Washington state started an incentive program called Joints for Jabs, aiming to boost young adults’ COVID-19 vaccination rates in exchange for a pre-rolled marijuana joint.
-
Coronavirus vaccines can get you free joints in Washington state
-
PM Johnson delays relaxation of coronavirus restrictions
LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed Monday that the next planned relaxation of coronavirus restrictions in England will be delayed by four weeks, until July 19, as a result of the spread of the delta variant.
In a press briefing, Johnson voiced his confidence that he won’t need to delay the plan to lift restrictions on social contact further, as millions more people get fully vaccinated against the virus. He said that by July 19, two-thirds of the British population will have been double-vaccinated.
“I think it is sensible to wait just a little longer,” he said. “Now is the time to ease off the accelerator, because by being cautious now we have the chance in the next four weeks to save many thousands of lives by vaccinating millions more people.”
Accompanying the decision to delay the easing, Johnson said the government has brought forward the date by which everyone over the age of 18 will be offered a first dose of vaccine, from the end of July to July 19.
“It’s unmistakably clear the vaccines are working and the sheer scale of the vaccine roll out has made our position incomparably better than in previous waves,” he said.
Under the government’s plan for coming out of lockdown, all restrictions on social contact were set to be lifted next Monday. Many businesses, particularly those in hospitality and entertainment, voiced their disappointment ahead of the official announcement.
The delta variant first found in India is estimated by scientists advising the government to be between 40% and 80% more transmissible than the previous dominant strain. It now accounts for more than 90% of infections in the U.K.
When Johnson first outlined the government’s four-stage plan for lifting the lockdown in England in February, he set June 21 as the earliest date by which restrictions on people gathering would be lifted. However, he stressed at the time that the timetable was not carved in stone and that all the steps would be driven by “data not dates” and would seek to be “irreversible.”
The speed at which new coronavirus infections have been rising had piled the pressure on Johnson to delay the reopening so more people can get vaccinated.
On Monday, the British government reported 7,742 new confirmed cases, one of the highest daily numbers since the end of February. Daily infections have increased threefold over the past few weeks but are still way down from the nearly 70,000 daily cases recorded in January.
Previous delta variant reporting here.
-
Novavax: Large study finds COVID-19 vaccine about 90% effective
(AP) Vaccine maker Novavax said Monday, its shot was highly effective against COVID-19 and also protected against variants in a large, late-stage study in the U.S. and Mexico.
The vaccine was about 90% effective overall and preliminary data showed it was safe, the company said.
While demand for COVID-19 shots in the U.S. has dropped off dramatically, the need for more vaccines around the world remains critical. The Novavax vaccine, which is easy to store and transport, is expected to play an important role in boosting vaccine supplies in the developing world.
That help is still months away, however. The company said it plans to seek authorization for the shots in the U.S., Europe and elsewhere by the end of September and be able to produce up to 100 million doses a month by then.
“Many of our first doses will go to … low- and middle-income countries, and that was the goal to begin with,” Novavax Chief Executive Stanley Erck told the Associated Press.
-
G-7 leaders to share 1 billion vaccine shots
CARBIS BAY, England (AP) — Leaders from the Group of Seven industrialized nations are set to commit at their summit to sharing at least 1 billion coronavirus shots with struggling countries around the world — half the doses coming from the U.S. and 100 million from the U.K.
Vaccine sharing commitments from U.S. President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson set the stage for the G-7 meeting in southwest England, where leaders will pivot Friday from opening greetings and a “family photo” directly into a session on “Building Back Better From COVID-19.”
“We’re going to help lead the world out of this pandemic working alongside our global partners,” Biden said. The G-7 also includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan.
The leaders hope the meeting in the resort of Carbis Bay will also energize the global economy. On Friday, they are set to formally embrace a global minimum tax of at least 15% on corporations, following an agreement reached a week ago by their finance ministers. The minimum is meant to stop companies from using tax havens and other tools to avoid taxes.
It represents a potential win for the Biden administration, which has proposed a global minimum tax as a way to pay for infrastructure projects, in addition to creating an alternative that could remove some European countries’ digital services taxes that largely hit U.S. tech firms.
For Johnson, the first G-7 summit in two years — last year’s was scuttled by the pandemic — is a chance to set out his vision of a post-Brexit “Global Britain” as a midsized country with an outsized role in international problem-solving.
It’s also an opportunity to underscore the U.K-U.S. bond, an alliance often called the “special relationship” — but that Johnson said he prefers to call the “indestructible relationship.”
The official summit business starts Friday, with the customary formal greeting and a socially distanced group photo. Later the leaders will meet Queen Elizabeth II and other senior royals at the Eden Project, a lush, domed eco-tourism site built in a former quarry.
The G-7 leaders have faced mounting pressure to outline their global vaccine-sharing plans, especially as inequities in supply around the world have become more pronounced. In the U.S., there is a large vaccine stockpile and the demand for shots has dropped precipitously in recent weeks.
Biden said the U.S. will donate 500 million COVID-19 vaccine doses and previewed a coordinated effort by the advanced economies to make vaccination widely and speedily available everywhere. The commitment was on top of 80 million doses Biden has already pledged to donate by the end of June.
Johnson, for his part, said the first 5 million U.K. doses would be shared in the coming weeks, with the remainder coming over the next year. He said he expected the G-7 to commit to 1 billion doses in all.
“At the G-7 Summit I hope my fellow leaders will make similar pledges so that, together, we can vaccinate the world by the end of next year and build back better from coronavirus,” Johnson said in a statement, referencing a slogan that he and Biden have both used.
French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the U.S. commitment and said Europe should do the same. He said France would share at least 30 million doses globally by year’s end.
Biden predicted the U.S. doses and the overall G-7 commitment would “supercharge” the global vaccination campaign, adding that the U.S. doses come with no strings attached.
The U.S. commitment is to buy and donate 500 million Pfizer doses for distribution through the global COVAX alliance to 92 lower-income countries and the African Union, bringing the first steady supply of mRNA vaccine to the countries that need it most.
Biden said the U.S.-manufactured doses will be shipped starting in August, with the goal of distributing 200 million by the end of the year. The remaining 300 million doses would be shipped in the first half of 2022. A price tag for the doses was not released, but the U.S. is now set to be COVAX’s largest vaccine donor in addition to its single largest funder with a $4 billion commitment.
-
Waxed and Vaxxed: How to spice up your love life after a pandemic
Singles are ready to spice up their love life after the lockdown. Relationship expert Jaime Bronstein shared ways people are finding love during the pandemic.
-
Security measures in place ahead of Biden/Johnson meeting
Security measure were put into place Thursday morning, as President Joe Biden got set to meet with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Counterterrorism police were seen patrolling St. Ives in Cornwall. That is where the two are set to meet later Thursday.
President Biden and Prime Minister Johnson are expected to discuss continued partnerships between the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as the next steps in dealing with the pandemic.
The meeting comes a day before the G-7 Summit is set to kick off. The summit, as well as a meeting between Biden and Queen Elizabeth II, will wrap up the first leg of Biden’s first overseas trip as president.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Biden and Johnson are expected to discuss renewing a decades-old Atlantic Charter.
Straight Arrow News will report more details on the meeting and Charter later today.
-
Moderna files for U.S. authorization to use its COVID-19 vaccine in teens
(Reuters) – Moderna Inc. said on Thursday it has filed for U.S. authorization to use its COVID-19 vaccine in adolescents aged 12 to 18, the latest company to seek approval to help expand the inoculation drive in the country.
Moderna‘s vaccine is already being used in the United States, the European Union and Canada for anyone over 18. The drugmaker has already submitted applications to the European and Canadian health regulators seeking authorization for the vaccine’s use in adolescents.
Moderna‘s two-shot vaccine last month was shown to be effective in adolescents aged 12-17 and showed no new or major safety problems in a clinical trial which evaluated the vaccine in 3,732 teenagers.
Vaccinating children has been considered key to achieving “herd immunity” and the U.S. has already authorized Pfizer and German partner BioNTech SE’s COVID-19 vaccine for use in children as young as 12.
Earlier this week, Pfizer announced plans to test its vaccine in a larger group of children under the age of 12.
The study will involve up to 4,500 kids in the U.S., Finland, Poland and Spain.
A Pfizer spokesperson said the company expects data from 5-11 year-olds in September.
Pfizer would likely ask regulators for emergency use authorization later that month.
Data for children two to five years old could arrive soon after that.
And, data from the six months to 2 year-olds is expected to arrive sometime in October or November.
-
Officials warn of new COVID-19 strain, push to get kids vaccinated
The call from officials to get vaccinated is growing as a new COVID-19 strain spreads throughout the world including the U.S.
The Delta variant originated in India. It has since be reported in at least 60 countries.
In the United States, the variant is making up more than 6 percent of new cases. It has also become the dominant strain in the United Kingdom, where the variant accounts for about 60 percent of new cases.
“We cannot let that happen in the United States,” Dr. Anthony Fauci said, “Which is such a powerful argument to underscore what Dr. Walensky said, ‘To get vaccinated, particularly if you’ve had your first dose, make sure you get that second dose. And for those who have been not vaccinated yet, please get vaccinated.”
The primary push for vaccinations from CDC officials has focused on kids. Children over the age of 12 can be vaccinated.
Pfizer announced plans to test its vaccine in a larger group of children under the age of 12.
The study will involve up to 4,500 kids in the U.S., Finland, Poland and Spain.
The kids will be given smaller doses: 10 micrograms for 5-11 year-olds, and three micrograms for the age group of six months to five years of age.
“This isn’t anything unusual, it’s called an age de-escalation and a dose de-escalation study,” Dr. Fauci said, “And when you get down to the younger children it is not at all unusual to diminish the dose.”
A Pfizer spokesperson said the company expects data from 5-11 year-olds in September.
Pfizer would likely ask regulators for emergency use authorization later that month.
Data for children two to five years old could arrive soon after that.
And, data from the six months to 2 year-olds is expected to arrive sometime in October or November.
According to the CDC, more than seven million teens have received at least one dose of the vaccine in the United States.
-
US to buy, share 500 million Pfizer doses around the world
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. will buy 500 million more doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to share through the global COVAX alliance for donation to 92 lower income countries and the African Union over the next year, a person familiar with the matter said Wednesday.
President Joe Biden was set to make the announcement Thursday in a speech before the start of the Group of Seven summit. Two hundred million doses — enough to fully protect 100 million people — would be shared this year, with the balance to be donated in the first half of 2022, the person said.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters Wednesday that Biden was committed to sharing vaccines because it was in the public health and strategic interests of the U.S. As Biden embarks on his first foreign trip, he is aiming to show “that democracies are the countries that can best deliver solutions for people everywhere,” Sullivan said.
“As he said in his joint session (address), we were the ‘arsenal of democracy’ in World War II,” Sullivan said. “We’re going to be the ‘arsenal of vaccines’ over this next period to help end the pandemic.”
The news of the Pfizer sharing plan was confirmed to The Associated Press by a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of the president’s formal announcement. The news was first reported by The Washington Post.
The U.S. has faced mounting pressure to outline its global vaccine sharing plan. Inequities in supply around the world have become more pronounced, and the demand for shots in the U.S. — where nearly 64% of adults have received at least one dose — has dropped precipitously.
The announcement comes a week after the White House unveiled its plans to donate an initial allotment of 25 million doses of surplus vaccine overseas, mostly through the United Nations-backed COVAX program, promising infusions for South and Central America, Asia, Africa and others at a time of glaring shortages abroad.
Overall, the White House has announced plans to share 80 million doses globally by the end of June, most through COVAX. Officials say a quarter of the nation’s excess will be kept in reserve for emergencies and for the U.S. to share directly with allies and partners.
The White House has also directed doses to allies including South Korea, Taiwan and Ukraine.
Global public health groups had been aiming to use the upcoming G-7 meetings in Cornwall, England, to press the nation’s wealthiest democracies to do more to share vaccines with the world, and Biden’s plans drew immediate praise toward that end.
“The Biden administration’s decision to purchase and donate additional COVID-19 vaccine doses is the kind of bold leadership that is needed to end this global pandemic,” said Tom Hart, acting CEO at The ONE Campaign, a nonprofit that seeks to end poverty. “This action sends an incredibly powerful message about America’s commitment to helping the world fight this pandemic and the immense power of US global leadership.”
But others have called on the U.S. to do even more.
“Charity is not going to win the war against the coronavirus,” said Niko Lusiani, Oxfam America’s vaccine lead. “It’s time to let the world help itself. Rather than more lucrative transactions with very profitable pharmaceutical corporations, we need a transformation toward more distributed vaccine manufacturing so that qualified producers worldwide can produce billions more low-cost doses on their own terms, without intellectual property constraints.”
Biden last month broke with European allies to endorse waiving intellectual property rules at the World Trade Organization to promote vaccine production and equity. But many in his own administration acknowledge that the restrictions were not the driving cause of the global vaccine shortage, which has more to do with limited manufacturing capacity and shortages of delicate raw materials.
Sullivan told reporters Wednesday that he does not expect the U.S. push to waive the patents on vaccines to cause tension with European counterparts.
“We’re all converging around the idea that we need to boost vaccine supply in a number of ways, sharing more of our own doses,” Sullivan told reporters aboard Air Force One. “We’ll have more to say on that, helping get more manufacturing capacity around the world.”
Globally, there have been more than 3.7 million confirmed deaths from COVID-19, and more than 174 million people have been confirmed infected.
-
Millions of households to get monthly payments next month
(Reuters) – A poverty-fighting measure included in the COVID-19 relief bill passed this year will deliver monthly payments to households including 88% of children in the United States, starting in July, Biden administration officials said on Monday.
The Democratic-backed American Rescue Plan, signed into law by President Joe Biden in March as a response to the coronavirus pandemic, expanded a tax credit available to most parents.
Those people will get up to $3,000 per child, or $3,600 for each child under the age of 6, in 2021, subject to income restrictions. The benefit will reach 39 million households, many automatically and by direct deposit every month, starting on July 15.
It is one of several measures the administration says could lift more than 5 million children out of poverty, half of the total number of U.S. youngsters in that situation.
Biden has asked Congress to extend the tax credit through 2025.
Officials are trying to help the economy recover from the pandemic. Yet recent signs of higher inflation have raised concern that those costs could eat away at incomes and exacerbate inequality.