Tag: national

By Erika Edwards and Elizabeth Chuck

Read the full article from The New York Times, here.

Federal health officials are expected Wednesday to present evidence for why people are likely to need Covid-19 boosters eight months after their second doses of a vaccine, according to sources with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The eight-month time frame is most likely based on findings from both the U.S. and abroad looking at how the vaccines have held up over time — and whether they can stand up to the hypertransmissible delta variant of the coronavirus that has overtaken the country.

By Apoorva Mandavilli

Read the full article from The New York Times, here.

Since Americans first began rolling up their sleeves for coronavirus vaccines, health officials have said that those who are immunized are very unlikely to become infected, or to suffer serious illness or death. But preliminary data from seven states hint that the arrival of the Delta variant in July may have altered the calculus.

Breakthrough infections in vaccinated people accounted for at least one in five newly diagnosed cases in six of those states and higher percentages of total hospitalizations and deaths than had been previously observed in all of them, according to figures gathered by The New York Times.

By Julie Bosman and Mitch Smith

Read the full article from The New York Times, here.

Americans have entered a new, disheartening phase of the pandemic: the realization that the virus is not disappearing anytime soon.

Even as the highly contagious Delta variant has flooded the nation with a surge of recent infections, mayors, governors and public health officials have treaded lightly when considering whether to reimpose restrictions. With more than twice as many new cases being reported nationally compared with last August, baseball games, music festivals and state fairs have forged ahead, and restaurants, gyms and movie theaters have stayed open.

By Albert Sun and Giulia Heyward

Read the full article from The New York Times, here.

The summer surge in cases in the United States, led by the domination of the more contagious Delta variant, is well into its second month, and the number of those hospitalized with Covid-19 has reached heights last seen during the overwhelming winter wave.

The number of those patients who are critically ill, requiring treatment in an intensive care unit, has risen, too. Data from the Department of Health and Human Services shows that the number of hospitals with very full I.C.U.s doubled in recent weeks. Now, one in five I.C.U.s have reached or exceeded 95 percent of beds occupied, a level experts say makes it difficult or impossible for health professionals to maintain standards of care for the very sick.