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The University of Virginia announced that it will end all Covid-related restrictions on Friday at midnight, reflecting the latest executive order from Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam allowing institutions within the state to do so.
Physical distancing on campus, including in classrooms and dining halls, will no longer be required, and all limits on the size of gatherings will be lifted, according to an email sent to the university community on Thursday by President Jim Ryan and other university leaders.
UVA will also follow the CDC’s latest guidance on mask wearing. Unvaccinated individuals should continue to wear masks when around other people and vaccinated individuals do not have to wear masks, except when on certain parts of campus, including the medical center, and when using the university’s transit system.
In addition, visitors will no longer be restricted from visiting campus. “Consistent with University policy, all visitors should follow University face covering requirements if they are unvaccinated,” according to the email.
These adjustments come a week after UVA announced it will require all students and staff to be vaccinated against Covid-19 before they return to campus next semester.
In an effort to get more people vaccinated, California is enticing residents with a whopping $116.5 million in incentives, offering gift cards and cash prizes, including a $15 million grand prize to be split among 10 Californians who have been vaccinated against Covid-19.
The $116.5 million program, touted as “the biggest in the entire country,” will include every resident who has already been vaccinated, and those who receive a shot before the state fully reopens on June 15, according to a release from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office.
Starting today, the next two million residents vaccinated will be eligible for $100 million in gift cards, doled out in $50 increments as a prepaid Visa or grocery store gift card.
The incentive festivities will include “$50,000 Fridays.” There will be $50,000 up for grabs in the form of 30 cash prizes for those getting a Covid-19 shot on June 4 and June 11, with 15 winners selected on each date.
About 50% of eligible Californians are already fully vaccinated and another 12% have received one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, but another 12 million residents are eligible but have not yet been inoculated. More than 37 million doses total have been administered in California — more than all but five nations in the world, according to Newsom.
Should a winner under the age of 18 be chosen, the cash will be placed into a savings account for them until they turn 18. Inmates, those who work for the state’s health department or for the lottery will not be eligible to win any of the prizes.
Coronavirus is the top concern for Hispanic and Asian people in the US, according to findings from an Axios Ipsos poll released Thursday.
The survey on race relations polled 1,875 US adults between April 28 and May 4. Four out of 10 Hispanics polled ranked Covid-19 as their top concern out of a list including topics such as crime or gun violence, racial discrimination, health care and immigration.
Coronavirus was also the top concern for 47% of Asian people polled, with crime or gun violence coming in second at 34%.
About 42% of Black people polled said coronavirus was their top concern, while 59% said it was racial injustice or discrimination.
Comparatively, 23% of White people polled ranked Covid-19 as their top concern, while 39% listed political extremism or polarization as the top concern.
Nearly half of the US population has now received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine and about 40% of people are fully vaccinated. This comes a little more than a month out from President Biden’s goal of administering at least one dose to 70% of the population by July 4.
Here are the other top pandemic headlines from around the world you might have missed.
Discussions of potential booster vaccines do not mean that current vaccines are ineffective, and people should still get vaccinated when they are available, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said on Thursday.
“If you’re fully vaccinated now, you are safe now,” she said at a US Chamber of Commerce Foundation event.
“We have seen data that has demonstrated that the vaccines are good out to about six months, but we also want to be ready, if for some reason we find at nine months a year, 18 months we would need the booster and so that’s the work and the science that we’re doing right now.”
Walensky said decisions on boosters will likely start with those most vulnerable to Covid-19.
“Among the first people we in the country vaccinated were our frailest, they were in our long-term care facilities and nursing homes, our elderly, and they may be the kinds of people that might have a less robust immune response to begin with, which is why we really want to make sure we understand the duration of immunity,” she said.
Dr. Peter Marks, director of the United States Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said on Thursday that current wisdom about boosters for Covid-19 vaccines suggests that they will be needed, but exactly when is not yet known.
Participants in original vaccine trials are currently being followed so that their immune response can be looked at over time and there is some evidence that it does “fall off somewhat” over time, Marks said during a Covid-19 Vaccine Education and Equity Project webinar.
He explained that this is because certain levels of immunity are sufficient to prevent Covid-19 with the original strain of the virus, but they may not be good enough for other variants.
“We’ll have to see where this all interacts. Is it possible we’re going to need a booster at some point? Yes. Is it probable? Yes. Do we know exactly when? No,” said Marks. “But if I had to look at my crystal ball, it’s probably not sooner hopefully than a year after being vaccinated for the average adult.”
He added that it may be different for some populations, such as the immunocompromised or older adults, who may need one sooner, but “we’ll just have to see.”
“The good news is it may turn out that the immunity lasts longer,” he said. “Someone who might have looked at the New York Times today might have seen that there’s an article on the longevity of immunity to Covid-19, but I think our wisdom is, current wisdom is that we probably will need boosters at some point.”
The COVAX initiative is calling on first world nations to share 1 billion vaccine doses before the end of 2021, in order to ensure vaccines can be supplied to the poorest nations on the planet.
“Even though COVAX will have larger volumes available later in the year through the deals it has already secured with several manufacturers, if we do not address the current, urgent shortfall the consequences could be catastrophic,” the statement added.
In order to tackle the shortfalls and meet its targets, COVAX is requesting $2 billion in donations, by June, to lock in supplies so doses can be delivered through 2021 and 2022; and is calling on countries with the largest supplies to “redirect doses to COVAX now, to have maximum impact.”
The initiative also said it had started to see countries stepping forward, including the US and Europe, which had collectively pledged to share 180 million doses, but says it still needs more. “At least one billion doses could be shared by wealthy countries in 2021,” the statement read.
“Now more than ever, at the peak of the pandemic, we need ambitious, global solutions. When it comes to worldwide vaccine distribution, COVAX is the only initiative capable of rising to the challenge of this moment,” it said. “It’s understandable that some countries want to press ahead and vaccinate all of their populations. By donating vaccines to COVAX alongside domestic vaccination programmes, the most at-risk populations can be protected globally, which is instrumental to ending the acute phase of the pandemic, curbing the rise and threat of variants, and accelerating a return to normality.”
Nearly 166 million people – 49.9% of the US population – has received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine, and nearly 133 million people – 40% of the population – are fully vaccinated, according to data published Thursday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Overall, 290,724,607 total doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been reported administered – about 81% of the 361,250,445 doses delivered.
That’s about 1.5 million more doses reported administered since Wednesday, for a seven-day average of about 1.6 million doses per day.
This is the lowest seven-day average in about three months ago, since the end of February.
Note: Data published by the CDC may be delayed, and doses may not have been administered on the day reported.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon suggested Thursday that companies are having trouble hiring in part because some Americans don’t really feel like working right now.
Asked about the record high 8.1 million job openings, Dimon said there are many causes, including issues with reopening schools and enhanced unemployment benefits enacted during the pandemic.
Bigger picture, Dimon reiterated optimism about the economic recovery and the jobs market.
“Rest assured, I think we are going to see a completely booming economy and a lot of people going back to work,” he said. “Hopefully it will continue for quite a while.”
Germany will allow Covid-19 vaccinations for young people aged 12 and up beginning on June 7 – pending approval from the European Medicines Agency, Chancellor Angela Merkel announced Thursday, following a meeting with the country’s state premiers.
Merkel went on to say she is expecting that within the next few days, the EMA will approve Pfizer/BioNTech’s regulatory application to use its coronavirus vaccine in patients from the age of 12.
Following an approval for children and adolescents in that age group, Merkel said Germany will offer “vaccination to all those willing to receive it by the end of the summer.” Merkel added that there is no obligation for young children to get vaccinated and that children who are not vaccinated will be allowed to attend school.
Merkel added that Germany’s vaccine commission, the Standing Commission on Vaccination, will also submit a recommendation for this age group to get vaccinated.
As of Thursday, nearly 35 million people in Germany (41.5%) have received their first dose of coronavirus vaccine and nearly 13 million people (15.7%) have received their second dose, Merkel said.
Germany recorded at least 6,313 new coronavirus infections on Thursday, according to the latest data from the country’s public health authority, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). The country recorded 269 coronavirus fatalities in the last 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 87,995. Overall, coronavirus infection numbers have dropped below the threshold of 50 new daily infections per 100,000 residents – the lowest infection rate since October.
In most regions, restaurants with outdoor seating have reopened as well as cultural outdoor events have restarted under strict hygiene and social distancing requirements.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence said Thursday that the intelligence community “does not know exactly where, when, or how” Covid-19 was transmitted initially but reiterated the two working theories: “either it emerged naturally from human contact with infected animals or it was a laboratory accident.”
In the statement, ODNI spokesperson Amanda Schoch repeated what President Biden said on Wednesday: that there is a difference of opinion among various intelligence agencies and their degrees of confidence in the theories.
“The IC continues to examine all available evidence, consider different perspectives, and aggressively collect and analyze new information to identify the virus’s origins,” the statement continued.
The statement is notable because it shows that the intelligence community has made little progress in uncovering the origins of the virus since its first statement on the subject in April last year.
In a congressional hearing last month, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told the Senate Intelligence Committee that US intelligence agencies still do not know “exactly where, when or how Covid-19 virus was transmitted initially” in China.
On Wednesday, Biden said he has directed the US intelligence community to redouble their efforts in investigating the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic and report back to him in 90 days.
Up to three quarters of all newly diagnosed Covid-19 cases in the United Kingdom are attributed to the variant first identified in India, Britain’s health minister Matt Hancock said at a news conference on Monday.
Hancock went on to say, the surge in cases attributed to this particular variant was focused in certain “hotspots.”
“The increase in cases remains focused in hotspots and we are doing all we can to tackle this variant wherever it flares up,” he said adding that health authorities were increasing testing and vaccination capacity in those areas.
“In Bolton, for instance, we have done 17,147 vaccinations in the last week,” he added.
A total of 6,959 cases of the Covid-19 variant first identified in India, Public Health England said on Thursday.
A very lucky Ohio teen is the first to win a four-year college scholarship in the state’s vaccine lottery.
“My dad was driving me home from youth group, and then the people from the state government told me in my driveway that I had won the scholarship from the vaccine entering of the lottery,” 14-year-old Joseph Costello told CNN’s Kate Bolduan.
Ohio’s Vax-a-Million lottery awards $1 million to five people if they are vaccinated. For 12- to 17-year-olds, separate drawings are being held, with prizes of a full-ride college scholarship. It’s helped boost the state’s Covid-19 vaccination rate by 45%, Gov. Mike DeWine said Wednesday.
Joseph’s dad, Ricard Costello, said there’s “nothing to lose” with the program.
“There’s a safety component, just being vaccinated. And b) the possibility of winning, you know, a scholarship or money, and so that’s the way we see it. … It’s a very good thing,” he said.
Joseph said he’s considering Ohio State University or Miami University of Ohio, but “it changes sometimes.”
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The American Civil Liberties Union urged the Biden administration to provide Covid-19 vaccine access to immigrants in detention, citing the rapid spread of coronavirus in congregate settings, according to a letter sent to the Department of Homeland Security secretary and obtained by CNN.
Over the course of the coronavirus pandemic, Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities wrestled with a growing number of positive cases, totaling more than 15,000 confirmed cases and nine deaths. As of May 25, there are 1,495 positive Covid-19 cases in ICE custody, according to agency data.
The ACLU, which filed dozens of lawsuits against ICE during the pandemic, called the lack of a vaccine strategy for the detained population a “failure” in a Thursday letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
“ICE’s failure to ensure a coordinated strategy for vaccination continues to endanger people in detention nationwide,” the letter reads.
There are more than 22,000 immigrants in ICE custody.
DHS did not immediately respond to a CNN request for comment.
ICE previously described vaccination procedures in a document titled “COVID-19 Pandemic Response Requirements,” putting the onus on detention facilities to contact their state’s vaccine resource, such as the state or country department of health, to obtain vaccines. But only a limited number have been vaccinated, in part because of the differing priority guidance across states, acting ICE Director Tae Johnson told lawmakers earlier this month.
As of May 5, 2,707 detainees have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine and 1,229 detainees are fully vaccinated, according to Johnson.
Mayorkas said plans to offer Covid-19 vaccines to detainees is “under review.”
But senior staff attorney at the ACLU National Prison Project, Eunice Hyunhye Cho, called the delay “unacceptable.”
“It is a literal matter of life or death,” Cho told CNN. “This was a completely foreseeable issue and ICE has failed to protect people who are in their custody.”
Pennsylvania’s mask order will be lifted on June 28 or when 70% of all adults in the state have received their second vaccine dose, whichever comes first, the commonwealth’s acting health secretary Alison Beam announced during an ongoing press conference Thursday, citing encouraging vaccination data.
According to Beam, “nearly 98%” of Pennsylvanians over the age of 65 have received at least one vaccine dose, while 52.7% of all adults have completed their vaccine regimen.
On Wednesday, Pennsylvania crossed the milestone of having more than 70% of adults partially vaccinated.
“Once the statewide masking order is lifted, Pennsylvania will continue to follow the CDC guidance for wearing a mask where required by law, rule, and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance,” a statement from the health department said.
“I assure you that the department of health will continue making getting the vaccine as convenient as possible,” Beam said.
Research published this week indicates that Covid-19 antibodies produced by those with mild infection may remain detectable for at least 11 months post-infection.
In the study published in the journal Nature, researchers took blood samples from 77 people previously infected with Covid-19. In the initial phase of the study, samples showed a decrease in the presence of Covid-19 antibodies post-infection. Between four and 11 months post-infection, this decline slowed.
However, researchers also took bone marrow samples from 18 previously infected patients, to measure the presence of bone marrow plasma cells, which are important in antibody protection and the development of long-term viral protection.
Within the bone marrow samples, researchers did find long-lived bone marrow plasma cells (BMPC) which would produce Covid-19 antibodies. Unlike the decline in other antibodies observed, BMPC levels remained stable 7 to 11 months after infection.
“We’re looking at the source of these antibodies that are produced by cells that live in our bone marrow,” Ali Ellebedy, an associate professor at the Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine who contributed to the study told CNN on Wednesday.
Researchers said the presence of these cells does not automatically mean a robust immune response would kick in if any of these participants were to be re-infected, but that the potential for long-lived immune response is present.
“I think it’s very important to make a distinction between having an antibody doesn’t mean you’re completely protected, that’s very different,” he said. “But what we should be excited about and encouraged about is you have these memory cells that are ready to jump into action once we have the virus or once we get exposed to the virus again.”
The companies Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline announced on Thursday that they have started enrolling volunteers in their Phase 3 clinical trial to assess the safety and efficacy of their coronavirus vaccine.
The trial will include more than 35,000 participants aged 18 and older from around the world, including the United States, Asia, Africa and Latin America, according to statements from the companies.
“We are encouraged to see first vaccinations starting to take place in such an important, pivotal Phase 3 study, as we believe that our unique technology platform will provide a clinically-relevant vaccine option,” Thomas Triomphe, executive vice president and global Head of Sanofi Pasteur, said in the statement.
The companies announced that they plan to evaluate the efficacy of their vaccine against variants and test boosters. The release noted that, pending positive Phase 3 trial results, the vaccine could be authorized as early as in the fourth quarter of this year if all goes well.
“We believe further solutions for COVID-19 are very much needed to help reach people around the world, especially as the pandemic evolves and variants continue to emerge,” Roger Connor, President of GSK Vaccines, said in the statement.
CEO of Delta Airlines Ed Bastian said the company will only be hiring people who are vaccinated as travel, particularly on planes, starts to reopen.
He said as they are evaluating applicants, Delta can ask them if they have been vaccinated.
Bastian said Delta is encouraging all current employees to get the shot, and right now, about 64% worldwide are vaccinated.
Delta Airlines will be operating at close to 90% of its capacity in the US by this summer, according to Bastian. He said this is ahead of an anticipated surge in demand as restrictions relax.
Bastian said ticket prices are at about 15-20% what they were in 2019.
“As the summer plans continue to get booked, I encourage everyone to go out and hold your seats and get your plans booked because pricing will eventually start to respond to the big surge in demand,” he said.
He said Delta will continue to require passengers to wear masks on planes for now, adding the airline will re-evaluate after the federal mandate ends in September.
“I think the majority of our customers appreciate the fact that we… particularly as the planes are full, we’re flying at 80% to 90% load factors for this weekend, so I think people actually are happy to be wearing masks, collectively,” Bastian said.
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Claims for first-time unemployment benefits fell for the fourth consecutive week last week, hitting a new pandemic low.
Another 406,000 American workers filled jobless claims in the week ending May 22,adjusted for seasonal swings. It was a new low for first-time claims since the pandemic began last March, and fewer than analysts expected.
As the economy reopens and restrictions ease for vaccinated Americans, the labor market is making strides toward recovering jobs lost during the pandemic.
Claims for pandemic unemployment assistance, which provides benefits for people like the self-employed who aren’t eligible for regular state benefits, fell to 93,546 without seasonal adjustments.
Meanwhile, the count for continued jobless claims – the number of people filing for at least two weeks in a row – also fell. In the week ending May 15, continued claims stood at about 3.6 million.
An administration official tells CNN the 90-day window President Biden has given the US intelligence community to investigate the origins of Covid-19 started Wednesday, meaning officials should wrap up their deep dive by Aug. 24.
The White House has not yet committed to making the results of that report public. Officials had privately debated not even announcing the investigation, multiple people told CNN, but decided to do so in the end amid heightened interest.
President Biden made the ultimate decision to make the investigation public.
More on the investigation: Biden said in a statement Wednesday that in March he directed his national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, to task the intelligence community with preparing a report on the most up-to-date analysis of the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic, including whether the virus emerged from human contact with an infected animal or from a laboratory accident. Biden said he received that report earlier this month and asked for additional follow-up.
A series of factors went into Biden’s decision to task his intelligence community with a deeper dive into the origins of Covid-19, including the thinking that the initial March-ordered report didn’t go far enough in delving into the issue, according to a source familiar with the decision.
Biden viewed Wednesday’s statement, and additional review, as in the compelling public interest given the scale of the devastation wrought by the pandemic, the source said.
CNN’s Kate Sullivan, Donald Judd and Phil Mattingly contributed reporting to this post.
