Archives for March 2021

TORONTO — The health minister of Canada’s most populous province says Ontario seniors won’t receive the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine since there’s limited data on its effectiveness in older populations.

Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott says Ontario plans to follow the advice of a national panel that’s recommended against using the newly approved vaccine on people aged 65 and older.

Elliott says for anyone over that age, it’s recommended that they receive either the Pfizer or the Moderna vaccine.

There are no concerns that the vaccine is unsafe for use, but Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization said this week that the vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna are preferred for seniors due to “suggested superior efficacy.″

France said this week it will allow some people over 65 to receive the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, after initially restricting its use to younger populations because of limited data on the drug’s effectiveness.

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THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:

— AP source: Merck to help produce Johnson & Johnson vaccine

— Vatican defends pope’s trip to Iraq, stadium mass for 10,000 people

— Chinese vaccines sweep across the world, despite some concerns

— Pandemic frustrations fuel attacks on health care workers around the world

— Follow AP’s pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic, https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — New Zealand reported no new community cases of the coronavirus for a third consecutive day as the latest outbreak in Auckland appears to have been brought under control.

The government placed the nation’s largest city into a weeklong lockdown Sunday after several new community cases were found.

Top lawmakers in the Cabinet are meeting Friday to review the lockdown. Also, health officials announced they had given the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine to more than 9,000 people, including more than half of the 12,000 people who work at the border.

New Zealand currently has a supply of about 200,000 doses. The country has been slower than many to begin its vaccination campaign but is seen as lower risk after eliminating community spread of the virus.

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WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is directing states to prioritize vaccinating all teachers during the month of March, and announced that the federal government will help in the effort through its partnership with retail pharmacies.

Biden said his goal is for every pre-kindergarten through 12th grade educator, school staff member and childcare worker to receive at least one shot by the end of March.

To achieve this, Biden announced that qualifying individuals will be able to sign up this month to be vaccinated at a pharmacy near them.

Biden said that while schools are safe to reopen even before staff have been vaccinated, “time and again, we’ve heard from educators and parents that have anxieties about that,” so to “accelerate” the safe reopening teachers should be prioritized.

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WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said that the U.S. will have enough coronavirus vaccine supply to cover every adult in America by the end of May, two months earlier than anticipated.

Biden said that to accelerate production of the vaccine, drugmaker Merck & Co. will help produce rival Johnson & Johnson’s newly-approved shot. The administration is invoking the Defense Production Act, a wartime measure that gives the federal government authority to direct private companies to meet the needs of the national defense, to equip two Merck facilities to produce the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Biden said Johnson & Johnson will operate 24/7 to produce the vaccine. He also said the Defense Department will provide daily logistical support for the company in its efforts.

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SALEM, Ore. – The Brazilian variant of coronavirus has emerged in Oregon, the first known such case on the U.S. West Coast, medical authorities said Tuesday.

The sample was sent to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at the end of January by medical officials in Douglas County, Oregon. They said they received the results back on Monday night, showing the P.1 variant.

“The P.1 variant … appears to be related to business travel outside the United States to and from Brazil,” the Douglas County COVID-19 Response Team said in a statement Tuesday.

The variant, which was originally traced to Brazil, appears to be more contagious than the original COVID-19 strain. It can potentially be contracted by someone who was already infected or who has been vaccinated.

There have been 10 other cases of the P.1 variant reported in the United States, with five in Florida, two in Minnesota and one each in Oklahoma, Alaska and Maryland, the CDC says.

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JACKSON, Miss. — The governor of Mississippi has said he is getting rid of most mask mandates previously imposed to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus. He is also lifting most other restrictions, including limits on seating in restaurants.

Republican Gov. Tate Reeves said he is issuing a new executive order that takes effect at 5 p.m. Wednesday and remains in place until March 31.

Reeves said the number of people hospitalized because of the virus has decreased in recent weeks, and vaccination numbers are increasing.

Until now, most of Mississippi’s 82 counties had been under a mask mandate for months.

Reeves said he is encouraging other people to wear face coverings but is not requiring it. He is asking people to follow recommendations from the state health officer, Dr. Thomas Dobbs.

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SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco Mayor London Breed said indoor dining, movie theaters and gyms can reopen within 24 hours in the city.

Breed made the announcement as California gave the county the go-ahead to open up more of its economy as the rate of coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths declines statewide.

San Francisco and Santa Clara counties in the Bay Area join five other counties in moving on from the most restrictive tier. Much of the state’s population, including Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties, are limited to outdoor dining and outdoor museums.

California reported an additional 2,533 confirmed COVID-19 cases, bringing the state’s total known cases to nearly 3.5 million. Officials also announced an additional 303 deaths, raising that total to just under 52,500 fatalities in the state of nearly 40 million.

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BELGRADE, Serbia — Serbia’s health authorities say they are monitoring the condition of a man who mistakenly has received two doses of vaccines from two different producers.

Epidemiologist Branislav Tiodorovic says the man’s condition is ‘under control’ and that ‘something like this must not happen again.’

Serbian media have reported that the man from the southern town of Vranje first received a Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine but then got Chinese Sinopharm as the second dose in an apparent mix-up.

Tiodorovic said the incident happened because procedures were not followed fully. Serbia also has been using Russia’s Sputnik V and Astra-Zeneca in addition to China’s Sinopharm and Pfizer.

The Balkan nation of 7 million has vaccinated over 1.5 million people with at least one dose.

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HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said Tuesday that teachers will receive doses of the newly approved one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine, under a plan his administration will release.

In a news conference on a separate topic, Wolf said his administration’s plan will be released Wednesday.

He gave few details, but said he and a bipartisan legislative task force agreed that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine should be set aside for teachers and then other workers considered to be essential, but who are not included in the first vaccination phase.

“There’s some really important front-line workers who I think and I think the task force believes, on a bipartisan basis, should be included in that, like teachers and, not too far down the road, like child care workers, and police, and fire, grocery store workers, bus drivers,” Wolf said.

State officials expect 94,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to arrive this week as school districts face pressure to bring students back to classrooms for in-person instruction.

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida isn’t expecting Spring Break travel to return fully back to normal, pre-pandemic levels, but is expecting many more travelers than last year when the U.S. outbreak was just getting started. At the time, images of Florida beach revelers raised alarms nationally and prompted the state to shut high-profile South Florida beaches while municipalities elsewhere in the state temporarily closed or restricted theirs.

The state has mostly been open since last summer, and Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis opposed to any return to “lockdown.” The governor made it clear during his annual State of the State speech in Tallahassee that he welcomes more visitors to Florida in his drive to keep the state’s economy thriving — though he didn’t mention spring break directly.

Still, municipalities can impose mask rules and curfews, restrict beach access and place some limits on bars and restaurants, though some of them have virtually none in place ahead of the season.

Miami Beach, however, is hoping to keep a lid on rampant revelry. The city requires masks both indoors and outdoors and will restrict the number of people allowed on the beach. The county remains under a midnight-to-6 a.m. curfew and with limits on indoor bar and restaurant capacity.

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AUSTIN, Texas — State officials said Texas is lifting its mask mandate, making it the largest state to end an order intended to prevent the spread of the coronavirus that has killed more than 42,000 Texans.

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has faced sharp criticism from his party over the mandate, which was imposed eight months ago. It was only ever lightly enforced, even during the worst outbreaks of the pandemic.

Abbott, who made the announcement at a restaurant in Lubbock, also said Texas will no longer impose limits on the number of diners that businesses can serve indoors.

The decision comes as governors across the U.S. have been easing coronavirus restrictions, despite warnings from health experts that the outbreak is far from over. Like the rest of the country, Texas has seen a sharp plunge in cases and hospitalizations in recent weeks.

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LANSING, Mich. — The governor of Michigan announced the further loosening of state coronavirus restrictions, easing capacity limits in restaurants and a host of other businesses while also allowing for larger indoor and outdoor gatherings.

The revised state health department order takes effect Friday. Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer also said families will be able to visit nursing homes after being tested for COVID-19.

Restaurants and bars, now limited to 25% capacity inside, will have a 50% restriction. A 10 p.m curfew will shift to 11 p.m. Venues such as movie theaters, bowling alleys, banquet halls and casinos will have higher capacity limits, too.

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WASHINGTON — The White House is announcing an increase in available coronavirus vaccines to 15.2 million doses a week, up from 14.5 million.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki says only 8.6 million doses a week were available when Joe Biden became president in late January.

States are receiving 2.8 million doses of the newly approved Johnson & Johnson vaccine this week. That means a total of 18 million doses will go out this week. Upcoming shipments of the J&J vaccine could be uneven during the next few weeks as the company ramps up production.

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MADRID — Spain’s rolling two-week incidence rate of coronavirus cases per 100,000 inhabitants keeps falling, with officials considering mid-April for a broad easing of restrictions.

Spain reported 168 cases per capita on Tuesday, that’s down from nearly 900 at the end of January.

Authorities hope Spain can reach a target of fewer than 50 cases per 100,000 people in about six weeks.

Authorities say 10 of the country’s 17 autonomous regions and two autonomous cities have fallen below 150 cases per 100,000 people over two weeks.

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ATLANTA — Three leading health organizations say stronger efforts are needed to collect and report race and ethnicity data about Americans receiving COVID-19 vaccinations.

That information was missing in almost half of vaccination records reported in the first month to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to an open letter from the American Medical Association, the American Nurses Association and the American Pharmacists Association.

“This information will allow our nation to better understand whether we are providing access to vaccines to vulnerable populations and inform efforts to improve vaccine confidence,’’ the letter said.

“We encourage clinicians to share with patients in a transparent and culturally sensitive manner why collecting race and ethnicity information can help improve the health of their families and communities,” the groups said. “These actions reinforce our commitment to high-quality equitable care.”

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NEW YORK (AP) — The pandemic-era Golden Globes sunk to 6.9 million viewers, down a whopping 64% from 2020 and only barely beating the year when a writer’s strike forced NBC to show a news conference announcing the winners.

Last year’s show, in the pre-lockdown era, reached 18.4 million viewers, the Nielsen company said.

Big winners in Sunday’s ceremony were the films “Nomadland” and “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” and the television programs “The Crown” and “The Queen’s Gambit.”

The writer’s strike curtailed the Globes in 2008 and only 6 million people watched the news conference. Otherwise, this year’s show had by far the smallest audience since NBC began telecasting the awards in 1996.

NBC anticipated a ratings bloodbath, the only question was how much. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler co-hosted, but on separate coasts: Poehler in the show’s traditional home of the Beverly Hilton and Fey in New York’s Rainbow Room.

For a country sick of Zoom meetings, most of the nominees appeared remotely and there was no red carpet. Some stars dressed for the occasion, others didn’t bother. “Ted Lasso” star Jason Sudeikis wore a sweatshirt for his acceptance speech.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which runs the Golden Globes, was reeling from an investigation by The Los Angeles Times that revealed ethical lapses and the news that the organization had no Black members who voted on winners.

Nominated films also suffered from a severe lack of buzz, in large part because theaters were largely closed. Since film buffs had to navigate a soup of streaming services to keep up with what was going on, there was no runaway success to entice viewers.

The shuddering sound you hear at the ratings news is coming from ABC and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which puts on the Oscars. The Academy Awards in 2020 reached a record low 23.6 million viewers, and that was also pre-lockdown.

The Oscars will be held on April 25, giving organizers hope that with more people vaccinated against COVID, it might have more in-person elements.

CBS was the most-watched network in prime time last week, averaging 4.5 million viewers. ABC had 3.9 million, NBC had 3.4 million, Fox had 2.3 million, Univision had 1.4 million, Ion Television had 1.2 million and Telemundo had 1 million.

Fox News Channel topped the cable networks, averaging 2.46 million viewers in prime time. MSNBC had 1.9 million, CNN had 1.28 million, HGTV had 1.11 million and ESPN had 1.07 million.

By far the most-watched cable program last week was Fox News’ coverage of former President Donald Trump’s speech at CPAC, with 5.74 million viewers.

Other cable news networks had superlatives: MSNBC came in first in all-day ratings for the first time in its history in February, and CNN had its best February ratings ever.

ABC’s “World News Tonight” won the evening news ratings race, averaging 9.5 million viewers last week. NBC’s “Nightly News” had 7.6 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 5.8 million.

For the week of Feb. 22-28, the top 20 prime time programs, their networks and viewerships:

1. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 8.13 million.

2. “Young Sheldon,” CBS, 7.87 million.

3. “The Equalizer,” CBS, 7.78 million.

4. “Golden Globe Awards,” NBC, 6.91 million.

5. “911,” Fox, 6.74 million.

6. “American Idol,” ABC, 6.61 million.

7. “Celebrity Wheel of Fortune,” ABC, 5.933 million.

8. “The Neighborhood,” CBS, 5.928 million.

9. “America’s Funniest Home Videos, 5.84 million.

10. “NCIS: Los Angeles, 5.83 million.

11. “Bob Hearts Abishola, CBS, 5.56 million.

12. “NCIS,” CBS, 5.47 million.

13. “The Bachelor,” ABC, 5.45 million.

14. “911: Lone Star,” Fox, 5.37 million.

15. “B Positive,” CBS, 5.19 million.

16. “Mom,” CBS, 5.18 million.

17. “Bull,” CBS, 5.112 million.

18. “This is Us,” NBC, 5.11 million.

19. “FBI,” CBS, 5.04 million.

20. “NCIS: New Orleans,” CBS, 5.03 million.

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Texas on Tuesday became the biggest state to lift its mask rule, joining a rapidly growing movement by governors and other leaders across the U.S. to loosen COVID-19 restrictions despite pleas from health officials not to let their guard down yet.

The Lone Star State will also do away with limits on the number of diners who can be served indoors, said Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who made the announcement at a restaurant in Lubbock.

The governors of Michigan, Mississippi and Louisiana likewise eased up on bars, restaurants and other businesses Tuesday, as did the mayor of San Francisco.

“Removing statewide mandates does not end personal responsibility,” said Abbott, speaking from a crowded dining room where many of those surrounding him were not wearing masks. “It’s just that now state mandates are no longer needed.”

A year into the crisis, politicians and ordinary Americans alike have grown tired of rules meant to stem the spread of the coronavirus, which has killed over a half-million people in the United States. Some places are lifting infection control measures; in other places, people are ignoring them.

Top health officials, including the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have responded by begging people repeatedly not to risk another deadly wave of contagion just when the nation is making progress in vaccinating people and victory over the outbreak is in sight.

U.S. cases have plunged more than 70% over the past two months from an average of nearly 250,000 new infections a day, while average deaths per day have plummeted about 40% since mid-January.

But the two curves have leveled off abruptly in the past several days and have even risen slightly, and the numbers are still running at alarmingly high levels, with an average of about 2,000 deaths and 68,000 cases per day. Health officials are increasingly worried about virus mutations.

“We stand to completely lose the hard-earned ground we have gained,” CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky warned on Monday.

Even so, many Americans are sick of the shutdowns that have damaged their livelihoods and are eager to socialize again.

An Indianapolis-area bar was filled with maskless patrons over the weekend. In Southern California, people waited in lines that snaked through a parking lot on a recent weekday afternoon for the chance to shop and eat at Downtown Disney, part of Disneyland. (The theme park’s rides remain closed.) And Florida is getting ready to welcome students on spring break.

“People want to stay safe, but at the same time, the fatigue has hit,” said Ryan Luke, who is organizing a weekend rally in Eagle, Idaho, to encourage people to patronize businesses that don’t require masks. “We just want to live a quasi-normal life.”

Michael Junge argued against a mask mandate when officials in the Missouri tourist town of Branson passed one and said he hasn’t enforced it in his Lost Boys Barber Company. He said he is sick of it.

“I think the whole thing is a joke honestly,” he said. “They originally said that this was going to go for a month and they have pushed it out to indefinitely. … It should have been done a long time ago.”

In San Francisco, an upbeat Mayor London Breed announced that California gave the green light to indoor dining and the reopening of movie theaters and gyms.

“You can enjoy your city, right here, right now,” she said from Fisherman’s Wharf, one of the city’s biggest tourist attractions. She added: “We are not where we need to be yet, but we’re getting there, San Francisco.”

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said he is getting rid of most mask mandates and lifting most other restrictions, including limits on seating in restaurants, starting Wednesday.

“The governor’s office is getting out of the business of telling people what they can and cannot do,” the Republican said.

Florida, which is getting ready for spring break travelers to flock to its sunny beaches, is considered to be in an “active outbreak,” along with Texas, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and South Carolina, according to the data-tracking website CovidActNow.

Florida Gov. Rick DeSantis made it clear during his annual State of the State address Tuesday that he welcomes more visitors to Florida in his drive to keep the state’s economy thriving.

Florida municipalities can impose their own mask rules and curfews, restrict beach access and place some limits on bars and restaurants, but some have virtually no such measures in place.

Miami Beach will require masks indoors and out and restrict the number of people allowed on the beach as well as in bars and restaurants.

“If you want to party without restrictions, then go somewhere else. Go to Vegas,” Miami Beach City Manager Raul Aguila said during a recent virtual meeting. “We will be taking a zero-tolerance attitude towards that behavior.”

In Michigan, a group called All Business Is Essential has resisted Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s virus policies, and many people are ignoring mask requirements and other measures, said group leader Erik Kiilunen.

“At some point you’ve got to look yourself in the mirror and say, ‘Do I want a zero-risk life?’” he said. “It’s become a farce, really. People have quit living for a year, at what price?”

“I think everybody wants things to get back the way they were,” said Aubrey D. Jenkins, the fire chief in Columbia, South Carolina, whose department issues dozens of $100 citations every weekend to bar-goers who refuse to wear masks or keep their distance. “But we still have to be real cautious.”

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Associated Press writers Brendan Farrington in Tallahasee, Florida; Anila Yoganathan in Tucker, Georgia; Emily Wagster Pettus in Jackson, Mississippi; John Flesher in Traverse City, Michigan; Heather Hollingsworth in Mission, Kansas; Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho; Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar in Washington; Melinda Deslatte in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Janie Har in San Francisco; and David Eggert in Lansing, Michigan, contributed to this story.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Naval Academy is developing plans to begin vaccinating midshipmen this month so students can deploy to ships and with Navy teams as part of their training this summer, Vice Adm. Sean Buck told Congress Tuesday.

If the vaccines are available, the midshipmen would be the first military academy students to receive the COVID-19 shots. The plans come as the Naval Academy wrestles with a new uptick in positive coronavirus cases, and has locked down the campus in Annapolis, Maryland, for 10 days. Students have been restricted to their rooms for classes and meals, and can go outside for a maximum of two hours a day, with only one roommate.

The lockdown was announced on Sunday, and includes the suspension of sports events and practices, other than the men’s varsity basketball team, which will participate in postseason play because the athletes have been isolated since last week.

Speaking to the House Defense Appropriations subcommittee, Buck said that he’s given Navy leaders a timeline for when he’d like to begin giving vaccines to midshipmen who will be deploying out to the fleet.

Generally, students go out on fleet cruises in the summer after their freshman year, do a four-week training stint in the fleet after their sophomore year and go on a higher-level fleet cruise after their junior year. Often the training is part of the process to determine what service job interests them.

“Our Navy has prioritized the operational forces first. They’re getting vaccinated. They have a very safe and healthy bubble,” Buck told lawmakers. “And for them to be willing to accept our midshipmen from the academy as well as midshipmen from NROTC universities around the country, we need to vaccinate them prior to the summer training.”

The Navy has had several small outbreaks on ships, both deployed and at home ports, and leaders have been trying to get crews vaccinated in order to avoid upticks in the virus. The USS Theodore Roosevelt, an aircraft carrier, had a massive outbreak early last year while at sea, and was sidelined in Guam for weeks while the crew went through a methodical quarantine process.

To meet the training timelines, Buck said a small initial group of students would have to start getting vaccines by the last week of March, in order to get out to their deployments in mid-May. That would give them time to get both shots, and have two weeks to ensure their immunity was in full effect.

Buck and the superintendents for the Army and Air Force academies told lawmakers that they have all started providing vaccines to their faculty and staff, based on the priorities set by the CDC and the Defense Department. But the Air Force and Army academies haven’t yet begun preparations to give shots to students.

Army Lt. Gen. Darryl Williams, superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., said about 4,000 staff and faculty have gotten the vaccine so far, which is about half. At the Naval Academy, more than 900 of the roughly 2,300 staff and faculty have gotten shots, including some who got vaccines in the local community based on their eligibility.

The military leaders said first responders and vulnerable people are prioritized, as noted in the CDC and Pentagon guidelines.

Williams added that he’s confident students will want to get the vaccine once it’s available.

Air Force Lt. Gen. Richard Clark, superintendent of the Air Force Academy in Colorado, noted that the cadets are “the most healthy of our population and they fall into the lower level” of the priorities.

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