Tokyo 2020: High ranking Japanese official does not rule out cancellation of Olympics amid Covid
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What you need to know
Olympic organizers said they are doing everything they can to ensure Tokyo 2020 takes place safely, despite doctors’ calls for the Games to be canceled as coronavirus cases surge in Japan.
The European Union will begin to ease travel restrictions to the bloc, with the EU Council agreeing on measures to allow fully vaccinated foreign visitors in.
The US plans to send 20 million more doses of Covid-19 vaccines overseas, on top of 60 million doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine.
Our live coverage has ended for the day. Follow the latest on the pandemic here.
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US needs to help mobilize global Covid-19 vaccine production to save millions of lives, Fauci says
From CNN’s Lauren Mascarenhas
Bowdoin College
The US needs to help mobilize global Covid-19 vaccine production to save millions of lives, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Wednesday.
Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the US is doing well in the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines to its own citizens.
Fauci said its necessary to mobilize global vaccine production capability, so there isn’t a two-to-three-year lag for people in low- and middle-income countries to get vaccinated against Covid-19.
“Because that will literally mean a million deaths, if we wait that long – and maybe more –and that’s unacceptable,” he said.
The US needs to work with other wealthy countries like the UK, Australia and Canada, to “get those plants that are making vaccines revved up to make billions of more doses,” he added.
It’s possible for the US to vaccinate younger people and support vaccinations in low- and middle-income countries at the same time, Fauci noted Sunday on CBS’ Face the Nation.
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Food and commercial workers union cautions against retailers ending mask requirements
From CNN’s Rebekah Riess
After supermarket chain Kroger announced today that fully vaccinated employees and customers no longer need to wear masks in the company’s stores, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union, which represents 1.3 million essential food and retail workers, cautioned against “the growing trend” of major retailers ending mask requirements for vaccinated customers and employees.
UFCW is calling on the CEOs of retailers to take action to “reassure the public that the majority of those in stores will still wear masks to keep shoppers and workers safe given ongoing COVID risks.”
“With more than 200 million Americans still not fully vaccinated, now is not the time to let our guard down,” Perrone added.
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FDA: Pfizer vaccine can now be stored at standard refrigeration temperatures for up to a month
From CNN’s Amanda Sealy
Leon Neal/Getty Images/FILE
The US Food and Drug Administration approved a label change for Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine to allow storage of its product for up to one month at normal refrigeration temperatures.
“This change should make this vaccine more widely available to the American public by facilitating the ability of vaccine providers, such as community doctors’ offices, to receive, store and administer the vaccine,” Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said in a statement Wednesday.
For long-term storage, the label for Pfizer/BioNTech’s vaccine says it should be stored in ultra-cold freezers between -80 degrees Celsius to -60 degrees Celsius until the expiry date printed on the label.
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Vaccines that use spike proteins will be critical to end the pandemic, former CDC director says
From CNN’s Jessica Firger
Coronavirus vaccines based on a platform known as a protein subunit will be important for stopping the pandemic, former US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Dr. Robert Redfield predicts.
The vaccine platform, which is being developed and tested by Maryland-based biotech company Novavax and others, uses a specific isolated spike protein from coronavirus particles to elicit an immune response.
“Eventually, we (have) got to approve the protein platforms. I think the protein platforms are ultimately going to be the most important platforms for the world,” Redfield said during an interview Tuesday on SiriusXM Doctor Radio’s “Doctor Radio Reports.”
The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines use messenger RNA or mRNA to elicit immunity, while Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine, and one made by AstraZeneca but not yet authorized in the US, uses an adenovirus to deliver genetic material and prompt an immune response.
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Utah House passes bill to ban mask mandates in schools
From CNN's Elizabeth Stuart
Utah’s House on Wednesday passed a bill that prohibits public schools and universities in the state from requiring mask mandates after the end of this school year.
The bill also prohibits colleges and universities from requiring proof of a vaccination unless it allows for medical and religious exemptions. So far, CNN has not tracked any colleges or universities in Utah that are requiring students to be vaccinated for Covid-19 before the fall semester begins.
The bill passed 50-24, with one member absent or not voting. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox had asked for Wednesday’s special session to be called to have this issue and others considered by lawmakers.
Rep. Val Peterson, the bill’s sponsor, called it a “return to some normalcy.”
According to the bill, schools will be banned from “requiring a face covering to participate in or attend instruction, activities, or in any other place on the campus of the institution after the end of the spring semester in 2021.”
There is nothing in the bill which would prevent students or teachers from wearing a mask if they wished to do so.
Salt Lake City School District announced Tuesday it will require masks on campuses through the end of the 2020-21 school year, which ends June 7.
“We’ve come too far to let go of proven safety practices like mask-wearing with just a few days left in the school year,” Superintendent Larry Madden said in a tweet. “The last thing we want to do is increase risk in our city just as school is about to be let out for the summer.”
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Pfizer and Moderna vaccines reduce asymptomatic Covid-19 spread in nursing homes, data says
From CNN's Jacqueline Howard
Residents get the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at the Emerald Court senior living community in Anaheim, California on Friday, January 8.
Paul Bersebach/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register/Getty Images/FILE
The Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines both reduce asymptomatic and symptomatic coronavirus infections among vulnerable nursing home residents in the real world, according to new data.
The incidence of Covid-19 has decreased over time among both vaccinated and unvaccinated residents in 280 nursing homes across 21 states, researchers wrote in a letter to The New England Journal of Medicine Wednesday.
The researchers – from Brown University in Rhode Island and long-term care provider Genesis HealthCare in Pennsylvania – examined data on 18,242 nursing home residents who received at least one dose of vaccine as of mid-February and 3,990 residents who were unvaccinated as of March 31. Among those who had received at least one dose, 13,048 completed two doses.
The residents were tested every three to seven days, the researchers said.
The incidence of Covid-19 dropped among those who had received at least a first dose, from 4.5% of vaccinated residents within two weeks after receiving a first dose to 1.4% between 15 and 28 days later, the researchers found.
Among the residents who completed two doses, coronavirus infections were seen among 1% of them within two weeks after receiving the second dose compared with 0.3% after two weeks, the data showed.
Among the unvaccinated residents, coronavirus infections were seen among 4.3% of them within two weeks after the first vaccination clinic began to 0.3% 42 days later.
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100 million doses of J&J vaccine are held up in FDA inspection, manufacturing CEO says
From CNN’s Jen Christensen
Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images/FILE
Emergent BioSolutions CEO Bob Kramer testified Wednesday that it was his understanding that the US Food and Drug Administration has “for the past week or two” been inspecting some of the material that Emergent had already produced for Johnson & Johnson‘s Covid-19 vaccine, to see if it is safe. This would be for a total of about 100 million doses that Emergent made the material for before manufacturing at the plant was put on pause.
The plant has not yet been granted Emergency Use Authorization by the FDA, meaning no doses produced by this facility have been distributed.
In late April, the FDA said the vaccines that Emergent had already manufactured would undergo additional testing before being cleared for distribution.
“For the vaccines already manufactured, the products will undergo additional testing and will be thoroughly evaluated to ensure their quality before any potential distribution. We will not allow the release of any product until we feel confident that it meets our expectations for quality,” said an FDA statement on April 21.
That vaccine material, Kramer said, has passed all of his company’s control measures and is ready for potential release if the FDA gives the OK.
“As far as I understand, there have been requests for some additional testing on all of those lots and doses, that have been provided by J&J to the FDA, and it’s under their evaluation right now,” Kramer said at the hearing.
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Telling fully vaccinated people to wear masks reinforces vaccine hesitancy, former CDC director says
From CNN’s Jessica Firger
Dr. Robert Redfield, former director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the CDC’s new mask guidance for fully vaccinated people is a step in the right direction, but that the agency’s decision to wait to issue the guidance contributed to vaccine hesitancy.
Redfield added that early in the pandemic he was a strong advocate for not shutting down schools and industries due to the spread of coronavirus, but instead “to keep them open in a safe, responsible way.”
“I think it’s important. I’ve argued all along that we didn’t have to sacrifice our economy to control this pandemic,” he said.
“I was always disappointed that it was an either/or, rather than a partnering together and learning how to do it safe and responsibly. And obviously the mitigation steps, including masks, was a critical component of that,” he added.
Redfield said the CDC’s new guidance is appropriate because it’s backed by science.
“If you’ve been vaccinated, I personally don’t believe you need to wear a mask, and I do think you could be a billboard for letting the rest of the American public know that we believe these vaccines really work,” he said.
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Business coalition seeks to address the dire exodus of women in the workplace
From CNN’s Alison Kosik and Kate Trafecante
A coalition of businesses, including McDonald’s, JP Morgan Chase and Uber, have teamed up to support women, whose exodus from the labor market have alarmed leading economists and corporate executives.
The coalition, Time’s Up Care Economy Business Council, calls on the business community to create workplaces that support women in the wake of the impact of the pandemic.
The council says the situation for women of color has been especially dire, “as they endure crisis levels of unemployment.”
The unemployment rate for adult Black women remained high, at 8.6%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The group says it is assembling a coalition of companies “spanning every industry” to “push for the creation of a comprehensive care infrastructure at this critical moment.”
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19 states and Washington, DC, have now fully vaccinated at least half of adults, CDC data shows
From CNN’s Deidre McPhillips
Patients sit in an observation area for 15 minutes after receiving a dose of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine at an event put on by the Thornton Fire Department on March 6, 2021 in Thornton, Colorado.
Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images/FILE
About 125.5 million people in the United States are fully vaccinated, including about 48% of adults, according to data published Wednesday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In 19 states, at least half of adults are now fully vaccinated: Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin, as well as Washington, DC.
More than 3.5 million children under the age of 18 have now received at least one dose of Covid-19, CDC data shows. About a third of vaccinations among children have been reported in the past week, since eligibility was expanded to children between 12 and 15 years old to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.
Overall, 277,290,173 total doses have been reported administered – about 79% of the 349,210,095 total doses delivered.
That’s about 1.8 million more doses reported administered since Tuesday, for a 7-day average of about 1.8 million doses per day.
Note:Data reported by the CDC may be delayed, and doses may not have been administered on the day reported.
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African Union orders 400 million doses of J&J coronavirus vaccine
From CNN's Emmet Lyons and Henry Hullah
Dr. Ayoade Alakija
CNN
Orders are in place for “up to 400 million doses” of Johnson & Johnson as a result of ongoing shipment delays, according to the co-chair of the African Union’s vaccine delivery alliance.
Speaking to CNN’s Bianna Golodryga on the Amanpour program, Dr. Ayoade Alakija said that the African Union have now “had to go to Johnson & Johnson and actually have orders in place or options in place for up to 400 million doses. 240 million we are expecting this year.”
Numerous African countries had been heavily reliant on AstraZeneca vaccines from the global vaccine sharing initiative, COVAX. COVAX had been largely dependent on supplies from the Serum Institute of India (SII)- the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer. Due to a devastating second wave of the virus that has swept India, the SII have said that they do not expect to export vaccines again until the end of the year.
On Wednesday, the Kenyan Health Minister told CNN that the AstraZeneca vaccine is unlikely to remain the “vaccine of choice for the African continent” after ongoing delays in shipments. Kenya is weeks away from finishing its stock of doses having vaccinated less than 2% of its population.
Alakija co-chairs the AU’s vaccine delivery alliance who are charged with acquiring and delivering vaccines on the continent. While she says orders have been made for Johnson & Johnson vaccines, shipments will face extreme delay.
“It is morally wrong. It is what is being described as vaccine apartheid. It’s not about choosing to go to AstraZeneca or Johnson & Johnson. It’s just let us have vaccines, period. We desperately need them,” she said.
With the United States and other wealthy countries in a position of excess vaccines, Alakija said leaders needed to look past the “geopolitical mud fight” and share vaccines as it is in their interest.
“We could have a more dangerous variant if we don’t vaccinate the rest of the world. You can’t isolate yourself. No man is an island,” she said.
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Kroger drops mask requirement for fully vaccinated employees and customers
From CNN’s Nathaniel Meyersohn
A "Mask Required" sign at the entrance to a Kroger Co. grocery store in Houston, Texas, on Wednesday, March 10.
Scott Dalton/Bloomberg/Getty Images/FILE
Supermarket chain Kroger announced on Wednesday that fully vaccinated employees and customers no longer need to wear masks in the company’s stores, distribution centers, plants, and offices, according to a company spokesperson.
The updated policy, which will adhere to state and local guidelines, states that non-vaccinated associates will be required to wear a mask.
Associates in pharmacy and clinic locations will be required to continue wearing a mask due to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidance for health care settings, the spokesperson said.
Other retailers, including Best Buy, CVS, Target, Trader Joe’s, Walmart, Costco, and Starbucks, are also no longer requiring masks. The CDC announced last week that fully vaccinated people do not need to wear face coverings or practice social distancing indoors or outdoors, except under certain circumstances.
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Pfizer will manufacture 6 billion Covid-19 vaccine doses in the next 18 months, CEO says
From CNN’s Virginia Langmaid
Vials of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine are seen at a mobile vaccination clinic at the Weingart East Los Angeles YMCA on May 14, 2021 in Los Angeles, California.
Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images
Pfizer plans to produce six billion doses of its Covid-19 vaccine over the next 18 months, CEO Albert Bourla said in a conversation with Axios on Wednesday.
Bourla was discussing the possibility that current manufacturing capabilities may not be enough to vaccinate the world.
“I think it’s good to have more vaccines in the market from different manufacturers but I want to say that, ourselves, we will do enough,” he said.
“In the next 18 months, I expect to do six billion doses. We are going to make three billion doses this year – one that we had in the first half, so two billion doses more in the second half. That means on an annualized basis in 2022: four billion doses.”
“That’s only one company, so I think there will be enough quantities,” Bourla said.
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Covid-19 cases dropping in Americas but region urgently needs more vaccines, PAHO says
From CNN’s Claudia Rebaza
Military personnel of the Brazilian Army vaccinate elderly over 89 years of age, with the second dose of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine against the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, at a drive-through vaccination centre in Belo Horizonte, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil, on May 1, 2021.
Douglas Magno/AFP/Getty Images
Covid-19 cases have dropped throughout the Americas in the last month offering some reprieve to health systems but Latin American and the Caribbean countries urgently need more vaccines, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Director, Carissa Etienne, said on Wednesday.
Last week the Americas reported over 1.2 million new Covid-19 infections and 31,000 deaths.
“Three out of five countries in the world with the highest numbers of new infections are in the Americas,” Etienne said during PAHO’s weekly briefing.
The United States has seen a sharp reduction in infections, deaths and hospitalizations with almost half of Americans now vaccinated with at least one Covid-19 vaccine dose, Etienne said.
Although over 400 million Covid-19 vaccine doses have been administered across the region, most of them have been in the US, Etienne explained.
“Indeed just 3% of Latin Americans have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and we still have a long way to go to ensure that everyone is protected,”the PAHO director warned.
Asked about the US administration’s offer to share millions of additional vaccine doses overseas, Etienne said, “Of course we welcome any initiatives to donate excess doses for our countries and we are already and able to deploy these vaccines. So it is my fervent hope that the US, as one of our member states, will have filled the access gap that is existing in our region by donating vaccines to the Americas.”
Other countries such as Spain, Sweden, New Zealand and France have also indicated they would donate additional vaccines via Covax, the PAHO director mentioned.
“The harsh reality is that in most Latin America and Caribbean countries, Covid-19 vaccines have reached less than 4% of these countries population, which is really a far cry from the 70% or more that we need to protect our people.” Etienne said.
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Manufacturing company says it will resume making J&J vaccine substance in a "matter of days"
From CNN’s Jen Christensen
Emergent expects to resume production of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine drug substance possibly as early as this week, according to the company’s CEO Bob Kramer who was testifying in front of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis Wednesday.
Kramer said that the US Food and Drug Administration gave the company a detailed number of steps that the company needs to complete before it could resume production. Kramer said that it is “very close to completing them.”
“I would expect that we will be in a position to resume production within a matter of days, Kramer said.
Some background: The company stopped manufacturing the vaccine substance after an inspection found there was cross contamination between the J&J vaccine and the AstraZeneca vaccine that the facility was making at the same time. Emergent has since stopped making the AstraZeneca vaccine substance at its Baltimore facility.
For the past week or two, Kramer said the FDA has also been inspecting material that Emergent had already produced for the J&J vaccine to see if it would be safe for the public. This would be a total of about 100 million doses, that Emergent made the material for before the plant was shut down.
“As far as I understand, there have been requests for some additional testing on all of those lots and doses, that have been provided by J&J to the FDA, and it’s under their evaluation right now,” Kramer said.
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Covid-19 booster shot will likely be needed “within a year or so” of vaccination, Fauci says
From CNN’s Virginia Langmaid
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing to discuss the on-going federal response to Covid-19 on May 11, 2021 at the US Capitol in Washington, DC.
Greg Nash/Pool/AFP/Getty Images
A Covid-19 booster vaccine, when authorized, will likely be needed within a year following initial vaccination, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, said Wednesday.
“I believe it likely will be within a year,” Fauci said during an Axios interview on vaccine rollout.
“We know that the vaccine durability of the efficacy lasts at least six months, and likely considerably more, but I think we will almost certainly require a booster sometime within a year or so after getting the primary,” Fauci said.
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Covid-19 vaccine rollout for ages 12 to 15 is “better than expected,” health officials say
From CNN's Jacqueline Howard
A 15-year-old receives a first dose of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine at a mobile vaccination clinic at the Weingart East Los Angeles YMCA on May 14, 2021 in Los Angeles, California.
Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images
The rollout of the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for children ages 12 to 15 has been “better than expected,” Dr. Lisa Costello, a pediatrician at West Virginia University Medicine Children’s Hospital and a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Committee on State Government Affairs, told CNN.
Costello said that the rollout for that age group in the United States has been reminiscent of when the vaccine was first authorized for adults in December – and those very first doses were administered.
It has been one week since the rollout for younger teens and pre-teens began. The US Food and Drug Administration authorized the emergency use of Pfizer/BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine in the new age group last Monday and then on Wednesday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended using the vaccine in that age group.
“In less than one week, we have vaccinated more than 600,000 12- to 15-year-olds,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said during a White House briefing on Tuesday.
In total, about 3.5 million children 12-17 have received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine so far, according to the latest CDC data. Walensky said that her own son was one of them.
Both CVS and Walgreens pharmacies confirmed to CNN via email on Tuesday that their locations are continuing to vaccinate adolescents ages 12 to 15 and Walgreens noted that there was “a spike in booked appointments, indicating early interest from parents to vaccinate their children.” Yet neither company provided data on just how many young people have received their first dose of vaccine yet so far.
It’s still too early to tell exactly how the rollout is going nationwide and where it’s heading – but it seems that there has been a “pretty brisk uptake” of the vaccine among this younger age group so far, Dr. Marcus Plescia, chief medical officer of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, told CNN on Tuesday.
In West Virginia, there has been a lot of demand for the vaccine and enough supply to meet that demand, Costello said.
“Our state took preparatory action to make sure that there would be enough Pfizer product in supplies so that we would have enough to be able to offer a vaccine to that age group,” Costello said.
“But certainly I think we need to continue to work to boost confidence and share information,” she added. “We have to continue to inform the public as to where the vaccines are.”
Parents and guardians can visit vaccines.gov to find where vaccines may be available for young teens in their area.
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Don't rely on antibody tests to determine if you're immune to Covid-19, FDA warns
From CNN's Ben Tinker
The US Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday issued a “safety communication” to remind Americans that SARS-CoV-2 antibody tests should not be used to evaluate whether someone is protected – or immune – from infection. SARS-CoV-2 is the name of the virus that causes Covid-19.
“The FDA is reminding the public of the limitations of COVID-19 antibody, or serology, testing and providing additional recommendations about the use of antibody tests in people who received a COVID-19 vaccination,” Dr. Tim Stenzel, director of the FDA’s Office of In Vitro Diagnostics and Radiological Health, said in a statement.
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Go There: CNN is in New York, where vaccinated people no longer have to mask and capacity limits are ending
CNN’s Alexandra Field was live in New York City with the latest. Watch:
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CDC chief: Pandemic would have been “extraordinarily different” if infrastructure was improved pre-pandemic
From CNN's Virginia Langmaid
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, testifies at a hearing on May 19 in Washington, DC.
Jim Lo Scalzo/Pool/AFP/Getty Images
The Covid-19 pandemic would have been “extraordinarily different” if the United States had stronger public health infrastructure, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told a Senate committee on Wednesday.
Walensky spoke in response to a question from Sen. Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington, on how things would have been different in the US had the country invested in tools such as genomic sequencing capabilities earlier.
“I think the testing – the inability of our public health systems to be able to conduct these tests in massive scale – didn’t allow us to find the disease where it was. Certainly we hadn’t done genomic sequencing until January,” Walensky said.
“We didn’t know anything about the variants that were circulating here. There are numerous ways that this could have gone better if we had had a more robust public health infrastructure across all of those domains,” she added.
