The Biden administration today confirmed officials will make available and free to the public 400 million N95 respirators to be distributed at community health centers and pharmacies across the country.
The news follows yesterday's launch of a website through which Americans could order up to four free COVID-19 tests per household. The respirators will be sent out beginning later this week.
The N95s come from the Strategic National Stockpile and are known to filter out 95% or more of airborne particles when fitted properly. Early in the pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) discouraged the use of respirators by the public because they were in short supply for medical personnel.
The CDC updated that guidance earlier this week, saying that Americans should wear the most protective masks or respirators available to them.
The CDC Nowcast estimates that the Omicron variant accounts for 99.5% of new COVID-19 cases in the United States, and because it is more transmissible than previous variants, mask mandates are once again being put in place in cities across the country.
Almost 1 million pediatrics cases
From Jan 6 to Jan 13, more than 981,000 child COVID-19 cases were reported in the United States, according to the latest weekly update from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), marking a 69% increase from the previous week.
"Reported child COVID-19 cases among children have spiked dramatically across the United States. The past week nearly 1 million cases were reported, four times the rate of the peak of last winters' surge," the AAP wrote.
The United States reported 1,060,747 new COVID-19 cases yesterday, and 1,896 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins COVID-19 tracker.
The 7-day average of new daily cases is 756,752, with 1,889 daily deaths, according to the New York Times tracker.
COVID-19 infection, vaccines both protect against Delta
Today the CDC published a study in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report showing that COVID-19 patients infected with the Delta variant fared better if they had a previous COVID-19 infection or were vaccinated, compared with unvaccinated patients who had never been infected with COVID-19.
The study was conducted on patients in New York and California, who were grouped into cohorts based on vaccination status and previous infection, and tracked between May 2021 and November 2021. Delta became the dominant strain in both states by July of last year.
"Before Delta became the predominant variant in June, case rates were higher among persons who survived a previous infection than persons who were vaccinated alone. By early October, persons who survived a previous infection had lower case rates than persons who were vaccinated alone," the authors wrote.
The authors cautioned that any conclusions on prior immunity and vaccination effectiveness could not be applied to the current surge of cases caused by Omicron.
The CDC COVID Data Tracker shows 63% of Americans are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, 75.1% have received at least one dose of vaccine, and 38.7% of vaccinated Americans have received a booster dose.
Other US developments
- Virginia's new governor is facing pushback from lawmakers, school districts, and parents over an executive order that aims to create an opt-out for classroom mask mandates, according to the Associated Press.
- US lawmakers are calling on the Federal Trade Commission to launch an investigation into reports of price gouging surrounding over-the-counter at-home COVID-19 tests, CBS News reports.
- New analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundations shows counties that voted for Joe Biden over ex-President Donald Trump in the 2020 election were more vaccinated. As of Jan 11, 65% of those in Biden counties were fully vaccinated compared to 52% of those in Trump counties.
