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Your Coronavirus Update – Aug. 25, 2021
Photo: The artist, Banksy, honors a new superhero – the nurse and medical workers.
RHODE ISLAND & VICINITY
“We are doing so well with vaccinations we were hoping we would not see an equivalent increase in hospitalizations and deaths,” RIDOH’s Dr. Chan said. “Now we are seeing hospital admissions are increasing, and it is projected to keep increasing over the next few weeks. Deaths are also starting to tick up.”
Unvaccinated children face an “unprecedented threat” when schools open, said Liz Winterbauer, a consulting epidemiologist and public health instructor at St. Michael’s College and the University of Vermont. https://vtdigger.org/2021/08/20/vermont-is-the-most-vaccinated-state-in-america-is-that-enough/
Masks will be a part of high school athletics. RIIL and the Principals’ Committee on Athletics is scheduled to meet as to what the fall season will look like will be available after that.
Cranston Field Hospital has “turned the lights on” to get ready, if it is needed.
The CDC now recommends masks for all of Rhode Island counties when indoors.
Masks are expected to be mandated for back-to-school in Massachusetts, but not yet.
Miriam Hospital is looking for volunteers ages 18 to 29 who have not been vaccinated to test the Moderna vaccine. More info at: https://preventcovidu.org.
RIDOH says there are fake vaccine/mask exemption forms circulating in RI – there are no official forms.
RIC: In order to provide additional time for students to complete the vaccination requirement and upload all necessary documents into the MediCat system, we will delay the start of academic instruction until Wednesday, September 8.
In Westport, MA, all K-12 students, educators and staff will be required to wear a mask while in schools through Oct. 1 to ensure schools fully reopen safely and to provide ample time for more students and educators to get vaccinated. After Oct. 1, the policy will allow middle and high schools to lift the mask mandate for vaccinated students and staff only if the school meets a certain vaccination rate – at least 80 percent of students and staff in a school building are vaccinated. Unvaccinated students and staff would still be required to wear masks
Two new vaccination sites prior to school opening:
Wednesday, August 25 – East Providence POD, 585 Taunton Ave., East Providence (plaza across from high school)Register at https://www.vaccinateri.org/. Additional clinics scheduled September 3, 7, 10, 24.
Friday, August 27 – 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm, 4:00 to 7:00 pm – Portsmouth High School, 120 Education Lane, Portsmouth
Register at https://www.vaccinateri.org. First dose clinic. Second dose clinic is scheduled for September 17 during the same hours.
The Governor does not feel as though the uptick is enough to warrant mandatory mask wearing at this time.
The Glocester School Committee is suing the state over the mask requirement.
Governor McKee’s Press Conference – Aug. 24, 2021:
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NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL
Pfizer has been officially approved by the FDA
The CDC has said that vaccine protection under the Delta variant has gone from 90+% efficacy to 66%; unvaccinated 5 X more likely to be vaccinated and 25 X more likely to end up in the hospital.
Dr. Fauci says “society may get back to normality in the spring of 2022”.
CDC has advised, regardless of vaccination, if you are high risk you should avoid cruises – includes pregnant women, the elderly, and those with underlying medical conditions – the odds of getting COVID is high on cruises.
The US Military will now develop guidelines requiring all military to be vaccinated. 1.4 million people.
8 fully vaccinated healthcare workers who went to a Vegas pool party got COVID-19 with mild symptoms — and at least 7 caught the Delta variant – workers had symptoms similar to allergies or the common cold and chose to get tested. They self-isolated, and they didn’t spread the virus to anyone else,
The President has encouraged employers and other groups to mandate vaccines now that one has been officially approved.
All ICU beds full at most hospitals in every major Tennessee metro area
First death from COVID recorded of a traveler on a Carnival cruise line
Moderna mandates COVID-19 vaccination for U.S. employees
China says it has zero COVID cases after mass-testing millions
Hawaii Governor asks tourists to stay away as COVID cases rise.
U.S. shipping COVID-19 vaccine doses to Togo, Angola – officia
More young and healthy pregnant people are ending up hospitalized on ventilators, delivering babies prematurely and sometimes dying from COVID-19 during the delta-fueled spike in cases.
National Guard in Georgia will “be joining the 2,800 state-supported medical staff to help hospitals across our state deliver care to Georgians in need.”
NY is requiring all teachers and staff to be vaccinated – without a testing option alternative – 148,000 people
Antibody testing programme to be launched UK-wide – Participants will be sent two finger-prick tests to complete at home to inform the UK Health Security Agency of the antibody response to different coronavirus variants.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, 79, and his wife, Jacqueline, 77, have been hospitalized after testing positive for COVID-19. They are said to be responding well to treatment.
One Alabama general practitioner has refused to treat any of his patients who are unvaccinated in an attempt to protect all of his patients from COVID19.
Some scientists are saying that this 3rd COVID19 vaccine – the booster – could be the last needed. https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/exclusives/94089?xid=nl_mpt_DHE_2021-08-22&eun=g626538d0r&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Weekly%20Review%202021-08-22&utm_term=NL_DHE_Weekly_Active
Governor of Kentucky removes mandatory mask requirement for schools as local courts say it can’t be mandated – in the first 3 days of school, Kentucky had 700 quarantines
Pfizer expects a vaccine to be approved for children between the ages of 5 and 11 in September.
