Visiting Vaccinated People Is Safer, But Not Risk-Free
After a year of reporting on COVID-19, it's a huge relief to be able to share some good news: with every passing day, more of all of our friends and loved ones are receiving coronavirus vaccines.
That includes my parents, both of whom work in the healthcare industry and thus were prioritized for vaccination. However, like every twist in the COVID-19 story, vaccination invites all sorts of new and challenging questions. For instance: While my parents have been inoculated, it's unclear when I'll get the shot. I'm 28 years old, in good health and I'm able to work from home, so I probably won't be eligible any time soon. That means I'm not sure when I'll be able to safely spend time with my parents again.
Fortunately, my colleague Jamie Ducharme took on this question in our latest COVID Questions column, in which we offer pandemic-related advice to TIME readers. Jamie explained to one such reader that it's safer to visit loved ones after they've been fully vaccinated, but the safest option for people who haven't gotten the shot yet is to wait until they're also inoculated. There's a possibility that vaccinated people can still spread the virus, and, because no vaccine confers 100% protection, there's even a small chance that vaccinated people can still become sick themselves.
As Jamie notes, the key takeaway is that we'll need to keep up our coronavirus precautions for at least a few months, but the end may be in sight. "I'm really encouraged by thinking about what will become possible as more people get vaccinated,” she tells me. "The idea of getting to see vaccinated friends and family (after I get my own shots) will get me through the winter."
While 32.7 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been shipped to various U.S. states as of this morning, only about 19.3 million doses have been administered thus far, according to TIME's vaccine tracker—representing 5.8% of the overall U.S. population.
Moderna's vaccine appears to offer protection from coronavirus variants detected in the United Kingdom and South Africa, according to a study preprint released yesterday. However, the study also found that people who received the vaccine didn't generate as many antibodies against the new variants as they did against the older form of the virus. For now, scientists will need to keep an eye on the mutations, which could make the virus more infectious and deadly.
Good news from Israel: early data show a significant drop in coronavirus infections there among people who have received only the first shot of Pfizer-BioNTech's two-dose vaccine, the New York Timesreports, while the second shot works even better than expected. Data from health maintenance organization Maccabi Health Services and the health fund Clalit found separately that people are 60% or 33% less likely, respectively, to be infected after receiving the first dose; Maccabi also found that only .01% of people became infected after the second dose. Israel has mounted one of the world's most aggressive vaccination campaigns; over 40% of the population has already received at least one dose.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa accused rich countries of hoarding vaccines needed by other nations, saying that some had obtained four times as many doses they need, according to the Washington Post. "We are all not safe if some countries are vaccinating their people and other countries are not vaccinating," Ramaphosa said at a virtual meeting of the World Economic Forum today. While Ramaphosa's claim may be somewhat high, countries like Canada and the U.K. have ordered enough doses for more than three times their population, per Bloomberg, though leaders there have promised to give excess supply to countries in need.
TODAY'S CORONAVIRUS OUTLOOK
The Global Situation
More than 99.7 million people around the world had been diagnosed with COVID-19 as of 1 a.m. E.T. today, and more than 2.1 million people have died. On Jan. 25, there were 509,002 new cases and 10,676 new deaths confirmed globally.
Here's how the world as a whole is currently trending:
Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
And here is every country with over 1.5 million confirmed cases:
The World Health Organization is now recommending that homebound COVID-19 patients use pulse oximetry devices to measure their blood oxygen levels; if those levels dip too low, it could cause damage to the heart and brain. The group also suggests that hospitalized patients be given low-dose anticoagulants, and put prone on their stomachs if they’re on oxygen or non-invasive ventilation. These recommendations had already been put into practice in many places around the world.
Demonstrators defying the Netherlands' nightly curfew aimed at curbing viral spread have caused disruptions for three nights running, the BBC reports, with arrests of more than 180 people in 10 cities. In Rotterdam, 10 police officers were injured in clashes with protesters, shops were looted and police used a water cannon against demonstrators. Dutch Justice Minister Ferd Grapperhaus has said the rioters will be prosecuted, according to the Associated Press. The Netherlands has reported nearly 1 million cases of the virus.
The Situation in the U.S.
The U.S. had recorded nearly 25.3 million coronavirus cases as of 1 a.m. E.T. today. More than 421,000 people have died. On Jan. 25, there were 151,112 new cases and 1,915 new deaths confirmed in the U.S.
Here's how the country as a whole is currently trending:
Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
A person in Minnesota has tested positive for a coronavirus variant that has been circulating in Brazil after returning from that country to the U.S., state officials said in a statement yesterday. The variant has a set of mutations which may make it harder for antibodies to recognize it and thus fight it off, per the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
U.S. President Joe Biden expressed willingness yesterday to raise the federal government's vaccination target from 1 million daily inoculations to 1.5 million, the Associated Press reports. If the country could reach and maintain that number, it would surpass the Biden Administration's goal of 100 million vaccinations in the President's first 100 days. However, state leaders say vaccine supply remains a critical issue in their rollout efforts so far.
All numbers unless otherwise specified are from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, and are accurate as of Jan. 26, 1 a.m. E.T. To see larger, interactive versions of these maps and charts, click here.
WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW
COVID-19 Immunity Laws May Shield Neglectful Nursing Homes
Critics say that state immunity laws designed to protect U.S. nursing homes from COVID-19 lawsuits may shield bad behavior unrelated to the virus, NPR reports. Read more here.
The Case for More Stimulus Checks
As millions of Americans struggle with the economic pain caused by the pandemic, directly giving people money is a "proven, fast, equitable strategy to spur economic recovery," Natalie Foster of the Economic Security Project writes for TIME. Read more here.
The Pandemic Could Be Fueling Drug Overdoses
The pandemic has left many people more isolated than ever, which may be leading to additional "deaths of despair," including deaths by suicide and deaths from alcohol and overdoses, according to a recent paper covered by NPR. Read more here, and if you or someone you know needs help, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.
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. If you have specific questions you'd like us to answer, please send them to covidquestions@time.com.
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Today's newsletter was written by Tara Law and edited by Alex Fitzpatrick.
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