As a once-hopeful summer that instead brought surging infections and deaths draws to a close, U.S. President Joe Biden announced yesterday his most aggressive push against the coronavirus yet. His sweeping actions, which in part will require millions of Americans to get vaccinated, significantly escalate the pressure on those who have not yet gotten their shots.
"My message to unvaccinated Americans is this: What more is there to wait for?" Biden said during an address on the six-part plan. "We've been patient, but our patience is wearing thin."
Vaccinating the unvaccinated. All U.S. federal employees and contractors will need to get vaccinated, and can no longer opt to be regularly tested instead. The same is true for workers at health-care facilities receiving Medicare or Medicaid funding. Biden also directed the U.S. Department of Labor to require businesses with more than 100 employees to either require vaccination (workers must also be given paid time off to get vaccinated) or implement weekly testing; those that don't comply could be fined up to $14,000 per violation. The new requirements will affect about an estimated two-thirds of American workers.
Furthering protection for the vaccinated. Biden reiterated his commitment to ensuring vaccinated people can get booster shots. The White House is preparing for a booster campaign to start as soon as Sept. 20, pending regulatory approval. In the meantime, Biden vowed that there would be enough booster shots for everyone and that a nationwide distribution system is ready to provide free, easy access.
Keeping schools safely open. Biden implored governors to mandate vaccination for school district employees, and said the federal government would restore pay for school employees whose salaries were withheld because they supported mask requirements. "I promise you, I will have your back," he said.
Increasing testing and requiring masking. Production of rapid and at-home COVID-19 tests will be expanded, and some of those tests will be sent to food banks and community health centers. The number of pharmacies where people can get tested for free will also increase to 10,000 nationwide. Beginning today, Transportation Security Administration fines will double for people who refuse to wear masks at airports and on trains and buses, as well as in other public transportation settings.
Protecting economic recovery. Small businesses affected by the pandemic will be able to borrow up to $2 million, an increase over the current $500,000 cap. The long-term, low-interest loans require no repayment for two years and can be used to, for example, hire workers and pay down higher-cost debt.
Improving care for those with COVID-19. The President's plan will increase support for health-care systems in hard-hit areas, doubling the number of military health teams available to assist. The U.S. will also accelerate shipments of free monoclonal antibody treatments.
Still, some say Biden's efforts do not go far enough. In a new op-ed for TIME, public health experts Michael Mina and Steven Phillips argue that what the country really needs is a "comprehensive national rapid testing plan that would complement its heroic vaccination efforts." "Individuals, families, parents of schoolchildren, employees, diners—virtually everyone—can markedly increase physical safety and mental well-being by having access to rapid tests," they write. "It is a pandemic game-changer."
About 452.7 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been shipped to various U.S. states as of this morning, of which more than 377.6 million doses have been administered thus far, according to TIME's vaccine tracker. About 53.4% of Americans have been completely vaccinated.
More than 223.1 million people around the world had been diagnosed with COVID-19 as of 9 a.m. E.T. today, and more than 4.6 million people have died. On September 9, there were 620,688 new cases and 9,327 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's every country that has reported over 4.5 million cases:
The U.S. had recorded over 40.6 million coronavirus cases as of 90 a.m. E.T. today. More than 654,500 people have died. On September 9, there were 145,081 new cases and 1,926 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:
All numbers unless otherwise specified are from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, and are accurate as of Sept. 10, 1 a.m. E.T. To see larger, interactive versions of these maps and charts, click here.
WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW
U.S. coronavirus infections are 10 times higher than the rate necessary to end the pandemic, White House Chief Medical Advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci told Axios in an interview published today. "The endgame is to suppress the virus. Right now, we're still in pandemic mode, because we have 160,000 new infections a day," he said. "That's not even modestly good control." Fauci added: "In a country of our size, you can't be hanging around and having 100,000 infections a day. You've got to get well below 10,000 before you start feeling comfortable."
Unvaccinated people in the U.S. were more than 10 times more likely to be hospitalized with or die of COVID-19 over the spring and summer, per a study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention out today. The results are evidence, the agency says, that the coronavirus vaccines have continued to be highly effective against severe disease even as the Delta variant has taken hold.
BioNTech, the German biotech company that partnered with Pfizer to create one of the world's most widely-used coronavirus vaccines, will soon ask health regulators around the world for approval to use the shot in children age 5 and over. Ozlem Tureci, the company's co-founder and chief medical officer, expects the requests to be made within "the next few weeks," she told German news site Der Spiegel. BioNTech plans to lower the dose for use in young children, Reuters reports. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is currently authorized in the U.S. for people age 12 and older.
In other child vaccination news, the Chinese-made Sinovac Biotech shot is about to undergo testing among children and adolescents in South Africa, Chile, the Philippines, Malaysia and Kenya. The global Phase III study will include 14,000 participants 6 months to 17 years old. The Sinovac vaccine, which is already widely used among adults around the world, requires two doses and, according to the World Health Organization, is safe and effective.
Denmark, where more than 80% of people are vaccinated, has lifted all COVID-19 restrictions—making it one of the first European Union nations to do so. As of today, people entering nightclubs no longer have to show proof of vaccination, which had been one of the last safeguards in place. The Danish government no longer considers the coronavirus "a socially critical disease," though officials have said they will reinstate restrictions if necessary.
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 Angela Haupt and edited by Alex Fitzpatrick.
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