Overnight Health Care: Biden calls on states to keep mask mandates, pause reopenings | CDC director warns of ‘impending doom’ | COVID-19 vaccines prevent 90 percent of all infections, CDC study says

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Today: It was a day of stark contrasts on COVID messaging, as President Biden revamped vaccine distribution to give more people access and more states expanded eligibility, but the CDC director worried openly about the “impending doom” of a new surge.

We’ll start with Biden:

Biden calls on states to keep mask mandates, pause reopenings

Vaccinations are going at a solid clip, but we’re not out of the woods yet. 

President Biden on Monday urged state and local officials to reconsider lifting their coronavirus restrictions and to reinstate mask mandates that have lapsed as the U.S. faces an increase in cases.

“I’m reiterating my call for every governor, mayor and local leader to maintain and reinstate the mask mandate,” Biden said at an event intended to highlight the rapid increase in vaccine eligibility. “Please, this is not politics. Reinstate the mandate if you let it down.

Asked later if some states should pause reopening efforts, Biden said “yes.”

States have aggressively started lifting mask mandates and easing restrictions on businesses and events in recent weeks as vaccine availability steadily increases, prompting concern from some in the federal government.

Read more here.

And from the CDC director, an even more stark warning: ‘Impending doom’

The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Monday warned of “impending doom” over rising coronavirus cases, telling the public that even though vaccines are being rolled out quickly, a fourth surge could happen if people don’t start taking precautions.

“I’m going to lose the script, and I’m going to reflect on the recurring feeling I have of impending doom. We have so much to look forward to so much promise and potential of where we are, and so much reason for hope. But right now I’m scared,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said during a White House briefing Monday.

“We do not have the luxury of inaction,” Walensky added.

The numbers on the rise: Walensky’s warning comes a day after the United States surpassed 30 million cases of COVID-19, and cases are continuing to increase.

According to Walensky, the seven day average of new cases is around 60,000 cases per day, a 10 percent increase over the past week. The numbers are still a far cry from the peak in January, but the rise comes after a sustained period of stagnation. 

What’s next: Walensky said she is going to talk to governors tomorrow, and will urge them to reconsider the rush to reopen.

Read more here. 

COVID-19 vaccines prevent 90 percent of all infections, CDC study says

Even as the CDC director was talking about the risk of a new surge, the agency published a new study using real-world data that showed both mRNA vaccines prevent coronavirus disease and infection, including asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic infections.

A study of about 4,000 health-care personnel, police, firefighters and other essential workers, showed both vaccines prevented 90 percent of infections two weeks after receiving the second of two doses.

Following a single dose of either vaccine, the participants’ risk of infection with SARS-CoV-2 was reduced by 80 percent two or more weeks after vaccination. 

The findings are consistent with clinical trial results, as well as with other real-world studies in the U.K. and Israel.

Really good news: It’s a significant finding, as this was one of the first studies looking at infection, rather than just disease. It also analyzed how the vaccines work in a wide variety of front-line personnel— the people most at risk of spreading the virus. Preventing both asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic infections among health care workers and other essential workers through vaccination can help prevent the spread of COVID-19 to those they care for or serve. 

Not quite freedom: Health officials were quick to note that while it’s excellent news for the people who have been vaccinated, there are still many more unvaccinated people, and the impact of vaccines on different variants is not known. Scientists are also still unsure how long protection lasts.  

Read more here.

More upbeat news, progress on vaccinations: Biden announces 90 percent of adults to be eligible for vaccine by April 19

In addition to his warning about reopenings, President Biden announced Monday that 90 percent of U.S. adults will be eligible for the coronavirus vaccine and will have a vaccination site within 5 miles of where they live by April 19.

How he’ll do it: Biden announced in a speech Monday afternoon that he will double the number of pharmacies in the federal vaccination program, from 17,000 to 40,000.

Progress had been expected as supply ramps up: Biden had previously set a goal of all U.S. adults being eligible for the vaccine no later than May 1. As supply ramps up, many states have opened up eligibility to all adults well ahead of that date, something that experts had expected given the increasing number of doses available.

Read more here.

Finger pointing: Redfield says Azar pressured him to revise COVID-19 data reports

President Trump’s CDC director accused his former boss of pressuring him to revise the agency’s scientific reports on COVID-19 because political officials did not like or agree with them.

Robert Redfield told Sanjay Gupta as part of a CNN special report that he was “most offended by” calls from former Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar’s office requesting changes to the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, considered “the voice of the CDC.”

“I finally had a moment in life where I said, you know, enough is enough,” Redfield said on CNN’s “Covid War: The Pandemic Doctors Speak Out.” “You know? If you want to fire me, fire me. I’m not changing the MMWR.”

Azar counters: The former HHS secretary released a statement denying Redfield’s account of events, saying “Any suggestion that I pressured or otherwise asked Dr. Redfield to change the content of a single scientific, peer-reviewed MMWR article is false.”

Read more here.

What we’re reading

How long will the coronavirus vaccines protect you? Experts weigh in. (Washington Post) 

Family doctors advocate for more coronavirus vaccines, say it will reduce hesitancy (M Live) 

Biden’s bid to reopen schools may hinge on ‘pooled’ testing cliques (Politico) 

State by state

Inside Pennsylvania’s race to expand who’s eligible for the coronavirus vaccine (Spotlight PA)

All adults in Texas are now eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. But there still aren’t enough doses for everyone. (The Texas Tribune)

California theme parks must close some indoor rides and shows, state guidelines say (The Mercury News)