Coronavirus vaccine news, updates and information for 6-28-2021

This is Vaccine 411, the latest coronavirus vaccine information for June 28th, 2021.

The delta variant continues to turn back the clock. Moscow had a record 144 deaths in 24 hours yesterday. Germany declared Portugal a “virus-variant zone”, banning most arrivals from that country and is trying to ban British travelers from all EU countries regardless of vaccination status. Greece warned strict local lockdowns may be needed over the summer in some areas. Indonesia recorded a new high in daily cases, with similar spikes in Thailand and Malaysia. Sydney, Australia began a two-week lockdown. New Zealand suspended its quarantine-free travel corridor with Australia. Israel has reimposed mask requirements in enclosed public places. And in Africa, where vaccinations have been minimal, cases have jumped 25% over the last week.

How can the U.S. get its vaccination numbers up now that they’ve stalled out? The White House thinks it’s something called the “movable middle.” That’s people who are unvaccinated, but still might be able to be convinced. And they’re using political campaign tactics to identify, reach, and win over those people. 

What the White House won’t do is promise we’ll ever know for sure the real origin of the pandemic that’s killed at least 3.9 million people. They say their review may not produce a definitive explanation. Although knowing the origin is critical to avoiding or preparing for future such catastrophes, governments, the media, and science organizations could leave us with no answers at all.

Far more states have banned proof-of-vaccination policies than have created programs for people to digitally show their vaccination status. Hawaii is the only state enforcing some version of a vaccine passport. And only California, New York, and Louisiana have offered residents a way to voluntarily show proof of vaccination.

Nothing’s ever good enough. NASA reports the COVID-19 pandemic and its lockdowns got rid of a lot of pollution around the world…but not all of it. They cite tiny airborne particles called PM2.5 as something that didn’t change much. These are produced by both human activity and natural processes and are associated with several effects on health. 

In the United States cases were down 18%, deaths are down 15%, and hospitalizations are down 15% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending flat since June 18.  

There are now 4,947,918 active cases in the United States. 

The top 10 counties with the highest number of recent cases per capita according to The New York Times: Dimmit, TX. Reeves, TX. Campbell, VA. Clay, NC. Franklin, TX. Panola, TX. Upshur, TX. Joplin, MO. Dallas, MO. And Taney, MO. 

There have been 603,966 deaths in U.S. recorded as Covid-related.

The states with the most new deaths reported as COVID-related: California 31. New York 14. Pennsylvania 11. Texas 9. Utah 8. Virginia 5. Minnesota 4. New Jersey and Maryland 3. And Iowa 2. 

The vaccinating states update will be coming tomorrow, those numbers are not updated over the weekend.

The top 5 countries for vaccinations per capita are Gibraltar, the United Arab Emirates, Malta, Seychelles, and the Cayman Islands. The bottom five are Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burkina Faso, Benin, and South Sudan.

Globally, cases were down 6% and deaths down 28% over 14 days, with the 7-day average trending down since June 26. 

There are now 11,547,517 active cases around the world.

The five countries with the most new cases: India 46,643. Brazil 33,704. Colombia 32,376. Indonesia 21,342. And Russia 20,538.  

There have now been 3,922,005 deaths reported as Covid-related worldwide. 

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