In the Fight for Vaccine Equity, it's City Vs. State
Since the start of the U.S. COVID-19 outbreak one year ago, the pandemic has taken a disproportionate toll on Black, Latinx and Native American people, all of whom have been more than twice as likely to die from the virus as white Americans. Identifying the problem, however, has proven easier than fixing it—even when we have the chance to address inequities.
Take, for example, the vaccine rollout. The vaccines are the most effective tool we have in preventing further sickness and death, but some groups most at risk of severe COVID-19 are having the hardest time actually getting a shot. To demonstrate this dynamic, my colleague Janell Ross recently traveled to South Dallas, a historically Black part of Texas where people have been far less likely to receive vaccines than those in whiter, wealthier areas nearby. In Dallas County overall, Janell writes, "Non-Hispanic white residents make up 28% of the population but were nearly 63% of those registered to receive vaccinations as of Jan. 24, about three weeks after online-only registration had opened to people ages 65 and up."
In part, the problem was caused by Dallas' age-based prioritization—people in South Dallas tend to live shorter lives than those in other parts of Dallas County, meaning fewer residents qualified. To address this issue, Dallas officials tried to target vaccination by ZIP code, with a focus on non-white neighborhoods like those in South Dallas. But state leaders balked at the plan; Dallas quickly reversed course.
The city is now trying other methods to improve vaccination among non-white residents, like launching a door-to-door vaccine registration drive and setting up a call center meant to help people who can't easily book appointments online. But it's slow going: the share of Black residents of Dallas County registered for a vaccine appointment rose only a single percentage point from Jan. 11 to Feb. 7, inching from 11% to 12%, and the increase was even smaller for the Latinx community, where it grew from 19.5% to 20%. As Janell's story makes clear, more needs to be done to help ensure equity and save lives.
More than 102.3 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been shipped to various U.S. states as of this morning, of which 78.6 million doses have been administered thus far, according to TIME's vaccine tracker. Approximately 15.6% of the overall U.S. population has received at least one dose, and about 7.9% of Americans have gotten both doses.
Johnson & Johnson, whose one-shot coronavirus vaccine was recently authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, is teaming up with rival Merck to boost supply after encountering production issues, Biden administration officials told the Washington Post . Merck, one of the world's largest vaccine manufacturers, scrapped plans to develop its own coronavirus vaccine in January; it will now dedicate two facilities to produce J&J's shots.
Research from Public Health England released as a preprint yesterday shows that a single dose of either Pfizer-BioNTech or Oxford-AstraZeneca's two-shot vaccine is 80% effective at preventing hospitalization after three to four weeks among people over 80, who are at higher risk of dying from COVID-19 than younger people. The findings add to the mounting evidence that even a single dose of vaccine can protect people from the most severe coronavirus symptoms.
Twitter is trying out a new strategy for combating COVID-19 vaccine misinformation, which it banned in December: a "strike system" that will remove accounts that keep breaking its rules, the company announced in a blog post yesterday. The new program aims to teach the public about Twitter's policies and cut down the spread of "harmful and misleading" information, per the post.
TODAY'S CORONAVIRUS OUTLOOK
The Global Situation
More than 114.4 million people around the world had been diagnosed with COVID-19 as of 1 a.m. E.T. today, and more than 2.5 million people have died. On March 1, there were 292,632 new cases and 7,027 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 2 million confirmed cases:
Over the past year, there were 400 pandemic-related attacks on health care workers, facilities, and patients around the world, according to a new report from nonprofit Insecurity Insight and The University of California, Berkeley's Human Rights Center. The attacks "underscore the urgent need for more protection, more support, and more documentation," the authors write.
Hydroxychloroquine, once seen as a potential COVID-19 preventative until further research questioned its efficacy, was dealt yet another blow today: international experts on a World Health Organization panel recommended that the drug should no longer be a coronavirus research priority and that resources should instead be directed to "other more promising drugs to prevent COVID-19," according to peer-reviewed guidance published in the journal BMJ. The authors said the recommendation was based on "high certainty evidence" that hydroxychloroquine doesn't reduce the risk of death or hospitalization due to COVID-19, but "probably increases the risk of adverse effects."
The Situation in the U.S.
The U.S. recorded more than 28.6 million coronavirus cases as of 1 a.m. E.T. today. More than 514,500 people have died. On March 1, there were 57,439 new cases and 1,431 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:
While the number of daily new COVID-19 cases in the U.S. has fallen since hitting a high of 300,000 in January, states shouldn't ease their COVID-19 restrictions prematurely, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky said at a White House briefing yesterday. Walensky warned that emerging variants and the current rate of community spread mean that if the U.S. reopens too soon, it could "completely lose the hard-earned ground we have gained."
Despite Walensky's dire warning, Texas governor Greg Abbott is revoking his state's mask mandate and allowing all businesses "of any type" to open "100%," he announced in a statement today. While vaccination is progressing and cases and deaths have been generally falling in Texas and elsewhere in recent weeks, most experts say that ending coronavirus restrictions at this point will only invite further outbreaks.
Getting a vaccine is easy in Gila County, Ariz., where anyone 18 or older who wants a shot can now get one, the New York Times reports. Most other parts of the U.S. are still prioritizing people based on a combination of age and risk factors; while such efforts can help target vulnerable populations, they run the risk of overcomplicating the rollout and leading to wasted doses.
All numbers unless otherwise specified are from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, and are accurate as of March 2, 1 a.m. E.T. To see larger, interactive versions of these maps and charts, click here.
Enjoy in-depth analysis and editorial insight direct to your inbox from The Economist's science correspondent. Simply Science provides you the latest thinking on the most pressing scientific matters. Sign up for free now
WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW
Athletes Train For an Uncertain Tokyo Olympics
For now, the Summer Olympics are still set to start this July in Tokyo after being delayed last year. However, upheaval and uncertainty surrounding the Games has been a major challenge for the athletes hoping to compete in them, according to NPR. Read more here.
Chinese Vaccines Pledged Around the World
China has pledged half a billion doses of its Sinovac vaccine to more than 45 countries, but experts are concerned about Beijing's unwillingness to share data related to the shot, the Associated Press reports. Read more here.
The Other Epidemic
As the Biden administration focuses on COVID-19, experts fear that it's neglecting the drug overdose epidemic, STAT reports. The U.S. may be on pace to record 100,000 drug overdose deaths in a single year for the first time; the pandemic has likely added to drug use. 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. If you have specific questions you'd like us to answer, please send them to covidquestions@time.com.
If you were forwarded this and want to sign up to receive it daily, click here.
Today's newsletter was written by Tara Law and edited by Alex Fitzpatrick.
沒有留言:
張貼留言