Approx 1 million americans vaccinated for COVID; Tennessee new epicenter

Overview

• Post By : Kumar Jeetendra


• Source: Reuters


• Date: 24 Dec,2020

Tennessee emerged alongside California on Wednesday as an epicenter of the latest COVID-19 surge even while more than 1 million Americans have been vaccinated as U.S. political leaders sought to guard against an extremely contagious coronavirus variant sweeping across Britain.

Tennessee averaged nearly 128 new infections per 100,000 people during the last week, the highest of any U.S. state, based on U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. California stood second at 111 new cases per 100,000 residents.

“Our state is ground zero for a surge in COVID-19 and we need Tennesseans to (do) their role,” Governor Bill Lee said on Twitter, urging residents to wear face masks and gather only with members of their household over Christmas.

Some public health officials say Americans’ traveling and gathering for Thanksgiving contributed to the newest nationwide explosion in cases.

All told, 31 U.S. states have reported a grim record in new COVID-19 infections for December as hospitalizations and deaths also spiral. More than 194,600 new cases were confirmed on Tuesday alone.

The CDC stated that as of Wednesday morning more than 1 million people nationwide were given the first of the 2 doses required for both coronavirus vaccines that have been approved. But most Americans have been told that it could be six months or more before they are eligible for the shots since priority is given to healthcare workers, nursing home residents and in some cases top government officials.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease officer, obtained the Moderna vaccine on live television on Tuesday. President-elect Joe Biden was inoculated with the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine facing cameras on Monday.

U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar, a Democrat from Minnesota, earlier this week criticized political leaders for placing themselves at the front of the line for the shooter.

Which is why I won’t take it,” Omar said on Twitter.

The Trump government said on Wednesday it had reached a $2 billion deal with Pfizer to distribute 100 million additional doses of its vaccine by July.

However, Americans who saw a ray of hope from the launch of the two vaccines in December heard of an even more transmissible coronavirus version dispersing in the uk. Drug makers Pfizer and Moderna were testing their vaccines against the variant, but believed that the drugs would be effective against the mutant virus. [n4N2J229V]

America, unlike many nations globally, has not banned travelers from Britain.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city would dictate global travelers to quarantine for 14 days on arrival and supply contact information to government officials. Sheriff’s deputies will make visits to enforce the order on those arriving from Britain, the mayor said.

Travelers found to violate those orders face fines of $1,000 per day, de Blasio said.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has asked airlines to screen British travelers for COVID-19. The state was an early epicenter of the virus and has recorded over 36,000 COVID deaths, a lot more than any other nation.

Washington state Governor Jay Inslee this week purchased a 14-day quarantine for travelers coming from the UK, South Africa or other countries where the new version had been detected.

In New York City, vaccination programs expanded to the Fire Department, where roughly 6,000 employees have contracted the virus, Fire Commissioner Dan Nigro told reporters. Some 400 FDNY paramedics lined up to get their first doses of the Moderna vaccine on Wednesday, including Verena Kansog, advanced life support coordinator for Manhattan, who got her shot at a training center on Randalls Island.

“I feel relieved,” Kansog, who worried about bringing the disease home to her elderly mother, told Reuters in a telephone interview. “I was not one single bit nervous.”