Tag Archives: COVID Vaccine

The DCist reports: Local celebrity chef and humanitarian José Andrés is getting into the vaccine rewards game, and he’s offering more than a free donut or a free beer. On Friday, Andrés tweeted that he would give $50 gift cards to his D.C.-area ThinkFoodGroup restaurants to anyone who shows proof of vaccination, starting Saturday. The giveaway will run “until we …

The Associated Press reports: States asked the federal government this week to withhold staggering amounts of COVID-19 vaccine amid plummeting demand for the shots, contributing to a growing U.S. stockpile of doses. From South Carolina to Washington, states are requesting the Biden administration send them only a fraction of what’s been allocated to them. The turned-down vaccines amount to hundreds …

Reuters reports: The United States has fully vaccinated 110,874,920 people for COVID-19 as of Friday morning, accounting for 33.4% of the population, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday. The country has administered 254,779,333 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country and distributed 327,124,625 doses. The agency said 150,416,559 people had received at least one dose …

Gallup reports: COVID-19 vaccinations continue to climb in the U.S., but significant vaccine hesitancy persists. Majorities of Americans support businesses requiring people to show proof of vaccination in order to participate in some public activities, but not others. Specifically, U.S. adults favor mandated vaccination certification for travel by airplane (57%) and to attend events with large crowds, such as concerts …

CNBC reports: Pfizer and partner BioNTech said they have started the process of seeking full approval for their Covid vaccine for use in people 16 and older in the U.S., making the companies the first in the nation to file for full regulatory approval. The Food and Drug Administration granted emergency authorization of their Covid vaccine in late December. Since …

The Daily Beast reports: In what has become a commonplace occurrence these days, Fox News host Tucker Carlson addressed a controversy purely of his own making on Thursday night, this time regarding his dangerous and sloppy suggestion that dozens of Americans a day are dying from the coronavirus vaccines. How did he explain away the highly misleading and disingenuous speculation? …

The New York Times reports: The European Union is considering whether to follow the Biden administration’s decision to support a waiver of patent rights for Covid-19 vaccines as many poor and middle-income nations struggle to secure lifesaving doses. The European Commission’s president, Ursula von der Leyen, stopped short of outright supporting President Biden in a speech on Thursday morning, but …

The Hill reports: Ivanka Trump touted the COVID-19 vaccine in a social media post celebrating her second dose, once again urging her followers to get vaccinated. “This afternoon, I gratefully received my second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine,” Ivanka Trump, the oldest daughter of former President Trump, wrote in a Twitter post. The former White House senior adviser documented her …

CNBC reports: The Biden administration announced Wednesday that it supports waiving intellectual property protections for Covid-19 vaccines, as countries struggle to manufacture the life-saving doses. “This is a global health crisis, and the extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic call for extraordinary measures. The Administration believes strongly in intellectual property protections, but in service of ending this pandemic, supports the …

The Associated Press reports: Teams of experts are projecting COVID-19′s toll on the U.S. will fall sharply by the end of July, according to research released by the government Wednesday. But they also warn that a “substantial increase” in hospitalizations and deaths is possible if unvaccinated people do not follow basic precautions. The CDC is now reporting an average of …

The New York Daily News reports: Baseball fans can get free tickets to a Yankees or Mets game if they get vaccinated against COVID at either of the team’s facilities, Gov. Cuomo announced on Wednesday. The doses available outside Citi Field and Yankee Stadium will be the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the governor said. “We call that a New …

The Hill reports: House Judiciary Republicans on Tuesday urged the U.S. trade representative to continue opposing a waiver to loosen patent and intellectual property protections on coronavirus vaccines. In a letter to Katherine Tai, the Republicans, led by Reps. Jim Jordan (Ohio) and Darrell Issa (Calif.), said the waiver would do little to improve public health. “The waiver would undermine …

The Washington Post reports: President Joe Biden is setting a new vaccination goal to deliver at least one dose to 70% of adult Americans by July 4, the White House said Tuesday, as the administration pushes to make it easier for people to get shots and to bring the country closer to normalcy. The new goal, which also includes fully …

“You can see where this is going, and at high speed. Soon, virtually all college students in America will be required to take the COVID vaccine. “In effect, it is a national mandate. Though, because it has happened piecemeal, school by school, each apparently making an independent decision, few have recognized that as it’s happened. “But a national mandate is …

The New York Times reports: The Food and Drug Administration is preparing to authorize use of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine in adolescents 12 to 15 years old by early next week, according to federal officials familiar with the agency’s plans, opening up the nation’s vaccination campaign to millions more Americans. The news is highly anticipated: Eager parents have been counting …

CNBC reports: New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on Monday announced a new bid to boost coronavirus vaccinations: Receive your first dose in May and get a free beer. “We’re not going to be afraid to try new things,” Murphy said as he unveiled the new program, dubbed “Shot and a Beer,” at a press briefing. New Jerseyans will have to …

Axios reports: Maryland will offer a $100 incentive to any state employee who gets vaccinated for COVID-19, Gov. Larry Hogan announced Monday. Why it matters: The incentive comes as vaccine demand is hitting a wall well before the U.S. has reached herd immunity. State employees in Maryland who have already been vaccinated will also get a retroactive $100 payment. West …

The Miami Herald reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis kept his promise and signed a bill into law Monday that bars businesses, schools and government entities across Florida from asking anyone to provide proof of a COVID-19 vaccination. The bill is effective July 1, but DeSantis also on Monday said he would sign an executive order invalidating all remaining local emergency COVID …

The Guardian reports: The EU would reopen to holidaymakers from countries with low Covid infection rates such as the UK, and to anyone who has been fully vaccinated, by the start of June under a European Commission plan. With the rate of vaccination rising “dramatically” in EU member states, commission officials said it was time to relax rules on non-essential …

The Hill reports: Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) estimated that about 75 percent of House members have been vaccinated, a figure unchanged since March. Until more members get vaccinated, Pelosi said, the House won’t return to pre-pandemic operations. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), for example, isn’t planning to get a vaccine because he previously tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies last year, even …