Your Coronavirus Update – Today, Jan. 21, 2021

Photo: Flags at the inauguration, representing the 200,000 people who would normally have been there, who cannot be due to the coronavirus.

Rhode Island & Vicinity

RI Attorney General Investigating Vaccine Distribution at Hospitals – Peter Neronha’s office has responded to the Providence Journal investigation of vaccines going to board members, volunteers and non front-facing staff at Lifespan and Care New England hospitals groups. From Neronha’s office: “We have been in communication with the Department of Health regarding the distribution of vaccines by Lifespan and Care New England,” said Kristy dosReis, spokeswoman for Attorney General Peter Neronha. “Vaccine distribution should be guided by public health and done in accordance with the guidelines provided by RIDOH. Any deviation from those guidelines is of great concern to this office. We intend to look into any improper distribution to determine whether legal violations occurred. Whether or not any legal violations occurred, we urge the entities that are charged with vaccine administration to do so in an equitable and transparent manner and in strict compliance with RIDOH guidance.” Rhode Island Hospital is saying it followed the RIDOH guidelines which included those with direct patient care, then supporting staff, then trustees and volunteers.

Big changes for school sports are underway – here is the statement from the RI Interscholastic League:

The federal government has announced it will be releasing all second doses of the vaccine to the states so that individuals 65 years and older can get vaccinated, but we have not received any additional information on if or when that will happen. In RI there are close to 190,000 Rhode Islanders age 65 or older. If we said today that all of those people were eligible, no one would be able to make an appointment to get vaccinated. We are hopeful that the federal government will increase our supply in the future which will allow us to expand the eligible population by age but until they do, we don’t think its responsible or strategic to open the eligibility criteria and create a demand that we know we cannot accommodate.

Gov. Raimondo received a vaccine as part of vaccinating all cabinet members.

A second case of the more infectious coronavirus variant first found in the United Kingdom has been confirmed in Massachusetts..

Dr. Alax Goldfarb, a doctor at Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess who had volunteered to treat COVID patients in NYC died on a mountain climbing trip in Pakistan.

The RI First Amendment Coalition has asked Gov. Raimondo to stop her silence to Rhode Island, and to speak to reporters on matters of extreme interest in the state, especially the vaccination plans for the state.

Dr. Michael Fine is calling on the RI attorney general and the Health Dept. to investigate Lifespan and Care New England for vaccinating non-medical board members who were not eligible for vaccinations under the state’s Phase I guidance.

A new COVID-19 rapid testing site for people without symptoms opened Wednesday in Warwick, open 9 to 5, Tuesdays through Saturdays, at the Shops at Greenwood, Suite 15 and 17, near the Rhode Island Blood Center on Greenwich Avenue.

In CT, hundreds of schoolteachers were able to sign up for vaccine appointments before they were actually eligible.

The Rutland (Maine) Regional Medical Center is developing a plan to allow COVID-19 patients to recover at home, rather than in the hospital, if they are willing and have support systems in place.

A live webinar will be held on Tues, February 2^nd, at noon – The Association between Vitamin D Levels and COVID-19 Positivity – presented by Dr. Harvey Kaufman and moderated by Dr. Damian Alagia. The webinar presents results of a new study finding COVID19 positivity rates are higher among people with low Vitamin D levels. Register, here: http://health.questdiagnostics.com/LP=504?utm_medium=email&utm_source=eloqua

Listen to “Dr. Jim McDonald – RI Vaccine Distribution – 1/20/21” by Cumulus Providence via #spreaker https://www.spreaker.com/user/wpro/1-20-21-dr-jim-mcdonald as he talks with WPRO’s Tara Granahan in her morning radio program. He talks about vaccine distribution and cases in RI.

In Massachusetts CVS and Walgreens will receive 10,000 doses – it will include 15 pharmacies. On Feb. 1^st, Fenway will open as a second site and UMassAmherst will open as a third mass vaccination site. Other pharmacies include Wegmans, Big Y, Price Chopper, Stop & Shop and Hannaford to serve as vaccination sites.

RI’s vaccine doses have been about 14,000/week and will go up to 19,000/week next week.

St. Patrick’s Day Parades in RI: Providence’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade will move to September; Newport’s will be rescheduled to March, and Pawtucket’s will take place as a motorcade.

A media briefing was set for a coronavirus update today at 1pm at the Veterans Auditorium with Dr. Scott and other department spokespeople.

RI Data: Jan 20, 2021

Deaths: 13; Tests – 14,532; Positives – 722; Percent positive – 5%

Hospitalized – 379; In ICU – 48; Ventilated – 36

Deaths in hospital – 7; New Admissions – 52; New Discharges – 41

First vaccines: 49,113 Second vaccines: 11,780

COVID19 cases by city –

NAITONAL & INTERNATIONAL

Taiwan called off its largest Lunar New Year lantern festival for the first time on Tuesday, as authorities rushed to stem a Covid-19 cluster

In Israel, the Health Ministry is likely to recommend that pregnant women get vaccinated, according to its deputy director-general, Itamar Grotto. “We know that pregnancy” puts women at high-risk for a serious case of coronavirus, Grotto said in an interview with KAN News. “We recommend that pregnant women get vaccinated.”

The White House spent 1/2 million dollars deep cleaning for the transition to the Biden administration, and put several new policies into effect to protect the president and staff.

Norwegian Cruise Lines will suspend until further notice.

Longtime co-host and meteorologist Al Roker received the Covid-19 vaccine Tuesday morning, live and on-air.

While all 49 other states signed on to a federal program partnering with CVS and Walgreens to distribute vaccines in long term care facilities, West Virginia opted to distribute their shots through over 250 independent pharmacies. Since long term care facilities already relied upon local pharmacies for other vaccines, medicines, and regular COVID testing, West Virginia was able to bypass the delays in advance paperwork and vaccination logistics that have been barriers to distribution in other states. 

A study proposes a new “alternating quarantine strategy” and models its effectiveness in controlling COVID. In this strategy, half the population remains under lockdown while the other half remains active, with the group that quarantines switching every week. The researchers found that this strategy provides a dramatic reduction in COVID transmission similar to what can be achieved by a population-wide lockdown, even though it only cuts socioeconomic activity by around 50 percent. The weekly alterations also synchronize with the natural progression of COVID, since the majority of infected people will be quarantined around the time of their peak infection. Read the study.

A study projects that COVID will reduce life expectancy in the U.S. in 2020 by 1.13 years.

The state is expanding eligibility for the COVID-19 vaccine in the initial phase of the rollout to include people age 65 and over as well as younger people with serious health conditions that put them at higher risk

New York: Gov. Andrew Cuomo warned Tuesday that his state will pursue legal action if Congress doesn’t send $15 billion in unrestricted emergency pandemic aid. Meanwhile, New York City will run out of first doses of COVID-19 vaccines sometime Thursday without fresh supplies, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday.

Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, has promoted itself as the ideal pandemic vacation spot. With peak tourism season in full swing, coronavirus infections are surging to unprecedented heights. Daily case counts have nearly tripled in the past month, forcing Britain to slam shut its travel corridor with Dubai last week. But in the face of a growing economic crisis, the city won’t lock down.

First 100 Days Mask Mandate: Pres. Biden signed his Executive Order. Use of masks and social distancing in all federal buildings, on federal lands and by federal employees and contractors. Pres. Biden is challenging all Americans to wear a mask for the first 100 days of his administration.

President Biden’s goal is to have 100 million shots in 100 days into Americans.

President Biden rejoined the United States into the WHO.