Dr. Stuart Weiss, Intelligent Crowd Solutions – Rapid Test Center of NY

Rapid Test Center of New York
Dr. Stuart Weiss, FACEP, FAAP, CBCP

March 22, 2021

CoViD-19 News and Information you can trust. Welcome new readers from the Rapid Test Center.

Topics: Where do we stand?

Where do we stand – Monday progress update Well, its the beginning of a new week so lets take a look where we stand with the pandemic.  Virus: Over the past several weeks, we have been essentially flat in terms of new daily cases. Different news organizations are reporting different numbers. The New York Times reports that the rolling 14 day average is down 7% while the Washington Post reports that the 7-day average of new case was up 2.6% yesterday. So essentially, as a nation, we are flat, stuck at around 50,000 new cases per day. Twenty-two states are reporting increasing case numbers. This could be the bump from the B.1.1.7 UK variant that we have been expecting. At a White House briefing today, the director of the CDC said that the variants are making up a larger share of the cases. Variant spread together with increase air travel may be pushing us to a fourth wave. Sunday, was the busiest day for air travel since January 1st. As per the TSA, more than 1.5 million people flew yesterday, about a million more than the same day last year.  The good news is that hospitalizations and deaths still remain low. This could be due to our success in ramping up the vaccination program. As of yesterday, about 83 million people have received one dose and 45 million have been fully vaccinated. That is about 14% of our population that is fully vaccinated and 28% that is partially vaccinated. Vaccines: We have three vaccines with Emergency Use Authorization. The data from a fourth, the Astrazenica/Oxford vaccine, came out and looks good. It prevents 79% of mild-moderate symptoms and 100% of severe disease and death in the US clinical trial. Their data will go to the FDA and that vaccine could be approved by April/May. There were none of the cases of the rare blood clots have have been seen in Europe.  One leading expert on the news tonight said that with 4 approved vaccines, the US will have a large amount or possibly an excess amount of vaccine available. A good number of states are lowering their vaccine eligibility to 16 and older in advance of the President’s May 1st goal. We are vaccinating over 2.5 million people per day. That is great but there are still many parts of the world where folks cannot get any vaccine. This includes large parts of Africa. This is a big problem for all of us since “escape” variants which avoid vaccine protection can develop anywhere where there is widespread illness. A variant anywhere is a variant everywhere within a few weeks. This was not supposed to be this way with the United Nations Covax program. The Covax program was supposed to prevent unequal distribution of vaccine but richer countries went around the Covax program and bought vaccine directly from manufacturers.  And Lastly, Vitamin-D Two studies seem to point in the direction that people with Vitamin-D deficiencies did worse and caught CoViD-19 more often than people with normal levels of Vitamin-D. This was especially true for Black people. So it might be a good time to have your Vitamin-D levels checked. Many Americans were walking around Vitamin-D deficient even before the pandemic. Vitamin-D is a fat soluble vitamin so you must be careful not to overdose on it.  When you are eligible, get your self vaccinated so we can get through this together. . Dr. Stu Weiss

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COVID-19 HEADLINES FOR TODAY

Coronavirus update for March 22, 2021 World Wide Updates Ontario declares it’s in a third wave of the pandemic Turkey records highest number of Covid-19 cases so far this year Global Covid-19 cases increase for fifth consecutive week, WHO official says  UK Prime Minister warns of possible third wave hitting the country Venezuela will receive two Cuban vaccine candidates in April UK administers 30 million Covid-19 vaccine shots Jordan reports highest number of Covid-19 deaths since start of pandemic Brazil official calls president a “psychopathic leader” who made “unbelievable mistakes” in Covid-19 crisis Poland urges people to work from home as study shows nearly 50% of new Covid-19 cases found in workplace South Korea identifies two cases of severe adverse reactions linked to AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine UK Prime Minister reassured the EU partners don’t want to see vaccine blockades Russian President Vladimir Putin will be vaccinated Tuesday Tokyo’s Covid-19 state of emergency lifted as the city prepares for the Olympic Games later this year Police break up street party in France attended by 6,500 people Greece drafts private doctors to battle Covid-19 surge The EU-UK spat over the AstraZeneca vaccine is heating up one more time Merkel seeks lockdown extension as German cases rise AstraZeneca vaccine shows 79% efficacy against symptomatic Covid-19 in new trial, company says India reports highest daily spike in Covid-19 cases since November  Turkey surpasses 3 million Covid-19 cases Brazil’s health system remains near collapse amid coronavirus surge Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan tests positive for COVID-19 Austria delays easing of lockdown restrictions Irish prime minister warns vaccine export ban would be ‘retrograde step’ Total Cases Worldwide: 124,231,750 Total Deaths Worldwide: 2,733,672 Total Recovered: 100,132,618 US Updates New York will lower vaccine eligibility to 50 starting Tuesday, governor announces Ohio vaccine availability can open to everyone 16 and older for providers needing to fill appointments None of the known variants have reached the threshold of “variant of high consequence,” CDC says Arizona is opening vaccine appointments to residents 16+ on Wednesday Nearly 1 in 4 people in the US have received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine, CDC data shows New York City reopened 488 high schools today, mayor says West Virginia opens vaccine eligibility to everyone over the age of 16 Second batch of Covid-19 stimulus checks will be issued this week, Biden administration announces White House won’t confirm whether Johnson & Johnson will reach 20 million vaccine doses by end of March CDC director warns coronavirus variants could spark “another avoidable surge” Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine accounted for only 6% of doses administered last week, CDC data shows NFL to host fans and prospects at 2021 Draft US food delivery service launches same-day delivery of Covid-19 PCR tests Nearly 3.3 million Covid-19 vaccines have been administered in New York City, mayor says Biden administration announces its opening another federally-run community vaccine center Experts worry spring break crowds in Miami Beach could spark another Covid-19 surge TSA screens more than 1.5 million people at US airports for the first time since the pandemic started New York City school district is reopening high schools for in-person learning today AstraZeneca plans to apply for emergency use authorization for Covid-19 vaccine in first half of April  Miami Beach officers shoot pepper balls into spring break crowds to enforce emergency curfew Krispy Kreme offering free doughnuts to customers with COVID vaccine through the end of 2021 NJ Gov. Murphy warns of fast-spreading COVID variant infection rates  Rite Aid apologized after two undocumented immigrants were denied COVID vaccine Texas restaurant charging customers $50 for not wearing a mask Total US cases: 30,558,935 Total US deaths: 555,633 Total Recovered: 22,812,081 Total Tested in US: 382,222,468 Total cases in CA: 3,642,806 Total deaths in CA: 57,186 Total cases in TX: 2,758,468 Total deaths in TX: 47,595 Total cases in FL: 2,011,211 Total deaths in FL: 32,792 Total cases in NY: 1,841,405 Total deaths in NY: 49,714 Total cases in IL: 1,223,083 Total deaths in IL: 23,379 Total cases in GA: 1,046,382 Total death in GA: 18,556 Total Vaccines Administered in US: 126,509,736

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