COVID-19 Impact on GeorgiaCOVID-19 News from Around the State
Biden’s team tightens grip on state use of Covid antibody treatments
The Biden administration is imposing new limits on states’ ability to access to Covid-19 antibody treatments amid rising demand from GOP governors who have relied on the drug as a primary weapon against the virus. Federal health officials plan to allocate specific amounts to each state under the new approach, in an effort to more evenly distribute the 150,000 doses that the government makes available each week.
Largest colleges push student vaccines with mandates, prizes
As a new semester begins amid a resurgence of the coronavirus, administrators and faculty nationwide see high vaccination rates as key to bringing some normalcy back to campus. Where mandates face political opposition, schools are relying on incentives and outreach to get more students vaccinated.
COVID-19 cases climbing, wiping out months of progress
COVID-19 deaths and cases in the U.S. have climbed back to levels not seen since last winter, erasing months of progress and potentially bolstering President Joe Biden’s argument for his sweeping new vaccination requirements. The cases — driven by the delta variant combined with resistance among some Americans to getting the vaccine — are concentrated mostly in the South. While one-time hot spots like FL and LA are improving, infection rates are soaring in KY, GA and TN, fueled by children now back in school, loose mask restrictions and low vaccination levels.
Census: Relief programs staved off hardship in COVID crash
Massive government relief passed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic moved millions of Americans out of poverty last year, even as the official poverty rate increased slightly, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday. The official poverty measure rose 1 percentage point in 2020, with 11.4% of Americans living in poverty, or more than 37 million people. … the share of people in poverty dropped significantly after the aid was factored in.
Your Diet Could Cut Your Odds for Severe COVID-19
People who eat plenty of fruits and vegetables may have a somewhat lower risk of COVID-19 than those with unhealthy diets, a new study suggests. Of more than 590,000 adults surveyed, researchers found that the quarter with the most plant-rich diets had a 9% lower risk of developing COVID-19 than the quarter with the least-healthy diets. Their risk of severe COVID-19, meanwhile, was 41% lower…
FDA experts among group opposing US booster shot plan
The average person doesn’t need a COVID-19 booster yet, an international group of scientists — including two top U.S. regulators — wrote Monday in a scientific journal. The experts reviewed studies of the vaccines’ performance and concluded the shots are working well despite the extra-contagious delta variant, especially against severe disease. “Even in populations with fairly high vaccination rates, the unvaccinated are still the major drivers of transmission” at this stage of the pandemic, they concluded.
School vaccine campaigns targeting students face blowback
In most states, minors need the consent of their parents in order to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Navigating family politics in cases of differing views has been a challenge for students and organizers of outreach campaigns, who have faced blowback for directly targeting young people.
Black, Hispanic people miss out on Covid-19 testing and vaccinations
Black and Hispanic people in the US are more likely to catch Covid-19, and they're more likely to be hospitalized or even die of it. But both groups are still missing out on testing and vaccination in many states, according to new data compiled by Johns Hopkins University and shared exclusively with CNN. Data from the CDC shows that Black and Hispanic people are at least twice as likely to die of Covid-19 as non-Hispanic White people and nearly three times more likely to be hospitalized.
The seven-day average of daily Covid cases is about 144,300 as of Sept. 12, down 12% over the past week and 14% from the most-recent peak in case counts on Sept. 1, when the country was reporting an average of roughly 167,600 cases per day. There are also some promising signs in Covid hospitalization and death tallies, which tend to lag case counts by a couple weeks or more.
Child Covid-19 cases increased nearly 240% since July, pediatricians’ group says
Covid-19 infections have risen "exponentially" among children in the US since July, according to data published Monday by the AAP. The group reported 243,373 new cases among kids over the past week. While this is a decline from last week, when 251,781 cases were reported, it's about a 240% increase since early July, when kids accounted for 71,726 cases.
CDC study: Unvaccinated people are 11 times more likely to die of Covid-19
[The] CDC released a new study Friday that underscores the effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccines against serious illness or death. The study, which examined hospitalizations and deaths from Covid-19 over a period of more than three months, found that unvaccinated people are more than 10 times more likely to be hospitalized with Covid-19 than those who have been vaccinated, and 11 times more likely to die of the virus, according to CDC director Rochelle Walensky.
Gottlieb says vaccines could be approved for kids 5-11 by end of October
In an interview with "Face the Nation," Gottlieb, who serves on Pfizer's board of directors, said the drug company is expecting to have data on its vaccines in young children before the end of September, which will then be filed with the FDA "very quickly." The agency then has said it will be weeks, rather than months, before determining whether it will authorize the vaccine for kids ages 5 to 11.
Getting Your First COVID Shot Can Boost Mental Health: Study
U.S. adults who got the vaccine between December 2020 and March 2021 experienced a 4% reduction in their risk of being mildly depressed and a 15% drop in their risk of severe depression, researchers reported Sept. 8 in the journal PLOS ONE.
Biden’s vaccine rules ignite instant, hot GOP opposition
President Joe Biden’s aggressive push to require millions of U.S. workers to get vaccinated against the coronavirus is running into a wall of resistance from Republican leaders threatening everything from lawsuits to civil disobedience, plunging the country deeper into culture wars that have festered since the onset of the pandemic.
Amazon, Kroger and Walmart to offer cheaper rapid COVID-19 tests
The ability to quickly check whether one is infected with COVID-19 is about to get easier and less expensive, with Amazon, Kroger and Walmart each set to offer within days at-home, rapid tests — with no retailer price markups, according to the Biden administration. "Americans will be able to buy these tests at their local retailers or online for up to 35% less starting by the end of this week" and continuing for the next three months, the White House stated Thursday.
Crowded stadiums, pandemic create combustible mix this fall
More than 65,000 fans packed a stadium in Tampa to watch Tom Brady lead the Buccaneers to a win in the NFL’s season opener, just hours after President Joe Biden announced a sweeping new plan to slow the latest COVID-19 surge. Most people at the open-air stadium Thursday night didn’t wear masks. There was no vaccine requirement for fans, something Biden has urged sports and entertainment venues to impose. Many other football stadiums are taking a similarly lax approach to pandemic measures this fall, and that worries health experts.