[ad_1]
Evidence showing high rates of protection against the virus from three doses, and an Omicron variant-fueled surge in cases in the US, has struggled to convince the American public to take the third shot, CNN’s Jacqueline Howard reports. According to CNN analysis of US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data, the pace of booster doses going into arms is the lowest it has been in months.
Experts say Covid-19 fatigue and the partisan divide, which has plagued America’s vaccination campaign, is partly responsible for these figures: A Kaiser Family Foundation survey released last month found that 58% of fully vaccinated Democrats who have not had the booster expressed interest in a third dose, compared to just 18% of fully vaccinated Republicans who have not had it.
Waning immunity is complicating the situation. Israel began vaccinating at-risk populations and people over 60 with a fourth dose January 2, and a pre-print study from the country suggests that the extra shot of Pfizer/BioNTech seems to provide better protection from infection and severe illness than three shots of the vaccine.
In the face of waning protection, boosters are key in helping to push the coronavirus to an endemic disease instead of causing pandemic-levels of infection, Andy Pekosz, Professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, told CNN.
YOU ASKED. WE ANSWERED.
Q: When can younger children be vaccinated against Covid-19 in the United States?
A: The timeline for when children younger than five might start receiving Covid-19 vaccinations in the US has just been pushed back.
The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is currently authorized for use in people as young as five. If the new emergency use authorization is granted, this shot will be the first coronavirus vaccine available for the youngest children — and the tentative plan is to roll out about 10 million vaccine doses initially, according to a CDC document.
READS OF THE WEEK
Canada invokes emergency powers in a bid to stop trucker protest
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has invoked emergency powers in an attempt to sever financial support for the “Freedom Convoy” protests that have clogged streets in the Canadian capital Ottawa for weeks. They have also impeded access to the busiest land crossing in North America as truck drivers and their supporters demonstrate against vaccine mandates and pandemic control measures.
The news comes after the Ambassador Bridge between the US and Canada reopened Sunday and Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, announced plans to loosen pandemic restrictions.
We are in the same Olympic city but remain a world apart
China’s borders have been virtually closed for two years because of Covid, and the government has granted limited visas for journalists. The Beijing Winter Olympics offered a rare chance for CNN’s Selina Wang to return to the country.
Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, test positive for Covid
Charles started isolating on February 10 after testing positive for the virus for the second time. The 73-year-old heir to the UK throne, who is fully vaccinated, had met with Queen Elizabeth “recently,” a royal source told CNN after his latest infection was announced. The source did not elaborate on how recently the meeting took place.
The Duchess is triple vaccinated and will continue to follow all government guidelines and review engagements on that basis, a royal source said.
TOP TIP
You’ve lost your vaccine card in the United States. Stay calm and follow these steps
No one could have predicted before the pandemic that a little piece of white paper would hold so much significance, Megan Marples reports. It’s the key to entering some concert venues, traveling to certain countries and more.
TODAY’S PODCAST
[ad_2]
Source link
