Covering COVID-19 is a daily Poynter briefing of story ideas about the coronavirus and other timely topics for journalists, written by senior faculty Al Tompkins. Sign up here to have it delivered to your inbox every weekday morning.
Look at the latest data posted by Walgreens. Four out of 10 people who show up for COVID-19 tests found out they were positive. That is a more than 10% increase in one week. The whole country is virtually one big hot spot.
This is the current view of positive COVID-19 results at Walgreens testing stations:
(Walgreen Co.)
This is the change from last week:
(Walgreen Co.)
(Walgreen Co.)
To boost or wait for another COVID-19 shot?
Between 300 and 350 Americans are dying each day from COVID-19. The pandemic is not over. Not by a long shot.
The latest variant of the COVID-19 virus, BA.5, now represents 65% of all new cases in the U.S., and it is spreading fast. A third of the U.S. population lives in a zone that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls a “high COVID community level,” while 42% of the U.S. population is living in a “medium community level.”
“We have seen a doubling in the number of hospitalizations since April,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said this week. She said intensive care units will likely see similar increases soon.
Just 8.8% of 50- to 64-year-olds in the U.S. have gotten a second COVID-19 booster shot. Even among 65 and older Americans, only one in four has gotten a second booster. The second booster for seniors is a cornerstone of the Biden administration’s “new COVID-19” plan to fight omicron infections. But the new plan stands no chance of success with such a miserable rate of participation.
The CDC and Food and Drug Administration are considering whether to open booster vaccinations up to people under age 50. But again, among 18- to 49-year-old Americans, about a fourth have gotten a booster so far. The market for second boosters seems thin at the moment.
The question at the moment is: What is the best time to get another booster? There are several factors to consider.
Will drug companies produce a booster that is effective against emerging versions of the omicron variant? White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha said this week:
Our expectation is that it will happen sometime in early October. It could be a little earlier, it could be a little later. These vaccines are being built now. And they will — the entire 105 million doses will not show up on day one, so there will be a rollout period here where I expect some Americans will get it in October if everything sticks to timeline, others will be getting it in November or December.
In terms of what to recommend people right now, it’s very clear to me, if you’ve not gotten a booster — if you’re over 50, if you’ve not gotten a shot in 2022, first of all, getting one now protects you for the rest of the summer, into the fall. Second, it does not preclude you from being able to get a bivalent vaccine in the fall.
So, I — that’s why I think, for me, it’s a very, very clear recommendation. If you’re over 50, you haven’t gotten a shot this year, you should go get a shot. It’s going to save your life.
Dr. Walensky added:
We also really want to emphasize that there are many people who are at high risk right now and waiting until October or November for their boost when, in fact, their risk is in the moment is not a good plan. And so, we really do want to say: Now get your boost. We have every anticipation that the data will suggest that you will be eligible for a boost in the fall. We will of course continue to evaluate those data.
Public health officials say if you were infected with BA.1 — BA.1.1 in the January wave, for example — whatever immunity your body may have built up is likely worn down by now. And, Dr. Anthony Fauci said this week, “If you were infected with BA.1, you really don’t have a lot of good protection against BA.4 or 5.”
Growing lines at food banks
A volunteer fills up a vehicle with food boxes at the St. Mary’s Food Bank Wednesday, June 29, 2022, in Phoenix. Food banks are struggling to meet the growing need even as federal programs provide less food to distribute, grocery store donations wane and cash gifts don’t go nearly as far. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
The Producer Price Index released Thursday gives a little hope that we may have reached the peak of some food price inflation. The PPI tells us the costs that wholesalers pay for their goods. Prices for chicken eggs, for instance, tumbled 30.2% last month.
You know by now that this week’s Consumer Price Index, which reflects the inflation rate for regular folks, said that the price of “food at home” jumped 12.2% last month compared to June 2021.
According to the latest data from Datasembly’s Grocery Price Index, baking goods jumped 7.6%, snacks such as cookies and chips increased 7.5%, and dairy and eggs were up 6.9% across the US, the research firm said Tuesday.
In some parts of country, grocery prices jumped even more.
New York City saw an 11.3% rise in produce, 11.5% in snacks, cookies and chips, and 9.5% in beverages. San Francisco experienced an 8.7% increase in dairy and egg prices. And the Southeast had the most dramatic surge in baking-goods prices, with hardest-hit Atlanta reporting a 10% jump in prices.
The Associated Press said food banks are feeling the pressure of new demand:
Food bank workers predict a rough summer keeping ahead of demand.
The surge in food prices comes after state governments ended COVID-19 disaster declarations that temporarily allowed increased benefits under SNAP, the federal food stamp program covering some 40 million Americans.
“It does not look like it’s going to get better overnight,” said Katie Fitzgerald, president and chief operating officer for the national food bank network Feeding America. “Demand is really making the supply challenges complex.”
Food banks say the surge of demand surprised them since they did not foresee the dramatic increase in food price inflation. At the same time, when food costs more, donations drop, and even cash donations do not go as far for charities to buy food to give away.
Canadians restart random testing for fully vaxed travelers
The CBC reports that next week, Canada will restart random COVID-19 testing travelers crossing into the country — even those who are fully vaccinated. CBC reports:
Ottawa had initially suspended random testing for fully vaccinated travelers last month after airport authorities urged the government to drop the program, saying it was causing long delays at airports, although testing remained in place for those not considered fully vaccinated.
But fully vaccinated travelers will once again be subject to mandatory testing, although the government is moving the testing out of airports to nearby off-site locations, such as pharmacies. Travelers can also book a virtual self-swab appointment.
Fully vaccinated travelers arriving in Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver and Montreal could be subject to random testing starting Tuesday.
The critical nursing shortage
Nursing shortages are causing major problems across America.
Martin General Hospital, located east of Rocky Mount, announced this week it is temporarily suspending operations of its ICU. Patients are being encouraged to go to Greenville, WakeMed, Duke, or UNC Hospitals for care.
WakeMed has the highest vacancy rate at 27 percent, Duke is reporting roughly 9 percent, and UNC says there are 1,300 openings.
The North Carolina Nursing Association warns the shortage could last a decade or longer.
“The shortages are very significant right now and we actually expect them to get worse,” said North Carolina Nursing Association CEO Tina Gordon.
A widespread shortage of nurses at Massachusetts hospitals is only getting more extreme, with an estimated 5,000 vacancies across the state and institutions hemorrhaging cash as they are forced to hire temporary staff at much higher rates.
Keiser Nursing Advisory Council to help with the anticipated statewide shortage in nurses. That shortage, leaders say, is projected to be close to 60,000 nurses by 2035.
Florida Hospital Association said there are not enough nurses now and that will continue into the next decade.
A word about words
I got an email yesterday from our friends at the Asian American Journalists Association that is valid and worth passing along. The note refers to a piece in the Wednesday newsletter that mentioned how the BA.5 variant of the COVID-19 virus keeps finding ways around vaccines and the natural immunity that comes from surviving an infection. The Daily Beast’s headline called it a “ninja” COVID-19 variant, and I quoted from that headline. The email I got is from Waliya Lari, director of programs and partnerships for the AAJA. It included this:
I know you were just quoting the Daily Beast when calling the BA.5 a “ninja variant”, however that moniker is problematic given all the xenophobic rhetoric surrounding Covid these last three years. Just as Covid hasn’t let up, neither has hate against AAPIs and this nickname for BA.5 adds to the problematic stereotypes that fuel this hate. I know this was unintentional on your part, but I wanted to bring it to your attention because you have such influence on journalists around the country.
I am glad Waliya called me out. I could have and should have referred to The Daily Beast story without using their wording. A lack of harmful intent is not a way to hide behind phrases that cause harm. Just ask Jill Biden.
The encouraging news about the return of fin whales
A fin whale is seen in the Mediterranean Sea near the northeastern town of Roses, Monday, July 11, 2011. (AP Photo//Marta Ramoneda)
It seems like we could use any good news we can find these days, so here is something. United Academics Magazine reports that a species of whales called fin whales that was nearly driven to extinction by commercial hunters is making a comeback after four decades. Watch this beautiful video then read on.
A recent survey in the Antarctic peninsula found that fin whales have returned to their ancestral feeding grounds. It also reported large groups feeding together, a novel behavior for this mammal.
This species was nearly extinct due to the twentieth-century industrial whaling. Most commercial hunting took place at the northern tip of the Antarctic peninsula. There, this animal migrates for the summer feeding season. When the chasing was forbidden in 1976, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) held three population surveys between 1978 and 2004. The results showed very few fin whales left in the place.
A recent survey in the Antarctic peninsula found that fin whales have returned to their ancestral feeding grounds. It also reported large groups feeding together, a novel behavior for this mammal.
This species was nearly extinct due to the twentieth-century industrial whaling. Most commercial hunting took place at the northern tip of the Antarctic peninsula. There, this animal migrates for the summer feeding season. When the chasing was forbidden in 1976, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) held three population surveys between 1978 and 2004. The results showed very few fin whales left in the place.
I leave you this week with a quote from Jacques Cousteau. “For most of history, man has had to fight nature to survive; in this century he is beginning to realize that, in order to survive, he must protect it.” That was from the last century. I wonder what he would say we have learned now.
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