COVID-19 Round-Up: Over 98% of US Residents Live in "High" or "Substantial" Risk Transmission Areas; and More

Here are some of the latest headlines on the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on the weekend ending in 8/13/21.

Virtually Everyone is Now Living in an Area with High Infection Risk

More than 98% of US residents now live in an area where there is “high” or “substantial” risk of COVID-19 infection – up from 19% from only a month ago, according to CDC data. On Monday, 2,361 counties in the United States were listed in the “high” tier, a stark increase from 457 counties in the same tier at the beginning of July.

The List of Major Companies Mandating Vaccines is Growing

More and more companies are exploring vaccine mandates for their employees as the Delta variant rages on. United Airlines, Google, Facebook, Tyson Foods, Equinox, Walmart, and Disney have announced plans to require at least part of their workface to get vaccinated. WarnerMedia, the parent company to such entities as CNN and HBO, will require proof of vaccination to enter US office buildings.

Eight States Make Up Half of US COVID-19 Hospitalizations

A CNN analysis of data from the US Department of Health and Human Services has found that eight states account for 51% of the nation’s COVID-19 hospitalizations. The eight states are:

1. Alabama
2. Arkansas
3. Florida
4. Georgia
5. Louisiana
6. Mississippi
7. Nevada
8. Texas

FDA Authorized Additional Doses for Certain Immunocompromised People

The US Food and Drug Administration authorized an additional Covid-19 vaccine dose for certain immunocompromised people on Thursday, based on research from Johns Hopkins that found that vaccinated immunocompromised people are 485 times more likely to be hospitalized or die compared to the general population. “Emerging data show that certain people who are immune compromised, such as people who have had an organ transplant and some cancer patients, may not have had an adequate immune response to just two doses of the Covid vaccine,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said during a White House Covid-19 Response Team briefing on Thursday. “To be clear, this is a very small population. We estimate it to be less than 3% of adults.”