Medical officials in southern states like Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana, report major surges in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations as vaccination rates remain low and mask mandates are outlawed.
As more children are getting infected and seriously ill with the coronavirus, many school districts are at odds with state and local governments over mask mandates when school starts this fall.
There are also growing concerns about the possibility of other variants spreading out of control in the U.S. including the Lambda mutation, which early data suggests slightly weakens the positive effects of COVID vaccines. Meanwhile, a race between variants and the vaccine continues. Dr. Anthony Fauci hopes the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will soon give full approval for all current COVID vaccines currently being distributed across the U.S. on an emergency license.
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The U. S. seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases hits 110,000 People gather in New York City to protest vaccine requirements The Pentagon will require military members to get vaccinated Texas school district defies executive order, mandates masks in school
“I will be praying that our sick may fight this illness, that the medical professionals caring for them can remain strong and safe, that our children, teachers and school support staff can safely begin the school year and that our people will do everything they can to help us slow the spread of this terrible virus,” he said in a statement.
Monday’s report from the Louisiana Department of Health noted 16,541 new COVID-19 cases and 50 deaths since Friday.
READ MORE: “John Bel Edwards Asks Louisiana Residents to Join Him in Fast to Honor Health Care Workers”
In June, the U.S. donated 1.3 million doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Mexico has vaccinated more than 50 million people, about 56 percent of the adult population.
López Obrador said he planned to discuss a transfer of vaccine with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris during a call scheduled for later Monday, according to the Associated Press.
There are 13 are children being treated for COVID-19 in hospitals and two in intensive care, Murphy said.
“We’re not willing to surrender our kids to this virus, unlike those opposed to our commonsense masking plan,” he said.
“Freedom over fear, no forced injections, my body my choice,” one woman at the podium said to the crowd.
Protestors also displayed a banner depicting NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio holding the severed head of Lady Liberty.
Another woman compared mandatory vaccinations to her experience as a Holocaust survivor.
“The Holocaust didn’t happen overnight, it happened in stages,” she said. “Stages of humiliation, discrimination, demonization, and the final stage, extermination.”
“The current hysteria about a virus is an assault on or freedom it has nothing to do with health,” she added. “Fear of coronavirus is being fomented by propaganda in order to demolish democracy, that’s the goal.”
“I will seek the president’s approval to make the vaccines mandatory no later than mid-September, or immediately upon” licensure by the Food and Drug Administration “whichever comes first,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in the memo to troops.
President Biden said he “strongly supports” Secretary Austin’s plan to ensure “our troops have every tool they need to do their jobs as safely as possible.”
“Being vaccinated will enable our service members to stay healthy, to better protect their families, and to ensure that our force is ready to operate anywhere in the world,” Biden said in a press release.
“I am proud that our military women and men will continue to help lead the charge in the fight against the pandemic by setting an example of keeping their fellow Americans safe,” he added.
The measure contradicts an executive order from Gov. Greg Abbott that prohibits public schools and the Texas Education Agency from imposing mask mandates and threatens a fine of up to $1,000 for areas that don’t comply.
A statement issued on the DISD website stated that Abbott’s order “does not limit the district’s rights as an employer and educational institution to establish reasonable and necessary safety rules for its staff and students.”
The crowd can be heard chanting, “Shame on you, shame on you,” toward the building, and The Independent said one protester was giving a speech accusing the corporation of BBC of “not giving out the right information,” presumably about vaccination rates or mandates.
A group of demonstrators, who began in Shepards Bush Green, allegedly attempted to break into the building through the back but were stopped by police.
There have been no arrests but officers are in attendance and will continue to monitor the situation, a London Met police spokesperson told The Independent.
READ MORE: “Video Emerges of Anti-Vaccination Protesters Attempting to Storm Television Studio”
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said that President Joe Biden “imported more virus” through the “wide-open southern border.” Texas Governor Greg Abbott said Biden was allowing migrants, “many of whom have COVID,” into the country.
New York Times reporter Linda Qiu noted that many of the major outbreaks are occurring in Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana—states that do not border Mexico. There is also no evidence that the Delta variant or three others labeled “of concern” by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention entered the U.S. through the southern border.
“It’s not a border issue or a migrant issue, it’s a national issue. And it’s a particularly major issue in states with lower vaccination rates,” Max Hadler, the COVID-19 senior policy expert at Physicians for Human Rights, a nonprofit advocacy group, told the NYT. “That’s the clearest and most important correlation, and it has nothing to do with migrants but rather with rates of vaccination among people living in those states.”
According to a New York Times database, the seven-day average of new cases reported has doubled in the last two weeks to 110,360. Deaths have also nearly doubled, to an average of 516 a day.
According to the Associated Press, the Instagram user “vaccinationacards” is selling fake laminated cards for $25, while one Telegram user is offering “COVID-19 Vaccine Cards Certificates” for up to $200 each.
“This is our own way of saving as many people as we possibly can from the poisonous vaccine,” reads the Telegram user’s message.
The prevalence of fake vaccine cards online has worried some school officials.
“There needs to be policies in place for accountability to make sure that every student is operating in the collective interest of the entire campus,” global health policy professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Benjamin Mason Meier, told the AP.
READ MORE: “Fake COVID Vaccine Cards Can Be Bought Online for as Little as $25, Worrying Officials”
“I think we’re closer to the beginning than we are to the end [of the pandemic], and that’s not because the variant that we’re looking at right now is going to last that long,” Brilliant told CNBC.
“Unless we vaccinate everyone in 200 plus countries, there will still be new variants,” he said.
While he said the delta variant is “maybe the most contagious virus” ever, Brillant noted that the vaccines are holding up against the variant.
He recommends giving vulnerable populations a booster shot as soon as possible.
“As a matter of personal conscience, we need to be working with our employers, not opposing them, on vaccine mandates,” Weingarten told Meet the Press host Chuck Todd.
While she said teachers are “probably the most vaccinated profession,” Weingarten said the spread of the Delta variant is “alarming,” amid growing COVID-19 hospitalizations among children.
“The circumstances have changed,” she said. “It weighs really heavily on me that kids under 12 can’t get vaccinated.”
She said her priorities are getting kids back into schools and combating vaccine misinformation.
“Our number one goal is to get schools open,” Weingarten tweeted. “Vaccines and COVID mitigation policies are key to doing that.”
“That’s obviously a hot topic,” Collins said. “For me, as a non-political person, as a physician, as a scientist, the compelling case for vaccines for everybody is right there in front of you. Just look at the data.”
He said he agrees with President Biden’s insistence to require vaccines or weekly testing in federal agencies.
Collins added that the government “ought to use every public health tool that we can when people are dying.”
“Death rates are starting up again,” he said. “We ought to be thinking of every possible intervention.”
“It’s time for us to resists, they can’t arrest all of us,” he said. “We don’t have to accept the mask mandates, lockdown and harmful policies of the petty tyrants and bureaucrats. We can simply say no, not again.”
Paul called out House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her “drunk-with-power reign over the capitol,” saying he and his staff will make their own health choices regarding masks, vaccines and COVID-19 testing.
“President Biden, we won’t accept your agencies’ mandates or moves towards a lockdown,” Paul said. “No one should follow the CDC’s [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] anti-science mask mandates.”
He also threatened to punish local governments, federal agencies and school districts that enforce COVID-19 lockdown or mandates with bills to cut funding.
Florida has the highest number of children hospitalized from COVID of any state in the country, with 172 currently being treated in medical facilities. “The numbers of cases in our hospitals in children and our children’s hospitals are completely overwhelmed,” Dr. Aileen Marty said about the increasing amount of children hospitalized.
READ MORE: Healthy Children in Florida Increasingly Getting Sick With COVID As Over 170 Hospitalized
Judge Kathleen Williams decided in favor of Norwegian Cruise Line’s challenge to the law, arguing that it jeopardized the health and safety of crew members and was in breach of the First Amendment’s right to free speech.
READ MORE: Ron DeSantis Loses Battle With Florida Cruise Line Over Vaccine Passports
Owner of clubs LIV and Story, David Grutman - often described as the king of South Beach’s nightlife scene - who also owns a restaurant and hotel with Pharrell, said the “only way” for his businesses to stay open “is if people get vaccinated, so we want to make it as accessible as possible”.
Grutman has partnered with CDR Health to offer clubbers free virus shots, while other club owners are waiving door charges for fully vaccinated partiers and offering $200 bonuses to workers who prove their vaccination status.
School leaders have faced threats of funding cuts and the removal of people from executive boards by governors for mandating vaccines and face covering.
READ MORE: Teachers Union President Says DeSantis, Abbott ‘Hurting People’ With COVID ‘Disinformation’
The U.S. continues its closure to all Canadians making nonessential trips until at least August 21, which also applies to the Mexican border. It is expected the Biden administration will soon announce plans for a phased reopening.
While much remains to be known about the variant, experts fear its rapid spread could mean more severe illness, more hospitalizations and more resistance to vaccines than the original strain - and possibly even Delta.
Currently, the Delta variant accounts for more than 93 percent of circulating coronavirus cases in the country - but that could change.
READ MORE: The Lambda COVID Variant - What WHO, CDC Have Said
Stick with us throughout Monday for all the latest.
