Pressure continues to increase from Democratic elected officials to get people vaccinated against the coronavirus as infections mount across the country, fueled by the spread of the highly transmissible delta variant.
Days after President Joe Biden said federal workers and contractors would have to get vaccinated or face restrictions that include masking and testing, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday workers in New York City’s airports and public transit system will be required to get the shots or weekly tests. That follows last week’s announcement by Cuomo that all state workers must get vaccinated or submit to weekly tests.
At a Manhattan news conference Monday, Cuomo also urged private enterprises to require vaccination of their employees and customers.
“Private business, bars, restaurants, go to a vaccine-only admission,” he said.
Also Monday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio “strongly” recommended that vaccinated people return to wearing masks indoors, but declined to make masking mandatory.
And New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said all health care personnel and those who work at correctional facilities will have to be vaccinated by Sept. 7 or get tested once or twice a week for the coronavirus.
Also in the news:
►More than 816,000 vaccine doses were reported administered Sunday, including 517,000 newly vaccinated. Since July 5, vaccinations have been slowly ramping up across the nation, said Cyrus Shahpar, the White House’s COVID-19 data director, on Twitter.
►Britain is expected to offer COVID-19 booster vaccines to 32 million people starting early next month, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The CDC has said that fully vaccinated Americans do not need a third shot yet because they continue to be well protected by their initial doses.
►Tokyo Olympic organizers reported 18 new coronavirus cases Sunday as cases reach an all-time high in Tokyo. The city reported 4,058 cases on Saturday, one day after Japan extended its state of emergency.
►The University of South Carolina and University of Minnesota are requiring students to wear masks indoors this fall. Some colleges will also require students to provide proof they received COVID-19 vaccines.
📈Today’s numbers: The U.S. has had more than 35 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and 613,400 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The global totals: More than 198.6 million cases and 4.232 million deaths. More than 164.7 million Americans — 49.6% of the population — have been fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.
📘What we’re reading: Americans’ divide over masks and vaccines has perplexed sociologists, legal scholars, public health experts and philosophers, causing them to wonder: At what point should individual rights yield to the public interest? Read more here.
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Sen. Lindsey Graham announces breakthrough infection
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said Monday on Twitter that he has tested positive for the coronavirus despite being vaccinated.
Graham, 66, said he saw a doctor Monday morning after experiencing flu-like symptoms Saturday night and currently has mild symptoms that include feeling like he has a sinus infection. He plans to quarantine for 10 days.
“I am very glad I was vaccinated because without vaccination I am certain I would not feel as well as I do now,” Graham tweeted. “My symptoms would be far worse.”
Millions face eviction after federal eviction moratorium ends
The end of the federal moratorium means evictions could begin Monday, leading to a years’ worth of evictions over several weeks just as the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus is rapidly spreading and ushering in the worst housing crisis since the Great Recession.
The moratorium, put in place by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in September, was the only measure keeping millions of tenants in their homes. Many of them lost jobs during the pandemic and had fallen months behind on their rent.
Landlords successfully challenged the order in court, arguing they also had bills to pay. They pointed out that tenants could access nearly $47 billion in federal money set aside to help pay rents and related expenses.
Advocates for tenants said the distribution of the money had been slow and that more time was needed to distribute it and repay landlords.
Even with the delay, roughly 3.6 million people in the U.S. as of July 5 said they face eviction in the next two months, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey. Here’s what you need to know if you’ve missed payments.
Florida sets record for COVID hospitalizations
Florida on Sunday broke its record for coronavirus hospitalizations a day after the state recorded the most daily COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic in early 2020.
More than 10,200 people in Florida are hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19 cases, according to data reported to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. The previous record of 10,170 hospitalizations was from July 23, 2020, more than a half-year before vaccinations started becoming widespread, according to the Florida Hospital Association. Florida leads the nation in per capita hospitalizations for COVID-19.
Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare’s chief communications officer said the hospital has 70 patients in its COVID-19 unit — an increase of 11 since Friday and the highest the hospital has seen. The previous highest number was 51, said Stephanie Derzypolski, who added that the majority of those in the hospital with COVID now are unvaccinated.
Coronavirus cases are climbing across the country, but there are dramatic differences in the intensity of the outbreaks.
Tennessee reported 356 cases in the last week of June and 12,765 cases in the last week of July, resulting in a 3,486% increase. In California, cases were up 1,078%. And in Louisiana, cases were up 1,043%.
More than 1M vaccine doses thrown away in 10 states since December
Iowa might have to throw out tens of thousands of doses of the vaccine over the next six weeks. Last week, El Paso, Texas, threw out nearly 4,000. And in Arkansas, more than 80,000 doses expired this week.
“Prior to the vaccine, I was heartsick because people died and we couldn’t help them. Now, they don’t get the vaccine and we can’t help them,” Tammy Kellebrew, a pharmacist who travels to rural hospitals across Arkansas, told Houston Public Media. “And so after every death, I go back to the pharmacy and I cry, and then I go back to work.”
A survey reported by the New York Times says that over a million doses have been thrown away in 10 states since vaccines were first administered. Much of the loss comes from lagging demand in recent months.
New poll suggests unvaccinated people are unafraid of the pandemic
According to an Axios/Ipsos tracking poll, only 37% of adults said they were extremely or very concerned about the pandemic, the highest percentage since mid-May. The data showed that the percentage of those concerned is rising in vaccinated adults, but not in unvaccinated adults.
Of vaccinated adults polled in July, 44% were concerned about the vaccine, up eight percentage points since June. The percentage of unvaccinated adults concerned remained at a stable 23% from June to July.
Fifty-four percent of vaccinated adults were concerned about the delta variant while 25% of unvaccinated adults reported they were concerned. While COVID-19 cases grow across the nation with the spread of the delta variant, poll results suggest many unvaccinated people are unafraid.
According to the CDC, the 7-day average of new cases increased about 64% last week, with over 66,000 new cases in the U.S. The CDC issued a new mask guidance last week to minimize the spread of COVID-19.
Contributing: Tori Lynn Schneider, Tallahassee Democrat
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: New York ‘vaccine-only admission’? Florida COVID hospitalizations