If you live in the U.S. and have tried to get a COVID-19 vaccine recently, you probably didn’t have much of a problem getting your shot. Buying an at-home COVID-19 testing kit, is another story. U.S. investment in developing and distributing these DIY tests has been relatively limited compared to the investment in manufacturing and distributing vaccines.
However, that may soon change. The Biden Administration announced yesterday it will invest $1 billion to quadruple the number of available at-home tests by the end of the year, on top of a $2 billion commitment made in September, with the aim of having 200 million rapid tests available to the public each month starting in December. Jeffrey Zients, the White House coronavirus-response coordinator, said at yesterday’s press briefing that the money will be used to get manufacturers to ramp up production, make free tests available in places like community health centers and food pantries, and expand test availability for paying customers as well.
As my colleague Alice Park explains, there’s still a lot of debate about how to best use these kits , which rely on antigen tests. Some doctors are concerned about the risk of false positives, for instance. Others argue that the ease-of-use and speed of the at-home kits make them more than worthwhile—while antigen tests are less accurate than PCR tests (which are only available at a doctor’s office or local testing center) they have other advantages. PCR tests can pick up on old, inactive viruses for weeks or months after a person is actually infectious. Since antigen tests need more virus for someone to test positive, when they do give a positive result, it’s almost certain the test has identified an infectious person. Dr. Michael Mina, assistant professor of epidemiology at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, told Alice that’s why he thinks people should use at-home tests in day-to-day situations.
“If you want to keep businesses running, or to be able to host a safe dinner at home, don’t ask people to get a PCR test two days before,” he says. “Ask them to use a rapid test within two hours of coming over.”
More than 479.3 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been shipped to various U.S. states as of yesterday afternoon, of which nearly 397.7 million doses have been administered, according to TIME's vaccine tracker. About 56% of Americans have been completely vaccinated.
More than 236.5 million people around the world had been diagnosed with COVID-19 as of 1 a.m. E.T. today, and more than 4.8 million people have died. On Oct. 6, there were 686,641 new cases and 11,733 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 nearly 44.1 million coronavirus cases as of 1 a.m. E.T. today. Nearly 708,000 people have died. On Oct. 6, there were 111,503 new cases and 2,556 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 Oct. 7, 2 a.m. E.T. To see larger, interactive versions of these maps and charts, click here.
WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW
Pfizer-BioNTech requested an emergency use authorization for their vaccine in kids ages 5 to 11, the company announced today. The companies have proposed that the FDA authorize a smaller dose—10 micrograms, compared to the 30-microgram dose that has been used for those 12 and older—for children in this age group. That’s based on data from a clinical trial that found that this smaller dose was as safe and effective among young children as a full third dose on people ages 16 to 25. Results from ongoing studies of the vaccine’s effect on children ages 2 to 4 and ages 1 and under are expected as soon as the end of the year, the company said.
More than 120,000 American children lost a parent or caregiver during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study published today in the journal Pediatrics. The toll was especially high for Black and Hispanic children. Those two groups account for some 40% of the U.S. population, but make up half the kids who lost a primary caregiver.
France plans to start charging unvaccinated people for COVID-19 tests to encourage them to get inoculated, the New York Times reports. The tests, which will cost about $25 to $50, are, as of Oct. 15, required for unvaccinated people to enter many indoor spaces like restaurants. About 70% of the French population is fully vaccinated—one of the highest rates in Europe—but the government has redoubled its vaccination campaign as the pace of first doses administered has slowed in recent weeks.
Los Angeles issued a new law yesterday requiring proof of vaccination to enter many indoor public spaces, including restaurants and gyms, starting Nov. 4. “Vaccinating more Angelenos is our only way out of this pandemic, and we must do everything in our power to keep pushing those numbers up,” Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a statement. Nearly 78% of L.A. County residents over the age of 12 have received at least one dose of a vaccine.
Following Sweden and Denmark’s lead, Finland paused the use of Moderna’s vaccine in younger males today due to concerns about a rare cardiovascular side effect, Reuters reports. Men born 1991 and later will be given Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine instead, according to Mika Salminen, director of the Finnish health institute. Research has found that the second dose of the vaccine puts young men at slightly higher risk of myocarditis —an inflammation of the heart typically caused by an infection.
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 Elijah Wolfson.
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