Coronavirus vaccine news, updates, and information for 4-30-2021

This is Vaccine 411, the latest coronavirus vaccine information for April 30th, 2021.

Once the epicenter of the pandemic in the United States, New York City will "fully reopen" July 1. The Mayor said, "We are ready for stores to open, for businesses to open.” Theaters will also be operating at "full strength." It’s his belief vaccines are capable of quashing any outbreaks from new variants. 

They aren’t as sure about that in the U.K. Things are going very well there but now variants first detected in India have become the second most dominant in just weeks. Public Health England said there’s no evidence of widespread transmission or that these variants cause more severe disease or render the vaccines any less effective. Other scientists are alarmed at how fast these cases appear to be increasing even with social-distancing restrictions still in place. 

An unwelcome surprise in Vietnam. It’s detected its first locally transmitted cases in 35 days. Authorities have ordered tighter surveillance to prevent a new outbreak. That country’s strict quarantine and tracking helped it successfully contain three outbreaks so far and has one of the best records in Asia.

How many companies in the U.S. will require employees be vaccinated? A survey from the Rockefeller Foundation says most of them. 63% plan on requiring proof. As for consequences, 42% say the employee will not be allowed to return to the workplace, and 35% said discipline including termination is on the table.

The first study of NHS staff in England shows fully up to one fourth of healthcare workers there are still reluctant to get the vaccines. This is especially true among black and south Asian staffers, workers under 30, pregnant women, and those who already had Covid. 

In the United States cases were down 27%, deaths are down 7%, and hospitalizations are down 3% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending down since April 14.  

There are now 6,813,287 active cases in the United States. The current top 5 states by number of active cases: California, Virginia, New York, Maryland, and Florida. 

The top 10 counties with the highest number of recent cases per capita according to The New York Times: Chattahoochee, GA. Huron, MI. Grant, OR. Muskegon, MI. Ferry, WA. Donley, TX. Hemphill, TX. Pecos, TX. Bent, CO. And Fluvanna, VA. 

The five states with the highest risk levels and most daily new cases per capita over 7 days are Rhode Island, Michigan, Minnesota, Colorado, and Delaware.

There have been 575,070 deaths in the US reported as Covid-related, with a current national fatality rate of 1.79%.

The states with the most new deaths reported as COVID-related: Michigan 116. California 86. Texas and New York 68. Georgia 60. Florida 52. Pennsylvania 51. Illinois 41. And Arizona, South Carolina, and Colorado 23. 

The top 3 vaccinating states by percentage of population that’s had at least one dose, New Hampshire at 59.8%, Massachusetts at 54.7%, and Connecticut at 53.9%. The bottom 3 vaccinating states are Mississippi at 30.7%, Alabama at 32%, and Louisiana at 32.1%.

Globally, cases were up 4% and deaths up 7% over 14 days, with the 7-day average trending down since April 23. 

There are 19,428,181 active cases around the world.

The five countries with the most new cases: India 386,888. Brazil 69,079. The United States 59,269. Turkey 37,674. And France 26,538. 

There have now been 3,161,637 deaths reported as Covid-related worldwide. 

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