US vows to be leader in global vaccinations; Michigan struggles to contain surge; woman infected weeks after J&J shot: COVID-19 updates
China's failure to share information and provide access to international public health experts in the early stages of the pandemic fueled the global crisis, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday.
"I think China knows that in the early stages of COVID, it didn't do what it needed to do," Blinken said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "And one result of that failure is that the (virus) got out of hand faster and with, I think, much more egregious results than it might otherwise."
The secretary pledged that the U.S. will be "the world leader on helping to make sure the entire world gets vaccinated."
Blinken said the pandemic revealed the need for a "stronger global health security system to make sure that this doesn't happen again" and to ensure the world can mitigate public health crises. Blinken said the World Health Organization must be strengthened and reformed, and that "China has to play a part in that."
Also in the news:
►Ashley Allen, of Brooklyn, turned some heads when she recently became ill with COVID-19 — three weeks after receiving the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Allen, 31, told the New York Post she had a persistent dry cough and relentless fatigue. Experts say vaccines are not completely effective but should ease symptoms for those who get infected.
►Chinese COVID-19 vaccines “don’t have very high protection rates,” according to Gao Fu, director of the China Centers for Disease Control. Gao made the rare admission Saturday at a conference in the southwestern city of Chengdu and said the government is considering mixing the vaccines to boost them. China has distributed hundreds of millions of doses abroad
►Canada’s most populous province reported a single-day high for new infections with nearly 4,460 cases across Ontario. The latest figures released Sunday also show a sharp rise of new confirmed cases in Toronto, which jumped by nearly 400 to over 1,350.
►A mask mandate in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is expected to end April 30, according to Mayor G.T. Bynum, who said private businesses are allowed to require masks and restaurant and bar employees must also continue wearing a mask.
►Iran began a 10-day lockdown Saturday amid a fourth wave of coronavirus infections. Shops are closed and offices are restricted to one-third capacity in its capital, Tehran, and 250 other cities and towns with the highest positivity rates.
📈 Today's numbers: The U.S. has more than 31 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 562,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The global totals: More than 135.8 million cases and more than 2.93 million deaths. More than 237 million vaccine doses have been distributed in the U.S. and 183 million have been administered, according to the CDC.
📘 What we're reading: Women report more side effects from the COVID-19 vaccine than men. Health experts explain why.
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Deliveries of Johnson & Johnson vaccine to drop sharply this week
States will see a sharp decline in deliveries of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine this week as the company struggles to meet its manufacturing timeline. The federal government is planning to deliver fewer than 800,000 doses this week, down from 5 million that had been planned. California said it expects to see a 90% decrease in the supply of that vaccine. The company has failed to win federal certification for a contract manufacturer in Baltimore after 15 million doses of J&J's vaccine were ruined at the plant last month.
Double-shot vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer continue to flow, and White House pandemic advisers say they hope J&J's issues could be resolved by month's end.
Whitmer pushes for more vaccine doses as Michigan struggles to contain surge
As Michigan grapples with the highest rate in new coronavirus infections in the country, a surge that's straining hospitals and prompted a pause in some non-emergency procedures, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer continues to press the White House to alter its vaccine-distribution plan.
The Democrat has advocated increasing the vaccine allotments to COVID hot spots, telling CBS' "Face The Nation" on Sunday: "When there is a surge, we think that it's important that we... rush in to meet where that need is, because what's happening in Michigan today could be what's happening in other states tomorrow.''
President Joe Biden has said Michigan will receive more federal resources to support vaccinations, testing and treatments, but not extra doses. Other Midwestern states, such as Illinois and Minnesota, are also dealing with spikes in infections.
But Michigan has become the epicenter of the pandemic in the U.S. at this point, with 6,900 new cases Saturday for a total of 738,000. More than 20 hospitals had reached 90% of capacity, and six metro Detroit counties were reporting the most patients since the pandemic’s first wave last spring.
COVID survivor runs 20 miles to raise funds, thank hospital workers who saved him
A year ago, New Jersey real estate executive Paulo Santos came home from a harrowing battle with COVID-19 and could barely make it up his driveway with the help of a walker.
On Saturday, he ran the 20 miles in between the two hospitals where he was treated, partly to raise money for the doctors and nurses who saved his life, but mostly to thank them. His feat is even more remarkable considering Santos, 40, had a heart attack after battling COVID.
Staff members from each hospital gathered at both the starting and finish lines, holding signs and cheering. It took Santos a little less than five hours to cover the route. “It was overwhelming, to see the staff there,” Santos said. "The whole thing was pretty wild."
– Jerry Carino, Asbury Park Press
Nearly 40% of Marines decline COVID vaccine
Nearly 40% of United States Marines who have been offered the COVID-19 vaccine have declined it, according to the Pentagon. Of the 123,500 Marines who have had access to the vaccine, 75,500 are either fully vaccinated or have received one dose, while about 48,000 have declined it, Communication Strategy and Operations Officer Capt. Andrew Woods told USA TODAY.
"We fully understand that widespread acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine provides us with the best means to defeat this pandemic. The key to addressing this pandemic is building vaccine confidence," he said, confirming a statistic first reported by CNN.
Woods said the Navy and Marine Corp were working to ensure that soldiers have accurate information about the safety of the vaccine and want to encourage people to get it.
– Sarah Elbeshbishi
FEMA's funeral assistance program launches Monday
Starting Monday, the the Federal Emergency Management Agency will accept applications for its funeral assistance program. The agency will offer a maximum of $9,000 per funeral and a maximum of $35,500 per application. To be eligible for assistance, the death must have occurred in the U.S. and happened as a result of COVID-19. The applicant must be a U.S. citizen, national or qualified resident.
– Ben Yoder, Des Moines Register
More colleges, universities say they will require COVID-19 vaccinations
First it was Rutgers and Cornell. Then Notre Dame. Now Duke. The list of colleges and universities that will require COVID-19 vaccinations for new and returning students to attend in-person classes continues to grow as Duke announced a policy that will cover all undergraduate, graduate and professional students.
"We know that widespread vaccination will be the only way to facilitate a return to normal and robust campus life," Duke President Vincent Price said in a statement on the university's website.
Brown in Rhode Island, Northeastern in Boston, Nova Southeastern University in Florida and Fort Lewis College in Colorado have also followed the precedent set by Rutgers in New Jersey and Cornell in New York.
Contributing: The Associated Press