States Are Sidestepping the CDC's Booster Guidelines
Officially, U.S. health officials have authorized booster shots only for Americans 65 years or older, or those at greater risk due to underlying medical conditions or because they work or live in "high-risk settings" for COVID-19. (At least that's true for the vast majority of vaccinated Americans, who received a Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna shot; the 16.1 million who received the Janssen/Johnson & Johnson shot are eligible so long as they're 18 or older.) Unofficially, anyone who wants a booster shot but doesn't meet those criteria can typically walk into a pharmacy or doctor's office, get an extra dose, and walk out with renewed protection. There are no vaccine police!
However, a growing number of state and local officials, faced with the threat of rising caseloads as winter draws near, have found a creative way to sidestep the federal guidance: Last week, the governors of Colorado, New Mexico and California all issued executive orders declaring their states "high-risk settings," thereby making all residents eligible for boosters under the federal guidelines. New York City officials took similar steps this morning.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki pushed back on these governors—all Democrats—saying Friday that "this isn’t currently the guidance that’s being projected by our health and medical experts because they are looking at and understanding the data." But in an interview yesterday with CBS' Face the Nation, Colorado governor Jared Polis framed his move as a response to what he called the "convoluted messaging" coming from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. "Everybody should get the booster after six months," Polis said. "The data is incredibly clear that it increases your personal protection level." The governor's frustration is understandable considering that his state is suffering one of its worst outbreaks yet, pushing its hospital network to the brink.
Polis and his counterparts are touching on one of the hottest debates in public health right now: should everyone in the U.S. get a booster shot, or should they be means-tested based on need?
Personally, regulators' decision to restrict booster shots left me bewildered—to Polis' point, there's plenty of supply and compelling evidence that protection conferred by the shots wanes over time, so I have never understood the decision to limit access. (There is a compelling moral argument that the U.S. shouldn't authorize boosters for all while poor countries struggle to get doses at all, but letting Americans’ immunity wane risks undoing the progress we've made so far). With cases already on the rise across much of the U.S., and winter and the holiday season approaching, the decision not to go whole hog on boosters as quickly as possible looks even more ill-considered. So after months of watching some governors exercise their tremendous public health power to put residents at greater risk by, say, banning mask or vaccine mandates, I for one am cheering on those using that same power to ensure their residents are as protected as possible as the virus continues to spread. Other governors across the country would do well to follow their example.
TODAY'S CORONAVIRUS OUTLOOK
More than 553 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been shipped to various U.S. states as of yesterday afternoon, of which some 440.6 doses have been administered, according to TIME's vaccine tracker. About 58.8% of Americans have been completely vaccinated.
More than 253.3 million people around the world had been diagnosed with COVID-19 as of 12 a.m. E.T. today, and more than 5.1 million people have died. On Nov. 14, there were 350,766 new cases and 4,496 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 million cases:
The U.S. had recorded more than 47 million coronavirus cases as of 12 a.m. E.T. today. More than 763,000 people have died. On Nov. 14, there were 23,578 new cases and 120 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 Nov. 15, 1:30 a.m. E.T. To see larger, interactive versions of these maps and charts, click here.
WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW
Austrian leaders have issued new strict lockdown rules for most unvaccinated residents, the Associated Press reports. Those 12 and older who haven't yet gotten their shots can only leave their house for work, grocery shopping, or to get vaccinated. "It’s our job as the government of Austria to protect the people," Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg told reporters yesterday. About 65% of Austria's nearly 9 million people are vaccinated, meaning the new rules—which come as the country faces its biggest spike in cases yet—affect some 3.15 million residents.
About 47% of Americans approve of U.S. President Joe Biden's handling of the pandemic, per a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, down from 52% two months ago. The drop tracks with rising caseloads as the Delta variant continues to spread, prolonging the pandemic past the point many Americans predicted would be the end.
Chicago has launched a new program to vaccinate residents at home, in an effort to push the city's vaccination rate past 60%. "Up to 10 people can be vaccinated at a time, so Chicagoans can invite family, friends, or neighbors to their home to be vaccinated together," per a city website. Those who get their first doses through the program will also receive a $100 preloaded debit card.
The Oklahoma National Guard is ignoring the Defense Department's vaccination requirement, "an extraordinary refusal of Pentagon policy," write Alex Horton and Dan Lamothe for the Washington Post. Brig. Gen. Thomas Mancino, who was appointed to lead the state's Guard last week by Republican governor Kevin Stitt, has told the 10,000 Guardsmen under his command that they won't be penalized for failure to vaccinate. "We will respond appropriately,” Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said in response during a briefing.
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 Alex Fitzpatrick and edited by Elijah Wolfson.
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