Who will get the booster shot in the US?
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(CNN) -
With the outlook for the covid-19 pandemic worsening as hospitalizations and cases among the unvaccinated rise, the U.S. chief health officer said many of those who have followed the precautions could soon becoming complacent due to fatigue.
"I think a lot of those who made the right decision to get vaccinated are thinking, 'God, I did the right thing, but here we are, still in the middle of this pandemic 18 months later,'" Dr. Vivek Murthy told Brian Stelter. , from CNN, this Sunday.
"We will overcome this pandemic when a large majority of us are vaccinated, and we have not yet reached that critical number," Murthy said.
As of Sunday, 50.7% of the total US population was fully vaccinated, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
And with just under half the country still unvaccinated, cases and hospitalizations are on the rise again.
These people are eligible for a third dose of 1:07 vaccine
Covid-19 cases are increasing in 40 states, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Soon, the United States could be reporting more than 200,000 new cases a day, the director of the National Institutes of Health predicted Sunday.
That's a rate that hadn't been seen since before vaccines became widely available.
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"It's heartbreaking considering we never thought we'd be there again," Dr. Francis Collins said on Fox News.
Murthy is especially concerned for parents who have been working hard to protect their children as the nation grapples with the pandemic.
That fear is especially pressing as more children with the virus, like Carter, Kyle Butrum's one-year-old son, are hospitalized in Arkansas.
Butrum urged people to get vaccinated so other families don't have to watch their son struggle in the hospital.
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"The only thing you can do to stop someone else from doing this is get vaccinated, so another child doesn't have to do this and another family doesn't have to fire their child. So another parent doesn't have to be in the back of the house. ambulance and wondering if it will be the last time he will see his son, "Butrum told CNN.
The delta variant, a danger for children
With the rise of the delta variant and the start of the new school year, CNN medical analyst Dr. Leana Wen said this is the most dangerous time of the pandemic for children.
Experts have shared best practices for keeping families safe, but "we, as a society, have failed our children," Wen said, citing the fringes of people who navigate communities without masks and without vaccinations and politicians who ignore the guide.
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"As a result, we have made it difficult for schools to stay open, we have increased the chances that children will be infected," Wen said.
"This is a really sad reflection that children have to pay the price for irresponsible adults and reckless politicians," he added.
Officials disagree on the mandatory use of masks
Many health experts have pointed to mask-wearing mandates as a necessary step to control the covid-19 pandemic as officials work to increase vaccination rates.
But some local leaders are increasingly at odds with those mandates.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton took the fight against mandatory mask use in his state to the Texas Supreme Court after several defeats in lower courts.
The state Supreme Court ruled in favor of Paxton and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Sunday, temporarily blocking local mask-wearing mandates.
But officials in Dallas and San Antonio said they would continue to enforce mask-wearing mandates in schools, despite the court ruling.
Abbott and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis were the recipients of letters from the Department of Education in which Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said he was "deeply concerned" about restrictions on the mask use mandate.
"The Department recognizes that several school districts in its state have already moved to adopt such policies in line with the CDC's guidance for the reopening and operation of school facilities despite state-level bans. The Department supports these dedicated educators who are working to reopen schools safely and keep classroom instruction safe, "Cardona wrote in the letter to DeSantis, which was also addressed to Florida Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran.
Are the symptoms of the delta variant different?
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In May, DeSantis issued two executive orders limiting COVID-19 restrictions that counties and cities could impose, including mask-wearing mandates, and has since threatened punitive measures if a county or city challenges them. .
In an email sent to CNN on Sunday, a DeSantis spokesperson reiterated the governor's position that his ban on masking mandates in schools is about empowering parents to make the best decision for their child and his family.
The president of the Broward County School Board criticized DeSantis Sunday for his position on mask-wearing mandates in schools.
"We believe that we have a constitutional obligation to protect the lives of our students and staff. And we have received threats from our governor, and it has been really dramatic and horrible to be in this position," said Dr. Rosalind Osgood, this Sunday, in " Face the Nation ", from CBS.
Health officials monitor data on additional vaccine doses
Another level of protection that some health experts are considering is booster doses to increase the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Last week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized an additional dose of vaccine for certain immunosuppressed people, which Wen told CNN's Kaitlan Collin was a good thing. decision for a group that "clearly needed a boost because it did not elicit a sufficient immune response the first time."
What health officials still disagree on is whether the rest of the population could benefit from a booster dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.
Israel has already recommended an additional dose for people over 50, something the United States cannot do yet because there is less data collection, Wen said.
Therefore, he hopes that officials will make a concerted effort to examine data from countries other than the US to make the decision.
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Wen noted that there are many people who may not be severely immunosuppressed, but "may have some degree of immunosuppression and may be at high risk, for example if they live with someone who is not vaccinated or are essential workers. Maybe they should get a booster. too".
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Sunday that the US is planning the possibility of booster doses and will be "absolutely prepared" to act quickly if necessary for some groups.
Fauci said on CBS's "Face the Nation," that officials are looking at data from the United States and other countries every day "to determine if, when and to whom we should give this. So, if it turns out, as the data, in fact, we need to give an additional dose to people who live in nursing homes or the elderly, we will be absolutely prepared to do it very quickly. "
CNN's Jamie Gumbrecht, Rosa Flores, Leyla Santiago, and Gregory Lemos contributed to this report.
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