US coronavirus: 3 states have fully vaccinated more than 2/3 of residents.
Vermont, Connecticut and Massachusetts have fully vaccinated at least two-thirds of their population, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Those three states also have among the lowest new Covid-19 cases per capita over the past week, CDC data shows.
“We actually have the lowest ICU available rate that we’ve had since the start of this crisis, in part due to the unvaccinated with Covid and just other types of trauma that goes up seasonally this time of year,” Gov. Jared Polis, D-Colo., said Friday.
“Some hospitals are reaching very close to their capacity limits. And that wouldn’t be happening if people were vaccinated.”
In Florida, Covid-19 patients occupy 27 of the 28 ICU beds at St. Anthony’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, hospital president Scott Smith said.
He said about 85% of the hospital’s Covid-19 patients are unvaccinated.
Some of those hospitalized ask for a Covid-19 vaccine too late, said pulmonologist Dr. Hudman Hoo, medical director of St. Anthony’s ICU ward.
“We have had patients that come and request, ‘Can I get a vaccine now?’ But they don’t understand that it’s something that’s meant to be preventative,” Hoo said.
Vaccines provide critical protection against variants
Among all ages, the Moderna vaccine was 95% effective against hospitalization, while the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine had an 80% effectiveness and the Johnson & Johnson vaccine had a 60% effectiveness, the study found.
But among those 75 and older, the study found vaccine effectiveness against hospitalization was 76%, compared to 89% for adults under 75.
“Fully vaccinated” still means at least two weeks have passed since the second dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccines or at least two weeks have passed since the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
“I anticipate over time that may be updated, but we will leave that to our advisers to give us some recommendations,” Walensky said.
Vaccine requirements will help the economy, surgeon general says
Businesses that want employees to not just return to work but also stay at work will benefit from vaccine requirements, US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy said.
“A lot of businesses are actually relieved that these are going into place,” Murthy told CNN on Sunday.
High vaccination rates would benefit employees, not just employers, Murthy said.
“If we ultimately want to not only get people back to work but keep them at work, if we…
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