Tag: Mandates

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E.E.O.C. Explains Office Vaccine Mandates

E.E.O.C. Explains Workplace Vaccine Mandates

At the urging of business groups, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has made clear how companies can issue vaccine mandates to workers coming back to the office, and what incentives those employers can offer to promote inoculation.

Companies can require vaccines only of employees returning to the workplace, and not those who work outside the office, the E.E.O.C. said in guidance released on Friday. But doing so still counts as a mandate, so companies must give the same legally required considerations that companywide vaccine requirements would entail, like making accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act for employees who can’t receive the vaccine. That means allowing for exceptions for those who may be unable to take the vaccine for health reasons, like an allergy.

Jessica Kuester, an employment benefits lawyer at the law firm Ogletree Deakins, said that specification was important. “I worry that some employers were sort of going down the wrong path, and thinking that it wasn’t that big of a deal to have a vaccination requirement,” she said.

The E.E.O.C. acknowledged in its guidance there may be other laws — like state laws — that offer opposing views. And it reminded employers to consider the fact that access to the vaccine is not yet equitably distributed.

“Employers should keep in mind that because some individuals or demographic groups may face greater barriers to receiving a Covid-19 vaccination than others, some employees may be more likely to be negatively impacted by a vaccination requirement,” the agency wrote.

Employers can also offer vaccine incentives, as long as they are not coercive, the E.E.O.C. clarified. (Under nondiscrimination rules laid out in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, that could mean, for example, offering 30 percent discount of the total cost of medical plan coverage).

Employers can offer enticements like paid time off to get vaccinated — which Darden Restaurants and many other companies have done, as well as rewards for employees who show proof of inoculation, like the $75 bonus that Walmart is offering. Companies have also been offering the opportunity to go mask-free at the office as a type of inducement, though several aren’t asking for proof of vaccination, perhaps as a concession to practicality.

“Are you really going to go around and, when you see an employee without a mask, are you going to run back to H.R. and verify that that person really was fully vaccinated?” Ms. Kuester said.

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Business

What Do New Masks Guidelines Imply for Firm Vaccine Mandates?

What Do New Mask Rules Mean for Company Vaccine Mandates?

“I don’t know if it will solve that in the long term,” said Mr. Gigante from Proskauer Rose. “But I think that’s what we talk to people and customers about.”

Requiring tests before an employee can come to work does not fully protect other employees from contracting the disease. The accuracy of the tests varies and the results relate only to the time the tests were run. The more frequent the tests, the more informative they are. Mr Gigante said he hears most often from companies that run tests twice a week, although some situations, like a movie set or a courtroom, may require daily testing.

Some companies may not want to bother with the considerations associated with such a program – like the cost, the need to figure out where and how to do the tests, and the headache of keeping track of the results.

“Logistics and cost have made it less likely for employers to rely on them as a route, but as testing becomes more available and cheaper, employers see testing as a good protective layer,” said David Schwartz, who heads the working group at the Skadden, Arps law firm , Slate, Meagher & Flom.

Laura Godfrey in Saugatuck, Michigan, is curious about the relationship between vaccinations and employee health insurance plans. “Companies have focused on wellness to a certain extent,” she writes. “So asking about a vaccine seems sensible.”

“It’s definitely something that a lot of employers are concerned with,” said Emily Zimmer, a partner who specializes in employee benefits at the law firm Troutman Pepper.

This is especially the case with companies with established wellness programs, she said. For example, if a company is already rewarding employees who receive annual flu vaccinations, it will be easier to do the same for employees who are receiving the Covid-19 vaccine.

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Health

CDC can contemplate lifting indoor Covid masks mandates now

CDC can consider lifting indoor Covid mask mandates now

Dr. Scott Gottlieb said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may begin considering lifting mandates on inner masks as more Americans become vaccinated.

“I think we should start lifting these restrictions as aggressively as we put them in place,” said Gottlieb. “We need to maintain the credibility of health officials to potentially re-implement some of these regulations next winter when we see outbreaks again.”

The former FDA chief in the Trump administration added that “the only way to gain public credibility is to show that you are ready to relax these regulations if the situation improves.”

The US Covid positivity rate is 3.6%, an all-time low according to Johns Hopkins University. It’s a big difference from April 2020 when the positivity rate hit nearly 23%, meaning almost a quarter of all tests done were positive.

In an interview on CNBC’s “The News with Shepard Smith” Thursday night, Gottlieb stated that the general outlook for vaccination in the US “looks very good,” especially as the FDA prepares to sell Pfizer’s Covid vaccine for 12-15 Years to admit – age soon.

“Even if vaccination rates slow down, we will continue to try to vaccinate more people … but I think these profits are limited and the summer is looking very good,” said Gottlieb.

Disclosure: Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC employee and a member of the boards of directors of Pfizer, the genetic testing startup Tempus, and the biotech company Illumina. Pfizer has signed a manufacturing agreement with Gilead for Remdesivir. Gottlieb is also co-chair of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and Royal Caribbean’s Healthy Sail Panel.

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Business

As Masks Mandates Carry, Retail Staff Once more Really feel Weak

As Mask Mandates Lift, Retail Workers Again Feel Vulnerable

Marilyn Reece, the senior bakery clerk at a Kroger in Batesville, Miss., Noted this month that more customers were walking through the store without a mask after the state mandate to wear face coverings was lifted. Kroger still needs them, but that doesn’t seem to matter.

When Ms. Reece, a 56-year-old breast cancer survivor, sees these shoppers, she prays. “Please, please, don’t make me wait for you because in my heart I don’t want to ignore you, I don’t want to refuse you,” she said. “But then I think I don’t want to get sick and die either. It’s not that people are bad, but you don’t know who they came in contact with. “

Ms. Reece’s increased concern is shared by retail and fast food workers in states like Mississippi and Texas, where governments lifted mask mandates before the majority of people were vaccinated and as new variants of the coronavirus emerge. It feels like a return to the early days of the pandemic when companies said customers were required to wear masks but there were no legal requirements and numerous buyers simply turned it down. Many employees say that their stores do not enforce the requirements and that they risk verbal or physical arguments when reaching out to customers.

“It has a huge false sense of security and it is no different now than it was a year ago,” said Ms. Reece, who is still unable to get a vaccine due to allergies. “The only difference we have now is that people are being vaccinated, but enough people have not been vaccinated that they should have overturned the mandate.”

For many people who work in retail, especially grocery stores and big box chains, the lifting of the mask is another example of how little protection and appreciation they have received during the pandemic. While they were hailed as essential workers, this rarely resulted in additional wages on top of their low wages. Grocery workers were initially not given a priority for vaccinations in most states, despite health experts advising the public to limit time in grocery stores because of the risk of new coronavirus variants. (Texas opened availability to everyone 16 and older on Monday.)

The issue has seriously gained in importance: on Monday, President Biden urged governors and mayors to maintain or reintroduce the order to wear masks if the nation grapples with a possible spike in virus cases.

The United Food and Commercial Workers union, which represents nearly 900,000 food workers, announced this month that at least 34,700 food workers across the country had been infected or exposed to Covid-19 and that at least 155 workers had died from the virus. The recent mass shootings at a grocery store in Boulder, Colorado have only further shaken workers and increased concerns for their own safety.

Diane Cambre, a 50-year-old ground supervisor at a kroger in Midlothian, Texas, said she had spent much of the past year worrying about bringing the virus home to her 9-year-old son and from interacting with it To fear customers who were frivolous about the possibility of getting sick. She wears a double mask in the store despite irritating her skin, already itchy from psoriasis, and changes as soon as she gets home.

After Texas Governor Greg Abbott said on March 2 that he would end the statewide mask mandate within the next week, Ms. Cambre said customers “walked in immediately without a mask and so on and it was quite difficult to get someone to wear one.” “Management is supposed to offer masks to people who don’t wear them, but if they don’t put them on, nothing else is done,” she said.

Asking customers to wear masks can lead to tense exchanges and even tantrums in adults pushing the cart.

“Some of our customers are dramatically vulnerable so they will start screaming, ‘I’m not wearing this mask,’ and you can tell they are very rude and very harsh in their voices,” said Ms. Cambre, a UFCW member, said. Monitoring the self-checkout aisles has been particularly difficult, she said, as customers who need help will request that they come by, making it impossible to stay within two meters.

At times when she’s been trying to explain the need for distancing, “they say,” OK, and that’s just a government thing, “she said.” It really is mentally challenging. “

Updated

March 30, 2021, 9:12 p.m. ET

A representative from Kroger said the chain “will continue to require everyone in our stores across the country to wear masks until all of our frontline grocers can get the Covid-19 vaccine,” and that they will workers who do one-time Make payments of $ 100, offering one-time payments, received the vaccine.

Because of different government and business mandates, some workers are concerned about further confrontations. The retail industry tried to address the problem last fall when a large trade group put together training to help workers manage and de-escalate conflicts with customers resisting masks, social distancing and capacity constraints. Denial of service for those without a mask or being told to leave has led to incidents over the past year such as slapping a cashier in the face, breaking an arm by a Target employee, and fatally shooting a Family Dollar security officer .

That month, a 53-year-old man in League City, Texas, near Houston, confronted an employee who refused to wear a required mask in a Jack in the Box employee and then stabbed a store manager three times as if from a report in The Houston Chronicle emerges. On March 14, a ramen shop in San Antonio with racist graffiti was destroyed after its owner criticized Mr. Abbott on television for lifting the mask mandate in Texas.

On March 17, a 65-year-old woman was arrested in a Texas City office depot after refusing to wear a mask or leaving the store just days after an arrest warrant was issued for her in Galveston, Texas because they had behaved similarly at a Bank of America location.

MaryAnn Kaylor, the owner of two antique stores in Dallas, including Lula B’s Design District, said lifting the mask mandate was very important to business and people’s behavior.

“He should have focused more on getting people vaccinated rather than trying to open everything up,” she said of Governor Abbott, noting that Texas has one of the slowest vaccination rates in the country.

“You still have cases in Texas every day and you still have people dying from Covid,” she said. “This complete removal of mandates is stupid. It shouldn’t have been based on politics – it should have been based on science. “

Some Texans have started to go to mask-friendly facilities. Ms. Kaylor said there were lists on Facebook of Dallas companies in need of masks and that people consulted her to find out where to buy groceries and make other purchases.

Emily Francois, a sales rep at a Walmart in Port Arthur, Texas, said customers ignored signs to wear masks and Walmart did not enforce the policy. So Ms. Francois stands six feet from non-masked buyers, though this annoys some of them. “My life is more important,” she said.

“I see customers walk in without a mask and they cough, sneeze, they don’t cover their mouths,” said Ms. Francois, who has worked at Walmart for 14 years and is a member of United for Respect, an advocacy group. “Customers who come into the store without a mask make us feel like we’re not worthy and unsafe.”

Phillip Keene, a Walmart spokesperson, said, “Our policy of requiring employees and customers to wear masks in our stores has helped keep them safe during the pandemic and we are not currently lifting these measures.”

Before the pandemic, Ms. Reece, the Mississippi Kroger employee, wore a mask to protect herself from the flu because of her cancer diagnosis, she said.

She said 99 percent of customers in her small store wore masks during the pandemic. “When they had to put it on, they put it on,” she said. “It’s like giving a child a piece of candy – that child will eat those candies if you don’t take them away.”

She is concerned about the potential harm from new varieties, especially those that don’t cover her mouth. “You just have to pray and pray that you won’t come within six or ten feet of them,” said Ms. Reece, who is also a UFCW member and has worked for Kroger for more than 30 years. “I know people want it to go back to normal, but you can’t just get it back to normal.”

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Business

Biden says states ought to reinstate masks mandates and wait to reopen companies as Covid instances rise

Biden says states should reinstate mask mandates and wait to reopen businesses as Covid cases rise

President Joe Biden speaks about Covid-19 reactions and vaccinations in the South Court Auditorium of the White House in Washington DC on March 29, 2021.

Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images

President Joe Biden on Monday called on governors and local leaders dropping full masked mandates in order to reinstate their orders. Some states should wait to reopen their economies while condemning “reckless behavior” that is likely to cause further infections.

“Our work is far from over. The war against Covid-19 is far from won,” Biden said at a press conference in which he announced a number of plans to significantly expand access to vaccines in the coming weeks. “This is dead serious.”

The President said he supported Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who said earlier Monday that the US is facing “impending doom” as daily Covid-19 cases begin to rebound. Biden also said he believes some states should pause their reopening plans in light of the recent surge in cases.

Walensky said earlier in the day during a press conference that many states are reopening their economies even though virus transmission levels remain too high. Walensky said she would ask governors on Tuesday “not to open too quickly”.

“I’m going to pause here, I’m going to lose the script, and I’m going to think about the reoccurring feeling I have before the impending doom,” Walensky told reporters. “We can look forward to so much, so much promise and potential where we are and so much reason to hope, but right now I’m scared.”

According to a CNBC analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, the US saw an average of 63,239 new Covid-19 cases per day over the past week, up 16% from the previous week. In 30 states and the District of Columbia, daily cases are increasing by at least 5%.

While hospital stays and coronavirus deaths tend to lag behind infection, the daily death toll has hit a plateau. The U.S. reports a weekly average of 970 coronavirus deaths per day, a 3% decrease from the previous week, according to Johns Hopkins.

“We’re giving up hard-fought, hard-won wins,” said Biden. “And as much as we do in America, it’s time to do more.”

Urging states and corporations to maintain or reintroduce widespread mask mandates, the president said failure to take the virus seriously “is exactly what got us into this chaos in the first place” and could lead to more infections and deaths .

Senior public health officials have urged states to proceed with caution for weeks, warning that highly transmittable virus variants – particularly B.1.1.7, which were first identified in the UK – threaten to jeopardize the country’s progress after the infections are almost have receded for three months.

Despite these requests, a handful of governors have decided to lift capacity restrictions on businesses like restaurants and gyms. Some states, like Texas and Mississippi, have dropped requirements for statewide masks, while others, like Alabama, announced it in early April.

“We’re making progress on vaccinations, but cases are rising and the virus is still spreading in too many places,” Biden said.

He announced that 90% of adults in the US will be eligible for Covid-19 shots by April 19 and can get it within five miles of their home under the government’s expanded vaccination schedule.

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World News

Covid-19: Restaurant Eating and Lack of Masks Mandates Are Every Linked to U.S. Virus Unfold, C.D.C. Says

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C.D.C. Warns Against Repealing Virus Restrictions

At a Friday briefing, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned of the link between repealing mask mandates, indoor dining and increased coronavirus cases. This is after many states have announced plans to decrease virus restrictions.

“Increases in both daily death rates and Covid cases and deaths slowed significantly within 20 days of putting mask mandates into place, and protective effective mask mandates grew stronger over time. In contrast, increases in daily death rates of Covid-19 cases and deaths grew more quickly within 40 to 80 days, following restaurants being allowed to resume on-premises dining.” “It may seem tempting in the face of all of this progress to try to rush back to normalcy as if the virus is in the rearview mirror. It’s not. Now, years of watching football on TV has shown me that it’s better to spike the football once you’re safely in the end zone, not after you’ve made a couple of completions.”

At a Friday briefing, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned of the link between repealing mask mandates, indoor dining and increased coronavirus cases. This is after many states have announced plans to decrease virus restrictions.CreditCredit…Kendrick Brinson for The New York Times

As officials in Texas and Mississippi lifted statewide mask mandates, researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offered fresh evidence of the importance of mask use in a new study on Friday. Wearing masks, the study reported, was linked to fewer infections with the coronavirus and Covid-19 deaths in counties across the United States.

The researchers also found that counties opening restaurants for on-premises dining — indoors or outdoors — saw a rise in daily infections about six weeks later, and an increase in Covid-19 death rates about two months later.

The study does not prove cause and effect, but the findings square with other research showing that masks prevent infection and that indoor spaces foster the spread of the virus through aerosols, tiny respiratory particles that linger in the air.

“You have decreases in cases and deaths when you wear masks, and you have increases in cases and deaths when you have in-person restaurant dining,” Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the C.D.C., said on Friday. “And so we would advocate for policies, certainly while we’re at this plateau of a high number of cases, that would listen to that public health science.”

The findings come as city and state officials nationwide grapple with growing pressure to reopen schools and businesses amid falling rates of new cases and deaths. Officials recently began allowing limited indoor dining at New York City restaurants. And on Thursday, Connecticut’s governor said the state would end capacity limits on restaurants, gyms and offices later this month. Masks will still be required in both places.

Coronavirus cases and deaths are down significantly across the country compared to the devastating peaks around the holidays. But as more cases of worrisome virus variants have been detected and the U.S. vaccination campaign continues, President Biden and his team have stressed in recent days that now is not the time for Americans to relax, particularly on wearing masks.

The seven-day average of new cases was about 61,000 per day as of Friday, the lowest average since October, according to a New York Times database. But that number was still close to last summer’s highest peak.

Fatalities are falling, too, in part because of vaccinations at nursing homes. Yet the nation is still routinely reporting 2,000 deaths in a single day.

Mr. Biden on Wednesday criticized the decisions by the governors of Texas and Mississippi to lift statewide mask mandates and reopen businesses without restrictions, calling the plans “a big mistake” that reflected “Neanderthal thinking.”

The president, who has asked the American people to wear a mask for his first 100 days in office, said it was critical for public officials to follow the guidance of doctors and public health leaders as the vaccination campaign gains momentum.

According to the C.D.C., about 54 million people had already received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine as of Thursday. Mr. Biden’s power to enforce mask-wearing is limited to the federal sphere; he has ordered a mask requirement for anyone on federal property, and his administration is asking people to wear masks regardless of local mandates.

“It may seem tempting, in the face of all of this progress, to try to rush back to normalcy as if the virus is in the rear view mirror. It’s not,” Andy Slavitt, a White House pandemic adviser, said on Friday. “Why somebody wouldn’t take advantage of a small intervention to save people’s lives, that would be surprising.”

In the latest study, C.D.C. researchers examined the association between mask mandates and indoor or outdoor restaurant dining and the number of coronavirus infections and deaths last year between March 1 and Dec. 31. The agency relied on county-level data from state government websites and measured daily percentage growth in coronavirus cases and deaths.

Infections and deaths declined after counties required mask use, the agency found. Daily infections rose about six weeks after counties allowed restaurants to open for dining on the premises, and death rates followed two months later.

Mask mandates were linked to statistically significant decreases in coronavirus cases and death rates within 20 days of implementation, the report’s authors concluded. On-premises dining, whether indoors or outdoors, at restaurants was associated with increases in case and death rates within 41 to 80 days after reopenings.

“State mask mandates and prohibiting on-premises dining at restaurants help limit potential exposure to SARS-Cov-2, reducing community transmission of Covid-19,” the authors wrote.

Shortly after publishing the report, the C.D.C. amended it to urge restaurants that resume on-premises dining to follow the C.D.C.’s guidelines for reducing transmission in restaurant settings.

That includes “everything from having staff stay home when they show signs of Covid or have tested positive or been in contact with someone who has Covid, and requiring masks among employees as well as customers who are not actively eating or drinking,” said Gery P. Guy, a health scientist with the C.D.C.’s Covid response team and the study’s corresponding author.

Other steps that can be taken are ensuring adequate ventilation, providing options to eat outdoors, spacing customers six feet apart, encouraging hand washing and frequent sanitizing of surfaces that are touched a lot, such as cash registers, pay terminals, door handles and tables.

“The message is, if restaurants are going to open for on-premise dining, it’s important to follow C.D.C. guidelines to do so safely and effectively,” Dr. Guy said.

Eileen Sullivan contributed reporting.

United States › United StatesOn March 5 14-day change
New cases 65,681 –12%
New deaths 2,483 –5%
World › WorldOn March 5 14-day change
New cases 442,743 +4%
New deaths 10,771 –12%

U.S. vaccinations ›

Where states are reporting vaccines given

A health club in Scottsdale, Ariz., in December. Gov. Doug Ducey announced on Friday a loosening of Covid-19 restrictions but said mask use is still recommended in the state.Credit…Adriana Zehbrauskas for The New York Times

Gov. Doug Ducey of Arizona signed an executive order on Friday that ends capacity limits on businesses, but he said that they were still required to follow health and safety guidance, including mask use, from the state’s Department of Health.

By ending occupancy restrictions on businesses, Mr. Ducey, a Republican, has joined a growing number of governors who are lifting measures even as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to warn officials that doing so could be premature.

Also on Friday, Gov. Henry McMaster of South Carolina signed an executive order lifting the state’s mask mandate in government buildings. Mr. McMaster, a Republican, cited vaccines and lower infection rates in the state as reasons to lift the mandate. Mr. McMaster recommended in his order that restaurants and other food establishments continue to require mask use and social distancing.

The California Department of Public Health also loosened some restrictions Friday saying amusement parks and outdoor sports and live events at stadiums can restart on April 1, with reduced capacity and mandatory masks.

Like many states, Arizona has recorded a steep decline in coronavirus cases since they peaked in January, according to a New York Times database. Mr. Ducey’s decision on Friday to ease some restrictions comes after his Republican peers in Texas and Mississippi lifted their state’s mask mandates, despite pleas from the Biden administration that it was critical that people continue wearing masks and as a new report from the C.D.C. found that counties that allowed restaurants to open for in-person dining had a rise in daily infections weeks after. The study also said that counties that issued mask mandates reported a decrease in virus cases and deaths within weeks.

The question of when it’s safe for states to reopen has been complicated by the emergence of more contagious and possibly more lethal variants in the United States, like B.1.1.7, originally identified in Britain. In Carver County, Minn., which has a population of about 91,000, at least 68 cases of the variant have been linked to participants in both school-sponsored and club sports activities, according to the Minnesota Department of Public Health. High schools and middle schools in Minnesota began opening up for some in-person learning in February.

Govs. Kay Ivey of Alabama and Mike DeWine of Ohio, both Republicans, are also taking more measured approaches. Ms. Ivey announced on Thursday that she was extending her state’s mask order until April 9. Mr. DeWine said on the same day that he would lift all public health measures aimed at curbing the virus in Ohio once new cases drop to a certain threshold.

This week, Mr. Ducey also issued an executive order requiring schools to offer in-person learning no later than March 15. According the C.D.C., 12 of Arizona’s 15 counties, including the state’s two largest counties — Maricopa and Pima, are in phases where all schools are safe to reopen.

Over the summer, when Arizona led the nation in the number of cases per person, Mr. Ducey gave city and county officials the green light to order residents to wear masks. It was a reversal for Mr. Ducey, who had been among a cadre of Republican governors who bucked mask-wearing, seeing it as a violation of individual liberties.

At the time, Mr. Ducey also rolled back earlier reopenings, and he directed bars, indoor gyms, water parks and movie theaters to shut down again.

About a month after Mr. Ducey embraced mask use, the number of Arizonans hospitalized with the virus started to decline.

The latest Arizona order states that mayors and local entities cannot put into effect measures that shut down businesses, and that major league sports can start up again if they get approval from the state’s Department of Health Services.

“Today’s announcement is a measured approach; we are not in the clear yet,” Mr. Ducey said in a statement on Friday. “We need to continue practicing personal responsibility. Wear a mask. Social distance. Stay home when you’re sick and wash your hands frequently.”

Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., has been closed since March 14.Credit…Mario Tama/Getty Images

The teacups could soon be spinning again: Disneyland, which has been closed for a year, is poised to reopen this spring.

California officials announced on Friday that theme parks in the state could reopen on a limited basis as soon as April 1. Eligibility, however, will depend on coronavirus transmission statistics in individual counties.

For instance, theme parks in counties where the virus threat remains the most severe (in the purple tier under the state’s system) must remain closed. But parks in areas where the threat of infection has eased somewhat (red tier) will be allowed to reopen at 15 percent capacity. Even less threat (orange tier) will allow for 25 percent capacity.

Attendance will be limited to in-state visitors.

Disneyland is in Orange County, which is in the purple tier. But if coronavirus cases continue to decline in Southern California at the current pace, the county could fall within the orange tier by late April. The Walt Disney Company said last year that reopening a park at less than 25 percent capacity would not make economic sense. A Disney spokeswoman declined to comment on a specific reopening timeline on Friday.

“We are encouraged that theme parks now have a path toward reopening this spring, getting thousands of people back to work,” Ken Potrock, Disneyland’s president, said in a statement.

Disney has said it would take at least four weeks to rehire employees and train them on new coronavirus safety procedures. Before the pandemic, roughly 32,000 people worked at the 486-acre Disneyland Resort, which includes two separately ticketed theme parks, three Disney-owned hotels and an outdoor shopping mall. Most of the Anaheim complex has been closed for a year.

Disney had hoped to reopen its California attractions in July. But unions representing Disneyland employees criticized that timetable as too fast and pressured Gov. Gavin Newsom to withhold approval. He sided with the unions, prompting fans to attack him online. (“Open Disney, or we are taking away your hair gel.”)

In contrast, Florida allowed Disney to reopen its Orlando parks in July. The company endured withering criticism for doing so, but stringent safety procedures, including mandatory masks, resulted in a safer-than-expected environment.

“It has been a success story,” Julee Jerkovich, a United Food & Commercial Workers official, said in October. “As a union rep, I do not say that lightly.”

In addition to Disneyland, theme parks in California include Universal Studios Hollywood, Six Flags Magic Mountain, Knott’s Berry Farm and the Santa Cruz Boardwalk.

Workers checking syringes at a factory in Ballabgarh, India, last month.Credit…Rebecca Conway for The New York Times

As countries jostle to secure enough vaccine doses to help put an end to the pandemic, a new competition is unfolding: for syringes to administer them with.

There is simply not enough of them.

Officials in the United States and the European Union have said they need more. And in January, Brazil restricted exports of syringes and needles when its vaccination efforts fell short.

Further complicating the challenge, not just any syringe will do the trick.

Japan revealed last month that it might have to discard millions of doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine if it couldn’t secure enough syringes able to draw out a sixth dose from vials. In January, the Food and Drug Administration advised health care providers in the United States that they could extract more doses from the Pfizer vials after hospitals there discovered that some contained enough for a sixth — or even a seventh — shot.

“A lot of countries were caught flat-footed,” said Ingrid Katz, the associate director of the Harvard Global Health Institute.

The world needs between eight billion and 10 billion syringes for Covid-19 vaccinations alone, experts say.

In previous years, only 5 percent to 10 percent of the estimated 16 billion syringes used worldwide were meant for vaccination and immunization, said Prashant Yadav, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development, a think tank in Washington, and an expert on health care supply chains.

Wealthier nations like the United States, Britain, France and Germany pumped billions into developing the vaccines, but little public investment has gone into expanding manufacturing for syringes, Mr. Yadav said.

The industry has ramped up to meet demand.

Becton, Dickinson and Company, which is the world’s largest manufacturer of syringes and is based in New Jersey, said it was producing 2,000 each minute to meet orders of more than a billion.

The United States is the world’s largest syringe maker by sales, according to Fitch Solutions, a research firm. The United States and China are neck and neck in exports, with combined annual shipments worth $1.7 billion.

While India is a small player globally, Hindustan Syringes & Medical Devices in Ballabgarh, one of the world’s largest syringe makers, sunk millions of dollars into preparing its syringe factories for the vaccination onslaught.

Rajiv Nath, the company’s managing director, added 500 workers to his production lines, which crank out more than 5,900 syringes per minute at factories spread over 11 acres in a dusty industrial district outside New Delhi. With Sundays and public holidays off, the company churns out nearly 2.5 billion a year, and plans to scale up to three billion by July.

Mr. Nath has sold 50 million to the Japanese government, he said, and over 400 million to India for its Covid-19 vaccination drive, one of the largest in the world.

More are waiting in line, including UNICEF. In November, the United Nations agency for children reached out to say that it was desperately seeking syringes. And not just any would do. They had to be smaller than usual, and break if used a second time, to prevent spreading disease through accidental reuse.

Most important: UNICEF needed them in vast quantities. Now.

“I thought, ‘No issues,’” said Mr. Nath. “We could deliver it possibly faster than anybody else.”

The company is set to begin shipping 3.2 million of those syringes soon, UNICEF said, provided they clear another quality check. And Mr. Nath has offered to produce about 240 million more.

Credit…

The images above tell a story of disparity of the starkest sort.

“People of color are getting vaccinated at rates below their representation of the general population,” Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, the chair of President Biden’s coronavirus equity task force, said at a recent forum on the vaccine. “This narrative can be changed. It must be changed.”

In recent days, The New York Times’s graphics team set out to measure how equitably Covid-19 vaccines were being distributed across the United States.

The data is imperfect. As of March 3, only 38 states publicly shared race and ethnicity data for vaccinated people.

Further complicating the task, different jurisdictions define race and ethnicity categories in slightly different ways — and with different levels of completeness. In some states, as much as a third of vaccinations were missing race and ethnicity data.

But a disturbing portrait nevertheless emerged.

Communities of color, which have borne the brunt of the Covid-19 pandemic in the United States, have also received a smaller share of available vaccines. The vaccination rate for Black Americans is half that of white people, and the gap for Hispanic people is even larger, The Times analysis found.

Dr. Eva Galvez prepares to test patients for Covid-19 at a clinic in Hillsboro, Ore.Credit…Ruth Fremson/The New York Times

Scientists in Oregon have identified a homegrown version of a fast-spreading variant of the coronavirus that first surfaced in Britain — but this one has a mutation that may make the variant less susceptible to vaccines.

The researchers have so far found just a single case of this formidable combination, but genetic analysis suggested that the variant had been acquired in the community and did not arise in the patient.

“We didn’t import this from elsewhere in the world — it occurred spontaneously,” said Brian O’Roak, a geneticist at Oregon Health and Science University who led the work. He and his colleagues participate in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s effort to track variants, and they have deposited their results in databases shared by scientists.

The variant originally identified in Britain, called B.1.1.7, has been spreading rapidly across the United States, and accounts for at least 2,500 cases in 46 states. This form of the virus is both more contagious and more deadly than the original version, and is expected to account for most infections in America in a few weeks.

The new version that surfaced in Portland has the same backbone as B.1.1.7, and the mutation it carries — E484K, or “Eek” — is one seen in variants of the virus circulating in South Africa, Brazil and New York City.

Lab studies and clinical trials in South Africa indicate that the Eek mutation renders the current vaccines less effective by blunting the body’s immune response. (The vaccines still work, but the findings are worrying enough that Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna have begun testing new versions of their vaccines designed to defeat the variant found in South Africa.)

The B.1.1.7 variant with Eek also has emerged in Britain, but the virus identified in Oregon seems to have evolved independently, Dr. O’Roak said.

Dr. O’Roak and his colleagues found the B.1.1.7 variant with Eek among coronavirus samples collected by the Oregon State Public Health Lab from an outbreak in a health care setting. Of the 13 test results they analyzed, 10 turned out to be B.1.1.7 alone, and one the combination.

Experts said the discovery was not surprising, because the Eek mutation has arisen in forms of the virus all over the world. But the mutation’s occurrence in B.1.1.7 is worth watching, they said.

Gov. Philip D. Murphy of New Jersey applauded as the state’s first doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine were administered at the Union Plaza Apartments in Union City, N.J., on Friday. Credit…Bryan Anselm for The New York Times

Vaccine hesitancy has been a concern among U.S. public health experts for months now. But evidence increasingly suggests that as vaccination rates increase, many unvaccinated Americans are becoming more comfortable with the idea of receiving the shot themselves.

The proportion of adults in the country who intend to get vaccinated has increased significantly over the last several months, according to a survey released Friday by the Pew Research Center. Sixty-nine percent of the public now plans to get vaccinated — or already has — up from 60 percent who said in November that they intended to pursue it.

The issue has become more partisan over time, however. The new survey finds a 27-percentage point political gap, with 83 percent of Democrats saying they plan to get the vaccine or have already received it, compared to just 56 percent of Republicans.

Despite the divides, the new survey bolsters optimism that overall, Americans are increasingly open to receiving the vaccine. About 54 million people — 16 percent of the population — had received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine as of Thursday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The survey also notes that 47 percent of Black Americans plan to get vaccinated and 15 percent say they already have been. Taken together, that is a sharp increase from the 42 percent who said in November they intended to be vaccinated.

Black and Latino people in the United States are being vaccinated at lower rates in part because they face obstacles like language barriers and inadequate access to digital technology, medical facilities and transportation. Mistrust in government officials and doctors also plays a role, experts say, and is fed by misinformation that is spread on social media. President Biden has made equity a major focus of his pandemic response, saying he wants pharmacies, mobile vaccination units and community clinics that help underserved communities to help increase the pace of vaccinations.

Overall, those surveyed by Pew who say they do not plan to get the vaccine cite reasons including concerns about side effects and a feeling that the vaccines were developed too quickly. Others say they are waiting for more information about how well they work.

The Pew results echo a survey released last week from the Kaiser Family Foundation that found vaccine hesitancy declining among most demographic groups. That survey also found a significant political gap, but noted that both Democrats and Republicans were significantly more likely to say they intended to get the vaccine now than in December.

Credit…Timothy A. Clary/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Since Johnson & Johnson revealed data showing that its vaccine, while highly protective, had a slightly lower efficacy rate than the ones produced by Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech, health officials have feared that the new shot might be viewed by some Americans as the inferior choice.

But the early days of its rollout suggest something different: Some people are eager to get it because they want the convenience of a single shot.

And public health officials are enthusiastic about how much faster they can get the single-shot doses distributed, particularly in vulnerable communities that might not otherwise have access to vaccine.

“This is a potential breakthrough,” said Dr. Joseph Kanter, the top health official in Louisiana.

With its first allotted doses, that state is holding a dozen large Johnson & Johnson vaccination events at civic centers and other public places, modeled after what has worked for flu vaccines.

Only four million doses were shipped this week, and the company’s manufacturing lags mean that it will be at least a month before states start receiving significant supplies. But as Johnson & Johnson ramps up production over the next few months, Dr. Kanter said, the vaccine will allow his state to slash costs for staffing and operations related to second doses.

“The J. & J. vaccine brings a lot to the table,” he said.

Judged by how well it prevents severe disease, hospitalization and death, the Johnson & Johnson shot is comparable to those made by Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech. And although it has a lower overall efficacy rate in the United States — 72 percent, compared with roughly 95 percent for the others — experts say that comparing those numbers is problematic because the companies’ trials were conducted in different places and at different times.

Besides being a single-dose shot, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine offers another benefit: It can be kept at normal refrigeration temperatures for three months. That makes it ideal for distribution at nonmedical sites such as stadiums and convention centers. The vaccine has caused a surge of excitement at small, independent pharmacies, too.

Many state health officials said they were focused on getting the vaccine to people who might be harder to reach for a second dose, such as those who are homeless or on the verge of release from prison.

Patricia Cooper, a teacher in Washington, D.C., said that President Donald J. Trump’s efforts to claim credit for a vaccine last year and the label “emergency use authorization” had suggested to her that the federal government may have rushed its reviews of vaccines. That left her feeling jittery about their safety.

But Ms. Cooper said she was eager to get a shot, especially the Johnson & Johnson one.

“This one is more appealing to me,” she said. “Who likes to get stuck more than once?”

Pope Francis in the Our Lady of Salvation church in Baghdad on the first day of his papal visit to Iraq.Credit…Ivor Prickett for The New York Times

Pope Francis made an audacious return to the world stage in the midst of the pandemic on Friday when he became the first leader of the Roman Catholic church to visit Iraq, seeking to help heal a nation uniquely wounded by violent sectarianism, foreign adventurism and the persecution of minority populations, including his own Christian flock.

“I’m happy to travel again,” Francis, who has been vaccinated against the coronavirus, said after taking off his blue surgical mask to address reporters on the papal plane.

The pope’s trip sent a message that, after a year of being cooped up in Rome and fading from public consciousness, Francis wanted to elevate his profile and spend his time with those who have suffered the most.

The pope’s visit coincided with a recent return of suicide bombings, increased rocket attacks and renewed geopolitical tensions, and some of Francis’ admirers worry that his whirlwind four-day visit will exacerbate a recent spike in the country’s coronavirus cases by drawing crowds.

But his advisers and Iraq’s top prelates insisted social distancing measures would be followed and argued the trip was necessary to show Francis’ closeness to a flock that had suffered terribly. The pope’s predecessors dreamed of visiting, but those aspirations were dashed by tensions and conflict.

The pope called for an equitable distribution of vaccines to countries already scarred by “fragility and instability.” A vaccination program began just this week in Iraq, where social distancing restrictions are largely ignored.

Credit…Ivor Prickett for The New York TimesGov. Andrew M. Cuomo at a briefing on the pandemic a year ago. His thorough, sometimes folksy daily updates drew national attention. Credit…Cindy Schultz for The New York Times

Top aides to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo were alarmed: A report written by state health officials had just landed, and it included a count of how many nursing home residents in New York had died in the pandemic.

The number — more than 9,000 by that point in June — was not public, and the governor’s most senior aides wanted to keep it that way. They rewrote the report to take it out, according to interviews and documents reviewed by The New York Times.

The extraordinary intervention, which came as Mr. Cuomo was starting to write a book on his pandemic achievements, was the earliest act yet known in what critics have called a monthslong effort by the governor and his aides to obscure the full scope of nursing home deaths in the state. The episode reflects the lengths to which Mr. Cuomo has gone to control data, brush aside public health expertise and bolster his position as a national leader in the fight against the coronavirus.

The details contradict the timeline and motivation Mr. Cuomo offered in recent weeks, when he released the complete data after the state attorney general, Leticia James, revealed that thousands of deaths of nursing home residents had been undercounted, Mr. Cuomo said he had withheld the information out of concern that the Trump administration might pursue a politically motivated inquiry into the state’s handling of the outbreak in nursing homes.

But the rewriting of the report came well before requests for data arrived from federal authorities, and was accompanied by Cuomo aides’ battles with top state health officials, according to documents and interviews with six people with direct knowledge of the discussions, who requested anonymity to describe the closed-door debates.

The aides involved in changing the report included Melissa DeRosa, the governor’s top aide; Linda Lacewell, the head of the state’s Department of Financial Services; and Jim Malatras, a former top adviser to Mr. Cuomo brought back to work on the pandemic. None had public health expertise.

In response to a detailed list of questions from The Times sent on Tuesday, the governor’s office responded with a statement Thursday night from Beth Garvey, a special counsel, who said “the out-of-facility data was omitted after D.O.H. could not confirm it had been adequately verified.” She added that the additional data did not change the conclusion of the report.

Senator Joe Manchin walks to the Senate Chambers on Friday.Credit…Anna Moneymaker for The New York Times

Top Democrats reached a deal late Friday to scale back weekly unemployment payments in President Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus plan, working to preserve moderate support for the package by dropping their effort to increase those payments to $400 and agreeing on a $300 supplement instead.

The agreement came about nine hours after Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, a centrist Senate Democrat, created an impasse by raising concerns that an overly generous benefit could discourage people from returning to work. The impasse paralyzed efforts to move Mr. Biden’s stimulus bill through the Senate, and the vote dragged on past midnight.

By late Friday, Democrats had reached a compromise that appeared to satisfy Mr. Manchin, a crucial swing vote in an evenly divided Senate. While Mr. Manchin is a Democrat, his state is decidedly not (former President Donald J. Trump won nearly 70 percent of the vote in the 2020 election). As a result, Mr. Manchin is among the most centrist Democrats in the party.

The amendment ultimately passed, 50 to 49, just before 1:30 a.m. Saturday as the Senate barreled through a stretch of amendment votes that would modify the legislation even further. Most of the amendments failed on party lines.

The agreementwould extend the existing $300 jobless benefit through Sept. 6, and make up to $10,200 of unemployment benefits received last year tax-free for households with incomes less than $150,000. It would also extend tax rules regarding excess business loss limitations for one additional year, through 2026.

“The president has made it clear we will have enough vaccines for every American by the end of May, and I am confident the economic recovery will follow,” Mr. Manchin said in a statement. “We have reached a compromise that enables the economy to rebound quickly while also protecting those receiving unemployment benefits” from being hit with unexpected tax bills.

Top Democrats had initially planned to drop their effort to increase the payments to $400 but extend them for an additional month, through Oct. 4. The agreement reached with Mr. Manchin shaves one month off that extension.

The impasse had halted the measure just as the Senate began voting on proposed changes. What was supposed to have been a 15-minute vote on a minimum-wage increase stretched for hours as Democrats stalled for time, huddling on the Senate floor in search of a solution.

The White House declined to say whether Mr. Biden had reached out to Mr. Manchin to try to secure his support.

In a statement, Jen Psaki, the White House spokeswoman, said that Mr. Biden “supports the compromise agreement.”

The proposal was one of dozens that the Senate considered in a marathon session of rapid-fire votes that was delayed by the impasse. The vote-a-rama, as it is known, stretched past midnight and would pave the way for a Senate vote to pass the stimulus plan as early as Saturday.

Democrats are racing against the clock, as some Americans have already begun to file their taxes and unemployment benefits are set to begin lapsing next weekend. Once the legislation clears the Senate, it will have to be approved for a second time in the House before it heads to Mr. Biden’s desk.

The compromise was aimed at appeasing centrist Democrats who might otherwise have been tempted to vote for a Republican amendment by Senator Rob Portman of Ohio to keep the unemployment benefit at $300 per week — extending it until July but omitting any tax sweeteners — thus sapping support for the bill among other Democrats.

Republican efforts to slow action on the Senate floor were expected to have little effect on the final legislation. Another wrinkle arose late Friday when Senator Dan Sullivan, Republican of Alaska, left the Capitol to catch a flight to Fairbanks and attend his father-in-law’s funeral.

A spokesman, Nate Adams, confirmed the senator’s departure and said Mr. Sullivan “intended to vote against final passage of the bill and made his opposition clear” by voting against advancing the measure.

In an evenly divided Senate, Mr. Sullivan’s absence could give Democrats an extra vote of leeway as they haggle over last-minute changes to the $1.9 trillion package.

Each party holds 50 seats in the chamber, giving Democrats a one-vote margin of control thanks to Vice President Kamala Harris’s power to break ties. Senate Democrats, having already made significant revisions to the text the House approved over the weekend, are working to remain united. Republicans are expected to oppose the bill en masse, arguing that it is too costly and not targeted enough.

VideoVideo player loadingPrime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Friday that Canada’s health regulator had authorized the use of Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine, giving the country a fourth vaccine option.CreditCredit…Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press, via Associated Press

Canada’s health regulator on Friday authorized the use of Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine. The move now gives the country, which has experienced a slow start to vaccinations, four inoculations to choose from.

“This is great news,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at a news conference. He offered no projected date for the first deliveries.

Health Canada officials said that the vaccine has an overall effectiveness of 66.9 percent, much lower than the efficacy rates reached by Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. But it is similar to those vaccines in having a powerful ability to prevent severe disease, hospitalizations and death.

The United States and Bahrain have also authorized the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Production delays with the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, combined with relatively modest initial shipments, have led to frustration among many Canadians — and put political pressure on Mr. Trudeau as Canada’s vaccination rate fell far behind that of the United States, Britain and other countries. As of Friday, 2.86 percent of all Canadians have received at least one dose.

Canada has ordered 10 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and has options for another 28 million, a combined number that is slightly higher than the country’s population.

Depending on its arrival and combined with the need to only administer a single shot, the new vaccine may help significantly boost the country’s vaccination rate. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine also does not require extremely low storage temperatures, as the Pfizer vaccine does, making it easier to distribute to remote communities in Canada’s north.

Mr. Trudeau said that Pfizer would send 1.5 million doses, originally scheduled for delivery in the summer, over the next two months. Canada also received its first shipment this week of a version of the AstraZeneca vaccine, developed by the Serum Institute of India.

The Canadian government had initially promised to obtain six million doses of vaccines by the end of March. The new Pfizer schedule combined with AstraZeneca shipments, officials said, will raise that figure to eight million.

President Biden visiting a Covid-19 vaccination center in Bethesda, Md. Credit…Oliver Contreras for The New York Times

President Biden is enjoying a level of popularity his poll-obsessed predecessor never came close to achieving — a 60 percent approval rating — with 70 percent of Americans expressing support for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new poll.

Despite enduring and stark partisan divisions, 44 percent of Republicans approve of Mr. Biden’s actions prioritizing the fight against the virus, according to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll released early Friday.

As a temperature check of the current national mood, the poll suggests that Republican lawmakers in Washington, who have united to oppose Mr. Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill, are not swaying public opinion, despite their efforts to alter or delay its passage.

In all, 22 percent of Republicans approve of Mr. Biden’s performance, suggesting small but substantial gains among his most hard-core opponents that could give him added political leverage, paving the way for the possibility of a big bipartisan deal on infrastructure.

Mr. Biden’s overall approval among Democrats is a solid 94 percent, despite recent criticism from progressives.

Mr. Trump sustained a similar level of support from his base, but is the only president in the history of modern polling to never post an aggregate approval rating above 50 percent. His level of support has sunk, to an average of about 38 percent, after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

Friday’s poll is a bit sunnier than other recent national surveys that show a slight decrease in support for Mr. Biden as the fight over his relief package heats up on Capitol Hill. A RealClearPolitics aggregation of polls put his approval rating at 53.4 percent, not factoring in the A.P. poll.

Mr. Biden’s grades on the economy were lower than his ratings on other issues, the poll found. His approval on pocketbook issues was 55 percent. Only 17 percent of Republicans, a group that gave former President Donald J. Trump high marks for his handling of the economy even during the pandemic-related downturn, approved of Mr. Biden’s approach to the economy.

The A.P. poll, unsurprisingly, found that the atmosphere of hyper partisanship exacerbated by Mr. Trump’s four years of provocation is not subsiding under Mr. Biden, and that people in both parties tend to interpret fact through the filter of ideology.

Americans’ views on the economy have shifted dramatically even though many basic economic statistics have budged little, if at all.

In December, 67 percent of Republicans and just 15 percent of Democrats described the economy as “good,” according to an A.P. poll taken at the time. Now, 35 percent of Republicans and 41 percent of Democrats describe the economy in positive terms.

The poll, which surveyed 1,434 adults between Feb. 23 and March 1, has an overall sampling error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.

A beach in Limassol, Cyprus, on Thursday. Some European nations with economies that are heavily reliant on tourism have pushed for a vaccine certificate program to help open up international travel.Credit…Petros Karadjias/Associated Press

Cyprus has announced a plan to allow vaccinated residents of Britain to visit the island beginning in May, a further signal that countries, particular those dependent on tourism, could resort to inoculation certificates to reopen their borders.

Savvas Perdios, the deputy tourism minister for Cyprus, told the Cyprus News Agency that, as of May 1, British citizens who had received two doses of a vaccine approved by the European Union’s drug regulator would be allowed to travel to the Mediterranean island without having to be tested for the coronavirus or to isolate on arrival.

Some European nations with economies that are heavily reliant on tourism, such as Spain, have advocated for a vaccine certificate program to be created at the European Union level but have also said that they could adopt bilateral systems if no broader agreement is reached. The European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, this week announced plans to create a “digital green pass” to facilitate safe travel among member nations, though that system is expected to take at least three months.

The British authorities have said that talks on opening up travel are underway with a number of countries, including some in the European Union.

Matt Hancock, the British health secretary, said this week, “If another country wants to say that you need to have been vaccinated with a recognized vaccine to travel there, we want to enable Brits to be able to take that journey.”

More than a million travelers from Britain visited Cyprus in 2019, representing by far the highest number of international tourists to the island, according to official statistics.

Despite the green light from Cyprus, international travel from Britain is forbidden for leisure purposes until at least May 17 under the current lockdown rules, and it is unclear how many British residents will have received two vaccine doses by then. Fewer than a million people in Britain have so far been fully vaccinated.

In other news around the world:

  • South Korea’s drug safety agency approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on Friday and doses for about 23 million people are expected to begin arriving this month, the news agency Yonhap reported. The country, which has a population of about 51 million, began its vaccination program last week as part of a plan to achieve herd immunity by November. South Korea approved the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in February and expects to receive more than two million doses through Covax, an international group that has negotiated for coronavirus shots.

  • Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand has said that a snap lockdown imposed last week on the country’s largest city, Auckland, will end on Sunday morning. Social gatherings will be capped at 100 people and other restrictions will remain in place. The lockdown was imposed after the authorities discovered an untraceable case. They have since conducted more than 50,000 tests and tracked more than 6,000 contacts.

  • Japan has extended its state of emergency for the greater Tokyo metropolitan area until March 21, the government announced on Friday, according to the national broadcaster NHK. Emergency orders were lifted in six other prefectures. The restrictions, which include an order for restaurants and bars to close by 8 p.m., had been scheduled to end on Sunday.

Some gorillas in a troop at the San Diego Zoo tested positive for the coronavirus in January. Zoo officials have been using an experimental vaccine on other apes, like orangutans and bonobos. Credit…Ken Bohn/San Diego Zoo Global, via, via Reuters

The San Diego Zoo has given nine apes an experimental coronavirus vaccine developed by Zoetis, a major veterinary pharmaceuticals company.

In January, a troop of gorillas at the zoo’s Safari Park tested positive for the virus. All are recovering, but even so, the zoo requested help from Zoetis in vaccinating other apes. The company provided an experimental vaccine that was initially developed for pets and is now being tested in mink.

Nadine Lamberski, a conservation and wildlife health officer at San Diego Zoo Global, said the zoo vaccinated four orangutans and five bonobos with the experimental vaccine, which is not designed for use in humans. Among the vaccinated orangutans was an ape named Karen, who made history in 1994 when she became the first orangutan to have open-heart surgery.

Dr. Lamberski said one gorilla at the zoo was also scheduled to be vaccinated, but the gorillas at the wildlife park were a lower priority because they had already tested positive for infection and had recovered. She said she would vaccinate the gorillas at the wildlife park if the zoo received more doses of the vaccine.

Mahesh Kumar, senior vice president of global biologics for Zoetis, said the company is increasing production, primarily for its pursuit of a license for a mink vaccine, and will provide more doses to the San Diego and other zoos when possible. “We have already received a number of requests,” he said.

Infection of apes is a major concern for zoos and conservationists. They easily fall prey to human respiratory infections, and common cold viruses have caused deadly outbreaks in chimpanzees in Africa. Genome research has suggested that chimpanzees, gorillas and other apes will be susceptible to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that has caused the pandemic. Lab researchers are using some monkeys, like macaques, to test drugs and vaccines and develop new treatments for the virus.

Scientists are worrying not just about the danger the virus poses to great apes and other animals, but also about the potential for the virus to gain a foothold in a wild animal population that could become a permanent reservoir and emerge at a later date to reinfect humans.

Infections in farmed mink have produced the biggest scare so far. When Danish mink farms were devastated by the virus, which can kill mink just as it kills people, a mutated form of the virus emerged from the mink and reinfected humans. That variant showed resistance to some antibodies in laboratory studies, raising suspicion that vaccines might be less effective against it.

That virus variant has not been found in humans since November, according to the World Health Organization. But other variants have emerged in people in several countries, proving that the virus can become more contagious and in some cases can diminish the effectiveness of some vaccines.

Denmark ended up killing as many as 17 million mink — effectively wiping out its mink farming industry. In the United States, thousands of mink have died, and one wild mink has tested positive for the virus.

Although many animals, including dogs, domestic cats, and big cats in zoos, have become infected by the virus through natural spread, and others have been infected in laboratory experiments, scientists say that widespread testing has yet to find the virus in any animal in the wild other than the one mink.

National Geographic first reported the vaccination of the apes at the San Diego Zoo.

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Covid masks mandates ought to be final measures lifted

Covid mask mandates should be last measures lifted

Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC on Friday that he believes the governors are right to begin easing Covid restrictions on businesses as long as the mask guidelines remain in place.

“I think it is advisable to leave the masks in place as this is the last thing we lift,” said the former Food and Drug Administration commissioner on Squawk Box.

Gottlieb made his comments a day after Connecticut Democratic Governor Ned Lamont announced a relaxation of restrictions due to take effect this month. This includes, among other things, the lifting of capacity restrictions for restaurants, churches, hair salons and retail stores from March 19. Lamont, however, retains the nationwide mask mandate. Texas and Mississippi – two republican governor-led states that recently lifted pandemic restrictions – are also removing their mask mandates.

Gottlieb said he found Lamont’s approach the right one given the advances in Covid vaccinations. Gottlieb, a Connecticut resident, was on a pandemic advisory team for Lamont.

“I think it’s the kind of thing we have to do across the country, at least provide a map of where we are going if the situation continues to improve without ever taking our foot off the brakes,” said Gottlieb. who headed the FDA in the Trump administration from 2017 to 2019.

Coronavirus cases in America have fallen sharply from their peak in January, which coincided with the continued roll-out of Covid vaccinations to a larger segment of the country’s population. At the same time, senior health officials have urged U.S. citizens to avoid complacency, warning that more contagious variants of the virus are threatening to undermine the nation’s progress.

“So much can change in the next few weeks,” said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky this week. “How that works is up to us. The next three months are crucial.”

Dr. White House chief medical officer Anthony Fauci told CNN on Thursday that the resetting of restrictions was “inexplicable” at the moment.

Gottlieb – a member of Pfizer’s board of directors who makes a Covid vaccine – said the emerging strains of the virus are important in keeping an eye out for states that intend to relax restrictions. The B117 variant, first discovered in the UK, grows in Connecticut, Gottlieb said. “If the situation changes, they will surely re-evaluate it.”

Lamont’s withdrawal of Connecticut restrictions is vastly different from the action taken by Texas GOP Governor Greg Abbott, who declared his state “100% OPEN” in a tweet earlier this week.

In Connecticut, performing arts venues and cinema capacity will continue to be capped at 50%. Additionally, dining rooms in restaurants must close at 11 p.m. ET.

Gottlieb said personally he would continue to avoid eating indoors, an attitude he maintained during the pandemic. “I will certainly be going to restaurants in the course of March, but I will eat outside,” said Gottlieb. “It just doesn’t seem like a risk worth taking for me.”

At the same time, Gottlieb said that the general risk dynamics for Covid had changed significantly due to the introduction of the vaccine.

As of Thursday, around 16% of the US population had received at least one dose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require two doses, while the recently approved Johnson & Johnson vaccine is a single shot.

About 21% of Connecticut residents have received at least one dose of vaccine, according to the CDC.

“Connecticut has done a lot better than most states at getting vaccines into the elderly,” added Gottlieb. “You have taken an age-based approach. You have been very successful in vaccinating from 65 years of age. As the general vulnerability of the population decreases, you can lean forward a little.” Age is one of the biggest risk factors for developing severe Covid and possibly dying.

“If we now have 1,000 infections in the state, that’s a big difference from 1,000 infections 10 months ago when none of the state’s vulnerable residents were vaccinated,” said Gottlieb. “I think you need to try to find a way that will allow people to gradually return to normal activities.”

Disclosure: Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC employee and a member of the boards of directors of Pfizer, genetic testing startup Tempus, healthcare technology company Aetion, and Illumina biotech. He is also co-chair of the Healthy Sail Panel for Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and Royal Caribbean.

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The Virus Unfold The place Eating places Reopened or Masks Mandates Have been Absent

The Virus Spread Where Restaurants Reopened or Mask Mandates Were Absent

Even as officials in Texas and Mississippi lifted statewide mask mandates, researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provided new evidence on the importance of face covering, reporting that mask mandates were associated with fewer infections with the coronavirus and Covid. 19 deaths in counties in the United States.

Federal researchers also found that districts that opened restaurants for on-site meals – indoors or outdoors – saw an increase in daily infections about six weeks later and an increase in death rates from Covid-19 about two months later.

The study doesn’t establish cause and effect, but the results agree with other research showing that masks prevent infection and that indoor spaces encourage the spread of the virus through aerosols, tiny particles of breath that linger in the air.

“You have fewer cases and deaths when you wear masks, and you have more cases and deaths when you dine in person,” said Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, director of the CDC, on Friday. “And so we would advocate for policy, certainly while we are on this plateau of high numbers of cases hearing this public health science.”

On Friday evening, the National Restaurant Association, which represents one million restaurants and restaurants, criticized the CDC study as “an ill-informed attack on the industry hardest hit by the pandemic”. It was suggested that the researchers failed to control factors other than restaurant food – such as shop closures and other policies – that may have contributed to coronavirus infections and deaths.

“If a positive correlation is found between ice cream sales and shark attacks, it would not mean ice cream is causing shark attacks,” the association said in a statement.

The group also accused federal researchers of failing to measure compliance with safe operating protocols, noting that the investigation did not distinguish between indoor and outdoor dining, nor did it determine whether restaurants had followed removal recommendations or had adequate ventilation decreed.

“It is irresponsible to limit the spread of Covid-19 to a single industry,” said the association.

The findings come from city and state officials nationwide grappling with growing pressure to reopen schools and businesses amid falling rates of new cases and deaths. Officials recently allowed limited indoor dining in New York City. On Thursday, the Connecticut governor said the state would end capacity restrictions on restaurants, gyms and offices later this month. Masks are still required in both regions.

“The study isn’t surprising,” said Joseph Allen, associate professor at Harvard’s TH Chan School of Public Health and director of the university’s healthy buildings program. “What is surprising is that we see some states ignoring all evidence and are quick to open up, removing mask mandates and opening up full meals.”

Other researchers said the new study confirms the idea that transmission of viruses is often through the air, that physical distancing may not be enough in some situations to stop the spread, and that masks at least partially block airborne particles.

President Biden’s health advisors have said over the past few days that this is not the time to relax. According to a New York Times database, the seven-day average of new cases on Thursday was 62,924 per day.

While that number is down 14 percent from two weeks earlier, new cases remain near the peaks reported last summer. Although the death toll has declined in part due to vaccination campaigns in nursing homes, it remains routine for 2,000 deaths to be reported in a single day.

Mr Biden on Wednesday criticized the decisions of Texas and Mississippi governors to lift statewide mask mandates and reopen businesses without restrictions, calling the plans “a major mistake” reflecting “Neanderthal thinking”.

The president, who asked Americans to wear masks during his first 100 days in office, said it was vital for officials to follow directions from doctors and public health executives as the coronavirus vaccination campaign picks up . By Thursday, around 54 million people had received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.

Updated

March 5, 2021, 7:20 p.m. ET

“With all this progress, it may seem tempting to try and get back to normal as if the virus was in the rearview mirror,” Andy Slavitt, White House advisor on the pandemic, said Friday. “It is not.”

CDC researchers examined the links between mask mandates, indoor or outdoor restaurants, and coronavirus infections and deaths in the past year between March 1 and December 31. The agency relied on county-level data from state government websites and measured the daily percentage change in coronavirus cases and deaths.

Infections and deaths declined after counties mandated the use of masks, the agency found. Daily infections rose about six weeks after the counties allowed restaurants to dine on the premises, and death rates followed two months later.

The report’s authors concluded that mask mandates were associated with a statistically significant decrease in coronavirus cases and death rates within 20 days of implementation. Eating in indoor or outdoor restaurants was linked to rising fall and death rates 41 to 80 days after reopening.

“Government mask mandates and the ban on dining in on-site restaurants help limit potential exposure to SARS-CoV-2 and reduce community transmission of Covid-19,” the authors wrote.

Shortly after the report was released, the CDC amended it, urging facilities resuming serving guests to follow authorities’ guidelines on reducing broadcast in restaurants.

What you need to know about the vaccine rollout

“The message is that it is important to follow CDC guidelines if restaurants are to be opened for on-site dining,” said Gery P. Guy, researcher on the CDC’s Covid Response Team and co-author of the study.

This includes “everything from employees who stay at home if they show signs of Covid or have tested positive or have been in contact with someone who has Covid, and masks for both employees and customers who are not actively eating or drink, are required, “Dr. Guy said.

Other steps include adequate ventilation, outdoor dining, a two-meter distance from customers, frequent hand washing and disinfection of surfaces that are touched frequently, such as cash registers or payment terminals, door handles and tables.

Even when restaurants limit capacity, an aerosol virus can build up if there is insufficient ventilation, said Dr. All.

“It doesn’t really matter if it’s a restaurant, spin class, gym or choir practice. If you’re inside with no masks, little or no ventilation, we know it’s a higher risk,” he said. “Aerosols for the airways are formed indoors. It’s that simple. This is a real problem for restaurants. “

Linsey Marr, an aerosol delivery expert at Virginia Tech, said Americans couldn’t be expected to follow the latest science and so many simply rely on what is open or closed as an indicator of what for sure is.

But indoor dining is especially risky, she added. People typically sit in a restaurant for an hour or more and don’t wear masks while eating, which makes them susceptible to viruses in the air.

“Limiting capacity will help reduce the risk of transmission, but eating indoors is still a high-risk activity until more people are vaccinated,” she said.

Restaurant workers are particularly exposed. While they can wear masks, guests don’t, reducing protection from the virus. And workers spend many hours indoors on each shift, said Dr. All.

He recommended that restaurant staff wear a double mask, wear a surgical mask covered with a cloth mask, or buy highly efficient masks like N95, which are usually reserved for healthcare workers, or KN95 or KF94 masks to make sure that they are not fake.

“This is not the time to let go of our watch and take back controls when we are so close that many people are being vaccinated,” said Dr. All.

Eileen Sullivan contributed to the coverage.

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Health

CDC examine finds easing masks mandates led to increased Covid circumstances and deaths

Reopening indoor dining is a 'reckless decision,' virologist says

Patrons Sari and Peter Melendez enjoy lunch at Katz’s Delicatessen, the famous delicatessen store founded in 1888, on the first day of returning to indoor dining for New York City during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on Dec. February in New York 2021.

Brendan McDermid | Reuters

The relaxation of mask mandates and the reopening of restaurants have led to an increase in Covid-19 cases and deaths as the agency urges states not to aggressively lift health restrictions, according to a new study by the CDC.

According to the study, which examined the county’s data between March and December, mask mandates implemented by local governments were able to slow the spread of the virus from around 20 days after they were implemented.

“Allowing local restaurants was associated with an increase in daily growth rates of COVID-19 cases 41 to 100 days after implementation and an increase in daily growth rates of deaths 61 to 100 days after implementation,” the US researchers wrote Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Masking mandates and restricting local dining at restaurants can help limit the transmission of COVID-19 through the community and lower the growth rates in cases and deaths.”

The study found that mask requirements were associated with a decrease in the daily growth rate of Covid-19 cases and deaths by more than 1 percentage point 20 days after they were implemented. Eating in restaurants was associated with an increase in the case growth rate of 41 to 60, 61 to 80 and 81 to 100 days after the restrictions were lifted by 0.9, 1.2 and 1.1 percentage points, respectively, according to the study.

The researchers added that these measures will be important in preventing highly transmissible variants of the coronavirus from spreading undiminished, which could lead to more cases, hospitalizations and deaths, medical experts have warned.

“This report is an important reminder that with current levels of Covid-19 in communities and the continued spread of communicable virus variants that have now been identified in 48 states, strict preventative measures are essential to put an end to it.” Pandemic, “CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said at a White House Covid-19 press conference on Friday.

“It also serves as a warning against premature lifting of these preventive measures,” said Walensky.

Senior U.S. health officials have repeatedly warned in recent weeks that the emergence of the new variants, particularly strain B.1.1.7 first identified in the UK, could reverse the nation’s success in containing its outbreak.

The USA reported a daily average of around 62,950 new cases in the past week. This is a significant decrease from the high of nearly 250,000 cases per day reported by the US in January. This comes from a CNBC analysis of the data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

The drop in cases has since lost steam, a worrying trend that has left infections at alarming levels that could rebound if the variants go into effect, senior health officials warn.

“There is a light at the end of this tunnel, but we have to be prepared that the road in front of us may not be slippery,” said Walensky.

Some states have resigned their economies despite requests from the Biden administration, including White House chief medical officer Dr. Anthony Fauci, urged local leaders to wait a few more weeks for cases to show signs of further decline and for more vaccines to be administered.

“I don’t know why they’re doing this, but it’s certainly bad advice from a public health perspective,” Fauci told CNN on Wednesday when asked about states lifting their Covid restrictions. The scene recalls last summer when states began lifting restrictions too early, followed by a spate of cases across the American sun belt.

“What we don’t need right now is another increase,” said Fauci.

Texas, Mississippi, and Connecticut all moved this week to allow companies to resume operations in their states at full capacity. Both Texas and Mississippi also decided to lift their statewide mask mandates, despite state governors urging residents to continue covering their faces.

On Thursday, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey announced that she would lift her state’s mask mandate from April 9. She said that while this was the right thing to do, she respected those “who object and believe this is a step too far in going beyond government.” “”

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Biden slams governors for lifting masks mandates, calls it ‘Neanderthal pondering’

Biden slams governors for lifting mask mandates, calls it 'Neanderthal thinking'

United States President Joe Biden speaks during a non-partisan meeting on cancer legislation in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington March 3, 2021.

Alex Brandon | Pool | Reuters

President Joe Biden on Wednesday beat up states that lifted Covid-19 restrictions on businesses and lifted mask mandates for local residents, calling the moves a “big mistake”.

Texas governor Greg Abbott and Mississippi governor Tate Reeves, both Republicans, announced Tuesday that they would allow companies to reopen at 100% capacity and remove mask mandates. Biden’s remarks were in response to questions raised by the press specifically about the two states.

“Look, I hope by now everyone has realized that these masks make a difference,” Biden told reporters at the White House. “We are on the verge of fundamentally changing the nature of this disease because we can get vaccines into people’s arms … The last, the last thing we need is Neanderthal thinking.” In the meantime, everything is fine . Take off your mask. Forget it, “It’s still important.”

He added that it was “critical, critical, critical” that state officials “follow science” and encourage Americans to continue wearing masks and following all public health guidelines.

“I know you all know,” Biden told reporters. “I wish the hell some of our elected officials would.”

In response to Biden’s remarks, Reeves tweeted, “Mississippians don’t need handlers. When the numbers go down, they can judge their decisions and listen to experts. I think we should trust Americans, not offend them.”

When announcing their decisions, Reeves and Abbott cited the falling number of new Covid-19 cases and the increasing availability of vaccines as reasons for lifting the restrictions. However, federal officials warned that the decline in new cases appears to be stalling and that the emergence of new coronavirus variants could lead to a resurgence.

Abbott representatives did not immediately return CNBC’s request for comment.

Both governors used a similar tone in their announcements on Tuesday, saying that people should continue to follow public health guidelines, but that statewide mandates are not appropriate. Despite the removal of the restrictions, some companies in both states have announced that they will still need masking in their branches.

On Monday, before the two governors made their announcements, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, warned state officials too quickly to lift public health restrictions.

In the past seven days, the United States reported an average of more than 65,400 new cases a day, according to Johns Hopkins University. That’s well below the high of about 250,000 new cases per day the country reported in early January, but it’s still well above the infection rate the US saw the summer when the virus swept the sun belt.

“At this level of cases where variants spread, we will completely lose the hard-earned ground we won,” Walensky said on Monday. “With these statistics, I’m really concerned that more states are rolling back the exact public health measures we have recommended to protect people from Covid-19.”

“Please listen to me clearly: at this level of cases with spreading variant, we are going to completely lose the hard-earned ground we have gained,” she said.