Random and illustrative stories about the global pandemic and how businesses and various business sectors are trying to recover from it, with brief, occasional, italicized and sometimes gratuitous commentary…
• In the US, there now have been a total of 88,794,286 Covid-19 coronavirus cases, resulting in 1,040,805 deaths and 84,513,615 reported recoveries.
Globally, there have been 594,084,900 total cases, with 6,351,106 resultant fatalities and 524,148,620 reported recoveries.
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that 78.1 percent of the total US population has received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, with 66.9 percent being fully vaccinated. The CDC also says that 47.3 percent of the US population has received the first vaccine booster dose; 26.1 percent of the population age 50 and older has received the second booster shot, with 32.7 percent of the 65-and-older population having received that second booster.
• From the New York Times:
"A panel of independent experts advising the Food and Drug Administration will make its recommendation on Tuesday on whether to update existing Covid-19 vaccines to target a newer version of the coronavirus in a booster shot that Americans could get in the fall.
"The federal government is hoping to improve the vaccine to better boost people’s immunity before a likely resurgence of the virus this winter. But in order for it to move that quickly, it may need to abandon the lengthy human trials that have been used to test coronavirus vaccines over the past two years in favor of a faster process that relies more on laboratory tests and animal trials.
"The most recent trials with human volunteers have taken five months, even using relatively small groups. But the virus is evolving so quickly that new vaccine formulations are out of date before such trials are even finished."
• From the Tampa Bay Times:
"Since COVID-19 vaccines first became available, Publix has played a major role in tackling the public health emergency in Florida by offering vaccines to adults and, later, children as young as 5.
"But the Lakeland grocery company says it will not offer the vaccine approved for children ages 4 and under 'at this time.'
"Spokesperson Hannah Herring said Tuesday that Publix will not release a statement explaining its decision. The company’s website indicates that it is still accepting COVID-19 vaccine appointments for children ages 5 and up.
The company still offers other child vaccinations, including the flu shot for babies as young as 6 months.
"The vaccine rollout for the nation’s youngest children has been complicated in Florida, where state leaders have questioned the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines, going against the recommendations of the nation’s top health regulators and medical associations.
"Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo recommended against giving vaccines to healthy children, contrary to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. Florida was the only state in the nation not to preorder doses of the under 5 vaccine, which the White House said could delay delivery to medical providers in the state. Parents of children under 18 months must rely on pediatricians, medical clinics and children’s hospitals to get their kids vaccinated."
