U.S. Orders Millions More Doses; Ohio Lifts Curfew: Virus Update

(Bloomberg) — President Joe Biden announced that the U.S. has finished deals for 100 million additional vaccine doses each from Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc., and that the companies would deliver new and existing orders quicker than projected.

U.S. vaccine supply should increase enough by April to allow anyone who wants a shot to begin getting one, said Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease doctor. Los Angeles is closing Dodger Stadium and other mass vaccination sites for two days because of a shortage of vaccine.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said vaccinations of nursing-home patients have helped cut the number of hospitalized Covid-19 patients, allowing the state to lift a daily curfew. New data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show allergic reactions to Covid-19 vaccines are rare.

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U.S. hospitalizations for the coronavirus plunged about 16% so far in February, dropping to the lowest since mid-November, data from the Department of Health and Human Services show. The number of Covid-19 in-patients fell to 82,064 as Feb. 10, an average reduction of 1,709 a day since Feb. 1. Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, California and Ohio led the declines. Hospitalizations in New York increased 6% to 8,754 over the nine-day period, with Covid-19 cases accounting for about 18% of in-patients. Covid cases account for 19% of hospital patients in California and Georgia, HHS data show.

New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show allergic reactions to Covid-19 are rare and anaphylaxis, one type of severe reaction, occurs in 2 to 5 people for every million vaccinated in the U.S.

The update from the CDC draws on data from the agency’s system to monitor vaccine side effects. When anaphylaxis occurs it is almost always within half an hour of administering the vaccine, the CDC said.

The system hasn’t found any link between Covid vaccines and death, the agency said on its website. The agency said 41 million doses of Covid vaccines from Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc. were administered in the U.S. through Feb. 7.

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock said Thursday a delay in FEMA pandemic reimbursements could force the city to make “further service cuts quite frankly.”

“We’re talking about no small numbers — $61 million dollars that is owed to the city of Denver,” Hancock said at a news conference. “We’re working as fiercely as we can.”

President Joe Biden announced that the U.S. has finished deals for 100 million additional vaccine doses each from Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc., and that the companies would deliver new and existing orders quicker than projected.

While the orders had been previously announced, the delivery dates for the additional vaccine doses were moved up to the end of July, Biden said in remarks Thursday at the National Institutes of Health. Delivery of a previously ordered batch was also sped up, to the end of May from the end of June.

“We’ve now purchased enough vaccine supply to vaccinate all Americans,” Biden said in a speech in which he offered harsh criticism of former President Donald Trump’s handling of the vaccine program.

Illinois reported a case of the coronavirus variant that was first found in South Africa. It is the sixth state to report a case of the variant. Trials have shown that vaccines are generally less effective against this strain. No details were released about the Illinois case.

Oklahoma teachers and school staff of all ages will be eligible “in the next few days” for vaccinations, Governor Kevin Stitt said Thursday.

The state will open vaccine appointments Feb. 22 for the next high-risk priority group that includes Oklahomans under 65 with co-morbidities and teachers and staff in Pre-K-12 schools and educational settings, Oklahoma State Health Dept. Commissioner Lance Frye said at a Thursday press conference.

The move expands vaccine eligibility to nearly 1.1 million Oklahomans, of which 89,000 are teachers and staff.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said vaccinations of nursing-home patients have helped cut the number of hospitalized Covid-19 patients, allowing the state to lift a daily curfew in force since November.

Nursing-home residents account for more than half of Ohio’s deaths, which state officials revised upward to 12,577 on Thursday after what DeWine called a data reconciliation issue.

Amazon.com Inc. has hired several employees of a Covid-19 testing startup as part of efforts to curb outbreaks among its workers.

Caspr Biotech’s cofounders, Chief Executive Officer Franco Goytia and Chief Strategy Officer Carla Gimenez, joined Amazon in December, according to a person familiar with the situation. The pair, along with several other startup employees, are working on a project codenamed Artemis. It’s unclear whether Amazon acquired Caspr Biotech.

In a shareholder letter in April, Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos said the company had begun building a lab to test employees for Covid-19.

Los Angeles is expected to run out of Covid-19 vaccine on Thursday and will shut Dodger Stadium and four other mass vaccination sites on Friday and Saturday while waiting for more doses to arrive.

“We’re vaccinating people faster than new vials are arriving,” Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a video address on Wednesday. “Our vaccine supply is uneven, it’s unpredictable and too often inequitable.” The mayor said second doses wouldn’t be affected by the closures.

States and cities around the nation have complained that supply is far less than demand and local ability to get shots into arms. President Biden has promised to increase supply, a vow that Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease doctor, repeated on Thursday.

Ireland may be seeing the first impact of the vaccines on case numbers among healthcare workers, a government adviser said. New cases among that cohort are below what would be expected given the spread of the virus in the wider community, Dr Karina Butler who advises the government on its vaccine program, told reporters in Dublin. Authorities are overall “cautiously optimistic” on the virus’s spread, deputy Chief Medical Officer Ronan Glynn said, with hospitalizations now less than half the peak of mid-January. Ireland reported 866 new virus cases on Thursday, with 52 deaths.

The epidemic in France is currently at a plateau and may be declining slightly, French Health Minister Olivier Veran said at a weekly press conference. He noted that a survey of some 17,000 tests over the past four days showed that between 4% and 5% of cases are linked to the South African and Brazilian variants of the coronavirus while between 20% and 25% are from the U.K. variant. The country reported 21,063 new infections on Thursday and 360 new deaths, bringing to total to 80,803 fatalities.

Italy cases rose to 15,146 Thursday from 12,956 a day earlier. That was the highest in more than two weeks. Patients in intensive care units are coming down at a slow pace, falling by 2 to 2,126.
As most of the country is considered low-risk area, there’s concern that the recent relaxation of measures and the possible reopening of ski resorts next week could boost cases.

Anthony Fauci predicted an increasing supply of vaccines will allow for “much more of a mass vaccination approach” in the U.S. by April, allowing anyone who wants a shot to get one.

“I would imagine by the time we get to April that will be what I would call for better wording, open season,” the nation’s top infectious disease doctor said on NBC’s “Today Show.” “Namely virtually everybody and anybody in any category could start to get vaccinated.”

He cautioned however that it would take several more months logistically to meet demand.

He also said that the spread of coronavirus variants is “sobering” but said the “uplifting news” is that the current vaccines appear effective on the rapidly spreading variant first found in the U.K.

Nearly 20,000 Covid-19 vaccine appointments at CVS Health Corp. stores in New Jersey were booked within an hour Thursday as a national pharmacy expansion rolled out.

About 1 million shots are available at nearly two dozen pharmacy chains across the country through a federal program that started Thursday. CVS, Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc., Rite Aid Corp. are among participating companies. The initiative will boost the number of doses that are available to the general public.

CVS will receive about 250,000 doses divided across 11 states, the company said. In New Jersey, that means 19,900 are available at CVS stores throughout the state. Each participating Rite Aid store will initially receive 100 doses of Moderna Inc.’s Covid-19 vaccine, the company said. Rite Aid will administer shots in five states and two cities.

Illinois plans to expand eligibility within Phase 1B to people who have co-morbid and underlying conditions and will prioritize individuals with disabilities starting on Feb. 25. The state’s most populous city and…