The number of children hospitalized with Covid-19 in the United States hit a record high of more than 1,900 on Aug. 14, as hospitals across the South were stretched to capacity fighting outbreaks caused by the highly transmissible Delta variant.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized a third dose of Covid-19 vaccines by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna for people with compromised immune systems.
Drugmakers Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna are expected to reap billions of dollars from Covid-19 booster shots in a market that could rival the $6 billion in annual sales for flu vaccines for years to come, analysts and healthcare investors say.
The cities of San Francisco and New Orleans on Aug. 12 ordered patrons to show proof of Covid-19 vaccinations to enter restaurants, gyms and other venues, joining New York in a severe step designed to contain the fast-spreading Delta variant.
California on Aug. 11 became the first U.S. state to require that its teachers and other school staff be vaccinated or regularly tested for Covid-19, a move Governor Gavin Newsom called “a responsible step” to ensure the safety of children.
Gilead Sciences announced on Aug. 9 that the company will require employees and contractors to be fully vaccinated against the novel coronavirus by Oct. 1.
The mRNA vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech may be less effective than Moderna’s against the Delta variant of the coronavirus, according to two reports posted on medRxiv on Aug. 8 ahead of peer review.
Only eight intensive care unit beds were available on Aug. 9 in Arkansas, the state’s governor said, as the rapid spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus pushed cases and hospitalizations in the United States to a six-month high.
The continued spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus has spawned a Greek alphabet of variants – a naming system used by the World Health Organization to track concerning new mutations of the virus that causes Covid-19. Some have equipped the virus with better ways of infecting humans or evading vaccine protection.
Covid-19 vaccinations should be required for U.S. teachers to protect students who are too young to be inoculated, the head of the nation’s second-largest teachers’ union said on Aug. 8, shifting course to back mandated shots as more children fall ill.