Health Ministry has termed this mutation they found, this variant they found double mutant, Dr. Mohammed Reza said.
Dr. Mohammed Reza is an infectious disease specialist and said most variants have mutations, up to a dozen of them. What makes this new variant more concerning is the mutations are on the part of the virus that attach to cells, possibly making it easier for the virus to latch on.
We dont know how these two mutations occurred in the same virus," Reza said. "It could be one person was infected with two different variants at the same time, and their offspring could have this mutant.
Reza says this could make the "double mutant" variant more infectious and vaccines less effective, although that is still being studied.
The variants are causing these antibodies not to work as well," Reza said. These antibodies can be produced through vaccines or we can give them to people as more of a treatment, so thats where the concern is.
You can take steps to protect yourself from this and other variants. Dr. Reza encourages you to wear your mask, social distance, get a vaccine, and continue to wash your hands.
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) Hunt Club Farms in Virginia Beach hosted their annual Easter Spring Fling event over the weekend.
At a time when many are wary of going out for big events, the location owner says theyve taken every precaution to keep folks safe and socially distanced.
Its just a great day for families to get outside and enjoy the farm, said owner Randi Vogel.
For example, on site you could see signs everywhere and employees around to enforce the CDC guidelines.
There were also marked lines and sanitizer stations at every corner.
Outside of their regular activities, they had Easter egg hunts set up for different age groups.
Although it looked different this year, the Easter bunny was available to take pictures with guests.
For our easter bunny we installed two things of plexiglass so families can take pictures and interact with the bunny but keep apart from the bunny so there was no transmission, said Vogel.
Vogel says the event was refreshing because the last year has been rough due to lower attendance and staffing issues.
We had to quarantine people because of covid, we lost our whole staff but we adjusted people can work from home. Gosh, I think weve bought 10 thousand masks, she stated.
Starting Monday, she says they will open during the weekday and the future is looking bright.
I just think that things are going to be okay, I really think things are going to be okay, Vogel smiled.
Stay with WAVY.com for more local news updates.
The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) reports as of April 2, 2021, there have been 2,470,989 total confirmatory laboratory results received for COVID-19, with 142,653 total cases and 2,688 total deaths.
DHHR has confirmed the deaths of a 74-year old male from Jackson County, an 83-year old female from Putnam County, a 72-year old female from Hancock County, a 79-year old male from Fayette County, and a 94-year old male from Harrison County.
Our heart goes out to these West Virginians and their families, said Bill J. Crouch, DHHR Cabinet Secretary. Lets continue taking every precaution we can to slow the spread of this disease.
CASES PER COUNTY: Barbour (1,317), Berkeley (10,801), Boone (1,756), Braxton (840), Brooke (2,070), Cabell (8,426), Calhoun (247), Clay (407), Doddridge (517), Fayette (3,050), Gilmer (731), Grant (1,179), Greenbrier (2,516), Hampshire (1,629), Hancock (2,634), Hardy (1,396), Harrison (5,171), Jackson (1,796), Jefferson (4,098), Kanawha (13,228), Lewis (1,108), Lincoln (1,361), Logan (2,951), Marion (3,953), Marshall (3,183), Mason (1,882), McDowell (1,420), Mercer (4,410), Mineral (2,662), Mingo (2,322), Monongalia (8,675), Monroe (1,025), Morgan (1,029), Nicholas (1,396), Ohio (3,870), Pendleton (668), Pleasants (820), Pocahontas (620), Preston (2,722), Putnam (4,586), Raleigh (5,622), Randolph (2,468), Ritchie (642), Roane (538), Summers (732), Taylor (1,156), Tucker (519), Tyler (657), Upshur (1,791), Wayne (2,762), Webster (449), Wetzel (1,180), Wirt (370), Wood (7,460), Wyoming (1,835).
Delays may be experienced with the reporting of information from the local health department to DHHR. As case surveillance continues at the local health department level, it may reveal that those tested in a certain county may not be a resident of that county, or even the state as an individual in question may have crossed the state border to be tested. Such is the case of Monongalia and Preston counties in this report.
Free COVID-19 testing is available today in Barbour, Berkeley, Boone, Grant, Jefferson, Kanawha, Logan, Marshall, Morgan, Nicholas, Putnam, Wayne, and Webster counties.
April 2
Barbour County
9:00 AM 11:00 AM, Barbour County Health Department, 109 Wabash Avenue, Philippi, WV
1:00 PM 5:00 PM, Junior Volunteer Fire Department, 331 Row Avenue, Junior, WV
Berkeley County
10:00 AM 6:00 PM, 891 Auto Parts Place, Martinsburg, WV
10:00 AM 6:00 PM, Ambrose Park, 25404 Mall Drive, Martinsburg, WV
Boone County
Grant County
11:00 AM 3:00 PM, Viking Memorial Field Parking Lot, 157-209 Rig Street, Petersburg, WV
Jefferson County
10:00 AM 6:00 PM, Hollywood Casino, 750 Hollywood Drive, Charles Town, WV
10:00 AM 6:00 PM, Shepherd University Wellness Center Parking Lot, 164 University Drive, Shepherdstown, WV
Kanawha County
8:00 AM 2:00 PM, Shawnee Sports Complex, 1 Salango Way, Dunbar, WV
Logan County
Marshall County
Morgan County
10:00 AM 6:00 PM, Valley Health War Memorial Hospital, 1 Heath Way, Berkeley Springs, WV
Nicholas County
Putnam County
9:00 AM 4:00 PM, Liberty Square, 613 Putnam Village, Hurricane, WV
Wayne County
10:00 AM 2:00 PM, Wayne Community Center, 11580 Route 152, Wayne, WV
Webster County
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday walked back controversial comments made by its director, Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, suggesting that people who are vaccinated against the coronavirus never become infected or transmit the virus to others.
The assertion called into question the precautions that the agency had urged vaccinated people to take just last month, like wearing masks and gathering only under limited circumstances with unvaccinated people.
Dr. Walensky spoke broadly during this interview, an agency spokesman told The Times. Its possible that some people who are fully vaccinated could get Covid-19. The evidence isnt clear whether they can spread the virus to others. We are continuing to evaluate the evidence.
The agency was responding in part to criticism from scientists who noted that current research was far from sufficient to claim that vaccinated people cannot spread the virus.
The data suggest that its much harder for vaccinated people to get infected, but dont think for one second that they cannot get infected, said Paul Duprex, director of the Center for Vaccine Research at the University of Pittsburgh.
In a television interview with MSNBCs Rachel Maddow, Dr. Walensky referred to data published by the C.D.C. showing that one dose of the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was 80 percent effective at preventing infection, and two doses were 90 percent effective.
That certainly suggested that transmission from vaccinated people might be unlikely, but Dr. Walenskys comments hinted that protection was complete. Our data from the C.D.C. today suggests that vaccinated people do not carry the virus, dont get sick, she said. And that its not just in the clinical trials, its also in real-world data.
Dr. Walensky went on to emphasize the importance of continuing to wear masks and maintain precautions, even for vaccinated people. Still, the brief comment was widely interpreted as saying that the vaccines offered complete protection against infection or transmission.
In a pandemic that regularly spawns scientific misunderstanding, experts said they were sympathetic to Dr. Walensky and her obvious desire for Americans to continue to take precautions. It was only Monday that she said rising caseloads had left her with a sense of impending doom.
If Dr. Walensky had said most vaccinated people do not carry virus, we would not be having this discussion, said John Moore, a virologist at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York.
What we know is the vaccines are very substantially effective against infection theres more and more data on that but nothing is 100 percent, he added. It is an important public health message that needs to be gotten right.
April 5, 2021, 12:58 a.m. ET
Misinterpretation could disrupt the agencys urgent pleas for immunization, some experts said. As of Wednesday, 30 percent of Americans had received at least one dose of a vaccine and 17 percent were fully immunized.
There cannot be any daylight between what the research shows really impressive but incomplete protection and how it is described, said Dr. Peter Bach, director of the Center for Health Policy and Outcomes at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
This opens the door to the skeptics who think the government is sugarcoating the science, Dr. Bach said, and completely undermines any remaining argument why people should keep wearing masks after being vaccinated.
All of the coronavirus vaccines are spectacularly successful at preventing serious disease and death from Covid-19, but how well they prevent infection has been less clear.
Clinical trials of the vaccines were designed only to assess whether the vaccines prevent serious illness and death. The research from the C.D.C. on Monday brought the welcome conclusion that the vaccines are also extremely effective at preventing infection.
The study enrolled 3,950 health care workers, emergency responders and others at high risk of infection. The participants swabbed their noses each week and sent the samples in for testing, which allowed federal researchers to track all infections, symptomatic or not. Two weeks after vaccination, the vast majority of vaccinated people remained virus-free, the study found.
Follow-up data from clinical trials support that finding. In results released by Pfizer and BioNTech on Wednesday, for example, 77 people who received the vaccine had a coronavirus infection, compared with 850 people who got a placebo.
Clearly, some vaccinated people do get infected, Dr. Duprex said. Were stopping symptoms, were keeping people out of hospitals. But were not making them completely resistant to an infection.
The number of vaccinated people who become infected is likely to be higher among those receiving vaccines made by Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca, which have a lower efficacy, experts said. (Still, those vaccines are worth taking, because they uniformly prevent serious illness and death.)
Infection rates may also be higher among people exposed to a virus variant that can sidestep the immune system.
Cases across the country are once again on the upswing, threatening a new surge. Dr. Walenskys comment came just a day after she made an emotional appeal to the American public to continue taking precautions.
I am asking you to just hold on a little longer, to get vaccinated when you can, so that all of those people that we all love will still be here when this pandemic ends, she said.
Given the rising numbers, its especially important that immunized people continue to protect those who have not yet been immunized against the virus, experts said.
Vaccinated people should not be throwing away their masks at this point, Dr. Moore said. This pandemic is not over.
Heres what you need to know:The biopharmaceutical company Emergent BioSolutions,a contract manufacturer of coronavirus vaccine.Credit...Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA, via Shutterstock
The Biden administration on Saturday put Johnson & Johnson in charge of a Baltimore contract plant that ruined 15 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine, and moved to stop the facility from making another vaccine, developed by AstraZeneca, senior federal health officials said.
The extraordinary move by the Department of Health and Human Services will leave the Emergent BioSolutions facility solely devoted to making the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine and is meant to avoid future mix-ups, according to two senior federal health officials. Johnson & Johnson confirmed the changes, saying it was assuming full responsibility for the vaccine made by Emergent.
The change came in response to the recent disclosure that Emergent, a manufacturing partner to both AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson, accidentally mixed up the ingredients from the two different vaccines, which forced regulators to delay authorization of the plants production lines.
Federal officials are worried that the mix-up will erode public confidence in the vaccines, just as President Biden is making an aggressive push to have enough vaccine doses to cover every American adult by the end of May. At the same time, there is deep concern about the safety of the AstraZeneca vaccine, amid a health scare that has prompted some European countries to restrict its use.
AstraZeneca said in a statement that it would work with the Biden administration to find an alternative site.
The ingredient mix-up, and Saturdays move by the administration, is a significant setback and public relations debacle for Emergent, a Maryland biotech company that has built a profitable business by teaming up with the federal government, primarily by selling its anthrax vaccines to the Strategic National Stockpile.
A spokesman for Emergent declined to comment, except to say that the company would continue making AstraZeneca doses until it received a contract modification from the federal government.
Experts in vaccine manufacturing said that in the past, the Food and Drug Administration had a rule to prevent such mishaps by not allowing a facility to make two live viral vector vaccines, because of the potential for mix-ups and contamination.
Unlike Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca does not yet have emergency F.D.A. authorization for its vaccine. With three federally authorized vaccines (the other two are by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna), it is unclear whether the AstraZeneca vaccine, which has had a troubled history with regulators, could even be cleared in time to meet U.S. needs.
However, one of the federal officials said the Health and Human Services Department was discussing working with AstraZeneca to adapt its vaccine to combat new coronavirus variants.
None of the Johnson & Johnson doses made by Emergent have been released by the F.D.A. for distribution. The agencys acting commissioner, Dr. Janet Woodcock, said in a statement that the agency takes its responsibility for helping to ensure the quality of manufacturing of vaccines and other medical products for use during this pandemic very seriously.
But she made clear that the ultimate responsibility rested with Johnson & Johnson. It is important to note that even when companies use contract manufacturing organizations, it is ultimately the responsibility of the company that holds the emergency use authorization to ensure that the quality standards of the F.D.A. are met.
Emergents Baltimore facility is one of two facilities that were built with taxpayer support and are federally designated as Centers for Innovation in Advanced Development and Manufacturing. Last June, the government paid Emergent $628 million to reserve space there as part of Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administrations fast-track initiative to develop coronavirus vaccines.
Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca both contracted with Emergent to use the space. Both companies vaccines are so-called live viral-vector vaccines, meaning they use a modified, harmless version of a different virus as a vector, or carrier, to deliver instructions to the bodys immune system. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is one dose; AstraZenecas vaccine is two doses.
Last month, Mr. Biden canceled a visit to the Emergent Baltimore plant, and his spokeswoman announced that the administration would conduct an audit of the Strategic National Stockpile, the nations emergency medical reserve. Both actions came after a New York Times investigation into how the company gained outsize influence over the repository.
For the first time, more than three million people, on average, are receiving a Covid-19 vaccine each day in the United States, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And on Saturday, the country reported over four million doses in a single day for the first time.
The milestones reflect a steady increase in the capacity of states to deliver shots into arms. In early March, the nation surpassed an average of two million doses administered each day, up from around 800,000 doses a day in mid-January. Nearly a third of the United States population has received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine as more states expand eligibility and production ramps up.
The news, which comes as President Biden enters the homestretch of his first 100 days in office and amid the general declines in new virus cases, deaths and hospitalizations since January, offers a sign of hope for a weary nation. But the average number of new reported cases has risen 19 percent over the past two weeks, and federal health officials say that complacency about the coronavirus could bring on another severe wave of infections.
We have so much to look forward to, so much promise and potential of where we are, and so much reason for hope, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in an emotional plea to Americans this week. But right now Im scared.
The rising vaccination rate has prompted some state officials to accelerate their rollout schedules. This week, Gov. Ned Lamont of Connecticut expanded access to people 16 and older, several days ahead of schedule. And Gov. Jared Polis of Colorado opened universal eligibility about two weeks earlier than planned.
No more having to sort out if youre in or if youre out, said Julie Willems Van Dijk, the deputy secretary of the Department of Health Services in Wisconsin, where anyone 16 or older will be eligible for a vaccine as of Monday. Its time to just move forward and get everybody with a shot in their arm.
In another promising development, federal health officials said on Friday that Americans who are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus can travel at low risk to themselves within the United States and abroad.
But these days, most signs of hope are offset by peril.
Over the past week, there has been an average of 64,730 cases per day, an increase of 19 percent from two weeks earlier, according to a New York Times database. New deaths on average have declined, but they are still hovering around 900 a day. More than 960 were reported on Friday alone.
The C.D.C. predicted this week that the number of new Covid-19 cases per week in the United States would remain stable or have an uncertain trend over the next four weeks, and that weekly case numbers could be as high as about 700,000 even in late April.
Cases are already increasing significantly in many states, particularly in the Midwest and Northeast, as variants of the virus spread and some governors relax mask mandates and other restrictions. Dr. Walensky said this week that if states and cities continued to loosen public health restrictions, the nation could face a potential fourth wave.
Michigan, one of the worst-hit states, is reporting nearly 6,000 cases a day up from about 1,000 a day in late February even though half of its residents over 65 are now fully vaccinated.
And in Ohio, Gov. Mike DeWine said that new variants were aggravating the states caseload, even as vaccinations picked up.
We have to understand that we are in a battle, he said.
As if to underscore how fragile the nations recovery is, a quintessential American ritual the start of the baseball season has already faced a virus-related delay.
Major League Baseball officials said on Friday that the league had found only five positive cases in more than 14,000 tests of league personnel. But because four of those people were Washington Nationals players, the teams Opening Day game against the New York Mets was postponed, and then the teams full three-game weekend series.
Its one of those things that brings it to light that were not through it yet, Brian Snitker, the Atlanta Braves manager, told The Associated Press. Were still fighting this.
Benjamin Guggenheim,Lauryn Higgins and Mike Ives
In Ohio, Gov. Mike DeWine offered school districts early access to Covid-19 vaccines for their staff members if they committed to opening classrooms by March 1.
In Washington, Gov. Jay Inslee declared a state of emergency related to child and adolescent mental health and banned fully virtual instruction starting in April.
In Massachusetts, Gov. Charlie Baker announced that most elementary schools would be required to offer full-time in-person instruction by April 5, and most middle schools by April 28.
The three are part of a significant and bipartisan group of governors who have decided it is time to flex some muscle and get students back into classrooms, despite union resistance and bureaucratic hesitancy.
The push has come from both ends of the political spectrum. Democratic governors in Oregon, California, New Mexico and North Carolina, and Republicans in Arizona, Iowa, New Hampshire and West Virginia, among other states, have all taken steps to prod, and sometimes force, districts to open.
The result has been a major increase in the number of students who now have the option of attending school in person, or will in the next month.
According to a school reopening tracker created by the American Enterprise Institute, 7 percent of the more than 8,000 districts being tracked were operating fully remotely on March 22, the lowest percentage since the tracker was started in November. Forty-one percent of districts were offering full-time in-person instruction, the highest percentage in that time. Those findings have been echoed by other surveys.
In interviews, several governors described the factors motivating their decision to push districts to reopen, including the substantial evidence that there is little virus transmission in schools if mitigation measures are followed, the decline in overall cases from their January peak, and, most of all, the urgency of getting students back in classrooms before the school year ends.
Every day is an eternity for a young person, Mr. Inslee, a Democrat, said. We just could not wait any further.
In the weeks since most of the governors acted, nationwide cases have started to rise again, which could complicate the effort to get children back in school. Many school staff members have already been offered vaccines, which has reduced the resistance from teachers unions to reopening and, provided staff vaccination rates are high, will limit opportunities for the virus to spread in schools.
Even so, in areas where cases are increasing sharply, like Michigan, some schools have had to revert to remote learning temporarily because so many students were in quarantine.
But for the time being, at least, the moves by these governors have yielded significant results.
In Ohio, nearly half of all students were in districts that were fully remote at the beginning of 2021. By March 1, that number was down to 4 percent, and it has shrunk further in the weeks since.
In Washington, before Mr. Inslee issued his proclamation, the states largest district, Seattle Public Schools, was locked in a standoff with its teachers union over a reopening plan. Days after Mr. Inslee announced he would require districts to bring students back at least part time, the two sides reached an agreement for all preschool and elementary school students and some older students with disabilities to return by April 5.
And in Massachusetts, the move by Mr. Baker, a Republican, has spurred a sea change, with dozens of districts bringing students back to school for the first time since the pandemic began, and hundreds shifting from part-time to full-time schedules.
Its worked exceedingly well, Mr. DeWine, also a Republican, said of his decision to offer vaccines to Ohio districts that pledged to reopen. Weve got these kids back in school.
JERUSALEM In the Old City of Jerusalem on Friday morning, in the alleys of the Christian quarter, it was as if the pandemic had never happened.
The winding passageways that form the Via Dolorosa, along which Christians believe Jesus hauled his cross toward his crucifixion, were packed with over 1,000 worshipers. The Good Friday procession, where the faithful retrace the route Jesus is said to have taken, was back.
It is like a miracle, said the Rev. Amjad Sabbara, a Roman Catholic priest who helped lead the procession. Were not doing this online. Were seeing the people in front of us.
Pandemic restrictions forced the cancellation of last years ceremony and required priests to hold services without congregants present. Now, thanks to Israels world-leading vaccine rollout, religious life in Jerusalem is edging back to normal. And on Friday, that brought crowds back to the citys streets, and relief to even one of Christianitys most solemn commemorations: the Good Friday procession.
For much of the past year, the pandemic kept the Old City eerily empty. But with nearly 60 percent of Israeli residents fully vaccinated, the citys streets were once again thrumming, even if international tourists were still absent.
At the gathering point for the procession on Friday, there was scarcely space to stand. The crowd moved slowly off, singing mournful hymns as they proceeded along what Christians consider a re-enactment of Jesus last steps.
In the alley outside the chapel of St. Simon of Cyrene, the marchers trailed their fingers over an ocher limestone in the chapel wall. According to tradition, Jesus steadied himself against the stone after a stumble.
Finally, they reached the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, which believers think was the site of Christs crucifixion, burial and, ultimately, resurrection.
For some, the Good Friday procession carried even more resonance than usual its themes of suffering, redemption and renewal seeming particularly symbolic as the end of a deadly pandemic appeared finally in sight.
We have gained hope again, said George Halis, 24, who is studying to be a priest and who lives in the Old City. Last year was like a darkness that came over all of earth.
But for now, that togetherness continues to face limits. There are still restrictions on the number of worshipers at Easter services. Masks are still a legal requirement. And foreigners still need an exemption to enter Israel keeping out thousands of pilgrims, at the expense of local shopkeepers who depend on their business.
A beloved superfan of the University of Alabamas mens basketball team died from complications of Covid-19, his mother said Saturday.
Luke Ratliff rarely missed a game and was known by the Crimson Tide community as Fluffopotamus. He died Friday evening, his mother, Pamela Ratliff, said. A senior at the University of Alabama, Mr. Ratliff was set to graduate in August. He was 23.
He had a personality that was bigger than this world, never met a stranger, Ms. Ratliff said on Saturday.
Mr. Ratliff traveled to the mens N.C.A.A. basketball tournament in Indianapolis to cheer on the Crimson Tide until they lost to U.C.L.A. last weekend. He had recently gone through rapid coronavirus testing multiple times, Ms. Ratliff said, and the tests had come back negative.
He didnt have any of the typical symptoms until the cough set in this week, she said.
Mr. Ratliff was eventually treated for bronchitis and it was later discovered he had contracted Covid-19.
Fans were allowed to fill venues for the tournament up to 25 percent of their normal capacity. In response to Mr. Ratliffs death, the Marion County Public Health Department said in a statement that it would be investigating to determine if anyone in Indianapolis may have been exposed to Covid-19 by any Alabama resident who visited Indianapolis in recent days.
We continue to encourage residents and visitors to practice the simple and important habits that keep us all safe: wearing a mask, washing hands, and social distancing, the department said.
There has been an outpouring of tributes from the Crimson Tide community celebrating Mr. Ratliff.
We will forever remember our #1 fan, Alabama Mens Basketball said on Twitter. We love you.
Nate Oats, Alabamas coach, said Mr. Ratliffs death doesnt seem real.
Fluff has been our biggest supporter since day one, Oats said on Twitter. Put all he had into our program. Loved sharing this ride with him. Youll be missed dearly my man! Wish we had one more victory cigar and hug together. Roll Tide Forever.
Mr. Ratliff described his love for college basketball to The Tuscaloosa News earlier this year.
College basketball is different because its literally right in front of you: You can see it, you can touch it, you can go to it 16 home games a year. Its tangible, thats whats endeared me to it, Mr. Ratliff told the outlet, discussing his preference for the game over football.
On March 31, Mr. Ratliff chronicled the Alabama mens basketball season on Twitter, posting his own personal highlights from the season.
I will finish college having attended 44 of the tides past 45 conference and postseason games, including 42 in a row, Mr. Ratliff wrote. What a freaking ride its been.
Mr. Ratliff is survived by his parents and two brothers.
Three hundred and eighty-seven days after Broadway went dark, a faint light started to glimmer on Saturday.
There were just two performers the tap dancer Savion Glover and the actor Nathan Lane, both of them Tony Award winners on a bare Broadway stage. But together they conjured up decades of theater lore.
The 36-minute event, before a masked audience of 150 scattered across an auditorium with 1,700 seats, was the first such experiment since the coronavirus pandemic forced all 41 Broadway houses to close on March 12, 2020.
Glover performed an improvisational song-and-dance number in which he seemed to summon specters of productions past A Chorus Line, The Tap Dance Kid, Dreamgirls, 42nd Street. He also made a pointed reference to Black life in the U.S., interpolating the phrase knee-on-your-neck America into a song from West Side Story.
Lane, one of Broadways biggest stars, performed a comedic monologue by Paul Rudnick, in which he portrayed a die-hard theater fan who dreams (or was it real?) that a parade of Broadway stars, led by Hugh Jackman, Patti LuPone and Audra McDonald, arrive at his rent-controlled apartment and proceed to vie for his attention while dishily one-upping one other.
The St. James, a city historic landmark built in 1927, was chosen in part because its big and empty. The theater also has a modern HVAC system, and its air filters were upgraded during the pandemic in an effort to reduce the spread of airborne viruses.
The event, while free, was invitation only, and the invitations went mostly to workers for two theater industry social service organizations, the Actors Fund and Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
Californians will soon be able to gather indoors, the states public health department announced, edging toward a return to live entertainment as vaccination rates rise and the state recovers from a winter surge in coronavirus cases.
Fridays announcement is one of the latest examples of states easing Covid-19 restrictions as they loosen vaccine eligibility and more shots land in arms. Under the guidelines, gatherings, private events or meetings such as receptions or conferences, and indoor seated live events and performances will be permitted in some counties based on their Covid-19 risk levels, starting April 15.
As of March 30, most of the states counties are under the states red tier or under substantial Covid-19 risk, according to state data. Under the red tier, venues with over 1,500 capacity are limited to 20 percent capacity and proof of testing or full vaccination is required, outdoor gatherings of 25 people are allowed and private indoor events are allowed for up to 100 guests with proof of testing or full vaccination.
Residents can read specific guidelines under each tier in the states Blueprint for a Safer Economy.
Dr. Mark Ghaly, secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency, said in a statement that the lift in restrictions showed the progress the state had made against the virus.
Professional sports teams, such as the Los Angeles Lakers and the Sacramento Kings, applauded the changes.
Coronavirus cases in the state have decreased about 12 percent in the past week to an average of 2,654 cases per day, according to a New York Times database. Almost 20 percent of Californias population is fully vaccinated.
Despite the positive trajectory, state officials are still warning that safety measures must be at the forefront of peoples minds even if some restrictions have loosened.
By following public health guidelines such as wearing masks and getting vaccinated when eligible, we can resume additional activities as we take steps to reduce risk, Dr. Ghaly said.
BUENOS AIRES President Alberto Fernndez of Argentina tested positive for the coronavirus on Saturday and was experiencing mild symptoms despite having been vaccinated earlier this year, becoming the latest in a series of world leaders who have contracted the virus.
Mr. Fernndez said on Twitter that a light headache and a temperature of 99.1 degrees had prompted him to take a rapid antigen test. Its positive finding was confirmed later Saturday by a more rigorous P.C.R. test, said Dr. Federico Saavedra, the presidents physician.
Mr. Fernndezs symptoms were mild due in large part to the protective effect of the vaccine, Dr. Saavedra said.
The president, who first learned the preliminary result on Friday, his 62nd birthday, said he would remain in isolation. I am physically well, and although I would have liked to end my birthday without this news, Im also in good spirits, he wrote on Twitter.
Mr. Fernndez joins a list of world leaders who have contracted the virus, including Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador of Mexico, Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, Emmanuel Macron of France and Donald Trump of the United States.
But Mr. Fernndez appears to be the first of those leaders to test positive for the virus after having been fully vaccinated. He received the first dose of Russias Sputnik V vaccine on Jan. 21 and the second on Feb. 11.
When Freedom Baird got her first dose of Moderna's vaccine in February, she wasn't sure what kind of side effects to anticipate.
Baird is a COVID-19 long-hauler she's had lingering shortness of breath and chest pain for roughly a year. Many people who've had a prior infection develop more side effects in response to the first vaccine dose than the second. On average, however, people typically feel more run-down after their second shot.
Baird's age complicated her expectations: She's 56, and clinical trials have shown that people over 55 often develop fewer vaccine side effects. As it turns out, she didn't feel much.
"It was really just that first day of feeling achy and flu-y," Baird told Insider.
While doctors can't predict exactly how someone will respond to a coronavirus vaccine, they've identified a few patterns based on a person's age, sex, health status, and which dose they're receiving. Clinical trials suggest that side effects are generally more pronounced among women and younger adults, especially after their second dose.
A vaccine vial. Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
The most common side effect for all three authorized US vaccines is pain or swelling at the injection site: Nearly 92% of participants in Moderna's clinical trial developed this side effect. in Pfizer's trial, 84% of participants reported that, as did 49% in Johnson & Johnson's.
Other common side effects include fatigue, headache, and body or muscle aches. About 65% of vaccine recipients in Pfizer's and Moderna's trials, and 38% in Johnson & Johnson's, developed fatigue.
For those who haven't had COVID-19 before, side effects tend to be more numerous and severe after the second dose.
Roughly twice as many participants in Pfizer's trial developed chills and joint pain after their second dose than after their first. In Moderna's trial, meanwhile, about five times as many participants developed chills after their second dose as did after their first. Fevers were also far more common among second-dose recipients than first-dose recipients in both trials.
A small study from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai found that vaccine side effects such as fatigue, headaches, and chills were more common among people with preexisting immunity to the coronavirus than people who'd never been infected. About 73% of vaccine recipients who'd previously had COVID-19 developed side effects after dose one of Pfizer-BioNTech's or Moderna's shot, compared with 66% of vaccine recipients who'd never gotten infected.
"If you've already had a COVID-19 infection, you've developed memory cells from that infection," Dr. Vivek Cherian, an internal-medicine physician in Baltimore, told Insider.
"If you were ever to be exposed to the infection again, your body would basically be able to respond quickly and more robustly that second time around," he added. "That's why you tend to have more strong side effects from that initial vaccine."
A woman receiving a COVID-19 vaccine in Wales. Getty/Matthew Horwood
Our immune systems gradually deteriorate as we age, which means older people's bodies don't work as hard to defend them against foreign invaders including the protein introduced to the body via a vaccine.
"Younger individuals have a much more vigorous immune response, so it should make sense that they would also have more side effects," Cherian said.
After one dose of Moderna's shot, 57% of people younger than 65 developed side effects, compared with 48% of those older than 65. After the second dose, nearly 82% of people in the younger group developed side effects, compared with nearly 72% of older adults.
Pfizer broke down its data slightly differently: About 47% of people ages 18 to 55 developed fatigue after dose one, whereas 34% of people ages 56 and older reported that side effect. After dose two, the numbers rose to 59% and 51%, respectively.
After Johnson & Johnson's one-shot vaccine, nearly 62% of people ages 18 to 59 developed side effects, compared with 45% of people ages 60 and up.
A woman receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. John Moore/Getty Images
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analyzed Americans' reactions to nearly 14 million doses of the Pfizer and Moderna shots from December to January. The results showed that roughly 79% of instances of vaccine side effects reported to the CDC came from women, though just 61% of doses were administered to women overall.
Cherian said women tended to react more strongly to vaccines for polio, influenza, measles, and mumps as well.
"All of these vaccines in general, women tend to have greater side effects," he said. "They're even more pronounced for a pre-menopausal woman compared to a post-menopausal woman."
Scientists suspect the difference has to do with estrogen levels.
"Testosterone tends to be an immune-suppressive hormone and estrogen tends to be an immune stimulant," Cherian said. "So more than likely it's the estrogen hormone that's why females tend to have more side effects."
The CVS pharmacist Gina Glancy giving the second dose of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine to Bob Jensen, 89, in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Pete Bannan via Getty Images
People with weakened immune systems don't mount a strong defense against viral infections in general, so they're particularly vulnerable to severe COVID-19. For that reason, the CDC recommends that these groups get vaccinated right away.
But it's possible that immunocompromised people, such as patients with cancer, won't mount a strong immune response to the vaccine, either.
"Your immune response essentially dictates your side effects, so if you're immunocompromised, you may not necessarily be having as many side effects, but you should still absolutely get vaccinated," Cherian said.
The vaccines should provide immunocompromised people with at least some protection against severe COVID-19, even if they don't feel any side effects though the effectiveness may be lower than for the average person.
Cherian said that for people with autoimmune conditions, meanwhile, the side effects probably won't be any worse than for the average person.
"If you have those high-risk factors, you really, really want to get vaccinated," he said. "Dealing with a few side effects of some diarrhea or some muscle aches is a much, much better thing than some of those serious, potentially life-threatening side effects of the COVID-19 infection."
BERLIN (AP) German health officials agreed Tuesday to restrict the use of AstraZenecas coronavirus vaccine in people under 60, amid fresh concern over unusual blood clots reported in a tiny number of those who received the shots.
Health Minister Jens Spahn and state officials agreed unanimously to only give the vaccine to people aged 60 or older, unless they belong to a high-risk category for serious illness from COVID-19 and have agreed to take the vaccine despite the small risk of a serious side-effect. The same option will be available to anyone who gets the shot at their GP, which will start to become possible later this month.
In sum its about weighing the risk of a side effect that is statistically small, but needs to be taken seriously, and the risk of falling ill with corona, Spahn told reporters in Berlin.
The move follows the recommendations of Germanys independent vaccine expert panel and comes after the countrys medical regulator released new data showing a rise in reported cases of an unusual form of blood clot in the head known as sinus vein thrombosis in recent recipients of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
The news is a further blow to the vaccine, which is critical to Europes immunization campaign and a linchpin in the global strategy to get shots to poorer countries. It comes less than two weeks after the EU drug regulator said the vaccine does not increase the overall incidence of blood clots following a similar scare.
The European Medicines Agency said at the time that the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks, but it could not rule out a link between the shot and some unusual kinds of clots, and recommended adding a warning about possible rare side-effects.
Several German regions including the capital Berlin and the countrys most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia had already suspended use of the shots in younger people earlier Tuesday after the countrys medical regulator said its tally of the rare blood clots reported by March 29 had increased to 31. Some 2.7 million doses of AstraZeneca have been administered in Germany so far.
Nine of the people died and all but two of the cases involved women, who were aged 20 to 63, the Paul Ehrlich Institute said.
In a statement ahead of the announcement, AstraZeneca said tens of millions of people worldwide have received its vaccines, and noted that the EU regulator and the World Health Organization concluded that the benefits of the shot outweigh the risks.
The company said it would continue to work with German authorities to address any questions they might have, while also analyzing its own records to understand whether the rare blood clots reported occur more commonly than would be expected naturally in a population of millions of people.
The suspensions come as Germany, along with other European countries, is scrambling to ramp up its vaccine program, which lags far behind those in Britain and the United States. By Monday, some 13.2 million people in the country had received at least one dose of vaccine, while nearly 4 million had received both shots.
Use of the AstraZeneca vaccine was temporarily halted in several European countries earlier this month over concerns about the rare blood clots. After a review by medical experts at the European Medicines Agency, most European Union countries, including Germany, resumed use of the vaccine on March 19.
On Monday, Canada suspended use of the AstraZeneca vaccine in people under 55, citing new concerning data from Europe.
There is substantial uncertainty about the benefit of providing AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines to adults under 55 given the potential risks, said Dr. Shelley Deeks, vice chair of Canadas National Advisory Committee on Immunization.
Deeks said the updated recommendations come amid new data from Europe that suggests the risk of blood clots is now potentially as high as one in 100,000, much higher than the one-in-a-million risk believed before.
Germanys decision is likely to affect appointments made by tens of thousands of teachers and people with pre-existing conditions who received invitations to get vaccinated in Berlin in recent days. Appointments for the AstraZeneca shot were available sooner than for those made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna due to higher demand for those vaccines.
Scientists at the University of Greifswald, Germany, this week published the results of their investigation into the possible causes of the blood clots, saying the condition is similar to a side-effect seen in some patients who receive the blood thinning medication heparin.
The study, which hasnt been peer-reviewed yet, doesnt provide a conclusive explanation for why some people vaccinated with the AstraZeneca shot develop the rare blood clots. Still, experts not involved in the study said it offers important information to doctors.
Alice Assinger, a specialist in vascular diseases and blood clot research at the Medical University of Vienna, said there is a treatment for the rare clots.
But others warned the German decision could harm the vaccine campaign.
If people are not vaccinated, because use of the vaccine is suspended, or because of a drop in confidence in the vaccine caused by the decision, some of them will get ill from Covid-19; and some of them will die, said Peter English, the former chairman of the British Medical Associations public health medicine committee. Any decision to withhold the vaccine will directly cause excess, avoidable COVID-19 deaths.
Spahn acknowledged that the decision to suspend use of the vaccine for under-60s was without doubt a setback for the vaccination campaign, noting that Germany is due to receive 15 million AstraZeneca doses in the second quarter.
But he said the supply would now be made available to people over 60 who might otherwise have had to wait longer, reducing their risk of falling seriously ill with COVID-19.
Initially, several European countries hesitated to give the AstraZeneca shot to older people, citing a lack of data from the company about the vaccines effectiveness in those aged 65 and over. Subsequent studies showing it works in older people prompted most countries to approve it for those age groups.
Among those who will likely be eligible for the shot soon is German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The 66-year-old said Tuesdays decision was important for ensuring public trust in the vaccine campaign and that she would accept the shot made by the British-Swedish company.
When its my turn Ill allow myself to be vaccinated, including with AstraZeneca, Merkel said.
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AP medical writer Maria Cheng in London contributed to this report.
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German Health Minister Jens Spahn and the 16 state health ministers on Tuesdaydecided to suspend the routine use of the AstraZeneca vaccine for people under age 60at an emergency meeting.
Authorities in the cities of Berlin and Munich had earlier decided to limit theuse of the vaccine.
People under 60 can still receive the shot, but only "at the discretion of doctors, and after individual risk analysis and thorough explanation," according to a document seen by the DPA news agency.
The decision came amid fresh concern over unusual blood clots reported in a tiny number of younger people who received the vaccine.
"The positive message is that the vaccine from AstraZeneca should continue to be vaccinated for people who have reached the age of 60," said the chairman of the health ministers' conference, Bavaria's Health Minister Klaus Holetschek.
"The studies continue to show that this is a vaccine that is effective against severe bouts of the disease. We need it to be effective in the face of the third wave and dangerous viral mutations, we need it to move forward quickly," Holetschek said.
Germany's permanent vaccine commission, known by the short name STIKO, earlier on Tuesday published new guidelines recommending that the AstraZeneca vaccine be issued only to those over60.
It said it had made the decision "on the basis of currently available data on the occurrence of rare, but very serious thrombosis-related side-effects." The commission said that it would issue guidelines on what to do for adults under 60 who had received a first AstraZeneca shot and were due another by the end of April.
Acting on the STIKO advice, authorities in Berlin and Munich earlier temporarily haltedAstraZeneca vaccine usage on people under the age of 60.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel defended the new age limitations. "Trust comes from the knowledge that every suspicion, every single case will be looked into," she said after a consultation with Germany's state premiers.
She added that she would also be willing to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine "when it is my turn." The chancellor is 66 years old.
Bavaria's state premierMarkus Sder spoke rather frankly amid the latest confusion surrounding the serum.
"At some point with AstraZeneca specifically we might have to operate with a lot of freedom: whoever wants to and whoever dares to, so to speak, should have the opportunity," Sder said. "With AstraZeneca it seems some new problem or other should be expected daily. And honestly you sense that in the broader public perception as well."
Berlin's Health Senator Dilek Kalayci on Tuesday announced the city state's plans to suspend issuing AstraZeneca vaccines to men and women under 60.
Kalayci said she wanted to wait for the next set of recommendations from regulators following reports of side effects from the vaccine.
Earlier, Berlin's state hospitalsstopped vaccinating women under 55 years of age with AstraZeneca's jab, amid reports of rare but serious side effects.
In some cases, patients who received the AstraZeneca vaccine later went on to develop an unusual form of blood clot in the head. Ofthe few cases recorded, younger women have been primarily affected.
Several European countries briefly suspended use of the vaccine earlier this month, albeit in that instance for more elderly people rather than the young,but resumed jabs after EU regulatorssaid the shot was safe for use.
The Charite and Vivantes hospital groups, which operate hospital networks in the German capital,said the move was a precautionary measure.
"From the Charite's point of view, this step is necessary because in the meantime further cerebral venous thromboses have become known in women in Germany," a spokeswoman said in a statement sent to several German media outlets.
In an interview with DW,Tobias Kurth,epidemiologist at Charite Hospital explainedtheirdecision to suspend using the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccination for people under the age of 60.
After the hospital's board of directors and other medical professionals reviewed new data around AstraZeneca' potential side effects, they decided to halt vaccinations as "a precaution to not put people unnecessarily at risk," Kurth said.
However, a final decision on the use of AstraZeneca will have to "wait until the agencies have officially looked at the data and have made their recommendations," he said.
When asked if news of the suspension of use should be alarming, Kurth said that the side effect was "very, very rare, but it is there...more likely than we would normally observe."
However, Kurth said, "the benefits still outweigh the risks of the drug."
Nevertheless, Kurth admitted that "public trust is certainly very affected here."
Going forward, he continued, "it is now very important that we find a solution for this, that we have enough vaccines available, and continue to vaccinate people."
As of March 18, Germany had so far given out the most AstraZeneca vaccine doses in Europe
Like many other European countries, Germany also briefly halted use of the AstraZeneca vaccine pending a review by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
On March 18, the EMA approved the jab again, saying it was "safe and effective" after reviewing data on the blood clot cases so far.
A day later, Germany resumed vaccinations with AstraZeneca.The vaccine, however, now comes with new advice onpotential side effects.
Germany's medical regulator, the Paul Ehrlich Institute, has said that 31 cases ofcerebral venous thrombosis have have been reported so far following jabs with the Astrazeneca vaccine, news magazine Der Spiegel reported. Nine people have died.
The cases logged so far include two men and 29 women. The women ranged in age from 20 to 63-years-old, while the two men are 36 and 57.
A previous version of this article stated the use of vaccines had been suspended for women under 60, rather than everyone under 60. This has now been corrected. The department apologizes for the error.
rs, mb, rc, ab/msh(dpa, Reuters, AP)
What appears to be a fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has struck Michigan, the New York region and New England, and experts are uncertain whether it will remain contained.
The United States has entered a fourth wave of transmission, and theres no disputing this. Whether it remains as small regional outbreaks, or whether it generalizes nationwide remains to be seen, Dr. George Rutherford, a UC San Francisco epidemiologist, said Friday at a campus town hall meeting.
Nationally, there has been an 8% week-over-week increase in the average daily number of newly diagnosed coronavirus cases, rising to about 62,000 for the seven-day period that ended Wednesday, federal officials said Friday. The average daily number of new hospital admissions for COVID-19 patients rose 5% over the same period.
California, where case numbers have dipped to levels not seen since the end of last spring, is in a much better situation. The state is reporting daily averages of 2,500 to 2,700 cases. (During the worst of the surge in the fall and winter, California was reporting 45,000 cases a day.) Additionally, California has had a coronavirus test positivity rate of 1%-2% over the last week compared with 16% in Michigan and 9% in New Jersey.
Here in California, were in much better shape we do not have a spike. But I would point out that weve leveled off, and were not seeing continued declines, Rutherford said.
He and others have expressed concern about Florida, the state with the largest concentration of confirmed cases of the U.K. coronavirus variant, B.1.1.7, which is more transmissible and possibly more deadly than the conventional strain. Florida has no statewide mask mandate, and crowds of spring break revelers are prompting fears that travelers will further spread the U.K. variant around the nation. Florida over the last week had a positivity rate of 9%, and it is climbing.
Well have to see how that plays out, Rutherford said.
In Michigan, the surge has accelerated since it began in mid-March, Rutherford said, and appears to be heading toward a peak similar to the states winter high. The Michigan surge appears to be tied to the U.K. variant and may have been precipitated by high school sports, Rutherford said.
Elsewhere in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Delaware theres a series of a kind of interlinked outbreaks, with more modest increases that seem to stem from metropolitan New York and spilling into the neighboring states, Rutherford said.
Other national experts echoed Rutherfords concerns.
Were heading into the fourth surge. Cases are increasing. Variants are increasing. Variants are more deadly, Dr. Tom Frieden, a former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Saturday on ABCs Good Morning America. We just have to hang on until a larger proportion particularly of the vulnerable are well vaccinated and more of us are vaccinated, or we will have a large fourth surge. We will have a fourth surge, Im afraid. How large and deadly? That depends on us.
Some experts disagree, given how many people in the U.S. have either been vaccinated or have immunity because of a past coronavirus infection.
I think that theres enough immunity in the population that youre not going to see a true fourth wave of infection, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a former head of the Food and Drug Administration, said Sunday on CBS Face the Nation. However, he added that there are indeed pockets of infection around the country, particularly in younger people who havent been vaccinated and also in school-age children.
Gottlieb said he believes schools can stay open if they adhere to pandemic safety practices: As one epidemiologist referred to it this week, go the full Harry Potter and try to keep students within defined social cohorts so that theyre not intermingling in large groups.
California has the nations fourth-highest number of cases tied to the U.K. variant, according to federal data. A hopeful scenario envisions the spread of that variant in the state impeded by the California variant, B.1.427/B.1.429, which has been more prevalent here.
Hopefully, well be able to dodge this bullet, because this [U.K. strain] is a more transmissible strain and possibly a strain that causes more severe disease, Rutherford said.
More than 32% of Californians have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and roughly 17% are fully vaccinated.
Recent data show that the currently available vaccines offer sufficient protection against the new variants. The vaccines produce an immune response way more than you need for the conventional strain of the coronavirus, Rutherford said. And even when they show diminished effectiveness against variants such as South Africas B.1.351 and Brazils P.1 strains the vaccines produce an immune response two to three times more than you need, Rutherford said. So far, so good.
Despite the positive news on vaccination, the leading health official in Northern Californias most populous county, Santa Clara, warned that the decline in daily case numbers there is slowing.
We are now seeing our case rates flatten, and in some cases some indication that theyre beginning to tick up. So we may have gotten as low as were going to go, said Dr. Sara Cody, the health officer and public health director for Santa Clara County. Unfortunately, we still all need to be very aware and very cautious to prevent any surge or even a swell. We dont want that to happen.
The likelihood of another surge or a milder swell hitting California will depend on vaccine supply and the behavior of residents.
Vaccines are going to help, but we need more supply so we can get it out faster, Cody said. And we need people to just hold on for a little bit longer: Keep wearing your mask, delay your travel, dont indoor dine, dont go to indoor bars, dont host an indoor gathering at your home. Even if its allowed under the state rules, dont do it. Its not safe. Not yet.
Health officials have acknowledged the apparent contradiction in easing restrictions while at the same time voicing caution about a rise in cases.
However, some mixed messaging is to be expected when dealing with a new virus, according to Dr. Muntu Davis, L.A. Countys health officer.
This is naturally what happens inside of a pandemic, Davis said Friday. As you start to see how the virus acts, as you start to see when you have new countermeasures, whether that be vaccine or treatment, then we start to learn more. But until we have that information, we have to operate with a lot of caution, because everyone is at risk.
Here's the latest COVID-19 case, death and hospitalization data from the state.
ATLANTA We're breaking down the trends and relaying information from across the state of Georgia as it comes in, bringing perspective to the data and context to the trends.
Visit the 11Alive coronavirus page for comprehensive coverage, find out what you need to know about Georgia specifically, learn more about the symptoms, and keep tabs on the cases around the world.
State and federal officials with the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are continually monitoring the spread of the virus. They are also working hand-in-hand with the World Health Organization to track the spread around the world and to stop it.
Appling 1883 63
Atkinson 770 16
Baldwin 3791 109
Barrow 8424 126
Bartow 10910 201
Ben Hill 1482 58
Berrien 1045 29
Bleckley 793 33
Brantley 902 30
Bulloch 5165 62
Carroll 7267 129
Catoosa 5413 61
Charlton 1044 23
Chatham 19597 394
Chattahoochee 2996 12
Chattooga 2180 60
Cherokee 21709 288
Clarke 12474 129
Clayton 22473 415
Coffee 4210 133
Colquitt 3468 74
Columbia 10799 158
Coweta 8439 181
Crawford 519 17
DeKalb 55451 878
Decatur 2111 54
Dougherty 5404 274
Douglas 11498 169
Effingham 3688 62
Emanuel 1714 52
Fayette 6444 142
Forsyth 17251 167
Franklin 2309 41
Fulton 78883 1208
Gordon 6383 100
Gwinnett 83827 1008
Habersham 4594 144
Haralson 1682 34
Henry 18375 274
Houston 9783 185
Jackson 8341 133
Jeff Davis 1278 37
Jefferson 1557 58
Laurens 3645 141
Liberty 3172 59
Lowndes 7596 136
Lumpkin 2721 61
Madison 2685 44
McDuffie 1623 39
McIntosh 672 14
Meriwether 1478 68
Mitchell 1502 73
Montgomery 707 20
Muscogee 13742 374
Newton 7210 209
Non-GA Resident/Unknown State 23420 447
Oglethorpe 1166 28
Paulding 10416 161
Pickens 2454 58
Randolph 463 32
Richmond 19294 391
Rockdale 5793 145
Seminole 734 17
Spalding 3880 149
Stephens 2937 76
Taliaferro 100 3
Tattnall 1827 42
Thomas 3496 112
Treutlen 622 22
Unknown 2419 11
Walton 7841 227
Washington 1595 56
Whitfield 14597 224
Wilkinson 724 27
