Coronavirus vaccine and COVID variant updates for 12-23-2021

Vaccine 4 1 1 - Daily News on the Covid-19 and Coronavirus Vaccines

This is Vaccine 411, the latest coronavirus vaccine information for December 23rd, 2021.

How about a little good news for the holidays? Modeling by scientists in Scotland predicted 47 Omicron patients should have been hospitalized by December 19 if infection patterns were the same as Delta. So far, there have been 15 admissions. There’s more. The first UK data of its kind shows Omicron appears to have a 20%-25% reduced chance of a hospital visit and at least a 40% lower risk of being admitted overnight. There’s more. A new analysis by the University of Washington shows the Omicron surge will peak in a massive wave of infections by the end of January but produce far fewer severe illnesses for most people. There’s more. South Africa's seen a noticeable drop in new cases in recent days, signaling the Omicron surge has already passed its peak. And Omicron appears to have caused milder disease there with significantly less hospitalizations, patients requiring oxygen, and deaths.

The World Health Organization continues to be very displeased with how countries like the United States are pushing boosters. The White House recently announced a redoubling of efforts to get more boosters in more arms. The WHO Director General warned such efforts in rich countries risks prolonging the global pandemic fight. He correctly points out most hospitalizations and deaths are still from unvaccinated people, not unboosted people.

The FDA authorized the first pill against COVID, a Pfizer drug you can take at home to head off the worst effects of the virus. The pill, Paxlovid, is a faster way to treat early infections, however supplies will be extremely limited at first. All previously authorized COVID drugs require an IV or injection.

Nobody in the U.S. can feel special anymore, Omicron has now been confirmed in all 50 states, and that happened about three weeks after it was first detected in the country. And the message to stop traveling just isn’t sticking. Nearly 2 million people passed through TSA checkpoints Tuesday. That’s about the same number from the same day in pre-pandemic 2019.

In the United States cases were up 27%, deaths are up 4%, and hospitalizations are up 13% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending up since December 14.

The five states that had the most daily deaths per 100,000 are Michigan, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Maine.

There are 10,769,803 active cases in the United States.

The five states with the greatest increase in hospitalizations per capita: Washington DC 66%, Connecticut 64%, New Jersey 58%, Maryland 53%, and North Carolina and Rhode Island 49%.

The top 10 counties with the highest number of recent cases per capita according to The New York Times: Hopkins, TX. Tompkins, NY. Cuyahoga, OH. Pike, IL. Winona, MN. Rains, TX. Monroe WV. Greene, IL. Lake, OH. And Washington, DC.

There have been at least 812,069 deaths in the U.S. recorded as Covid-related.

The top 3 vaccinating states by percentage of population that’s been fully vaccinated: Vermont at 76.6%, Rhode Island at 75.7%, and Maine at 75.1%. The bottom 3 vaccinating states are Idaho at 46%, Wyoming at 47%, and Alabama at 47.2%. The percentage of the U.S. that’s been fully vaccinated is 61.6%.

Globally, cases were up 11% and deaths down 10% over 14 days, with the 7-day average trending up since October 15.

There are 23,521,962 active cases around the world.

The five countries with the most new cases: The United States 232,383. The U.K. 106,122. France 84,272. Spain 60,041. And Germany 45,848.

There have been at least 5,376,422 deaths reported as Covid-related worldwide.

For the latest updates, subscribe for free to Vaccine 411 on your podcast app or ask your smart speaker to play the Vaccine 411 podcast.

---

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.