Infectious disease experts say the percentage of the population that needs to be vaccinated against COVID-19 to reach herd immunity could be 80 percent or higher, now that the delta variant is spreading rapidly across the U.S., according to Medscape.
Public Health
Below are seven national COVID-19 trends as of Aug. 3, per The New York Times.
The San Francisco Department of Public Health is now allowing people who received Johnson & Johnson's single-shot COVID-19 vaccine to get a "supplemental dose" of Pfizer or Moderna's mRNA vaccine, CNBC reported Aug. 3.
Anecdotal reports from physicians on the front lines of the latest COVID-19 surge suggest disbelief, shame and fear are common emotions among many unvaccinated patients who contract the virus and need to be hospitalized.
After the CDC released new guidance July 27 recommending fully vaccinated Americans resume wearing masks indoors in certain regions of the U.S., several states and areas have implemented mask mandates once again.
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As COVID-19 cases surge nationwide, vaccination rates are also rising.
Florida and Texas accounted for one in three COVID-19 cases reported nationwide last week, Jeff Zients, the White House's COVID-19 response coordinator, said Aug. 2.
Flood damage prompted Intermountain Healthcare's Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City to postpone elective surgeries and procedures scheduled for Aug. 2, local news station KJZZ reported.
The federal government has sent a 33-person disaster medical assistance team to Our Lady of the Lake to help the Baton Rouge, La.-based hospital care for a major influx of COVID-19 patients, CNN reported.
Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield CEO Curtis Barnett said the company is supportive of Gov. Asa Huthinson's declaration of a new pandemic emergency, ABC affiliate KATV reported Aug. 1.