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The first COVID-19 vaccines to become available are not yet approved for use in young children. The clinical trials conducted to date by Pfizer tested its vaccines safety and efficacy in patients 16 years of age and older. Moderna and Janssen (Johnson & Johnson)s vaccines were tested in patients 18 years of age and older.
The NBA has implemented new rules that will allow players, coaches and the teams basketball staff a bit more freedom, especially when theyre on the road.
Under the new rules, masks will not have to be worn at the practice facilities, theres more flexibility for players and staff to leave the team hotel on road trips, in-person team meetings will be allowed, meals can be served on all team flights, players and the staff can dine indoors or outdoors at restaurants, and PCR test can be done before 5 p.m.
Also, for players who decide to take the COVID-19 vaccine two weeks past the final vaccine dose there will be no testing on off days, in-person sponsorship and attending marketing events will be allowed, and there will be no quarantine due to contact tracing. Also, family, friends and others can visit the players at home or on the road without testing or registering with the team.
Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said he hasnt read the entire memo from the NBA headquarters. He added that the Mavs wont forced their players to get the COVID-19 vaccination.
But my understanding is that the restrictions are easing up slightly because people are becoming vaccinated, which is a great thing, Carlisle said. I dont have details, league-wide, as to which teams have been vaccinated and which havent.
In terms of our players, vaccination is certainly going to be their choice. Its not something that will be required. My feeling is it will be encouraged, but its going to be their choice alone. They wont be forced to do it.
Portland Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts is excited that the NBA has taken this stance to relax some of the rules and trying to give the players, coaches and staff a bit more freedom.
I think its a great motivation to get everybody vaccinated, and to me thats paramount, obviously, Stotts. And it should be good motivation to get vaccinated.
But I look forward to that day when we are able to take advantage of all those things that are being loosen up.
The Atlanta Hawks announced Thursday that 36 staff members including 14 of their players have received their first vaccination. The New Orleans Pelicans have also announced that some of their players and basketball staff have received the first does of the COVID-19 vaccine.
With the playoffs coming in May, the NBA would like to avoid a situation like what occurred in the recent All-Star game when Philadelphia 76ers All-Star Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons couldnt play in the game after they came in contact with their barber, who tested positive for the coronavirus. Embiid and Simmons couldnt play in the All-Star game because of contact tracing and had to return home and quarantine.
If something of that nature happens in the playoffs, it would be a major problem that the NBA wants to avoid.
Meanwhile, Carlisle said: It feels like things are going in a positive direction. Theres a few more people in the buildings now.
Our home building now is starting to feel more like a home building, which is great for our fans and great for our players. And were seeing that across the league as well in other buildings.
Very amusing: In case anyone missed it, something very amusing happened on Thursdays showing of ESPNS The Jump.
The host and co-hosts were extolling the virtues of Sacramento point guard DeAaron Fox, who buried a game-winning jump shot on Wednesday over Washingtons Bradley Beal with just 0.7 seconds remaining that gave the Kings a 121-119 victory over the Wizards, and then this happened.
Finally, the Kings have done something right drafting DeAaron Fox and giving him a max contract because hes earned it, co-host Kendrick Perkins said. Hes getting better every single year and now hes starting to show us that hes capable of taking over fourth quarters and being clutch.
Thats when host, Rachel Nichols, chimed in and said: Well Perk, you speak no lies. But I will also point out that the Kings have done a lot of not right things after drafting DeAaron Fox. Nichols then intentionally coughed and said: Luka.
Nichols intentionally coughed again and said: Luka. I have something caught in my throat. She intentionally coughed again and said: Luka.
Obviously, the intentional coughs by Nichols were tongue-in-cheek. But theres truth in the fact that after using the fifth overall pick in 2017 NBA Draft to select Fox, the Kings bypassed on a chance to draft Luka Doncic in 2018.
The Phoenix Suns drafted Deandre Ayton with the No. 1 overall selection of the 2018 draft, and the Kings had the No. 2 pick and Doncic obviously was still on the board. But instead of drafting Doncic, the Kings drafted Marvin Bagley III.
Cauley-Stein out: Mavs center Willie Cauley-Stein missed Fridays game at Portland because of the NBAs health and safety protocols.
I cant get into too much detail, coach Rick Carlisle said. But it was just a situation where he may have come in contact and so hes entered quarantine, and I dont know for how long its going to be or anything like that.
The good news is it was something that does not affect the rest of the team. Well miss him for this unspecified amount of time. Hes been having a terrific year.
Carlisle also said theres a chance forward Dorian Finney-Smith could join the Mavs at some point on this three-game road trip. Finney-Smith also missed Wednesdays home game against the Los Angeles Clippers after the borth of his son earlier that day.
After playing in Portland again on Sunday, the Mavs play in Minnesota on Wednesday.
Twitter: @DwainPrice
The global tally for the coronavirus-borne illness rose above 123 million on Monday, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University, with the U.S. accounting for 24% of cases at 29.8 million. The global death toll grew to 2.71 million, with the U.S. toll of 542,359 accounting for 20.0%. There was positive news on the vaccine front in a study that found the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca PLC AZN, +3.06% AZN, +3.02% and Oxford University was 79% effective and safe, showing no evidence of serious blood clotting that has been reported in a very small number of people in Europe and led to temporary halts of its use. The study conducted in the U.S. involved more than 32,000 people, AstraZeneca said Monday. The U.S. added at least 34,217 new cases on Sunday, according to a New York Times tracker, and at least 444 people died. Those numbers may be underreported given reduced staffing at hospitals on weekends.The latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that 156.7 million vaccine doses have been delivered and 124.4 million doses have been administered. There have been 81.4 million people, or 24.5% of the U.S. population, who have received at least one vaccine dose, while 44.1 million people, or 13.3% of the population, have been fully vaccinated.Outside of the U.S., Brazil is second globally in cases at 11.9 million and also second with a death toll at 294,042. India is third worldwide in cases with 11.6 million and fourth in deaths at 159,967. Mexico is third by deaths at 198,036 and 13th highest by cases. The U.K. has 4.3 million cases and 126,393 deaths, the highest in Europe and fifth highest in the world.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. You may have to expect to wear face masks outside of your home well into next year, health experts say.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) first suggested people should wear protective face coverings or masks when they are out in public, especially indoors, shortly after the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic began. And we could be wearing face masks for a while.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said last month during CNNs State of the Union that its possible Americans could still be wearing face masks and coverings in 2022.
I think its possible that thats the case and, again, it really depends on what you mean by normality, Fauci said, when asked if Americans will need to wear masks in 2022.
And with new variants emerging and becoming more prevalent, Fauci also suggesting wearing two masks at a time, calling it common sense.
This is a physical covering to prevent droplets and virus to get in, Fauci said. So if you have a physical covering with one layer, you put another layer on it, it just makes common sense that it likely will be more effective. And thats the reason why you see people either double-masking or doing a version of an N95.
But several states in the U.S. have lifted their mask mandates, including Texas, Mississippi, Iowa, and Montana. More states are lifting other restrictions and increasing capacity at indoor spaces and public events.
Even New York State has increased capacity at restaurants, gyms, schools, and reopened movie theaters and will allow indoor fitness classes. But New Yorkers will still need to wear face masks.
Face mask requirements will remain when traveling into, within, or out of the United States, according to the CDC on planes, trains, buses, and other forms of transportation.
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WHAT IF IM FULLY VACCINATED?
Most recently, the CDC announced that fully vaccinated people can visit other fully vaccinated people indoors without wearing masks or physically distancing. People are fully vaccinated 2 weeks after they received the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, or 2 weeks after they received the second dose from Pfizer or Moderna.
They can also visit with unvaccinated people from a single household who are at low risk for severe disease should they contract coronavirus, without wearing masks or distancing. And they can also refrain from quarantine and testing following a known exposure if they dont have symptoms.
But despite being fully vaccinated, the CDC recommends people still take precautions like wearing a mask and social distancing when in public spaces.
SHOULD I DOUBLE-MASK?
The CDC unveiled the results of a study last month that found two masks are better at slowing the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) compared to the use of a single medical or cloth mask.
The study utilized two artificial heads spaced six feet apart to see how many coronavirus particles were spewed and inhaled. The researchers found that wearing one surgical mask blocked around 42% of the particles from a simulated cough and that a single cloth mask fared slightly better at around 44.3%.
However, covering a surgical mask with a cloth mask blocked 92.5% of the cough particles, the study said.
Properly fitting a medical mask by knotting the ear loops and tucking in and flattening the extra material close to a persons face also aided in the prevention of transmission, the CDC found.
The general public has been asked to wear reusable, clean cloth masks since the start of the pandemic, when medical supplies like, N95 masks, were in short supply for health care workers.
The New York City Department of Health updated its guidance last month on face coverings, recommending people over the age of 2 years old wear snug-fitting masks with two or three layers of material. It also said New Yorkers can wear two masks with a cloth covering over a disposable mask. But dont use two disposable masks, the DOH said.
WHAT ABOUT THE VARIANTS?
Mandated face masks could be prolonged due to several variants spreading that could be more contagious.
On Saturday, the first confirmed case of a contagious COVID-19 Brazilian variant was found in a New York City resident. The P.1 variant, also known as B1351 variant, has been designated a variant of concern, which means there is evidence of an increase in transmissibility, more severe disease and the potential for reduced effectiveness of treatments or vaccines.
Two other variants of the coronavirus account for 51% of current cases citywide, New York City health officials recently announced.
The health officials warned that the two variants B117, or the variant of concern from the United Kingdom, and B1256, the variant of interest that has recently appeared in New York are undoubtedly more infectious than the original COVID-19 strain.
Preliminary analysis of those strains show that they dont cause more severe illness and they are not resistant to vaccines, said New York City Senior Advisor for Public Health Dr. Jay Varma.
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by: JIM LITKE Associated Press
The Indiana Farmers Coliseum scoreboard goes dark after a first round NCAA college basketball tournament game between Iowa and Grand Canyon Saturday, March 20, 2021, in Indianapolis. The VCU Oregon game scheduled to be played after the Iowa Grand Canyon game was cancelled after VCU was pulled from the NCAA Tournament because of COVID-19 protocols. The NCAA says the 10th-seeded Rams first-round game Saturday against Oregon has been declared a no-contest. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
If you didnt pay attention to college basketball until the NCAA Tournament, the good news is you didnt miss much. The regular season was a revolving door, the schedule and sometimes even the final score determined by which players and teams were entering the sports COVID-19 protocols and which were coming out.
Besides, Day 2 of the tournament was just like that.
Oregon beat Virginia Commonwealth 1-0 technically scored a no-contest and advances to meet Iowa because becausemultiple players on the VCU side tested positive. Their rotten luck. One-fifth of the 2020-21 season got wiped out due to the pandemic, and the coronavirus reminded everyone it doesnt make exceptions just because all the players now have new blue patches affixed to their tournament uniforms reading NCAA.
It just stinks, said VCU coach Mike Rhoades, whose team was notified at their pregame meal and went straight into quarantine. Theres no way I can sugarcoat it.
Defending champion Virginia, dealing with COVID-19-related issues of its own, had most of its roster in quarantine until Thursday, didnt arrive in Indiana until Friday and then promptly gotbounced out by 13th-seeded Ohio62-58. But that was only the second-biggest upset Saturday.
Tiny Abilene Christian, a 14 seed that didnt even officially join Division I until 2018,took down No. 3 Texas, parlaying 23 turnovers and two free throws by Joe Pleasant a 58.8% shooter from the line with 1.2 seconds left into a 53-52 win.
I was visualizing the free throws going in before I shot them, Pleasant said afterward. I was just trying to key in on the rim, just lock in and block out the noise.
UCLA, which entered the main bracket as a No. 11 after a First Four win over Michigan State,overpowered sixth-seeded BYU 73-62in the days only other upset. Otherwise, it was all chalk.
Both No. 1 seeds playing Saturday came out breathing fire.Gonzaga, the tournaments overall top seed, crushed Norfolk State, andMichigan manhandled Texas Southern. No. 2Alabama had its way with Ionaand peripatetic coach Rick Pitino, andIowa sent packing Grand Canyon which chartered two private jets to bring 240 members of the GCU student section to the game.
The other winners were Oklahoma, Creighton (narrowly), USC, Kansas, LSU, Colorado (over media favorite and trendy upset pick Georgetown), Florida State and Maryland.
Virginia coach Tony Bennett had an alibi handy for why he didnt make that list, but he declined to reach for it.
I dont know if it would have mattered if it was a normal prep or not, he said. The loss marked the second time in the Cavaliers last three NCAA Tournament appearances this time as a No. 4 that theyve lost to a double-digit seed in the first round.
Im grateful we got the chance, Bennett added. You cant go back and change anything. I thought our guys were as ready as they can given the circumstances.
Yet not everyone in the same situation had the same result. WhenNo. 3 Kansasstarted to slow, trailing 11th-seeded Eastern Washington 46-38 at intermission, coach Bill Self had good reason to wonder how much firepower he had left.
The Jayhawks bowed out of the Big 12 Tournament after a positive test last week and like Virginia, barely made the Indiana state line in time to claim their bracket spot. Forward Jalen Wilson remains in the protocols and 6-foot-10-center David McCormack was cleared to return only Friday. He hadnt practiced in 10 days, didnt start against EWU and after a tiring few minutes in the first half, McCormack using up all five of his fouls before he ran out of gas was the most Self admitted thinking that he could expect.
Instead, McCormack staked out a spot in the heart of an Eagles defense stretched thin by the Jayhawks timely perimeter shooting and scored a game-high 22 points as Kansas pulled away.
He kind of got his legs under him and he was really, really good in the second half, Self said afterward. He sounded as surprised as anyone else. I mean really, really good.
A cheerleading facility in Weymouth, Massachusetts, has been ordered closed while officials investigate a coronavirus cluster linked to dozens of cases believed to have originated there.
The Weymouth Health Department issued a cease and desist order for Cheer Sport Sharks New England on Saturday, as at least 37 COVID-19 cases across 14 cities and towns in the area have been tied to the facility.
A statement issued by the Weymouth Health Department said that it was working with both state and local officials to investigate the cluster, and that the training center will remain closed until it has been assured there is no longer a public health risk associated with the spread of the virus.
It is unclear what safety measures were in place at the facility prior to the outbreak, but signage indicating that temperature screenings and hand sanitizing are required and only coaches and athletes are permitted was seen outside the building Friday.
The Cheer Sport Sharks New England did not return requests for comment.
COVID-19 cases rising again in Pa. and N.J.; more Philly pharmacies are carrying the vaccine The Philadelphia Inquirer
Traffic passes along the Champs Elysee avenue near the Arc de Triomph in Paris, France, on Friday, March 19, 2021. French President Emmanuel Macronis locking down several regions including the Paris area, slowing down the countrys economic recovery as it struggles to contain a third wave of the coronavirus epidemic. Photographer: Cyril Marcilhacy/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The French capital and northern parts of the country will enter a new lockdown Friday, although schools and essential shops will stay open.
The country's seven-day average of new coronavirus cases rose above 25,000 this week for the first time since November.
In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel had announced an easing of lockdowns in March. That was when the number of infections per 100,000 people over seven days was at 65.
But that number is now at 96 and there are real fears that infections at Easter could mirror what they were at Christmas.
"The rising case numbers may mean that we cannot take further opening steps in the weeks to come," German Health Minister Jens Spahn told a news conference Friday, according to Reuters.
"On the contrary, we may even have to take steps backwards."
Poland has also seen a huge surge in infections with approximately 52% of new cases linked to the variant from Britain, according to Reuters.
Total cases for the country pushed passed 2 million on Friday with 25,998 in the last 24 hours.
CNBC's Bryn Bache contributed to this article.
(CNN) -- Mass vaccinations and natural protection from those already infected are likely to prevent a fourth wave of COVID-19 in the United States, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, said Sunday.
"We're talking about some form of protective immunity in about 55% of the population," Gottlieb said on CBS's Face the Nation. "There's enough of a backstop here that I don't think you're going to see a fourth surge."
About 81 million people have had at least one dose of a vaccine, a number that is going up significantly every day. In addition, about 29 million people have tested positive for the virus and recovered, and tens of millions more have had COVID-19 without a positive test and have some natural immunity.
Still, the US will continue to see COVID-19 cases and deaths, Gottlieb cautioned, particularly as a dangerous variant first identified in the United Kingdom spreads.
"I think what you could see is a plateauing for a period of time before we continue on a downward decline -- in large part because (the UK variant) is becoming more prevalent, in large part because we're pulling back too quickly, with respect to taking off our masks and lifting the mitigation," he said.
Gottlieb also warned that the emergence of virus variants could change the nation's trajectory.
"The only thing that can be a real game changer here is if you have a variant that pierces prior immunity, meaning it reinfects people who've either already been infected or who have been vaccinated," he said.
Gottlieb's comments come as the number of US COVID-19 cases has plateaued at about 50,000 new cases per day over the last seven days. Several experts have warned of another surge as the US races to vaccinate and stay ahead of the variant.
"This is crunch time," Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, told CNN on Saturday. "This is going to be our most difficult period right now in terms of seeing who wins out."
With about a quarter of all Americans having received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine -- and about 13% fully vaccinated -- doubling down on safety measures now is what could help curb another surge, experts have repeatedly stressed.
"If we can hang on another month, another six weeks, that's going to make a huge difference," Hotez added.
However, air travel is hitting pandemic-era records and spring break crowds are swelling. In Miami Beach, officials declared a state of emergency Saturday in response to crowds the mayor says have been "more than we can handle."
And at least a dozen governors and multiple local leaders have eased restrictions this month, while several have done away with mask mandates completely.
In Michigan, where the governor announced a series of eased restrictions earlier this month, officials now say the state could potentially be at the start of another surge.
"Our progress with COVID-19 is fragile," Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, the chief medical executive for the state of Michigan, said in a news conference Friday. "While we're making great progress with our vaccination efforts and many people are doing the right thing by wearing masks and not gathering in large groups, what we are seeing now is very concerning data that shows that we are going in the wrong direction."
Case rates have been increasing for the past month, Khaldun said, and increased 77% since mid-February.
The state's percent of COVID-19 tests that are positive have also jumped 177% since mid-February, Khaldun said. And hospitalization rates have also been climbing for the past two weeks, Khaldun added.
Michigan has also reported the country's second-highest number of cases of the B.1.1.7 variant, after Florida, according to CDC data.
"It's immensely concerning," Dr. Rob Davidson, an emergency room physician in the state, told CNN Saturday. "We know in the past, cases went up, then hospitalizations, then deaths followed."
Davidson told CNN he's even more worried now that variants are circulating, and hopes the state can make enough headway to protect residents.
"It remains to be seen," Davidson said. "We just would rather not wait and find out. We'd rather get people to mask up, keep distancing and get those numbers down."
More than 44 million Americans are fully vaccinated, according to CDC data.
The growing numbers are encouraging, but experts say the country still has a long way to go to reach the levels needed to suppress spread of the virus -- and must address the vaccine hesitancy as well as political divisions that stand in the way.
In Missouri, Gov. Mike Parson said Friday that while he encouraged everyone to get vaccinated and thinks it's the right thing to do, he knows there will be a "certain amount of people" who are not going to take the vaccine, "and they have every right to do that."
"We got to do a better job of making sure everybody understands the importance of the vaccine, and yet maintain the respect of people that don't want to take a vaccine, and it is going to be a challenge to see how many people we can get done, but we're going to do everything we can," the governor said.
A recent CNN poll conducted by SSRS, showed that while 92% of Democrats say they have gotten a dose of the vaccine or plan to get one, that falls to 50% among Republicans.
The former head of Operation Warp Speed, Moncef Slaoui, said he is very concerned by vaccine hesitancy fueled by politics.
"I'm very concerned that, for political motivation, people decide to actually place themselves and the people around them in harm's way by refusing to be vaccinated," Slaoui said in an interview broadcast Sunday on Face the Nation.
Slaoui also pushed back against President Joe Biden's criticism of the Trump Administration's vaccine plans, defending Operation Warp Speed's efforts last year.
"I do think that we had plans, and in fact, 90% of what's happening now is the plan that we had," Slaoui said.
"We contracted specifically 100 million doses of vaccine, but also built into the contract options to acquire more vaccines, once we knew they are effective. The plan was to order more vaccines when we knew they are more effective," he said. "What's happening is, frankly, what was the plan -- substantially, what was the plan."
CNN's Pete Muntean, Carma Hassan, Mirna Alsharif and Alec Snyder contributed to this report.
