A medical technician at a testing center, Houston, Texas, July 7, 2920 (Callaghan O’Hare/Reuters)
UPDATE, OCT 2:
The US Coronavirus death toll has passed 700,000.
On Friday, the 7-day average of daily deaths was 1,883, taking the total for the pandemic to 700,327. There have been 43,621,628 confirmed cases.
The pandemic is the deadliest in US history, surpassing about 675,000 Americans who died from Spanish flu in 1918-1919.
With the Biden Administration pursuing a mass vaccination campaign, the 7-day average fell to 188 on July 6. However, a significant minority — and, in some states in the South and West, majority — of US adults are refusing the jabs, and some Republican Governors are removing and/or blocking containment measures such as the wearing of masks.
See also Florida Gov. DeSantis Threatens Cities With Fines Over Coronavirus Vaccines
Cases have soared from a low point of 11,237 on June 6 to a 7-day average of 166,105 on September 1. While there has been a steady decrease in the past month, the rate of cases is still almost 10 times higher than that four months ago.
Cases and deaths in the latest surge have been concentrated in the South. Florida and Texas lead the US, and Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas — all with low vaccination rates — are among the worst-affected states.
Florida has recorded the deaths of about 17,000 residents since the middle of June, and Texas 13,000. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott have both loudly denounced requirements for the wearing of masks in schools and other indoor spaces.
Every age group under 55 had its highest death toll of the pandemic this summer. The unvaccinated are 10 times more likely to die than the vaccinated, according to a Centers for Disease Control study of 10 states, New York City, Los Angeles County, and King County, Washington, which includes Seattle.
UPDATE, SEPT 20:
The 7-day average of daily US Coronavirus deaths has passed 2,000.
The average reached 2,012 on Saturday, the highest mark since March 1. The average was 188 on July 7, but soared since then because of the Delta variant and a minority of US adults holding out against vaccinations.
Florida and Texas, whose governors have opposed measures to contain the virus, account for more than 30% of the deaths. Florida averages about 353 deaths a day, and Texas about 286.
See also Florida Gov. DeSantis Threatens Cities With Fines Over Coronavirus Vaccines
Gov. Tate Reeves of Mississippi played down the state’s high death rate: “Unfortunately, fatalities are a lagging indicator when it comes to the virus. Timing has as much to do with that statistic as anything else.”
Mississippi is third in the US for deaths per capita, behind only Florida and Alabama.
UPDATE, SEPT 15:
Some US hospitals, particularly in the South, are nearing full capacity in intensive care units amid the surge in serious Coronavirus cases.
One in four hospitals is reporting more than 95% use of ICU beds — up from one in five last month. In June, less than one in 10 hospitals were at dangerously high occupancy rates.
Alabama, with the lowest vaccination rate in the US, has been at negative capacity since the summer. Dozens of patients have been unable to get into ICUs.
See also Coronavirus — Biden Acts as US Intensive Care Units Near Capacity
Jeannie Gaines, a spokesperson for the Alabama Hospital Association, said, “It means they’re in the waiting room, some are in the back of ambulances, things of that nature.”
In Texas, ICUs are more than 95% full in 169 hospitals, up from 69 in June. The state now has only about 700 intensive care beds available.
In Florida, with the highest 7-day averages of cases and deaths in the US, 24 hospitals are at negative capacity.
See also Florida Gov. DeSantis Threatens Cities With Fines Over Coronavirus Vaccines
President Joe Biden makes a high-profile push for Coronavirus vaccinations, including mandates for two-thirds of American workers to be inoculated.
In a speech on Thursday, Biden issued an order for for all companies with more than 100 workers to require vaccination or weekly testing. He confirmed the mandates for health care workers, federal contractors, and the large majority of federal workers.
Biden promised to “protect vaccinated workers from the unvaccinated”.
We’ve been patient. But our patience is wearing thin. And your refusal has cost all of us.
President Joe Biden to unvaccinated Americans: "What more is there to wait for? What more do you need to see?" pic.twitter.com/Pf4JYMpGn0
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) September 9, 2021
With a minority of Americans refusing the shots, the vaccination rate is still only about 54%. In five states — Alabama, Wyoming, Mississippi, Idaho, and West Virginia, it is less than 40%.
Amid the surge of the Delta variant, the 7-day average of daily deaths has risen almost 750% — to 1,579 from 188 — in the past two months. The average of daily cases is 147,616, compared to 11,878 on June 26.
Biden said the mandates would cover about 100 million people. He also ordered mandatory vaccination for almost 300,000 educators in the federal Head Start Program and at more than 200 federally-run schools.
The President is using the Defense Production Act to increase production of rapid testing kits with cooperation with retail outlets to expand availability. The Transportation Security Administration is doubling fines on passengers who refuse to wear masks.
If you break the rules, be prepared to pay — and by the way, show some respect. The anger you see on television toward flight attendants and others doing their jobs is wrong. It’s ugly.
He pledged, “We can and we will turn the tide of Covid-19. It’ll take a lot of hard work and it’s going to take some time.”
Some Republican legislators such as Sen. Ted Cruz falsely claimed Biden’s orders were illegal, and some GOP governors, such as Kristi Noem of South Dakota, said they would challenge the mandates. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt insisted, “It is not the government’s role to dictate to private businesses what to do.”
However, experts said the President was using established Executive authority.
Robert Field, a law professor at Drexel University, said the Occupational Safety and Health Administration can protect workers from being exposed to a deadly virus. Lawrence Gostin, a Georgetown University law professor who specializes in public health, explained:
The president’s plan is bold, audacious and unprecedented. But I do think it’s entirely lawful. He’s on extremely strong legal ground.
Biden was clear: “If those governors won’t help us beat the pandemic. I will use my power as president to get them out of the way.”
COVID vaccines cut the risk of transmitting Delta — but not for long: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02689-y
“The study shows that people who become infected with the Delta variant are less likely to pass the virus to their close contacts if they have already had a COVID-19 vaccine than if they haven’t. But that protective effect is relatively small, and dwindles alarmingly at three months after the receipt of the second shot.”
In Israel, the fourth Covid wave appears to be abating following a booster shot campaign since late July: https://www.timesofisrael.com/top-health-official-says-fourth-covid-wave-on-course-to-end-next-week/
Sweden and Denmark suspend the use of the Moderna jab for the under 30s: https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/sweden-suspends-moderna-vaccine-young-people-80432244
“Data pointed to an increase of myocarditis and pericarditis among youths and young adults that had been vaccinated….the connection is especially clear when it comes to Moderna’s vaccine Spikevax, especially after the second dose.”
You’ll note the reference in the link to myocardaditis and pericarditis as “very rare effects”.
https://news.sky.com/story/covid-three-quarters-of-under-50s-in-hospital-with-coronavirus-are-unvaccinated-figures-reveal-12398321
“Among the 154 deaths of people under 50, 99 (64%) were unvaccinated, 14 (9%) had received one dose of vaccine, and 37 (24%) had received both doses.”
Seems to fit the narrative, right? But this next bit does not:
“And of the 1,644 deaths of people aged 50 or over, 437 (27%) were unvaccinated, 128 (8%) had received one dose of vaccine, and 1,054 (64%) had received both doses.”
Do the math for all age groups for this period:
Unvaccinated deaths: 536
Partly vaccinated deaths: 142
Fully vaccinated deaths: 1091
Total: 1769
The fully vaccinated made up 62% of deaths.
Varharan,
I see that your claim that “75%” of recent deaths are of unvaccinated has dropped to 62%.
I also note that you blatantly ignored the context already provided to maintain your disinformation.
“The only rates for deaths at or above 75% among vaccinated are for people aged 70 and above. Given that more than 95% of people in this group are vaccinated, this corresponds to a far less chance of death if vaccinated — the death rate among the unvaccinated is more than 3x higher. The rate of deaths among vaccinated decreases as age decreases: it is less 50% for 50-59 all way down to 30% for 18-29.”
And I see that you are deceiving on hospitalizations by ignoring the difference statistics between admissions and those who are in hospital with serious/life-threatening casees.
[Deleted by moderator as disinformation]
Varharan,
The link you posted directly contradicts your disinformation that “UK data continues to show that the vaccinated are by far the ones filling the hospitals and dying”.
In fact, the assessment concludes: “The latest estimates indicate that the vaccination programme has directly averted over 230,800 hospitalisations. Analysis on the direct and indirect impact of the vaccination programme on infections and mortality, suggests the vaccination programme has prevented between 23.7 and 24.1 million infections and between 119,500 and 126,800 deaths.”
Your comment has been deleted as disinformation.
Scott, you are accusing me of “disinformation” by referring to something else, namely differential survival of individuals with/out the vaccine. I just provided the raw figures that clearly show that 75% of those hospitalized and dying of Covid-19 are partly or fully vaccinated.
That fact is what Tables 2-4 unambiguously show (if you care to actually read them) https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1019992/Vaccine_surveillance_report_-_week_38.pdf
Varharan,
I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt — if you are not spreading disinformation, you have no reading comprehension.
“75% of those hospitalized and dying of Covid-19 are partly or fully vaccinated” is a blatant falsehood. In no age group, even 80+, does the hospitalization/mortality come close to this (see Figure 2) — in all groups, the rate per 100,000 of hospitalization is more than double for the unvaccinated v. the vaccinated; in all groups, the rate for deaths is more than triple for the unvaccinated (and in most, far higher than that).
Inferred reductions in infections due to vaccination (Table 5): 23,915,000
Inferred reductions in deaths: 123,100
That’s what I thought — you have no comprehension of what Tables 2-4 actually show — it is not that 75% of hospitalizations and deaths are among the vaccinated.
For starters
1. The only rates for deaths at or above 75% among vaccinated are for people aged 70 and above.
Given that more than 95% of people in this group are vaccinated, this corresponds to a far less chance of death if vaccinated — the death rate among the unvaccinated is more than 3x higher.
2.The rate of deaths among vaccinated decreases as age decreases: it is less 50% for 50-59 all way down to 30% for 18-29.
Don’t post on this again until you understand the figures.
Government COVID experts in Israel push strategy rethink as infections spread: https://www.timesofisrael.com/government-covid-experts-push-strategy-rethink-as-infections-spread/
““It is unreasonable to continue on the current course,” one expert said, according to the Kan public broadcaster. Other advisers were quoted by Channel 12 news as saying that the vaccination campaign pushed by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz has not done enough yet to curb rising cases, “and a change in policy is needed for the interim period until there is a significant and consistent decrease in serious cases.”
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.09.13.21262182v1
” Several case reports or small series have suggested a possible link between mRNA COVID vaccines and the subsequent development of myocarditis and pericarditis. …..Incidence of myopericarditis overall was approximately 10 cases for every 10,000 inoculations.”
Note: just chest pains were the most common outcome….but it can be potentially lethal for some individuals.
Varharan,
You ignored the conclusion of the study:
“Symptoms settled quickly with standard therapy and patients were discharged within a few days. No major adverse cardiac events and no significant arrythmias were noted during inpatient stay.”
“A combination of containment and vaccines have brought down infections and deaths — that’s the empirical record in countries across the board.”
Not in the case of Malaysia (high vaccination rate) compared to Indonesia (low vaccination rate). The former is undergoing a surge in cases whereas the latter is on a downward trend.
Another misreading: Malaysia is also now on a downward trend….
Does downward include having a record number of deaths for a single day? https://covidnow.moh.gov.my/
487 deaths in a country that was largely virus-free…..until the mass vaccination program began.
Varharan,
The 487 is not a record number — there were 592 on Sept. 11.
The 7-day average for deaths (a better indicator for trend) is still declining.
Some scientists are questioning the rationale for vaccinating children: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221475002100161X
From the abstract of the peer-reviewed article:
“The bulk of the official COVID-19-attributed deaths per capita occur in the elderly with high comorbidities, and the COVID-19 attributed deaths per capita are negligible in children. The bulk of the normalized post-inoculation deaths also occur in the elderly with high comorbidities, while the normalized post-inoculation deaths are small, but not negligible, in children. Clinical trials for these inoculations were very short-term (a few months), had samples not representative of the total population, and for adolescents/children, had poor predictive power because of their small size. Further, the clinical trials did not address changes in biomarkers that could serve as early warning indicators of elevated predisposition to serious diseases. Most importantly, the clinical trials did not address long-term effects that, if serious, would be borne by children/adolescents for potentially decades.”
“The average was 188 on July 7, but soared since then because of the Delta variant and a minority of US adults holding out against vaccinations.”
The argument that the unvaccinated are to blame for the high death rate doesn’t hold. India and Iran have succeeded in reducing the mortality and transmission rate despite vaccinating just 15% of their respective populations: https://www.livemint.com/news/india/covid19-india-logs-in-26-115-new-cases-active-cases-falls-to-lowest-in-six-months-11632196701600.html
Varharan,
Your unsupported assertion is a blatant falsehood: cases and rates soared in India and Iran, in part because of low rate of vaccinations.
The case/death rate in Iran has only begun to come down because 1) the Supreme Leader’s office, once Rouhani Government was gone, began to pursue a faster pace of vaccinations and 2) there were stricter containment measures imposed this summer.
You misread/misinterpreted my statement. Yes, India and Iran have suffered greatly from the delta variant, but they have since managed to control the situation (at least for now) in a way that the United States – despite vaccinating three times as many people within its population – seems unable to do.
As for Iran, there is still no clear evidence that increased vaccination has reduced the mortality rate. Other measures, which include lockdowns, contact tracing and the use of antiviral drugs, may well be the causal factors behind the decline. More data is needed.
Varharan,
I didn’t misread the comment. It’s scientifically illiterate.
A combination of containment and vaccines have brought down infections and deaths — that’s the empirical record in countries across the board.
When countries/states relax containment and/or do not have effective vaccination programs, cases and deaths. The US situation is one where — after a fall of more than 90% in deaths earlier this year because of vaccine rollout — the refusal by a minority of vaccinations (spurred by disinformation such as the claims you make), combined with refusal of containment by some state governors, has fed the spike from the Delta variant.
The FDA in the United States has voted not to recommend universal booster shots: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/sep/17/fda-pfizer-booster-shots-covid-vaccine-advisers
“Scientists said they had “trouble” supporting the Pfizer application for booster doses for most Americans for reasons including the risk of myocarditis, or heart inflammation, in young men especially; a lack of evidence that boosters would significantly curb the direction of the pandemic; and questions about whether boosters should be confined to older Americans.”
Israeli health officials are disappointed that the spread of the delta variant is unabated: https://www.timesofisrael.com/health-ministry-chief-says-coronavirus-spread-reaching-record-heights/
“Health Ministry Director-General Nachman Ash said Tuesday that the current wave of coronavirus infections is surpassing anything seen in previous outbreaks and that he is disappointed that a recent downward trend appeared to be reversing……Pointing out that there is an average of 8,000 new infections each day, with occasional peaks over 10,000, he said, That is a record that did not exist in the previous waves, including the massive third wave at the end of last year.”
Varharan,
Trib 24/7 is a misinformation/disinformation site. Comment with link deleted.
S.
Biden Covid team sees vaccine efficacy waning in unpublished data from Israel: https://www.politico.com/news/2021/09/14/covid-israel-data-vaccine-efficacy-511777
After doing an unprecedented third round of jabs, cases and deaths in Israel fell for a couple of weeks but are now rebounding: https://datadashboard.health.gov.il/COVID-19/general
Around 10,000 Covid cases are reported daily in Israel (for a country of just 9 million) and those hospitalized are over 1,000. The seriously sick are just under 700. By contrast, the UK with 7 * the population of Israel has about 1,000 who are seriously ill with Covid-19. 32 deaths were also reported yesterday.
Varharan,
Which is why Israel — and other countries — are carrying out booster inoculations. As the process is still being rolled out, there may be a continued increase in cases, amid the Delta variant, this autumn.
S.
Scott,
Boosters every six months will just provide temporary relief and could lead the virus being forced to adapt and becoming even more dangerous. Israel started giving boosters in July and so we should now be seeing a big dip in cases, but we are not.
A Pfizer executive has said that Israel is a “sort of laboratory”: https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/coronavirus/1631468185-pfizer-executive-says-israel-is-a-kind-of-laboratory-for-covid-vaccines
Varharan,
It is quite likely that Coronavirus, while far more serious than flu, will follow the pattern where we have regular boosters to contain the illness.
And Israel has only given boosters to part of the population so far, explaining why it is taking time to contain the current rise.
S.
Meanwhile, over in Ireland, 54% of those hospitalized for Covid-19 are double vaccinated: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/covid-54-of-hospital-patients-with-virus-are-fully-vaccinated-1.4670229
“About half of all Covid-19 patients in hospital and in intensive care are fully vaccinated against the disease, new figures show……more than one-quarter of ICU admissions since July were also breakthrough infections of fully vaccinated people.”
Varharan,
Having just returned from a week in Ireland — and observing the Coronavirus containment measures — allow me to reassure you.
The article gives a straitforward, far from sinister explanation, “The proportion of vaccinated people requiring treatment in hospital has been increasing over recent months, as the number of vaccinated people in the wider population has risen.”
It also reinforces the key point about the effect of vaccines in reducing the link between infections and serious illnesses/deaths: about 15% of deaths are in vaccinated, almost all of them the elderly/vulnerable.
S.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/07/22/remarks-by-president-biden-in-a-cnn-town-hall-with-don-lemon/
President Biden: “If you’re vaccinated, you’re not going to be hospitalized, you’re not going to be in an ICU unit, and you’re not going to die.”
That obviously is not true.
[Edited by moderator]
The ACLU is supporting vaccine mandates whilst pledging to defend abortion rights: https://www.aclu.org/news/civil-liberties/civil-liberties-and-vaccine-mandates-heres-our-take/
“In fact, far from compromising civil liberties, vaccine mandates actually further civil liberties…Vaccines are a justifiable intrusion on autonomy and bodily integrity……They are therefore permissible in many settings where the unvaccinated pose a risk to others.”
Varharan,
Comment removed for misrepresentation and misinformation.
S.
Teenage boys more at risk of Covid vaccine injury/death than Covid-19 itself: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/10/boys-more-at-risk-from-pfizer-jab-side-effect-than-covid-suggests-study
“The latest study had been considered by the [UK] government’s independent advisory body, the Covid-19 vaccines benefit risk expert working group, which found that the interpretation of the findings was limited by the fact that the study did not take into account differences in treatment practices when comparing hospitalisation rates between Covid-19 infections and myocarditis and pericarditis presenting post-vaccination, and there was no assessment of severity and duration of illness after admission.”
“Biden promised to “protect vaccinated workers from the unvaccinated”
That statement is beyond ridiculous and shows complete science illiteracy on the part of the president. If you are vaccinated, then you are supposed to be protected no matter whom you come into contact with and their vaccination status. That is, of course, *if* the vaccines actually work as claimed.
This article also falsely implies that it is only the unvaccinated who are carrying/transmitting the virus and becoming sick from it.
The latest data from Public Health England shows otherwise:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1016465/Vaccine_surveillance_report_-_week_36.pdf
Table 4 shows that, overall, the vaccine does not prevent infection and transmission as compared to the unvaccinated.
Table 5 clearly shows that, while the vaccine is providing protection for all age groups (especially the young), it is much less effective among the >70s and that the vast majority of deaths (>75%) among all age groups are among the vaccinated.> 80% of adults have been double vaccinated.
Varharan,
I’m afraid the distortion — as always — is in your posts.
We’ve consistently reported the CDC’s finding that the vaccinated can carry viral loads as great as the unvaccinated — the key is that *for all age groups*, it sharply reduces the chance of serious COVID-19 and death.
And you misrepresented Biden’s speech — his reference to protection is not only about health issues but about getting back to “normal” economic and social activity.
S.
Meanwhile, in Israel, which has one of the world’s highest vaccination rates (including booster shots), the data shows no abatement in the transmission of the virus and illness caused by it: https://datadashboard.health.gov.il/COVID-19/general
More than 10,000 cases reported yesterday and 52 deaths: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1104709/coronavirus-deaths-worldwide-per-million-inhabitants/
This for a country of 9 million
In fact, the Israel case shows how a firm response — including boosters — may be dealing with the surge of the Delta variant.
In the last eight days, the 7-day average of cases has dropped 25%. The rise in deaths has also abated.
The number of Covid-related deaths in Israel yesterday was 45. The previous 7 day average was 25: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1104709/coronavirus-deaths-worldwide-per-million-inhabitants/
That is the equivalent of 36 * 45 = 1,620 deaths for a country the size of the United States.
The number of cases was 7,686: https://datadashboard.health.gov.il/COVID-19/general
That is the equivalent of 36 * 7686 = 276,696 cases for a country the size of the United States.
Meanwhile, both the number of cases and deaths in Iran continue to fall sharply following another lockdown.
Varharan,
The 7-day average — which is a far better way to measure the trend in Coronavirus deaths — has levelled off in Israel since August 27.
S.