U.S.                                                            California

                                  CASES               DEATHS                           CASES          DEATHS       

December 2020       19,111,443        341,149                         2,120,610             24,241

2021   Timeline

January                  26,185,362        441,319                         3,310,949             40,702

February                28,602,101        513,137                         3,563,578             51,953

UPDATED WEEKLY - Last updated on 28 March, 2021 6:55 pm PST, John Hopkins Corona Virus Dashboard and Worldometer

Cases Worldwide

                       John Hopkins                                                    Worldometer

• TOTAL CASES      - 127,085,979                      TOTAL CASES        -   127,762,641

            Recovered        -   72,003,902                         Recovered          -   102,946,821

• TOTAL DEATHS   -     2,782,944                      TOTAL DEATHS       -      2,795,872

Cases in the U.S.

POPULATION - is 332,343,032 as of 8 March 2021, 7:21 am PST, based on Census U.S. and World Population Clock.

• TOTAL CASES      -   30,258,812                     TOTAL CASES         -     30,962,803

            Recovered        -                                           Recovered            -     23,410,884

• TOTAL DEATHS    -        549,306                    TOTAL DEATHS        -         562,526

According to USA Facts as of February 20, 2021, there are 145,671,710 covered by unemployment insurance.   The unemployment rate as of February 2021 is 6.2%.

Cases in California

• TOTAL CASES       -   3,658,714                     TOTAL CASES         -        3,661,250

            Recovered         -                                          Recovered           -       1,933,478

• TOTAL DEATHS     -       58,815                     TOTAL DEATHS        -          58,595

2021 unemployment numbers are still hovering around 9%.      

03/28/2021                 Cases (WHO)                   Deaths (WHO)            Recovered (WHO)

• Texas**           -   2,784,983                              48,338                           2,634,216
• Florida**          -   2,044,005                             33,213                           1,476,657
• New York          -   1,891,806                             50,319                           1,074,855
• Illinois              -   1,237,828                             23,521                           1,152,635
• Georgia**        -   1,055,256                              18,926                             671,876
• Pennsylvania    -   1,018,605                              25,113                             914,701
• Ohio                -   1,011,622                              18,526                             961,817
• N. Carolina**   -      905,528                              12,028                             864,755
• Arizona **       -      839,888                              16,918**                         799,870
• Tennessee**   -      806,792                              11,816**                          781,415

*correction

          **reporting information is limited, reduced testing and increased cases

MARCH BLOG

COVID 19 UPDATE

Vaccine Update - Coronavirus Vaccine Tracker

By Carl Zimmer, Jonathan Corum and Sui-Lee Wee, Updated 28 February, 2021

       PHASE 1            PHASE 2             PHASE 3             AUTHORIZED       APPROVED

            40                     27                        20                            6                          4

     Vaccines            Vaccines               Vaccines                   Vaccines              Vaccines

   testing safety     in expanded         in large scale              in early or            approved

    and dosage       safety trials         efficacy tests             or limited use           full use

• 28 Jan – Johnson & Johnson reports lower efficacy data in South Africa.
•   2 Feb - Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine has an efficacy of 91.6%.
•   3 Feb – Mexico authorizes Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine
•   7 Feb – South Africa halts plans for a rollout of AstraZeneca’s vaccine.

HOUSE PASSES $1.9 TRILLION COVID RELIEF BILL.  The House voted early Saturday to pass President Biden's $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief package, a step to implement bringing the pandemic under control, days after the U.S. crossed the milestone of 500,000 deaths.

The House voted to approve the bill, which includes $1,400 direct payments, a $400-a-week federal unemployment bonus, a per-child allowance of up to $3,600 for one year and billions of dollars to distribute the coronavirus vaccines and to assist schools and local governments.

Polls show the package is popular with most Americans, earning 66 percent support in an Economist/YouGov study and 76 percent support in a Morning Consult/Politico survey.

VACCINE STATISTICS.  According to Our Word Data, as of 27 February, the United States has vaccinated 72.81 million reaching 14.6% of the total U.S. population and data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  Approximate totals of the vaccine distribution as of 26 February:  Pfizer - 36.16 million and Moderna – 34.18 million doses.  The U.S. currently is administering over 1.6 million shots a day.

Note:  This is calculated as a single dose and may not equal the total number of people vaccinated, depending on the specific dose regime.  If a person receives the first dose of a 2-dose vaccine, this metric goes up by 1, if they receive the second dose, the metric stays the same.

                                    Single dose           2nd Dose

• Arizona                 16.8%                     6.8%
• California              15.2%                     6.3%
• Florida                  14.4%                     7.9%
• New York               13.3%                     7.1%
• Texas                    12.4%                    6.2%

Vaccine Update.  Vaccine advisers to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention unanimously voted Sunday, 28 February, the distribution of a third vaccine for Americans 18 and older:  the one-dose, Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine uses a weakened live pathogen, adenovirus, as the delivery method or vector for transporting a recombinant vaccine for COVID-19.  The Johnson & Johnson vaccine can be kept at normal refrigerator temperatures for three months, something that committee members said would make it easy to distribute and administer.

The efficacy against moderate to severe COVID-19 infection varied by region in the trial, 72% in the United States, 66% in Latin America and 57% in South Africa.  The vaccine was also found to be fully protective against hospitalization and death and protection against severe disease, included multiple variants of COVID-19, including the B.1.351 variant found in South Africa.

Approximately 4 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be distributed across all channels, states, tribes, territories, pharmacies and community health centers," an official said in a briefing call Sunday night.  "Those doses will be delivered as early as this Tuesday morning."  Senior administration officials also cautioned that the amount of vaccine made available will be uneven throughout the month of March.

For the first time, since early November, fewer than 50,000 patients were hospitalized with Covid-19.  With that, there's been a decrease in new cases and deaths since the January surge.  Dr. Anthony Fauci advises that people should continue to take the vaccine they were initially vaccinated with – if initially vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine, the second dose should be Pfizer.  He also warns some Americans are easing up on safety measures too soon -- threatening the same post-dip surges we suffered in 2020.

FDA Authorizes Monoclonal Antibodies for Treatment of COVID-19

The FDA, has not approved but has authorized for emergency use, bamlanivimab and etesevimab, administered together for the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 in adults and pediatric patients - 12 years of age or older weighing at least 88 pounds, who test positive for SARS-CoV-2 and are at high risk for progressing to severe COVID-19.  The authorized use includes treatment for those who are 65 years of age or older or who have certain chronic medical conditions.

Monoclonal antibodies are laboratory-made proteins that mimic the immune system’s ability to fight off harmful pathogens such as viruses.  Bamlanivimab and etesevimab, monoclonal antibodies, are specifically directed against the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2.  The antibody combination is designed to block the virus’s attachment and entry into human cells and also bind to different overlapping sites on the spike protein of the virus.

Note:  In a clinical trial a single intravenous infusion significantly reduced COVID-19-related hospitalization and death during 29 days of follow-up compared to placebo.  Bamlanivimab and etesevimab are not authorized for patients who are hospitalized due to COVID-19 or require oxygen therapy due to COVID-19.  

Antibody treatments don’t contain any live SARS-CoV-2 and no risk you’ll get COVID-19. However, antibody treatment may have side effects:

• Allergic reactions - can occur during and after an antibody infusion.  Contact your healthcare provider right away if you get any of the following signs and symptoms of allergic reactions:
• Fever,
• Chills,
• Nausea,
• Headache,
• Shortness of breath,
• Low blood pressure,
• Wheezing,
• Swelling of your lips, face, or throat,
• Rash, including hives and itching,
• Muscle aches,
• Dizziness.

Serious and unexpected side effects may happen. Some possible risks from antibody treatment are:

• It may interfere with the body's ability to fight off a future infection of SARS-CoV-2
• It may reduce your body’s immune response to a vaccine for SARS-CoV2

mAb treatments for COVID-19, like other treatments authorized for emergency use are still being studied. 

What Level of Herd Immunity Is Necessary?  Do we need 70% of the country to have been immunized?  Or as Dr. Fauci has recently said, is the figure closer to 80 – 85%?   In doing the calculation, do you include the 26 million Americans who have already had coronavirus infections? What about young people? 

The calculator below will allow you to figure out when immunity might be achieved at various immunization rates.

• Shots administered per day nationally:  1.5 million
• Herd immunity achieved at:  80 percent
• Doses required:  One Two
• Vaccinate those already infected?  No Yes

At this rate, the country would reach 80 percent herd immunity through vaccinations by Dec. 24

With a population of approximately 330 million, means we would need 264 million to be resistant to the virus to hit 80 percent immunity.  We can take out the 5.8 million Americans already been vaccinated, leaving 244.3 million to be vaccinated.  From there the math is straightforward: doing two-shot vaccinations at a rate of 1.5 million shots per day means it will take 326 days to complete the job!

WHAT CAN WE DO?   There's no vaccine against the coronavirus, yet!   However, we repeat, you can take basic precautions to reduce your family's risk of getting this and other illnesses by:

• There is no vaccine for children!
• The CDC recommends  wearing 2-layer, non-surgical cloth face coverings when in public spaces, such as supermarkets, if it's difficult to maintain social distancing measures.  Face coverings should not be worn by children under 2 years old or anyone not capable of removing them on their own.
• Travel increases the chance of getting and/or spreading COVID-19.  Sheltering in place is the best way to protect yourself and others.  The State Department advises U.S. citizens to avoid all nonessential travel.
• Getting recommended vaccines on schedule
• Avoiding close contact with sick people and staying home when sick
• Not touching the eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands
• Coughing and sneezing into a tissue, and throwing the tissue in the trash

Stay safe.  Mask.  Social distance.  Frequent hand washing.  Avoid crowds.

ALWAYS CONSULT YOUR PERSONAL HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONAL

• https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html
• https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/
• https://www.census.gov/popclock/
• https://www.thebalance.com/current-u-s-unemployment-rate-statistics-and-news-3305733
• https://www.precisionvaccinations.com/2021/02/09/us-fda-issued-second-emergency-authorization-lillys-bamlanivimab
• https://www.covid19.lilly.com/bamlanivimab?utm_id=bi_cmp-402082706_adg-1268837087647016_ad-79302420036758_kwd-79302697621412%3Aloc-190_dev-c_ext-_sig-a18674d86cea1d9304bf14f2aea6bf02&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=ppc&campaign=402082706&adgroup=1268837087647016&ad=79302420036758&utm_keyword=kwd-79302697621412%3Aloc-190&msclkid=a18674d86cea1d9304bf14f2aea6bf02&utm_campaign=US_DTC_Bamlanivimab_Brand_Treatment_BMM&utm_term=%2Bbamlanivimab%20%2Btreatment&utm_content=Treatment_Treatment
• https://www.verywellhealth.com/johnson-and-johnson-covid-19-vaccine-5093160
• https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/us-coronavirus-theres-good-news-on-covid-19-including-a-third-vaccines-approval-but-dont-ease-up-on-safety-measures-fauci-warns/ar-BB1e5n6Y?ocid=uxbndlbing
• https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/house-vote-biden-s-1-9-trillion-covid-relief-bill-n1258883
• https://combatcovid.hhs.gov/i-have-covid-19-now/monoclonal-antibodies-high-risk-covid-19-positive-patients?msclkid=b1397298110817022c8312a4496aedcf
• https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations?country=~USA
• https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/01/28/960901166/how-is-the-covid-19-vaccination-campaign-going-in-your-state
• https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/02/01/how-soon-can-we-achieve-immunity-through-vaccinations-this-calculator-can-help-answer-question/