It’s always a bit of a battle to convince people to get a seasonal flu shot. (Which, by the way, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends you do by the end of this month.) But this year, the COVID-19 pandemic has given the fight new urgency, as my colleague Tara Law reports.
Obviously, in any year, the fewer people who get the flu (and need medical care for the flu) the better. The flu is also easily confused for COVID-19, which could lead to doctors giving patients unnecessary care if they mistake one for the other.
But perhaps more importantly, Law writes, flu vaccination trends could predict coronavirus vaccination trends, assuming a COVID-19 shot is proven safe and approved by regulators. Some preliminary research shows that people who plan to get a flu shot are also more likely to plan to get a COVID-19 shot. A positive experience with the flu shot—and a medical appointment at which people can ask doctors about the forthcoming coronavirus vaccine—could coax more people into getting inoculated against COVID-19. That’s important, since surveys show confidence in a COVID-19 vaccine is low.
A wide-ranging flu vaccination campaign could also give the public-health system practice for the logistical challenges that will come with coronavirus vaccine distribution. Manufacturing and distributing a brand-new vaccine to the entire American public is a massive challenge. Finding ways to give the flu vaccine in a safe, socially distanced environment will better prepare providers for doing the same thing if and when a coronavirus shot is available. And identifying and solving supply or distribution issues that come up during a flu vaccination campaign will hopefully put practitioners one step ahead when a COVID-19 vaccine comes out.
Public-health officials will play a large role in encouraging COVID-19 vaccination, through clear and accurate communication. Already, the FDA has clarified its guidance for pharmaceutical companies and asked for robust safety data on vaccine candidates, which could help boost public trust. But individuals play a part, too—and getting a flu shot is one piece of that puzzle.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has made me think more about my role in spreading disease to people who are more vulnerable than me,” Law says. “I already got my flu shot this year and I’m planning to get one every year from now on.”
More than 36.5 million people around the world had been sickened by COVID-19 as of 1 a.m. E.T. today, and more than 1 million people have died. Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
On Oct. 8, there were 359,337 new cases and 6,194 new deaths confirmed globally. Here's how the world as a whole is currently trending:
Here is every country with over 400,000 confirmed cases to date ("per cap" is number per 100,000 people):
China will join a World Health Organization-backed vaccine consortium aimed at equitably distributing shots throughout the world, China’s Foreign Ministry announced today. China initially missed the September deadline to participate in the group, called COVAX, and it’s not yet clear what the terms of its membership will be. But with at least four vaccine candidates under development in China, the country’s cooperation could go a long way toward vaccinating the world against COVID-19. The U.S. has not joined COVAX, so China is now the group’s largest and richest member.
With a second wave of COVID-19 building, Canadian public health officials are urging citizens to stay home as much as possible to re-flatten the curve. The country is recording about 2,000 cases per day—numbers it hasn’t seen since the spring—concentrated in urban areas. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asked Canadians to stay home for next week’s Thanksgiving holiday, so the country can “turn things around for Christmas.”
Spain’s government today declared a state of emergency that allows it to reimpose lockdown measures on millions of people in and around Madrid, where coronavirus cases continue to spike. Regional authorities had opposed new lockdown measures, calling them excessive and bad for the economy, but the national government’s move overrides that.
Despite seeming at high risk for coronavirus outbreaks, refugee camps were mysteriously spared from the worst of the virus in the early months of the pandemic. Now, TIME’s Melissa Godin reports, that’s beginning to change. Over the past month, outbreaks have cropped up in refugee camps in Bangladesh, Greece, Lebanon, Syria and Palestine, raising concerns about how bad things could get in the coming weeks.
The Situation in the U.S.
The U.S. had recorded more than 7.6 million coronavirus cases as of 1 a.m. E.T. today. Almost 213,000 people have died. Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
On Oct. 8, there were 56,191 new cases and 961 new deaths confirmed in the U.S. Here's how the country as a whole is currently trending:
President Donald Trump’s personal physician said yesterday that the President has completed his COVID-19 treatment regimen and will resume his public events schedule as soon as tomorrow—a possible violation of U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, which direct individuals to isolate for 10 days after symptoms appear. Trump reportedly tested positive for the virus on Thursday evening, which would make Saturday evening his ninth day post-diagnosis. The White House has repeatedly dodged questions about when Trump last tested negative, which makes it difficult to know the exact timeline of his illness or whom he may have exposed to the virus.
Even some of the President’s most loyal supporters seem to doubt his handling of the virus. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said yesterday that he hasn’t been to the White House since August, because “their approach to how to handle this [pandemic] is different from mine and what I suggested that we do in the Senate, which is to wear a mask and practice social distancing.”
Case in point: White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows hosted a 70-person, indoor, maskless Georgia wedding for his daughter in May, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported yesterday . At the time, gatherings in Georgia were supposed to be limited to 10 people, but the governor's order allowed certain facilities to host 10 people per 300 sq. ft. Because the wedding venue was 16,000 sq. ft., it did not technically violate that ordinance—but photos show attendees sitting close together, faces uncovered.
Meanwhile, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said today that President Trump has approved a new coronavirus relief package, after a week of back and forth. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is expected to discuss the $1.8 trillion proposal with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at some point today.
All numbers unless otherwise specified are from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, and are accurate as of October 9, 1 a.m. E.T. To see larger, interactive versions of these maps and charts, click here.
WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW
COVID-19 Is Forcing Trump to Grapple with Vulnerability
Donald Trump abhors weakness, real or perceived. His very public coronavirus diagnosis has forced him to confront, and conceal, his own, writes TIME’s Molly Ball. Read more here.
A New Study Adds Support for Remdesivir
The antiviral drug remdesivir—one of the treatments used on President Trump—helps hospitalized patients recover from COVID-19, a New England Journal of Medicine paper confirms. The drug already has emergency-use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, but the research adds more evidence for its use. Read more here.
Can Dogs Detect Coronavirus?
Dogs have a remarkable ability to sniff out diseases ranging from cancer to malaria. Now, researchers are training them to detect the scent of COVID-19. Read more here.
Democrats and Republicans Aren’t Watching the Same Pandemic
It’s no secret that the pandemic has become a partisan issue. A new poll shows just how much: 88% of Democrats thought the U.S. hasn’t controlled COVID-19 as well as it could have, compared to just 30% of Republicans. Read more here.
The Pandemic Is Hurting Women in a World That Already Didn’t Care About Them
So argues Angelina Jolie in a new piece for TIME, citing a new report that finds the pandemic has undone decades of progress on gender equality. But the virus isn’t fully to blame. “Humans—not disease—are responsible for unjust laws and systems, and racial and social inequality,” she writes. “The coronavirus is just the latest excuse for all that we didn’t fix ourselves.” Read more here.
Trump’s Coronavirus Treatments Were Developed Using Cell Lines He Opposed
Last year, the Trump Administration pulled federal funding from most research projects that used tissue taken from aborted fetuses. But the policy only applied to fetal tissue collected June 2019 or later—and several banner COVID-19 treatments, including some Trump received and praised, were developed using older fetal cell lines, the New York Times reports. Read more here.
Thanks for reading. We hope you find the Coronavirus Brief newsletter to be a helpful tool to navigate this very complex situation, and welcome feedback at coronavirus.brief@time.com.
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Today's newsletter was written by Jamie Ducharme and edited by Elijah Wolfson.
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