April 12 coronavirus news

Almost 190 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in the United States, according to data published Monday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC reported that 189,692,045 total doses have been administered – about 80% of the 237,796,305 doses delivered.

That’s about 2.6 million more doses reported administered since yesterday, for a seven-day average of about 3.2 million doses per day.

More than 36% of the population – nearly 121 million people – have received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine, and more than 22% of the population – about 74 million people – are fully vaccinated, according to CDC data.

Among adults, 46.5% have received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine, and 28.6% are fully vaccinated.

The US is on track to reach half of the adult population with at least one dose by the end of the week, according to a CNN analysis of CDC data.

Eleven states have already reached this threshold:

Data published by the CDC may be delayed, and doses may not have been given on the day reported.

The number of people with Covid-19 in intensive care units in Sweden has hit its highest point since the first wave, according to data from the Swedish Intensive Care Registry on Monday.

There are currently at least 393 people in intensive care with Covid-19 across the country.

That topped the 389 who were treated in ICUs in early January, but was below the number in intensive care during the first wave of the pandemic in spring 2020, when the total reached as high as 558.

Covid-19 vaccinations for children aged 12 to 15 may be available as soon as early fall and will likely be administered through pediatricians' offices, according to the White House.

Clinical trial results of Pfizer/BioNTech's coronavirus vaccine have shown it is well tolerated and its efficacy is 100% among children ages 12 to 15, the companies announced in late March. 

On Friday, Pfizer requested an emergency use authorization amendment to expand use of its coronavirus vaccine in the US to people ages 12 to 15. Currently, the vaccine is authorized for emergency use by the US Food and Drug Administration in people ages 16 and up. 

"We would hope that children in high school will be able to be vaccinated by the time we get to the early fall season,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said during Monday's briefing.

There have now been seven consecutive weeks of increasing Covid-19 cases and four weeks of increasing deaths globally, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, said during a news briefing in Geneva Monday. 

“In January and February the world saw six consecutive weeks of declining cases,” Tedros said. “We have now seen seven consecutive weeks of increasing cases and four weeks of increasing deaths. Last week was the fourth highest number of cases in a single week so far.”

Several countries in Asia and the Middle East have seen large case increases, he said. 

Increases are occurring despite more than 780 million vaccine doses being administered globally, he said, adding that vaccines are a vital and powerful tool, but not the only one. 

He emphasized that public health measures – mask wearing, physical distancing, ventilation, hand hygiene, surveillance, testing, tracing and isolation – work to stop infections and save lives. 

In the days before all 50 states are set to expand vaccine eligibility to all American adults on April 19, the White House made a plea for seniors and others currently eligible to get vaccinated. 

There has been “significant progress” vaccinating seniors, White House senior Covid-19 adviser Andy Slavitt said at Monday’s briefing, pointing to the fact that 78% of Americans over 65 have had their first shot. 

 “If you have someone in your life, particularly a senior, who has not gotten a shot yet, reach out and see what help they need,” he added.

Slavitt said that 120 million Americans have now been vaccinated, including over 72 million fully vaccinated.

At least 46% of adults have had at least their first shot, with 28% of adults fully vaccinated, he said. 

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Monday that the state's colleges and universities will get direct allocations of Covid-19 vaccines to administer vaccinations directly to their student populations. 

State Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker said the goal is to vaccinate students by the end of the spring semester before they return to their families.  

"Vaccinating college students statewide before they return to their hometown communities at the end of the semester is the next step in this thought process it is the best way for students to protect themselves, their families and their communities," Zucker said. 

The Biden administration outlined new steps to continue to increase vaccinations and vaccinators, including a new mass vaccination site as one of the steps toward getting more shots in arms.

“We’re excited to announce today a new federally-run mass vaccination site in Central Point, Oregon,” White House senior Covid-19 adviser Andy Slavitt said at Monday’s Covid briefing.

He noted that President Biden had set a goal on March 29 of adding a dozen such new sites by April 19.

The administration is also on track to reach its goal of expanding the number of pharmacies in the federal pharmacy program, Slavitt said, with nearly 40,000 up and running by next Monday.

Additionally, there are 8,500 federal personnel acting as vaccinators or supporting vaccinations, including 4,400 active duty troops. That will increase to 6,000 active duty troops in the coming week, Slavitt said. 

Slavitt touted “record pace” of vaccinations, despite “uneven supply from Johnson & Johnson,” pointing to a Saturday record of 4.6 million shots administered.

Breakthrough coronavirus infections – which occur even though someone has been vaccinated – are inevitable because no vaccine is 100% effective, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

"Influenza is the most common of this, which mutates rapidly," he added. But "even if a vaccine fails to protect against infection, it often protects against serious disease."

Fauci added that, so far, data suggest current Covid-19 vaccines offer some protection against coronavirus variants.

Racial and ethnic minority groups had higher rates of hospitalization for Covid-19 and sought emergency department care more when compared to White people, according to two new studies published Monday in the US Centers for Disease Control and Preventions Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 

In every region, Hispanic patients represented the highest cumulative proportion of hospitalized patients with Covid-19.

Disparities in the proportion of hospitalized patients was largest early in the pandemic – from April to July – and became less pronounced as hospitalizations increased among White patients. Declining disparities are not necessarily reflective of reduced risk for minorities, but of increased risk for White patients, the authors said.

However, disparities remained at the end of the study period in all regions, particularly among Hispanics in the West. 

The researchers say that these disparities are driven by a higher risk factor for exposure to the coronavirus and a higher risk of severe disease.

The second study found that some racial and ethnic groups, including Hispanic, American Indian or Alaska Native and Black people, received emergency department care for Covid-19 at “disproportionately higher rates” compared to White patients. 

There were 282,220 Covid-19 emergency department visits from 13 states between October and December 2020 and racial/ethnic disparities were observed across age groups. 

Hispanic patients and American Indian or Alaska Native patients were more likely to seek emergency department care for Covid-19 than White people overall, as well as for each age group examined. Black people age 74 and older were more likely to seek emergency department care than White people, but no differences were observed for those under 75. 

The data used in the study came from 13 states, meaning that it may not be generalizable across the country. White people also represent a larger percentage of the population in the 13 states, compared with national population distribution. 

The authors say that it is important to prioritize prevention resources, management of underlying health conditions, safe school and work conditions, flexible leave policies and enhanced access to and acceptability of Covid-19 testing and vaccination to reach these disproportionately affected groups.