February 4 coronavirus news

California’s San Quentin State Prison, where a deadly coronavirus outbreak was reported last summer, has been fined more than $400,000 for workplace safety violations.

The state’s Department of Industrial Relations’ division of occupational safety and health (Cal-OHSA) issued nearly 15 violations, culminating in a $421,880 fine – one of the highest penalties issued by the state for Covid-19 violations.  

The prison failed to report infections or deaths of employees, according to the violation. From June to July, there were five instances of employees hospitalized with Covid-19.

Inspectors also found that there were no “suitable cleansing agents” in the employee restroom. The eyewash station was also inaccessible.  

The citations come just days after the state’s inspector general released a report saying the prison’s “deeply flawed” detainee transfers contributed to the outbreak. 

San Quentin State Prison, located about 20 miles north of San Francisco, has confirmed 2,151 cases and 28 related deaths – the highest number of fatalities among the state’s prison system.

More than 40% of inmates there have tested positive for Covid-19 in the past two weeks, according to the CDCR. 

Louisiana will expand vaccinations to residents between the ages of 65-69 starting Monday, Gov. John Bel Edwards said in a press release.

Previously the vaccinations were only for those 70 and older.

This expansion will mean that 275,000 additional residents are now eligible for the vaccine, the release said. 

Edwards lowered the age requirement due to an increase in doses from the federal government, concerns over emerging variant strains, and progress made in vaccinating earlier groups.

As of Thursday, more than 534,985 doses have been administered in Louisiana, with at least 130,978 people having received both doses of the vaccine, the state said.

A lab technician packs donated convalescent plasma for shipping to local hospitals on April 22, 2020, in Dulles, Virginia.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) revised its emergency use authorization (EUA) for Covid-19 convalescent plasma on Thursday, limiting use to convalescent plasma with high antibody levels, and in hospitalized patients early in their disease course. 

Convalescent plasma is used to treat Covid-19, and is made using the blood of people who have recovered from coronavirus infections. It was first approved for emergency use authorization last August.

Under the revised EUA, the treatment can also be used for those with impaired immunity that has left them unable to produce an adequate antibody response.

The updates were informed by new clinical trial data, made available after August 2020.

Convalescent plasma that is not rich in antibodies has not been shown to be helpful in treating Covid-19 and is no longer authorized for emergency use, the FDA said.

The EUA was also updated Thursday to allow for additional tests to be used in the manufacture of Covid-19 convalescent plasma.

The US Food and Drug Administration has scheduled a meeting of vaccine advisors to discuss Johnson & Johnson’s request for emergency use authorization (EUA) for its coronavirus vaccine.

The FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) will meet on February 26.

Johnson & Johnson said earlier Thursday it had applied for the EUA on behalf of its Janssen Biotech vaccine-making subsidiary. The timing means the FDA would not decide on authorization before the end of the month. 

The FDA added that it cannot predict how long it would take to made a decision, but that the agency would review the request “as expeditiously as possible … while still doing so in a thorough and science-based manner.”

The meeting will be livestreamed on the agency’s YouTube, Facebook and Twitter channels, and from the FDA website.  

An estimated 631,000 Americans will have died from Covid-19 by June 1, according to the latest forecast from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington. 

The team behind the influential forecast model said a lot depends on the vaccine rollout and the spread of variants. A worst-case scenario could see the death toll go as high as 703,000.

As of Thursday night, the US had reported more than 455,000 Covid-19 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

The IHME cited a poll showing an increase in the number of Americans willing to get vaccinated, from 54% to 66%. 

“Daily deaths have peaked and are declining. By June 1, 2021, we project that 123,600 lives will be saved by the projected vaccine rollout,” the IHME said.

How to save more lives: If 95% of Americans wore masks, 44,000 more lives would be saved, the IHME said. Currently, mask use is at about 77%. 

And people need to stay put even if they have been vaccinated, the IHME said. If vaccinated people start moving and traveling as normal, 17 states could see rising daily deaths again by April and May.

“The best strategies to manage this period of the pandemic are rapid scale-up of vaccination, continued and expanded mask-wearing, and concerted efforts to avoid rebound mobility in the vaccinated. Some states are lifting mandates rapidly, which poses a real risk of increased transmission as new variants spread and vaccination rates remain comparatively low,” the IHME warned.

Mahaliah Catie, left, and Nathan Diwa prepare doses of the Moderna vaccine at a Covid-19 vaccination event in Fontana, California, on February 2.

The US Food and Drug Administration says it plans to use the current process for updating flu vaccines as a template for authorizing any changes to coronavirus shots, as authorities face the worrying emergence of new variants.

Some background: There are already more than 600 cases in the US of people infected by several different variants that were first seen in other parts of the world. 

The FDA also said it is making plans to help speed the development of new drugs to treat any strains of virus that escape current treatments, including monoclonal antibody therapies.  

The agency has also been checking whether any of the variants can slip past tests.

“For diagnostics, we have been monitoring for new mutations, identifying and working with developers of tests whose performance may be adversely impacted by them,” Woodcock said. “At this time, we believe the risk that these mutations will impact overall testing accuracy of molecular tests is low.”

The United States has reported at least 618 cases of coronavirus variants across 33 states, according to data posted Thursday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The vast majority (611) of these cases are the more contagious variant known as B.1.1.7, which was originally detected in the United Kingdom. Florida has the highest count, with 187 cases, and California follows with 145. The rest are scattered across a few dozen states.

In addition, there are five cases of the variant called B.1.351, which was initially seen in South Africa. Two cases are in South Carolina, and three in Maryland.

Lastly, Minnesota has identified two cases of the P.1 strain, first linked to Brazil.

The CDC says this does not represent the total number of such cases circulating in the US, but just those that have been found by analyzing positive samples.

As the debate continues over how to safely bring America’s kids back to school, 24 states plus Washington, DC, are now allowing all or some teachers and school staff to receive the Covid-19 vaccine.

Several governors are making teachers a priority — like West Virginia, where all teachers 50 or older who expressed that they wanted the vaccine have already received it, according to Gov. Jim Justice. In Ohio, Gov. Mike DeWine has set a plan to have all teachers vaccinated by the end of February, with the goal of all students returning to classrooms by March 1.

Other states, like Rhode Island and Vermont, are not prioritizing any specialized groups other than health care workers, and are distributing vaccines strictly by age.

Of the 24 states that have now made teachers eligible, there is still the matter of availability. In several of those states, some counties are moving more quickly than others to reach the phase or group numbers that include educators.

Two more states, Alabama and Colorado, will include teachers among those who can be vaccinated starting on Monday.

There are 26 states where teachers are still not eligible to receive the vaccine as a specific group — although some educators might fall into the current age group that state is vaccinating.

A woman receives a Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine at a vaccination center in River Grove, Illinois, on February 3.

About 35.2 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in the United States, according to data published Thursday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC reported that 35,203,710 total doses have been administered, about 61% of the 57,489,675 doses distributed.

That’s about 1.3 more administered doses reported since yesterday, which is also the seven-day average of doses administered daily.

About 8.5% of the US population – nearly 28 million people – have now received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine. Nearly 7 million people, or 2%, have been fully vaccinated, CDC data shows.

To note: Data published by the CDC may be delayed, and doses may not have been given on the day reported. 

An investigational pharmacy technician prepares a dose of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine for a clinical trial on December 15, 2020, in Aurora, Colorado.

Johnson & Johnson officially asked the US Food and Drug Administration for an emergency use authorization of its Covid-19 vaccine Thursday.

As the FDA looks at the results, it will schedule a public meeting of its Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, an independent group of experts who will also look at the data and make a recommendation that the agency takes into consideration when it makes a decision.

What’s next: If the FDA decides to authorize the vaccine, next the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices meets to discuss whether the vaccine should be given to Americans and if so, who should get it first.

This same regulatory process for Pfizer took a little over three weeks; for Moderna it was a little more than two.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is a little different than the other Covid-19 vaccines. The vaccine, made through a collaboration with the company’s vaccine division, Janssen Pharmaceutical, and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, is delivered in a single shot. Pfizer and Moderna’s require two. It’s considered versatile since it is considered stable for up to three months kept in regular refrigerated temperatures and doesn’t need the deep freeze like Pfizer’s.

Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine was shown to be 66% effective in preventing moderate and severe disease in a global Phase 3 trial, according to the company. The vaccine is 85% effective overall at preventing hospitalization and death in all regions where it was tested.

Its efficacy against moderate and severe disease ranged from one country to another: 72% in the US, 66% in Latin America and 57% in South Africa. This was measured starting one month after the shot.

The US government has ordered 100 million doses and Johnson & Johnson said it can meet this commitment by June. 

The biotechnology company Novavax announced on Thursday that the “rolling review” process for authorization of its Covid-19 vaccine is underway in multiple countries. 

The vaccine maker announced that it has started the process with several regulatory agencies, including the US Food and Drug Administration, European Medicines Agency, UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and Health Canada. 

Rolling review means that the company will submit some completed sections of its application for authorization instead of waiting until the entire application is finished. According to Novavax, the reviews by regulatory agencies will continue while the company completes Phase 3 trials in the United Kingdom and the United States.

“The rolling review of our submission by regulatory authorities of non-clinical data and early clinical studies will help expedite the review process and bring us that much closer to delivering a safe and effective vaccine worldwide,” Dr. Gregory Glenn, president of research and development at Novavax, said in the announcement. 

“We appreciate the agencies’ confidence in Novavax based on our early data and the collective sense of urgency to ensure speedier access to much-needed COVID-19 vaccination.” 

Novavax announced last week that early results from a Phase 3 trial in the UK show its coronavirus vaccine has an efficacy of 89.3%.

A bipartisan “sweet 16” amendment on tightening the eligibility of who would qualify for the $1,400 Covid relief checks has passed the Senate by a vote of 99 to one. 

This was an amendment that members discussed at their bipartisan meeting last night and it is an example of how while most amendments today during the vote-a-rama will be partisan, others will be used to try and demonstrate there could be broad support for some changes to President Biden’s $1.9 trillion plan.

It’s the first significant vote thus far in the vote-a-rama that started this afternoon and is expected to go until sometime in the middle of the night.

While the amendment got wide support, it is not binding and does not mean that the eligibility requirements will be changed in the final Covid-19 relief bill that comes out a few weeks from now. But it expresses broad consensus to make the changes and may end up in a final bill.

The amendment doesn’t specify who not be eligible for the payments outside of saying “upper income taxpayers are not eligible.”

Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky was the lone vote against the measure.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said people who’ve had Covid-19 should still get the second dose of vaccine and should follow US Food and Drug Administration guidance. 

Some context: A preprint study posted online this week said that after getting just one shot of a Covid-19 vaccine, people who were previously infected with the virus tended to have antibody levels that were at or above those of people who had gotten both doses but never been infected. The study has not yet been peer-reviewed.

Fauci also said on Thursday that everyone who has had Covid-19 should be vaccinated. 

“If you had Covid-19, you should still get vaccinated. Because re-infection is uncommon 90 days after initial infection, you can delay vaccination until the end of that 90-day period, if desired. But vaccination is still safe after you’ve recovered from Covid-19,” he said in a tweet. 

American adults reported more problems with depression, new or increased substance use and suicidal thoughts during the Covid-19 pandemic, but even higher levels of Hispanic people reported these mental health issues, according to a new report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Reports of certain mental and substance use disorders are not generally higher for one racial or ethnic group or another, according to the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report published by the CDC Thursday, although racial and ethnic minority groups typically have less access to treatment.  

During this pandemic, a larger number of people have reported feeling depressed. In 2019, the National Health Interview Survey found that about 7% of adults reported feelings of depression; by April-May of 2020, 23.5% of adults reported depression. 

For Hispanic people, the numbers reporting depression were even higher in April-May of last year, nearly 29% of Hispanic people reported feelings of depression during this time period. More than twice as many Hispanic people as White people reported problems with depression.

Hispanic people were also four times as likely to report having problems with suicidal thoughts than people in the Black community. About 40% of Hispanic survey respondents reported an increase in substance use to help cope with the stress of the pandemic, compared to about 15% of all other respondents.

Compared to any other racial or ethnic group, Hispanic adults also reported higher amounts of psychological stress related to not having stable housing and not having enough to eat.

The CDC said more public health measures are needed to address the mental and behavioral health consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic and the interventions need to be tailored for racial and ethnic minority groups.

“The mental health and psychosocial needs of U.S. adults, including persons in racial and ethnic minority groups, are an important consideration when promoting community resilience and preserving access to and provision of services during the Covid-19 pandemic,” the report said.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021, in Washington.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said he hopes there will be data to support Covid-19 vaccinations for older children by the late spring or summer. 

When asked if it’s safe for children to go about their lives if all adults are vaccinated but children aren’t, Fauci said that “the situation in your community is a key factor here,” adding that while virus levels are high in the community, everyone needs to take steps such as wearing masks and social distancing.

People who are part of the LGBTQ community may be more vulnerable to getting Covid-19 and may be more susceptible to a severe form of Covid-19, according to a new report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The LGBTQ community experiences more health disparities compared to their straight counterparts, in part due to sexual stigma and discrimination. These health disparities make them more susceptible, a CDC team said in a study published in the agency’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report published Thursday.

Data from the 2017 to 2019 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, the CDC’s national health-related telephone survey, shows people who are a part of the LGBTQ community, regardless of race or ethnicity, report higher numbers of health conditions that make people vulnerable to more severe forms of Covid-19. These include heart disease, asthma, hypertension, cancer, kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, stroke, obesity, diabetes and smoking. 

But there is a data gap and much is unknown, the CDC said. Sexual orientation and gender identity information is not consistently captured by standard Covid-19 data collection system. A handful of states did start collecting this information, although it was several months into the pandemic. 

In July, California announced it would collect data on sexual orientation and gender identity to better understand the impact of the pandemic on these populations. Illinois also started to collect this information. Pennsylvania, Washington, DC, and several other jurisdictions are taking steps to collect this information, the report said, but the data is not yet available. 

The CDC encouraged all jurisdictions to collect information on sexual orientation and gender identity during the pandemic. 

“Attention to potentially larger disparities at the intersec­tions of sexual orientation and race/ethnicity is critical to ensuring health equity for all, including subpopulations whose circumstances often remain uncaptured despite acknowledg­ments of their distinct importance and needs,” the report said.

Healthcare workers arrive to distribute second doses of the Pfizer BioNtech Covid-19 vaccine to residents at a senior living facility in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, U.S., on Friday, Jan. 22, 2021. 

More than one million doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered in Michigan as of Thursday, with 1,076,545 doses administered, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said during a news conference Thursday afternoon.

Every resident living in a nursing facility in Michigan who wants a vaccine has been given the opportunity to receive their first dose, Whitmer said.

The goal is to vaccinate 70% of the population for those 16 and older, the governor said.

A COVID-19 vaccine poster directs motorists to the website: "VaccinateLACounty.com" outside the mass vaccination site at the parking lot of L.A. County Office of Education headquarters in Downey, Calif., Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021. 

California’s infection and hospitalization rates are falling, but the state’s vaccine rollout has hit some snags due to supply struggles as officials try to control the pandemic and reopen schools.

California is opening two mass Covid-19 vaccination sites as part of a federal pilot program to quickly boost the number of available doses. The state is now administering about one million doses of the vaccine each week, Gov. Gavin Newsom said yesterday, a rate two to three times higher than the initial rollout.

The state is trying to speed up inoculations and jump start its economy as it emerges from a regional stay-at-home order that shuttered many nonessential businesses.

CNN’s Stephanie Elam reports from Los Angeles on the situation on the ground and answers your questions about the pandemic.

Watch the report:

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CNN’s Cheri Mossburg contributed reporting to this post.

Reversing an earlier decision to not hold an All-Star game in 2021, the National Basketball Association will host the mid-season showcase in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 7, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania. 

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the NBA’s previously announced All-Star Game weekend in Indianapolis, Indiana, scheduled for Feb. 12 to 14, 2021, was postponed to 2024.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said at the time, “While we are disappointed that the NBA All-Star Game will not take place in Indianapolis in 2021, we are looking forward to the Pacers and the city hosting the game and surrounding events in 2024.”

The schedule for this year’s NBA 72-game season – 10 games fewer than usual – was released in two segments. Only the first segment, which is currently playing out through March 4, has been released. 

The NBA had originally slated March 5 to 10 as an All-Star break but without a game being played.  

The United States has identified hundreds of cases of a more contagious strain first linked to the UK — but two others, linked to South Africa and Brazil, are much harder to find, according to Dr. James Lu, president of a company called Helix, whose Covid-19 tests have helped identify many of these cases.

It’s the latter two strains that may be more concerning when it comes to vaccine efficacy and reinfection, experts say.

Part of the reason why we’ve found so many cases of B.1.1.7 — the strain first detected in the UK — is because of a testing glitch that picks up one if its mutations. 

Not all samples with this glitch are the B.1.1.7 strain, since this mutation can exist on its own. And not all brands of PCR tests show this glitch, called S gene dropout. But it has been used to screen for potential cases of the variant, which must then be confirmed through genetic sequencing.

The mutation that causes this glitch is not present in the strains first spotted in South Africa and Brazil. 

Beyond appearing more transmissible, these two strains also contain a different mutation that scientists worry could help the virus escape some of the antibody protection from vaccines or previous infection. Even so, experts say they expect vaccines will still work against the variants — especially when it comes to preventing severe disease and death. 

“They’re not detectable with our level of sampling today,” Lu said of variants linked to South Africa and Brazil. “So, most of the time, if we’re finding it, it’s serendipity right now. But that will change if they become more prevalent.”

Last week, the first US cases of the strain linked to South Africa were found in South Carolina. According to a state health official, these two cases were found during routine sequencing, but “the predominant strain that we are still seeing in our surveillance sequencing is the standard, or normal,” version of the virus. Maryland has also reported a handful of cases. 

At least two cases of the P.1 strain linked to Brazil have been found in the US, as well. Both cases live in the same household in Minnesota, and one had recently traveled to Brazil, according to the state’s health department.

In comparison, more than 540 cases of B.1.1.7 have been found in 33 states, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

The US has been ramping up efforts to sequence at least 7,000 samples per week, according to the CDC. But experts have said we should be aiming much higher — somewhere between 50,000 and 100,000 samples per week, given current case counts.

A laboratory technician supervises capped vials during filling and packaging tests for the large-scale production and supply of the University of Oxfords COVID-19 vaccine candidate, AZD1222, conducted on a high-performance aseptic vial filling line on September 11, 2020 at the Italian biologics manufacturing facility of multinational corporation Catalent in Anagni, southeast of Rome

Italy will administer the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine to people under 55 years old. They will start administering the vaccine to schoolteachers, army and police forces, prison staff and inmates.

The decision follows a Wednesday meeting between the government and regional governors to discuss the country’s vaccine campaign guidelines, the press office for the Ministry of Regional Affairs said Thursday.  

People over 55 years old, especially those over 80s and the most vulnerable, will receive shots of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, the press office added.

Vaccines need to be approved by the Italian Medicines Agency before they can be distributed in Italy.

On Tuesday, the Italian Medicines Agency, Aifa, said they needed more data on the AstraZeneca vaccine. In a news release they said:

The news comes as Italy’s total Covid-19 death toll surpassed 90,000 on Thursday, according to official data.

The AstraZeneca vaccine was approved by the agency on Jan. 30th. 

A woman walks near a graffiti with the Cuban flag in Havana, on January 12, 2021.

Cuba’s capital city Havana will implement a nightly curfew starting Friday, according to the island’s state-run media. 

People will not be able to leave their homes after 9 p.m. local time without special permission, according to Luis Torres, the president of Havana’s defense council, as reported by the government Radio Rebelde station.

Officials did not say how long the curfew would last. 

Cuba is experiencing its highest spike in Covid-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic, with the largest concentration of cases being in Havana. The island has a total of 30,345 confirmed cases and 225 Covid-19 related deaths according to John Hopkins University.

California’s infection and hospitalization rates are falling, but the state’s vaccine rollout has hit snags. CNN’s Stephanie Elam is in Los Angeles answering your questions on the pandemic. Leave your questions for her below.

A United Airlines plane takes off at Los Angeles International Airport in California on October 1, 2020.

With a federal transportation mask mandate now in effect to protect against the coronavirus, airlines are adjusting their announcements to remind passengers of the new changes to federal law.

The new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention mask order requires people to wear a mask while using any form of public transportation, including on board planes, trains, buses, boats, subways, taxis and ride-shares, as well as inside airports and other transportation hubs. The order went into effect Monday at 11:59 p.m ET.

Several airlines confirmed to CNN that they have changed their pre-boarding and pre-departure announcements to remind travelers that they are required to wear face masks.

Here’s some of them:

A volunteer receives an injection at a hospital in Soweto, South Africa, on June 24, 2020, as part of Africa's first participation in a Covid-19 vaccine trial developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca.

Africa is to receive nearly 90 million Covid-19 vaccines in February in what will be the continent’s “largest ever mass vaccination campaign,” the World Health Organization announced in a statement on Thursday.

In the statement, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, said: “Africa has watched other regions start COVID-19 vaccination campaigns from the side-lines for too long. This planned roll-out is a critical first step to ensuring the continent gets equitable access to vaccines.”

Most vaccines will be from the AstraZeneca/Oxford AZD1222 vaccine and subject to the vaccine being listed for emergency use by WHO. The WHO is currently reviewing the vaccine and the outcome of the review is expected soon.

The statement adds that around 320,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine — which has received WHO Emergency Use Listing — have been allocated to four African countries —  Cabo Verde, Rwanda, South Africa and Tunisia, which are able to store and distribute doses at minus 70 degrees Celsius.

The initial phase of 90 million doses will support countries to immunize 3% of the African population most in need of protection, including health workers and other vulnerable groups in the first half of 2021, the statement adds.

The WHO says it aims to vaccinate at least 20% of Africans by providing up to 600 million doses by the end of 2021, according to the press release.

Veronica Bedico.

During the pandemic, an increasing number of families are turning to government support and food banks to feed their families.  

“It was life or death. We were either going to starve or we were lucky enough to qualify for SNAP benefits,” Veronica Bedico, an unemployed mother of three, told CNN’s Vanessa Yurkevich. 

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is Bedico’s lifeline, she said. The number of Americans on food stamps, or SNAP, has grown by more than 20% during the pandemic, Yurkevich reported. 

Stacy Dean, the deputy under secretary for food, nutrition and consumer services at the US Department of Agriculture, said that the government is reviewing the program due to increased demands. 

At the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, those on SNAP tell Yurkevich they need more food. 

“I get like 200 bucks, and you know, I can make it stretch, but … once it’s gone, it’s gone,” SNAP recipient Kenya Edwards said.

Watch more:

Black residents are significantly more likely than White residents to live more than a mile from the closest vaccination facility, according to an analysis measuring barriers to vaccine access.

The analysis released Thursday by the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy and West Health Policy Center is an update to the open-access VaxMap, which was created in December to measure vaccination facility density and driving distance of all residents to locations where Covid-19 vaccines will be administered.

Researchers analyzed 69 counties across the US. These counties are especially concentrated in Georgia, Missouri, Louisiana, Virginia, Texas and Alabama. A third of them are in urban areas, including Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Detroit, New Orleans and New York City.

Coming off the heels of the CDC’s report this week that only 5% of Covid-19 vaccine recipients in the first month of the rollout have been Black, the study’s authors hope the findings “will equip the new administration and state and county governments with information about where greater support is needed.” 

Nearly three-quarters of the counties with these racial disparities in vaccine access also have a high rate of new Covid-19 infections with a daily average of more than 50 new cases per 100,000 during November 2020 to January 2021, the analysis found.

Black people are less likely than White people to live near a pharmacy, clinic, hospital or health center that can administer Covid-19 vaccines, the researchers said.

A health care worker administers a dose of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine at a drive-thru vaccination site in Fontana, California, on February 2.

Around 70% of the total coronavirus vaccine doses administered globally have been in the 50 wealthiest countries compared to only 0.1% administered in the 50 poorest countries, according to analysis by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

The IFRC described the disparity as alarming and said it could result in “deadly and devasting” consequences, warning that if large areas across the globe remain unvaccinated, the virus will carry on circulating and mutating. 

In an effort to tackle the imbalance in vaccine distribution across the globe, the IFRC announced on Thursday a new 100 million Swiss franc ($110 million) plan that aims to support the immunization of 500 million people against Covid-19.  

An Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine vial in Boston, England, on January 18.

Denmark and Norway have joined a slew of European nations saying they won’t give the Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine to people over 65, their national health agencies confirmed on Thursday.

Both cited a lack of data available on the use of the vaccine in older groups.

“We have reviewed the documentation, and until we have seen more data on efficacy among the elderly, it is our recommendation that the vaccine from AstraZeneca should first and foremost be an offer for people under 65,” Bolette Søborg from Denmark’s National Board of Health said in a statement.

“We want to make sure we have the best data and background for the vaccine policy at the national level,” a spokesperson for the Norwegian Institute of Public Health told CNN.

On Wednesday, Belgium recommended not administering the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine to people over the age of 55, following similar decisions in France, Germany, Austria and Sweden which restricted its use for people under 65. 

Also on Wednesday, Switzerland declined to authorize the vaccine for any age group, saying data submitted by AstraZeneca were “not yet sufficient to permit authorization” of the vaccine. 

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) – the EU’s regulator – has approved the vaccine without an age restriction. 

In a statement made when granting conditional marketing authorization of the vaccine, the EMA said that in spite of a lack of data, protection was expected in older adults. 

Another 779,000 Americans filed for first-time unemployment benefits on a seasonally adjusted basis in the last week of January, the Labor Department said Thursday, stressing once again that the jobs recovery isn’t in great shape.

Still, it was a sizable decrease in claims from the prior week. Last week’s claims figure was 812,000, still several times the number during the same period last year, before the pandemic brought the nation to a standstill. 

On top of regular jobless benefits, 348,912 workers filed for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, which is available for people such as the self-employed or gig workers.

Added together, 1.2 million workers filed first-time claims for benefits without adjusting for seasonal swings.

Continued claims, which count people who have filed for at least two consecutive weeks of aid, stood at 4.6 million.

January wasn’t a great month for the jobs recovery, and Friday’s jobs report for the month isn’t expected to bring much better news.

While economists predict 50,000 jobs were added last month, a reversal from the staggering loss in December, the unemployment rate is expected to stay flat at 6.7%. It hasn’t budged since November.

Denmark plans to introduce a digital “vaccine passport” in an effort to reopen society, help businesses and ease travel, the government announced Wednesday. 

The scheme would initially apply to business travelers but authorities hope it could also help the country reopen, allowing Danes to go to restaurants, conferences, music festivals and sporting events – all of which have been restricted since a nationwide lockdown was imposed in December. The current lockdown is set to last until February 28. 

By the end of February, the government hopes citizens will be able to prove they have received a Covid-19 vaccination as it will be registered online. 

Over the next three to four months, the “passport” could also be available on mobile phones, Acting Minister of Finance Morten Bødskov said.

Other information – including whether or not someone tested positive for antibodies – may come in later iterations.

The Director of the Danish Chamber of Commerce described it as a “light at the end of the tunnel for many companies both in the export and in the experience industry.”

Epidemiologist Michael Osterholm compared a UK coronavirus variant to a “Category 5 hurricane” churning off the coast, saying some strains could cause a “major surge” in new cases in the US.

A mutation that could allow Covid-19 to escape antibody protection has now been found in samples of a rapidly spreading strain in the UK, according to a report. Experts say it’s too early to predict whether this development will impact the trajectory of Covid-19 around the world. 

“I think amongst my colleagues, they would agree that this variant from the United Kingdom, which is now beginning to circulate much more widely in the United States, poses a huge challenge to us. And that in just a few weeks, we could be seeing case numbers increase very dramatically,” Osterholm said on CNN’s “New Day.” 

Nadhim Zahawi, the UK's minister for Covid-19 vaccine deployment, leaves 10 Downing Street in London on January 5.

There are approximately 4,000 mutations of Covid-19 in the world right now, according to the UK’s vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi.

Speaking to Sky News on Thursday, Zahawi said researchers are tracking how the virus evolves and Pfizer, BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca are among the manufacturers working to improve their vaccines “to make sure we are ready for any variant.”

Some context: Professor Ravi Gupta, Professor of Microbiology at the University of Cambridge, said UK vaccine minister was not referring to variants “as we have come to know them.” 

“Rather he is referring to individual mutations,” Gupta said, noting that, “many mutations emerge and disappear continuously. Scientists are using ‘variants’ to describe viruses with mutations that are transmitting in the general population – there aren’t 4,000 of those.”

Scientists are not surprised to see the coronavirus evolving but new variants first identified in the UK, Brazil and South Africa are worrisome as they appear more transmissible. Here’s what we know about them.

CNN went inside the British lab helping to identify and trace the spread of variants in the UK. 

Read more here:

A scientist at the Sanger Institute prepares the Covid samples for sequencing. More than 700 positive samples are sequenced in a single run of one machine, which takes around five days.

Related article British scientists say the next dangerous Covid variant is likely already out there. We just don't know it yet

Face masks are for sale on a stand in San Francisco on September 5, 2020.

American consumers may be about to get the first standards for face masks.

The coronavirus pandemic triggered a sudden intense need for masks that had many designing makeshift masks from T-shirts and bandanas. Hundreds of new and untested products flooded the marketplace with almost no oversight or regulation.

But the Wild West of personal protection equipment is set to change.

ASTM International, an international technical standards organization, and the National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory, are working on standards to “establish minimum design, performance (testing), labeling, user instruction, reporting and classification, and conformity assessment requirements for barrier face coverings.”

The hope here is that Americans will have guidance as to which masks actually work. Currently in draft phase, it will go for review Wednesday by ASTM International and its Subcommittee on Respiratory Hazards, which includes representatives from academia, industry stakeholders, government agencies and independent participants.

Read more on this story:

An illustration shows different FFP2 face masks in Dortmund, western Germany, on January 19, 2021. - German Chancellor Angela Merkel and leaders of Germany's 16 states are expected on january 19 to extend and tighten a partial lockdown beyond January, as fears grow over virus variant strains believed to be more contagious. Draft measures seen ahead of the emergency talks include prolonging current restrictions until at least mid-February, requiring medical masks on public transport and in shops, and increasing pressure on employers to allow staff to work from home where possible. (Photo by Ina FASSBENDER / AFP) (Photo by INA FASSBENDER/AFP via Getty Images)

Related article The US may soon have its first standards for consumer face masks. Are they strict enough?

A person, aged 73, receives a Covid-19 vaccine on February 1 in Wolverhampton, England.

The UK could see a “significant return to normality” once the country’s most vulnerable groups have been vaccinated, Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) member Andrew Hayward said on Thursday. 

More than 10 million people in the UK have now received their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.

“It’s fantastic that we vaccinated 10 million people but there’s still a lot of vulnerable people yet to be vaccinated so it’s too early to release just yet,” Hayward cautioned when asked about an end date for England’s current national lockdown, noting that a “continuing decline” in community cases is “the most important measure” to judge when the country could exit lockdown.

Some context: UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Tuesday that the country was “on track” to offer the top four priority groups a vaccine by mid-February.

The government is expected to announce plans to ease England out of its national lockdown on February 22. 

German companies expect coronavirus lockdown measures to last until the middle of September, according to a survey conducted by the country’s Ifo economic institute published Thursday. 

According to the survey, companies expect public life to be restricted for another seven months, the survey said, with their own businesses only returning to normal operation at the end of 2021. ”The start of vaccinations have not yet had a decisive effect,” the head of the Ifo surveys, Klaus Wohlrabe, said in a written statement. 

Some background: On Thursday Germany recorded 14,221 new coronavirus infections – a drop of 3,332 cases compared to the same day last week, according to the country’s main public health authority, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). However, the country’s death toll remains high, with 786 deaths registered in the last 24 hours. 

Last week the RKI warned that while daily infection numbers are steadily declining, the coronavirus situation in the country remains serious due to new variants of the virus, with outbreaks still being reported across the country, particularly in care homes. 

German chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday held conversations with parents of school-age children and talked about lockdown difficulties. ”The mutations (of the coronavirus variants) are of great concern to us,” Merkel said in the virtual meeting, adding that ”I would have wished something different for Germany other than the pandemic.”

All Israelis aged 16 and over are eligible to receive a coronavirus vaccine, Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said Thursday.

Israel has rapidly rolled out its vaccination campaign, and the government aims to inoculate the entire country by the end of March.

3.3 million people in Israel have received a first dose of the vaccine, of which more than 1.9 million have also received their second shot, figures from the Israeli health ministry show. Israel’s population is about 9 million.

As Israel’s government considers whether to further extend the lockdown from tomorrow, new case numbers remain high.

Some 7,397 new cases were reported Wednesday, with a positivity rate on tests of 8.9%. The number of fatalities stands at 4,975.

Dr. Leana Wen on February 2.

As more people around the world get access to the coronavirus vaccines, many questions remain. Will it work? Will there be side effects? Do I need to rest after I get the vaccine? Can I hang out with my friends and family now?

CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and visiting professor at George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, says once you have secured your vaccination appointment, make sure to follow all instructions.

“Complete paperwork if there is any that you need to do in advance,” she advises. “Bring all required documentation; some places ask for identification or proof of residency, so know what you need and make sure you have it.”

When the day arrives to head to the appointment, Wen says it’s important that you wear a mask to minimize your exposure to coronavirus while waiting in line.

Wen says after you’ve received the shot, you may have a bit of soreness in the location where you get injected.

“Many people have no symptoms beyond that. Some develop side effects in one of two categories. First, they could have more soreness, redness and swelling at the site of the injection. Second, they could have what we call systemic symptoms, meaning that they feel something throughout their body. They may develop headache, fever, fatigue and muscle aches. These could last hours and usually go away after a day,” she says.

Read more advice from Dr Wen here:

Medical staff inoculate the public and first responders against Covid-19 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts on February 1, 2021. - Mass vaccinations against Covid-19 opened to the public at Gillette Stadium as part of the beginning of "phase two" in Massachusetts with people 75 years old and older being allowed to be vaccinated. The Gillette Stadium Mass vaccination site is a partnership between the Kraft Family, CIC Health and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The site initially was inoculating a few hundred people a day and is now doing 2,500 people a day and working towards doing more. (Photo by Joseph Prezioso / AFP) (Photo by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images)

Related article How to prepare for your Covid-19 vaccination - advice from Dr. Wen

The Atlético Madrid flag flies at half-staff in memory of Covid-19 victims at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid on June 2, 2020.

French forward Moussa Dembélé has become the fourth Atlético Madrid player to test positive for Covid-19 within the space of a week, the Spanish league leaders confirmed Thursday.

The club said in a statement that the forward, who joined the Madrid side on loan in January, was isolating at home in line with the league’s protocol.

Atlético announced just 24 hours earlier that club record signing João Felix had tested positive for Covid-19.

Last Saturday, defender Mario Hermoso and winger Yannick Carrasco were also confirmed to have returned positive results.

Atlético, who currently hold a 10-point lead at the top of the Spanish top-flight division with a game in hand, host Celta Vigo at home on Monday.

Trish Skinner sits with her husband Peter at home in Northamptonshire as they watch her father's burial service over Zoom.

Trish Skinner and her husband sit on a couch, flip open their iPad cover, and open Zoom. Skinner is attending her father’s funeral. Dozens of relatives will join her on this call.

Around 100 miles away, near the southern English coast, someone holds up an iPhone as a coffin containing the body of Herbert John Tate, 103, is lowered into a wet, clay-lined grave.

The Zoom call is as much closure as Skinner, 72, can get – at least for now.

Tate is one of the 2.25 million people around the world to have died after contracting the coronavirus. As well as taking the lives of their loved ones, the virus has robbed millions more of the chance to properly grieve, with funerals banned or limited to small numbers of socially distanced mourners to reduce the risk of coronavirus spreading.

Skinner is profoundly aware of the connection she has to others in her position. She recalls, earlier in the pandemic, seeing a news report on TV about a mass burial.

“I couldn’t imagine how people must be feeling,” she says. “And the fact that they’re losing closer loved ones – husbands and wives, children maybe – and not be allowed to be with them. (They) must be absolutely distraught.”

Read the full story:

A family member streams the funeral service for Herbert John Tate live on Zoom, so family can watch from home.

Related article Covid destroyed lives spent together. Now those left behind must say farewell by Zoom

Chairs of a coffee shop are stacked in the empty town of Quedlinburg, Germany on February 3.

A majority of Germans say life has not been significantly changed by the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new survey from the Pew Research Center published Wednesday.

By comparison, 74% of Americans say the pandemic is affecting their everyday lives a great deal or a fair amount, up from 67% in June, the poll of 4,000 adults in the US, Germany, France and the UK found.

Majorities in France and the UK also reported their life has been impacted at least a fair amount due to Covid-19.

The survey also found that Germans overwhelmingly approve of their country’s handling of the pandemic, with 77% rating it as “good.” In France, 54% of those polled approve of their country’s handling and in Britain, 48% did.

Just 41% of Americans approve of how the country is handling the coronavirus pandemic. Asked simply whether the country is doing a bad or a good job, 58% of those polled came down in the “bad” category.

People in all four countries are optimistic about future pandemics. In the US, 67% say they feel optimistic about the country’s ability to handle future crises. In Germany, 77% do, 68% do in the UK and 60% do in France.

The United Kingdom is launching the world’s first study examining whether different coronavirus vaccines can safely be used for two-dose regimens.   

Participants in the study will be given the vaccine in alternating doses – for example, Oxford/AstraZeneca for the first dose and Pfizer/BioNTech for the second.  

Enrollment in the UK government-funded study is currently underway and preliminary results are expected over the summer. 

The current vaccine dosing regimen for the general public will remain unchanged in the UK. But if the study shows promising results, the government may consider revising the recommended vaccine regimen. 

“Nothing will be approved for use more widely than the study, or as part of our vaccine deployment program, until researchers and the regulator are absolutely confident the approach is safe and effective” said minister of Covid-19 vaccine development Nadhim Zahawi.

Currently, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization do not recommend interchanging coronavirus vaccines, since there is no data available that examines whether doing so would still provide the same level of protection.

A general view of the resting area in Newbridge Leisure Centre gym which is being used as a vaccine hub in Newbridge, Wales on February 2.

Global vaccine confidence is rising according to a new survey showing that 54% of respondents across 15 countries would take a Covid-19 vaccine if one was offered to them.

The survey by the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London revealed that by mid-January, willingness to get vaccinated increased in 11 of the 15 countries since November, when 41% of respondents said they would get vaccinated. 

The UK had the highest share of respondents who strongly agreed they would get a vaccine, 70%. On the other end of the spectrum was France, with 30% – although that number has doubled since November, when just 15% of French respondents strongly agreed.

France also had the highest percentage of respondents who strongly agreed that they are worried about vaccine side effects, 40%. However, concern over potential vaccine side effects has decreased since November in most countries surveyed, with 47% of all respondents saying they are worried about side effects. 

Over half of those surveyed, 58%, believe government health authorities will deliver an effective Covid-19 vaccine – with the share of respondents who strongly agree increasing in 11 countries since November.

The results suggest that access to Covid-19 vaccines is a challenge. About 54% of respondents said it would be difficult to get a vaccine, with people in South Korea and Japan reporting the greatest difficulties in access. 

“As vaccines will play a vital role in controlling the pandemic, leaders must act now to help more people understand the benefits of being vaccinated against Covid-19 and make sure that no one is left behind,” Nabarro said.

The countries included in the survey were:

Read the full story here:

PORTLAND, OR - DECEMBER 16: A healthcare worker prepares COVID-19 vaccine doses at the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center on December 16, 2020 in Portland, Oregon. The first rounds of Pfizer's vaccine were administered in Oregon on Wednesday. (Photo by Nathan Howard/Getty Images)

Related article Global Covid-19 vaccine confidence is rising, survey shows

Western Australia has reported zero new locally-transmitted Covid-19 cases for the fourth day in a row, according to State Premier Mark McGowan.

This comes four days after the premier announced a hard lockdown for Perth metropolitan area and the Peel and South West regions of the state after a hotel security guard tested positive for Covid-19.

“I can confirm this morning that WA has recorded a fourth straight day with no new local cases of COVID-19 detected,” the state premier tweeted Thursday. 

The state saw a record number of people who tested for the virus on the first day of the lockdown and McGowan said the testing numbers remain high.

“I have a very important ask as we approach the end of our short-sharp lockdown - if you have any symptoms, PLEASE GET TESTED,” McGowan tweeted.

The state’s lockdown, which covers more than 2 million people, is set to expire Friday.

There could be up to 534,000 Covid-19 deaths in the United States by February 27, according to an ensemble forecast by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – which would amount to about one death for every minute of the pandemic.

The US recorded its first death from coronavirus on February 29, and since then the toll has reached at least 450,681 people, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Variants and vaccines: Wednesday’s forecast of another 80,000 people dying over this month comes as health experts race to ramp up vaccinations to get ahead of the more transmissible variant strains, which they fear could send cases surging once again.

The best way to prevent variants from dominating the pandemic, said director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci, is to prevent the replication of the virus through quick vaccination and health measures to prevent spread.

Currently, the US is not vaccinating at a rate fast enough to get ahead of the variants, he said, but “we’re getting better and better,” Fauci told NBC News on Wednesday.

The number of variants in the US and how quickly they are spreading can be difficult for researchers to trace because of the amount of genetic sequencing it takes throughout the country, according to New York City’s health adviser Jay Varma.

Read the full story:

NEW ORLEANS, Jan. 19, 2021 -- A memorial service for people who lost lives to COVID-19 is held in New Orleans, Louisiana, the United States, Jan. 19, 2021. (Photo by Lan Wei/Xinhua via Getty) (Xinhua/Lan Wei via Getty Images)

Related article The US coronavirus death toll could reach 530,000 this month. That would be one every minute of the pandemic

Prisoners in Massachusetts have a special incentive to get the Covid-19 vaccine.

If they receive both doses, watch and read educational materials and submit a form for approval, they could shorten their sentence, the Department of Corrections said in a memo.

The incentive is made possible by a Massachusetts law, which states that prisoners are “eligible to earn deductions from sentences and completion credits, collectively known as good conduct deductions, for participation in and completion of programs and activities” outlined in the law.

Prisoners who complete the required steps are eligible for a total of seven and a half days of “earned good time,” according to a memo from Department of Correction Commissioner Carol A. Mici.

“I have determined that receiving the vaccine is significantly valuable to rehabilitation and will therefore be offering Earned Good Time,” Mici wrote.

Prisons remain infection hot spots: There have been 368,271 Covid-19 cases and 2,256 related deaths among incarcerated people to date, according to the Covid Prison Project, which monitors Covid-19 in correctional facilities across the US.

A medical assistant processes a sample from a Covid-19 rapid antigen test at a senior nursing home in Froendenberg, Germany on January 22.

Weekly screening of all students, teachers, and staff using rapid antigen tests can reduce in-school infections by 50% for high schools and 35% for primary schools, a new study found.

The different results between high schools and primary schools are due to high schoolers having a greater number of contacts and higher rates of transmission, according to the study by the Rockefeller Foundation and the Department of Health and Human Services

How the study was conducted: From October to December 2020, 20,000 rapid antigen tests were distributed to K-12 schools in six pilot cities across the United States.

Each city used these tests to develop independent school testing programs aligned with guidelines developed by Johns Hopkins University and Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy.

Schools had to decide how often to test, if testing should take place on or off school grounds and how to approach staff and students opting out of testing.

Other findings: The analysis also found that monthly testing showed a 5% reduction in infections, while twice weekly testing showed a 20% reduction. It also found that testing only teachers and staff is less effective, and the impact is greater in high schools, where students typically attend multiple classes in a day.

Social distancing by 6 feet or more can reduce infections by 88%, and universal masking by 40%, the study said.

The Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA) authorized two monoclonal antibody treatments for coronavirus on Wednesday, according to Italian news agency ANSA.

Monoclonal antibodies are laboratory-made proteins that mimic the immune system’s ability to fight off harmful pathogens such as viruses. 

The two monoclonal antibody therapies, made by the US companies Regeneron and Eli Lilly, can be used with some conditions and for a limited category of patients, according to ANSA.

Eli Lilly and Regeneron argue that their treatments can play an important role in the pandemic, even as more people get vaccinated.

Monoclonal treatments have a lot of advantages – they work right away, unlike a vaccine that takes a few weeks to kick in. And Regeneron has been testing its treatment as a way to protect people vulnerable to infection after someone in their own home has tested positive.

The United States reported 119,235 new Covid-19 cases and 3,796 virus-related deaths on Wednesday, according to Johns Hopkins University (JHU) data.

According to JHU’s tally of cases, at least 26,554,794 coronavirus infections have been identified in the US, resulting in at least 450,681 fatalities.

The totals include cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases.  

Vaccine drive: At least 55,943,800 vaccine doses have been distributed and at least 33,878,254 shots administered, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

See CNN’s live tracker here.

The COVAX initiative for equitable global access to Covid-19 vaccines has announced its plan to distribute more than 330 million doses to developing nations in the first half of 2021.

In an interim distribution plan published Wednesday, the COVAX vaccine-sharing facility said the doses will cover an average of 3.3% of the total population of the 145 countries participating in the initial round of distribution.

The COVAX initiative was launched in April last year to ensure the rapid and equitable distribution of coronavirus vaccines to rich and poor countries alike and the vaccination of high-risk groups.

Led by the World Health Organization and numerous other international health groups, it has since been joined by 190 countries, but was shunned by the United States, partly because former President Donald Trump did not want to work with WHO.

The first round of distribution includes 336 million doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine – 240 million made by the Serum Institute of India and 96 million by AstraZeneca – as well as 1.2 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

Vaccine allocation: According to COVAX, the vaccines will be allocated to participating countries proportional to their population size. India, for example, will receive the highest amount – 97 million doses of AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine produced by the Serum Institute of India.

North Korea is also among the list, due to receive nearly 2 million doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine. Pyongyang claims the country has not contracted a single case of Covid-19 – which experts say is likely untrue.

Some wealthy, self-financing countries were also included in the initial distribution plan, such as South Korea, Canada, New Zealand and Singapore.

Read the full story:

KATHMANDU, 3, NEPAL - 2021/01/27: A health worker holds up a vial of Covid-19 coronavirus vaccine to administer to frontlines health workers at the Armed Police Force Hospital. Nepal government is launching the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccination campaign against coronavirus (Covid19) starting today. Nepalese Health and sanitation workers deployed in the frontlines will be the first to receive the vaccines in the first phase of the campaign. Over 400,000 such frontline workers will be included in the initial stage. (Photo by Prabin Ranabhat/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Related article COVAX to distribute more than 330 million Covid-19 vaccine doses to developing nations

A mask lies in the snow outside an apartment building on December 23, 2020 in White Plains, New York.

Experts from the Infectious Disease Society of America are urging the public to continue wearing masks, even after they have been vaccinated. 

Clinical trial data shows that the AstraZeneca vaccine could not only reduce the risk of severe disease, but reduce overall transmission of the virus, said the company. But experts caution the public against extrapolating these findings to other vaccines or abandoning mask use altogether. 

There’s still a lot we don’t know – such as the prevalence of Covid-19 variants, the herd immunity threshold, and speed of vaccine roll-out, said Dr. Ricardo Franco of the Center for AIDS Research at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. 

In the meantime, the experts urged the public to continue following evidence-based practices to limit the spread of the virus, like wearing masks, social distancing, washing hands, and getting vaccinated.

“This game is at halftime,” said Franco. “We got off a big deficit. We tied the game at halftime. We need to keep pushing and not give the virus a chance to play well in the second half.” 

More than 8,000 people across the 10 Japanese prefectures under a state of emergency are waiting for space in either a Covid-19 hospital bed or isolation facility after testing positive for the virus, health officials said Wednesday.

Prefectures are in charge of local protocols of where and when to move people who test positive for Covid-19.

The 8,767 people reported in Wednesday’s numbers includes people with mild or no symptoms who are waiting for space in an isolation center. 

The 10 prefectures under the emergency order are Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Osaka, Kobe, Hyogo, Aichi, Gifu and Fukuoka.

The state of emergency will continue through March 7. Under these restrictions, companies must facilitate work from home where possible, and restaurants must close by 8 p.m. Sports and entertainment events in Japan are also required to limit the number of attendees.

Dr. Lee Norman, head of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, answers questions from reporters about the Covid-19 pandemic during a news conference on Wednesday, January 27, at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kansas.

The B.1.1.7 variant of Covid-19, colloquially known as the UK variant, has been detected in Kansas, according to a news release from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE).

An Ellis County resident was discovered to have the UK variant on Wednesday afternoon, and an investigation is underway to determine if others may have been exposed, KDHE says. No additional information about the patient is available. 

Some context: The B.1.1.7 variant has been reported in more than 30 states, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, very few samples from infected people are being tested, so there is no way to know just how common the new strains are in the country.

A man wearing a protective face mask is seen outside the Grand Hyatt in Melbourne.

The testing of more than 500 Australian Open players, officials and support staff who went into isolation will be completed by 5 p.m. (1 a.m. ET) Thursday, according to Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley.

The players and staff went into isolation after a hotel quarantine worker tested positive for Covid-19 in Melbourne on Wednesday. The unnamed man last worked at the Grand Hyatt on January 29, and returned a negative test at the end of his shift. He only developed Covid-19 symptoms the following week.

Of the 507 people staying at the hotel, 60 are players, Tiley said on Thursday. They will all need to return negative tests before they can be released from isolation.

All play at Melbourne Park tennis center set for Thursday has been suspended to allow for the players and staff to be tested. The fixtures for Friday will be announced later on Thursday, and the draw for the Australian Open will be postponed to Friday, Tiley added.

The Tennis Australia boss said the affected warm-up matches would be rescheduled, time permitting. “Everything remains as is, just with a day delay, until further notice,” Tiley said. 

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, President-elect Joe Biden’s pick to head the Centers for Disease Control, speaks during a news conference at the Queen Theater on December 8, 2020.

Health authorities are still learning about the new coronavirus variants, and whether current health measures are as effective against them – but data suggests that the B.1.1.7 variant, first identified in the UK, may be deadlier than the original strand.

“We’d have to … follow the science, and we are learning more and more about whether our public health measures, our mitigation measures, our mask wearing, our distancing, will be fully effective against these variants, but we have every reason to believe that they will.” 

Walensky added that as authorities examine more people infected by the variants, they are finding that those people are typically not wearing masks or social distancing. “What we know is that they’ll (variants) probably be less forgiving when we don’t follow that guidance,” she said.

Workers hold placards in protest at a Food 4 Less supermarket in Long Beach, California on February 3, after a decision by owner Kroger to close two stores rather than pay workers an additional $4 in "hazard pay" for their continued work during the pandemic.

Hundreds of grocery store workers in Long Beach, California may soon be without jobs after Kroger announced it will permanently close two stores to avoid offering workers hazard pay during the pandemic.

The citywide hazard pay ordinance requires large grocers to pay their staff an extra $4 per hour for at least four months since workers face higher risk of exposure to the virus.

Local officials and the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), which represents 1.3 million workers, condemned Kroger’s move to close the stores instead of increasing employees’ pay.

Profit during the pandemic: The two stores slated for closure experienced sales increases of up to 31% since the start of the pandemic, according to Ron Herrera, president of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor.

Herrera said Kroger has recently seen a 90% profit increase and spent $1.4 billion in stock buybacks. CNN has reached out to Kroger for comment on its earnings. 

Robert Gonzalez, a frozen food clerk at the Food 4 Less, said he was devastated to learn his store will be closing after working for Kroger for 26 years. 

More possible closures: Earlier this week, the cities of Los Angeles, West Hollywood, San Jose, Berkeley, San Francisco, and Oakland passed similar hazard pay ordinances. Grocery store employees in Seattle who work for a company with more than 500 employees also saw a $4 an hour hazard pay increase starting Wednesday. Kroger told CNN it was also considering additional closures in several US cities.

There have been at least 450,680 reported deaths from Covid-19 in the United States since the pandemic began, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

At least 26,554,216 total coronavirus cases have been reported in the US, university data showed.

Johns Hopkins recorded the first death from Covid-19 on Feb. 29 in Washington state. Later in the spring, two earlier deaths in California were posthumously confirmed to be from Covid-19.

There are four other countries in the world that have reported over 100,000 total Covid-19 deaths, according to the university. Brazil has more than 200,000 total deaths while Mexico, India, and the United Kingdom have over 100,000.

RAF personnel load a batch of the Covid-19 vaccine onto a Voyager aircraft bound for the Falkland Islands at RAF Brize Norton on February 01, 2021 in Brize Norton, England.

The coronavirus pandemic continues to rage across the world, and in the United States, January marked the deadliest month of the pandemic so far. At the same time, the worldwide race to distribute vaccines is on.

If you’re just catching up now, here’s a look at the latest vaccine news:

President Joe Biden told House Democrats on a conference call Wednesday he is open to narrowing the distribution of $1,400 stimulus checks in his Covid-19 relief proposal to focus on poor and middle-class people, according to audio of the call obtained by CNN

In the call, Biden also warned his party about the dangers of engaging in intraparty battles, contending their strength is in their unity with narrow majorities in both the House and the Senate.

Stimulus checks: Biden made clear he wasn’t willing to dramatically drop the $1.9 trillion price tag for his plan, but also said he’s willing to make the stimulus checks more narrowly targeted. Biden told House Democrats the additional $1,400 stimulus checks are a key component of the White House package, saying of the checks “people need it and frankly, they’ve been promised it.”

“I think we can better target the number, I’m OK with that,” Biden said of the distribution of stimulus checks. “But … I’m not gonna start my administration by breaking a promise to the American people.”

Read more:

Related article Biden tells House Democrats to 'stick together' in Covid-19 relief push

The Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine appears to substantially reduce transmission of the virus, rather than simply preventing symptomatic infections, UK researchers have suggested.

The rate of positive PCR tests declined by about half after two doses, according to preliminary results by researchers at the University of Oxford that have yet to be peer reviewed.

Their analysis, released as a preprint Tuesday, also supports spacing out doses and estimates good efficacy after just one shot of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

The study did not measure transmission directly – for example, by tracing contacts who were infected by study volunteers. But the researchers did collect regular nasal swabs from some participants and found that the rate of positive PCR tests fell by half after two doses of the vaccine. After one dose only, the rate of positive tests fell by 67%.

If the vaccine were simply making infections milder, PCR positivity would not change, the authors argued in the preprint analysis. “A measure of overall PCR positivity is appropriate to assess whether there is a reduction in the burden of infection.”

Read the full story:

A patient receives an injection of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine at the vaccination centre set up in Brighton, southern England

Related article Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine may cut coronavirus transmission, UK researchers say