A vaccine watchdog group has warned that while rich nations are vaccinating one person per second, most poorer nations have yet to give a single shot.
Brazil has reported its highest daily death toll of the pandemic, with nearly 2,000 fatalities recorded in 24 hours.
Our live coverage has ended for the day. Follow the latest on the pandemic here.
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16 states no longer require face coverings
From CNN’s Will Brown
Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon gives the State of the State address to the 66th Wyoming Legislature Tuesday, March 2, inside the state Capitol.
Michael Cummo/Wyoming Tribune Eagle via AP
With Gov. Greg Abbott lifting Texas’ statewide mask mandate on Wednesday, 16 states no longer require face coverings.
Earlier this week, Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon announced that he is removing the statewide mask requirement on March 16.
Here are the states with no mask requirements:
Alaska:?Alaska does not require the use of masks, limit group size or business operations. All the state does is encourage Alaskans to do their part to?limit the spread of Covid-19, recommending that residents practice social distancing and wear a mask, without any mandate. The mayor of Anchorage, though, has signed an order?requiring people to wear face coverings in public.
Arizona:?Gov. Doug Ducey allows individual counties to mandate a mask, but does not have a statewide initiative. Scottsdale was the first to make masks mandatory starting June 19. Other major municipalities with requirements include Phoenix, Tucson and Flagstaff.
Florida:?There is no statewide mask requirement, yet some local municipalities have their own mandates.
Georgia:?Statewide, masks are required?for some essential employees, including restaurants and personal care services employees. Several counties and cities have mask mandates.
Idaho:?The state does not have a statewide requirement, but several local municipalities do, including Boise.?
Iowa:?Gov. Kim Reynolds lifted the requirement in February after the state implemented a mask mandate in November.
Mississippi:?Gov Tate Reeves?lifted?the statewide mask mandate effective March 3. Masks are still required inside schools and on campuses when physical distancing is not possible.
Missouri:?The state does not have a statewide requirement, but several local municipalities do.?
Montana:?Montana had a mask mandate, but newly-elected Gov. Greg Gianforte let it expire in February, though he said local communities may continue to enforce their own mandates.?
Nebraska:?There is no statewide mandate, but clients and staff in?barbershops, salons,?tattoo parlors?and?massage parlors?must wear masks, as part of the current Directed Health Measure requirements.
Oklahoma:?The city council in Oklahoma City voted in a special meeting?in July to approve an emergency public safety ordinance requiring face coverings in indoor public places throughout Oklahoma City.
South Carolina:?Several counties and cities, including Charleston and Columbia, have mask mandates.
South Dakota:?Gov. Kristi Noem has taken?a hands-off approach?to Covid-19. In October, she wrote in an op-ed that the government should not mandate a mask requirement. South Dakota is second — only to North Dakota — in the number of coronavirus cases per 100,000 people.
Tennessee:?Though there is no statewide mandate, Gov. Bill Lee signed an executive order granting the mayors in 89 counties the authority to issue mask requirements.
Texas:?Gov. Greg Abbott lifted the mask mandate effective March 9. Austin Mayor Steve Adler has enacted a local mask mandate, which prompted Attorney General Ken Paxton to threaten to sue to stop the measure. Local businesses are permitted to require masks.
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Here's the latest Covid-19 update from Texas
From CNN's Chris Boyette
Drivers line up to receive the first and second dose of the Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine on Wednesday, March 3, in Dallas.
LM Otero/AP
On the day the mask mandate in Texas was suspended, only 8.85% of the state population has been fully vaccinated against Covid-19, according to?Johns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Center.?
The state has administered 7,196,586 doses of Covid-19 vaccine as of 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, according to data released by?Texas Department of State Health Services?on Wednesday.
At least 4,695,684 people have received at least one dose and?2,541,063 people have been fully vaccinated, according to the?latest numbers available from the state.
The state reported 3,104 new Covid-19 cases and 225 new fatalities as of Wednesday.
Texas has recorded at least 2,330,216 Covid-19 cases since the start of the pandemic with at least 44,875 deaths, the?DSHS dashboard shows.
Note: Numbers released by the state’s public health agency may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University, The?Covid?Tracking?Project and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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First participants have received Covid-19 vaccine boosters?that may provide protection from emerging variants
From CNN’s Lauren Mascarenhas
The Moderna building in Cambridge, Massachusetts on October 22, 2020.
Lane Turner/The Boston Globe/Getty Images
Vaccine maker Moderna announced Wednesday that the first participants have received its modified Covid-19 vaccines, designed as potential boosters to address emerging virus variants.?
As part of its Phase 2 study, 60 participants who were already vaccinated with Moderna’s original Covid-19 vaccine will be given a booster dose of the modified vaccines the company is testing.?
Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine is currently authorized for emergency use in the US. Though the vaccine was shown to provide protection against virus variants, it did show a six-fold decrease in the antibody response created against the B.1.351 variant, first identified in South Africa.?
Moderna says it’s developing a strategy to address these emerging variants out of an abundance of caution.
In the trial, 20 people will receive a booster designed to address the B.1.351 variant and increase the response to emerging variants with similar mutations. Another 20 people will receive a larger dose of that same booster. The remaining 20 will receive a booster that combines the original vaccine with the B.1.351 booster to provide a broad immune response.
In parallel, Moderna says the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAD) will conduct another trial to assess the modified vaccines, both as boosters for those who received Moderna’s original Covid-19 vaccine and as a primary series for those who did not.??
NIAD is expected to provide more information once it is given the all-clear from the US Food and Drug Administration to begin that trial.
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Houstonians who refuse to comply with private mask rules can be arrested, police chief?warns
From CNN's Josiah Ryan
In this June 9, 2020 file image, Houston Police Houston Police Department Chief Art Acevedo arrives for the funeral of George Floyd at the Fountain of Praise church in Houston.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo warned today that Texans who do not comply with mask rules mandated by individual business could face criminal charges,?despite the fact that Texans are no longer under a statewide mask mandate.
Acevedo, who leads the police force in the nation’s fourth most populous city, added that his officer’s my also issue ” a criminal trespass warning” which would spare the ban non-complying individual from arrest, but ban them from visiting the place of business where the violation takes place for at least a year.?
“I am convinced that our fellow Texans are going to do the right thing, they are going to wear masks… it’s about the people that live around us, workaround … about our loved ones and saving the lives of others and most people are decent,” he said. “I’m hopeful most people will do the right thing and just wear the mask.”
“If you don’t want to wear it, go somewhere else,” Acevedo added.
Watch Acevedo’s interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer:
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services offers revised visitation recommendations for nursing homes
From CNN's Lauren Mascarenhas
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services offered recommendations for nursing homes to safely expand visitation during the coronavirus pandemic Wednesday.
The new guidance, created in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, allows for indoor visitation, regardless of the vaccination status of the resident or visitor.?
There are some exceptions: CMS says visitation may need to be limited for residents with a confirmed case of Covid-19, residents in quarantine, and unvaccinated residents living in facilities where less than 70% of residents are vaccinated and counties with a positivity rate greater than 10%.
The guidance?allows for “compassionate care” visits for all residents who are experiencing a significant decline in health or change in circumstances, regardless of vaccination status or virus transmission levels.
If there is a coronavirus outbreak in a nursing home, CMS says visitation can continue as long as the outbreak is contained to a single unit or separate area of the facility.?
“CMS recognizes the psychological, emotional and physical toll that prolonged isolation and separation from family have taken on nursing home residents, and their families,” CMS Chief Medical Officer Dr. Lee Fleisher said in a statement.?
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Brazil sets another new record for daily coronavirus deaths since pandemic began
From Marica Reverdosa
A healthcare worker arrives in an ambulance bringing a patient suspected of having Covid-19 to the public HRAN Hospital in Brasilia, Brazil, on Monday, March 8.
Eraldo Peres/AP
Brazil reported 2,286 new coronavirus deaths Wednesday, which is the largest amount since the pandemic began, according to data from the country’s health ministry.
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) reported a previous record of 1,910 Covid-related deaths in the last 24 hours.
There were also 79,876 new coronavirus cases reported Wednesday, for a total of?11,202,305 cases and?270,656 deaths.
Some context: Brazil has the second-highest amount of deaths in the world after the US and the third-highest number of cases after the US and India, according to Johns Hopkins University.
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Go There: CNN heads to the New York state neighborhood that was first put under lockdown
Biden says US is on track to have enough Covid-19 vaccines for every adult by end of May
From CNN's Jacqueline Howard
Andrew Harnik/AP
The United States is now on track to have enough Covid-19 vaccine for every adult by the end of May, President Biden said during an event on Wednesday while applauding a vaccine manufacturing collaboration between pharmaceutical companies Johnson & Johnson and Merck.
Biden thanks Johnson & Johnson and Merck for "putting patriotism and public health first"
From CNN's Jacqueline Howard
President Biden on Wednesday applauded the collaboration between pharmaceutical companies Johnson & Johnson and Merck in their effort to manufacture Covid-19 vaccines.
“This is a historic, nearly unprecedented collaboration,” Biden added.?“I want to thank the two companies for showing how we can come together and defeat this virus by putting patriotism and public health first.”
Some context: The Biden administration announced last week that it helped forge the manufacturing collaboration between Merck and Johnson & Johnson to expand production of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine.
At the time, the US Department of Health and Human Services announced that it plans to collaborate with Merck to repurpose some of its existing Merck facilities for the large-scale manufacturing of vaccines and therapeutics.?
“We’re proud to contribute to the global response to the pandemic through this collaboration with our colleagues at Johnson & Johnson and the Biden administration,”?Merck CEO Kevin Frazier said during Wednesday’s briefing.?“We will work together to enable the more timely delivery of much-needed medicines and vaccines.”
Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky said in the briefing that the world is “at war” against Covid-19.
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Covid-19 death rates were higher in Republican-led states in second half of 2020, study finds
From CNN’s?Deidre?McPhillips
In the second half of 2020, Republican-led states had higher Covid-19 case rates and death rates than Democrat-led states, according to a study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine on Tuesday.?
States with Democratic governors had higher case and death rates in the early months of the pandemic, but trends reversed in the summer. States with Republican governors had higher case rates after June 3, and death rates tipped on July 4.?
At their peak differences, case rates and deaths rates in Republican-led states were about 1.8 times higher than those in Democrat-led states. Those peaks occurred on June 28 for case rates and August 5 for death rates, but these trends stayed consistent through mid-December. The study analyzed cases and deaths reported by The COVID Tracking Project from March 15 through Dec. 15, 2020.
Democrat-led states — such as New York and California — were early entry points for Covid-19, perhaps contributing to higher incidence rates early on, according to the study authors. But the reversal in trends “may?reflect policy difference that could have facilitated the spread of the virus,” they say.?
Other studies have found that Republican governors were slower to adopt both mask mandates and stay-at home orders, and stay-at-home orders typically lasted longer under Democratic governors.?
While the analysis was adjusted for rurality, the study notes that “the findings could reflect the virus’s spread from urban to rural areas.”?
Also, the findings do not imply that political affiliation of a state leader was a cause of Covid-19 case or death incidence.
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Health care workers suffer higher rates of depression, anxiety and PTSD during pandemic, study reveals
From CNN’s Christopher Rios
Rates of depression, anxiety and PTSD in health care workers during the Covid-19 pandemic were significantly higher than what’s expected in the general public, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal PLOS ONE.
The study found more than 21% of health care workers have symptoms consistent with depression, compared with estimated rates of 4.4% in the general global population, according to the World Health Organization.?The study found 22% of health care workers experienced anxiety and 21.5% experienced PTSD, compared with estimated global rates of about 3.6% for anxiety disorders including PTSD.
Researchers Yufei Li, Nathaniel Scherer and others at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine analyzed existing studies on depression, anxiety and PTSD in health care workers published or posted between December 2019 and August 2020. In total, 65 studies spanning 21 countries and nearly 100,000 health care workers were included in the analysis.?The study included literature in both English and Chinese and is the largest of its kind to date, the researchers said.?
“Our findings present concerning outlook for health care workers,” the researchers said. “A group continually needed at the forefront of action against COVID-19, and at continued risk of associated psychological stressors.”?
The researchers said action is needed now to address serious mental health concerns for health care workers.
“The evidence is clear, those with mental health disorders are more likely to experience excess morbidity and premature mortality, as well as negative impacts across work, education and community life,” they wrote. “The response from policy makers and service providers must be decisive and swift, addressing mental health concerns in this group, before long-term health and social impacts are realized.”?
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Nearly 96 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in the US
From CNN's Deidre McPhillips
A dose of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine is drawn at a vaccination event on March 6 in Thornton, Colorado.
Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images
Nearly 96 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in the United States, according to data published Wednesday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC reported that 95,721,290 total doses have been administered – about 75% of the 127,869,155 doses delivered. That’s about 2 million more administered doses reported since yesterday, for a seven-day average of nearly 2.2 million doses per day. The seven-day average has now been above 2 million per day for more than a week.
Nearly 19% of the US population – about 62.5 million people – have now received at least one dose of vaccine, and almost 10% – about 32.9 million people – have been fully vaccinated with both shots, CDC data shows.
Note: Data published by the CDC may be delayed, and doses may not have been given on the day reported.
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UNICEF's education chief calls for schools to reopen safely
From CNN's Jennifer Hauser
“It has never been more urgent and critical for schools to reopen,” UNICEF Chief of Education Robert Jenkins said in a video posted on UNICEF’s Facebook page Wednesday.
Schools for more than 168 million children worldwide have been closed for almost a year amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to UNICEF. That’s based on data from March 2020 to February 2021.
He added that children are falling further behind and the longer they’re out of the classroom, the more likely they are to never return to school.
10 countries in Africa are now giving out coronavirus vaccines through COVAX, according to WHO
From CNN's Jennifer Hauser
Angola is the latest country in Africa to kick off Covid-19 vaccines Wednesday. The first batch of 624,000 AstraZeneca vaccines were delivered through COVAX last week, the World Health Organization Africa Region said in a tweet.
At least 10 countries in Africa have now started coronavirus shots.
Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa recently received the first batch of Covid-19 vaccines.
“It is a feeling of relief and elation that at last we are joining the community of nations who can vaccinate their citizens against COVID-19 disease which has been raging across the world. We have to some extent lagged but are relieved that we can now start vaccinating our citizens,”?Nigeria’s Minister of Health Dr Osagie Ehanire?said in a WHO press release Monday.
There are more than 3.9 million cases of coronavirus on the African continent, with 106,000 total deaths, WHO Africa Region reported Wednesday. South Africa, Nigeria, Algeria, Ethiopia and Kenya have some of the highest cases.
Authorities want to assure Africans that the vaccine is effective and safe.
Thailand invites you to bring your own yacht for a luxury quarantine
From CNN's Jack Guy
You have to spend 14 days in quarantine if you want to visit Thailand, so you may as well spend it on a yacht. The Tourism Authority of Thailand is trying to attract yacht travelers to Phuket as the country reopens to visitors: The catch-you have to bring your own yacht.
Travelers will be tested by Thai authorities and then be given a digital health tracker.
The tracker will allow medical officials to monitor their pulse, blood pressure and body temperature in real time.
Visitors have to wear the tracker at all times and remain within 10 kilometers (about 6 miles) of the shore, but are otherwise free to spend the 14-day quarantine period as they wish.
Once that period has elapsed, officials will analyze the data and allow travelers to disembark in Phuket.
A version of the yacht quarantine scheme was launched in October 2020, but the “digital project could attract more than 100 yachts and 300 to 500 visitors during 2021,” according a press release.
Officer will be positioned outside Houston restaurant after threats over mask-wearing policy, owner says
From CNN's Adrienne Vogt
Longtime Houston restaurant owner Arnaldo Richards said that some people have threatened to call immigration services on his employees because he is keeping his restaurant’s mask mandate in place.
As a result, he is stationing a police officer outside the restaurant’s front door today, he said to CNN’s Kate Bolduan.
Richards, who co-owns Arnaldo Richards’ Picos Restaurant, said that not enough people are vaccinated yet for him to feel comfortable allowing the removal of masks in common areas. ?
“There is not a line that you can?say, ‘well, this is it now and?you guys can continue to do?business as usual.’?Now my business as usual is?wearing the mask and keeping the?social distancing,” Richards said.?
Richards said that there has been no pushback on maintaining the mask policy from employees, and he’s gotten “overwhelming” support from most customers.?
“Please wear the mask … It takes nothing.?I have employees that wear the?mask for eight hours in front of?a grill that is 400 degrees and?they don’t complain,” he said.?
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CDC is monitoring vaccinated pregnant women, Fauci says
From CNN's Jacqueline Howard
Dr. Anthony Fauci listens to US President Joe Biden, out of frame, during a visit to the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, on February 11.
Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is continuing to collect data on the safety of Covid-19 vaccines in pregnant women through its registry called V-safe,?Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said during a White House briefing on Wednesday.
Additionally, Fauci said that Pfizer and BioNTech have launched their randomized, placebo-controlled study to evaluate safety and immunogenicity in pregnant people.
During the briefing, Fauci was speaking in reference to “special populations” for which there is still limited data around Covid-19 vaccine safety. Such populations also include children and immunocompromised individuals, such as HIV-positive patients. Fauci said that people with HIV should get vaccinated.
For pregnant women, “the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, ACOG, recommends that vaccines of SARS-CoV-2 should not be withheld from pregnant individuals, and that pregnant individuals may choose to receive a Covid-19 vaccine and they should have a conversation with their clinicians,” Fauci said. SARS-CoV-2 is the name of the virus that causes Covid-19.
A webpage for the CDC’s V-safe registry for pregnant women notes: “There is currently no evidence that antibodies formed from COVID-19 vaccination cause any problem with pregnancy, including the development of the placenta. However, data are limited about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines for people who are pregnant.”
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Poland's third wave of Covid-19 is "accelerating," health minister says
From CNN's Antonia Mortensen
An RN draws a dose of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine in Thornton, Colorado, on March 6.
Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images
The European Medicines Agency is on track to approve the Johnson & Johnson vaccine this month,?Poland’s Health Minister?Adam Niedzielski?said Wednesday. This comes as Poland warns its third wave of coronavirus is “accelerating.”
The country has recorded 17,260 new Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, the health ministry reported Wednesday.
That’s the?highest since the beginning of the third wave of the epidemic, Health Ministry spokesperson Wojciech Andrusiewicz told?private Polish TV channel TVN24. He added that over 67% of hospital beds for coronavirus patients are full.
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Ukraine approves China’s Sinovac vaccine
From CNN’s Zahra Ullah and Denis Lapin
Sinovac Covid-19 vaccines are displayed at a press conference in Beijing in September 2020.
Wang Zhao/AFP/Getty Images
Ukraine has approved use of China’s Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine, Ukraine’s Deputy Health Minister?Igor Ivashchenko said in a statement?on Wednesday.
Sinovac is now the third vaccine to be approved in Ukraine for emergency use after?AstraZeneca’s and Pfizer/BioNTech’s vaccines were previously registered.?Ukraine started its?vaccination campaign in February.?
One vaccine that Ukraine has refused to?consider is that of their neighboring country –Russia’s coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V – despite an increasingly urgent situation in the country.?
Ukrainian officials have recently said the country has entered a third wave of coronavirus, seeing increasing numbers of infections and hospitalizations.?
Ukraine has registered over 1.4 million Covid-19 cases and 28,925 deaths from the disease, according to Johns Hopkins University data.?
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North America sees drop in Covid-19 cases, while Brazil faces its deadliest day of the pandemic, PAHO says
From CNN's Jennifer Hauser
A morgue employee works with the body of a Covid-19 victim at a hospital in Porto Alegre, Brazil, on March 4.
Silvio Avila/AFP/Getty Images
The US, Canada and Mexico are seeing a drop in coronavirus cases while nearly every state in Brazil is seeing an increase in cases over the last week, according to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
As of this week, the Americas overall have reported “nearly 52 million cases of coronavirus and 1.2 million deaths from Covid-19, with more than a million of these cases reported in the last week,” PAHO Director Carissa Etienne said in a briefing Wednesday.
Brazil reported its deadliest day since the pandemic began, with 1,910 Covid-related deaths reported in 24 hours. It also had the second-highest rate of infections.
In the Caribbean, most larger islands are seeing a drop in cases, but in Cuba cases are rising.
In Central America cases are generally down but parts of Guatemala and Panama’s indigenous province of Guna Yala are reporting an increase.
In South America, Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile are reporting increases but Peru and Bolivia, which have been hit especially hard by the pandemic, are finally seeing lower cases.
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Variants first found in New York and UK account for more than half of NYC Covid-19, health officials say
From CNN's Kristina?Sgueglia
Preliminary data shows that the coronavirus variant first identified in New York, B1526, “is a more infectious variant” and coupled with the variant first identified in the UK, accounts for 51% of all cases in New York City at present, city health officials said Wednesday.
Preliminary analysis indicates that the B1526 variant first identified in New York, “is probably more infectious than older strains of the virus,” Varma said. “It may be similar in infectiousness to the B117, the UK strain, but we’re not certain about this yet.”
The variant identified in New York in particular “is increasing in prevalence across New York city, representing about 39% of all samples sequenced by the pandemic response lab” compared to 31% the week prior, according to New York City Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi. “The increasing prevalence suggests the B1526 variant is a more infectious variant.”
Varma notes preliminary analysis does not show that the variant first identified in New York causes more severe illness or reduces the effectiveness of vaccines.
“It’s important to emphasize of course this is preliminary” he said as the city works with the state and health officials across the country.
A couple weeks ago, two separate teams of researchers said?they found a worrying new?coronavirus?variant in New York City and elsewhere in the Northeast that carries mutations that help it evade the body’s natural immune response — as well as the effects of monoclonal antibody treatments.
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New recommendations mark first step toward a return to pre-pandemic life, CDC director and colleagues say
From CNN's Lauren Mascarenhas
A person receives a Covid-19 vaccine on March 9 in North Miami, Florida.
?Joe Raedle/Getty Images
The new recommendations for fully vaccinated people mark the first step toward a return to pre-pandemic life, but some precautions are still essential, the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and colleagues wrote in a JAMA Viewpoint article published Wednesday.
The team notes that more than 31 million people – 9.4% of the total population – have completed a vaccination series. These people now have a reduced risk of severe illness or death from Covid-19.
“In addition, preliminary but rapidly increasing evidence suggests that fully vaccinated people likely pose little risk of transmission to unvaccinated people,” Walensky and colleagues write.
In creating the guidelines, the CDC considered the risks to both vaccinated and unvaccinated people. As many people remain unvaccinated, public health precautions are still important, they note.
“CDC guidance will evolve as vaccination coverage increases, disease dynamics in the country change, and new data emerge,” the team writes. “With high levels of community transmission and the threat of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern, CDC still recommends a number of prevention measures for all people, regardless of vaccination status.”
The agency still recommends all people wear masks, avoid large gatherings and postpone travel. It also stresses the importance of community-level prevention strategies, such as universal mask mandates and occupancy restrictions.
“Once vaccinated people make up a greater proportion of the general US population, these community-level restrictions will be readdressed, but not yet,” the team wrote.
While Covid-19 vaccines offer a path toward ending the pandemic, increasing vaccine access and confidence is essential, Walensky and colleagues note.
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A mask mandate could help this Texas restaurant owner keep his restaurant and his life
From CNN's Aditi Sangal
Texas restaurant owner Mike Nguyen wants his business open but he is also battling cancer. He says that by lifting the statewide mask mandate, Gov. Greg Abbott has put him, and many others like him, in danger.
Nguyen say he will only allow customers who wear masks to dine at his establishment. Since masks are a really divisive topic, he doesn’t expect everyone to adhere to it and that means his business will not bounce back 100%.
“And my biggest thing is if we?have another surge and we get a?setback, my business may not?survive this,” he added.
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CDC director explains when they could amend travel guidance for fully vaccinated people
From CNN's Naomi Thomas
Before the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will “liberalize” its guidance for fully vaccinated people, it’s watching for coronavirus case increases and waiting for evidence about whether protection is fading among people who were vaccinated early on, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told ABC’s Good Morning America.
When asked why vaccinated people shouldn’t travel, as CDC guidelines currently suggest, Walensky said there has been a surge in virus cases every time there’s a surge in travel.
Walensky said that the CDC was waiting for data and evidence about whether people who were vaccinated early on, in December and January, should be concerned about their protection fading.
“We are not suggesting that people who are vaccinated can go out and take off their masks and do things in public settings, gather in big gatherings,” Walensky added. “Really, we’re taking baby steps to make sure that we can still protect the 90% of people who aren’t yet vaccinated.”
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Get up to speed: Here's what you need to know about the pandemic in the US today
It’s just after 10 a.m. ET in the US where vaccination efforts continue across the country and the House is expected to vote on a Covid-19 relief plan that includes direct payments to Americans.
Here’s what you need to know about the pandemic to get up to speed this morning:
Right now: The House is slated to hold?a?final vote today?on President Biden’s $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief plan. If it passes, it will be sent to the White House to be signed into law. You can follow live updates here.
Schools: The?Los?Angeles?Unified School District has reached a tentative agreement with United Teachers?Los?Angeles to reopen schools for in-person learning by April. LAUSD is the second largest school district in the nation with more than 600,000 students in more than 1,000 schools.??
Restrictions: Starting today, Texans will?no longer be under a statewide mandate?to wear masks in public. But, some cities and businesses say they will still require masks – including Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and El Paso. Federal health leaders have also pushed back against lifting restrictions.
CDC guidance:New?guidelines?from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said fully vaccinated people can safely visit with other vaccinated people and small groups of unvaccinated people. The CDC said it will issue travel and going out guidance for vaccinated individuals when science is more clear.
Variants: The coronavirus variant B.1.1.7, which was?first identified in the United Kingdom, could be more deadly. New research published in a peer-reviewed journal said it is associated with an estimated 64% higher risk of dying from the virus. Researchers have detected it in at least 46 states and Washington, DC.
Looking ahead: The CDC now projects there will be 547,000 to 571,000 coronavirus deaths in the United States by April 3, according to an ensemble?forecast.
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Biden will announce plans to purchase 100 million more?Johnson?&?Johnson?vaccine doses, sources tell CNN
From CNN's Jeremy Diamond,?Kaitlan Collins?and?Kate Sullivan
Used vials of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, the newest vaccine approved by the U.S. FDA for emergency use, sit in a box at an event put on by the Thornton Fire Department on March 6, 2021 in Thornton, Colorado.
Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images
President Biden?will announce Wednesday that he is directing the US Department of Health and Human Services to purchase an additional 100 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson?Covid-19?vaccine, a White House official confirms to CNN.
The administration and the pharmaceutical giant still need to negotiate when these 100 million doses will be available, another person familiar with the matter told CNN.
This source predicts it will likely happen later this year as Johnson & Johnson works to ramp up production.
The White House told governors Tuesday to expect fewer than 400,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine next week, far below what they initially expected would be available.
Biden will make the announcement during a meeting this afternoon with Johnson & Johnson and Merck, which is helping to manufacture the Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine under a deal brokered by the White House.
Biden announced last week that the US would have enough Covid-19 vaccine doses for every adult American by the end of May, which was a two-month acceleration of the previous timeline his administration had laid out.
The new goal was made possible by a rare partnership between competitors Merck and Johnson & Johnson. The White House says it is utilizing the Defense Production Act to help equip two Merck facilities to manufacture the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
CDC’s?ensemble?forecast?now projects up to 571,000 US Covid-19 deaths by April 3
From CNN’s Ben Tinker
Candles are placed before a candlelight vigil and moment of silence outside the U.S. Capitol, on February 23, 2021 in Washington, DC. Congressional leaders held a candlelight ceremony to mark the more than 500,000 U.S. deaths due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Al Drago/Getty Images
An?ensemble?forecast?published Wednesday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now projects there will be 547,000 to 571,000 coronavirus deaths in the United States by April 3.
Unlike some individual models, the?CDC’s?ensemble?forecast?only offers projections a few weeks into the future. The previous?ensemble?forecast, published March 3, projected up to 564,000 coronavirus deaths by March 27.
At least?527,705?people?have already died from Covid-19 in the US, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
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Utah will lift its mask mandate on April 10
From CNN's Konstantin Toropin
Utah will lift its mask mandate on April 10 after negotiations between the state’s governor and legislature stopped an effort to end the measure immediately, a spokesperson for the governor’s office confirmed in a statement.
Last week, the governor’s office announced plans to open?vaccinations to any adult who wants one by April.
“We … will likely have 1.5 million first doses in the state by April 10,”?Napier-Pearce noted.
Napier-Pearce also pointed out that the mandate will continue after April 10 in schools and for large gatherings.
“Also, businesses can still require masks,” she added.
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If schools aren’t open, other places shouldn’t be, CDC director says
From CNN's Naomi Thomas
Seat belts inside an electric school bus parked at a mass vaccination site in a parking lot at Hollywood Park adjacent to SoFi stadium during the Covid-19 pandemic on March 1, 2021 in Inglewood, California.?
Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said on Good Morning America Wednesday that the agency isn’t ready to create standards for states to ease restrictions – but if schools are still closed, other places shouldn’t be opening.
“We’re not quite ready to create those standards because we still have 90% of people unprotected,” Walensky said when asked what the standard should be for easing restrictions state by state.?
There are two promising ways of boosting Covid-19 vaccines against variants, Fauci says?
From CNN's Naomi?Thomas
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on CNN’s New Day Wednesday that there are two ways of going about booster shots for Covid-19 vaccines against variants: boosting against the regular virus or boosting against specific variants.?
The vaccines in use now seem to be working against the variants, Fauci explained.?
For the B.1.1.7 variant first identified in the UK, antibodies induced by the Moderna and Pfizer vaccine are “quite effective,” Fauci said. Looking at the B.1.351 variant first identified in South Africa in the lab, it appears the efficacy of vaccines is slightly diminished.
He said that people need to continue to be careful and not overly optimistic, “but I think what we’re seeing is that boosting with just the wild type virus vaccine – wild type means the standard one, not a variant – can actually protect you against a variant.”?
Tests are starting now to make vaccines directed specifically against variants, Fauci noted.
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Newly published data suggests coronavirus variant first identified in UK?appears to be more deadly
From CNN's Jacqueline Howard
A medical worker handles a test tube after administering a nasal swab to a patient at a coronavirus testing center, on February 18, in Dunkirk, France, where the UK variant has been detected.
Sylvain Lefevre/Getty Images
The coronavirus variant B.1.1.7, which was first identified in the United Kingdom, is associated with an estimated 64% higher risk of dying from Covid-19, suggests new research published in a peer-reviewed journal.?
A sample of people in the UK infected with the variant appeared to be between 32% and 104% — so around a probable 64% — more likely to die than those infected with the previously circulating variants, according to the study published in the medical journal the BMJ on Wednesday.
The variant was originally found to be more easily transmissible and the new data support claims from UK officials, based on preliminary data, that the variant may be more deadly, as well.
The researchers, from various institutions in the UK, analyzed?data on more than 100,000 patients who tested positive for Covid-19 between October through January, and were followed up with until mid-February. The researchers took a close look at whose tests detected the variant compared with those from previously circulating variants.
The study?showed that the new variant was associated with 227 deaths in a sample of 54,906 patients — compared with 141 deaths among the same number of patients infected with previous strains.?
More research is needed?to determine whether similar findings would emerge among more patients from other parts of the world.
“The variant of concern, in addition to being more transmissible, seems to be more lethal,” the researchers wrote in their study. “We expect this to be associated with changes in its phenotypic properties because of multiple genetic mutations,?and we see no reason why this finding would be specific to the UK.”
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Fauci reflects on a year since the pandemic began in the US: "Just be prudent a bit longer"
From CNN's Aditi Sangal
Dr. Anthony Fauci, America’s top infectious diseases expert in the US, has been reflecting on the year since the coronavirus pandemic began, saying he never could have imagined reaching the number of cases and deaths the country has seen from the virus.
“If you had turned the?clock back a year … even though I’ve been?through multiple outbreaks of?different diseases, the thought?that you would have 525,000?people in America to have died?and about, you know,?28 million infections in this country, would have really been unimaginable,” he told CNN’s New Day program on Wednesday.
Fauci also indicated that things are headed in the right direction — but warned that “we’re not out of the woods yet.”
Fauci also said people should keep their guard up a little longer, through the upcoming spring break.
“We want people to have a good?time on spring break, but don’t?put your guard down completely.?Just be prudent a bit longer.?We are going in the right?direction, we are almost there.”
Watch the moment:
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Fauci: More guidance on what vaccinated people can do is coming "imminently"
From CNN's Adrienne Vogt
US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci said the next round of guidance for vaccinated individuals will involve traveling and going out.
New?guidelines?from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released this week say people fully vaccinated against Covid-19 can safely visit with other vaccinated people and small groups of unvaccinated people in some circumstances, but there are still important safety precautions needed.
Fauci added that he is constantly and consistently meeting with the Biden administration’s team. While personal threats to him “come and go,” he told CNN’s John Berman that the situation right now is “really going well.”?
“It’s a completely different kind?of atmosphere.?It’s always looking ahead,?about how we can do better with?the main focus on the public?health aspects of it, without?distractions about the other?things that we knew from before,” he said.??
Watch more from the interview:
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UK Covid-19 track and trace program under fire for having little impact
From CNN's Chloe Adams, Lindsay Isaac and Sharon Braithwaite
An alert on the NHS Covid-19 Test and Trace app is seen on January 18, in London.
Leon Neal/Getty Images
There is little evidence that Britain’s Covid-19 track and trace program has had any impact on containing the virus, despite a price tag of US $51.5b, according to the government’s public spending watchdog.
The?NHS Test and Trace program was introduced in the UK during the first wave of the pandemic to stop its spread and avoid another lockdown. But two lockdowns later, it is “unclear” if its specific contribution to containment has justified its hefty price tag, according to a report, published on Wednesday by the UK Public Accounts Committee.
The program never met its target of turning around test results within 24 hours, nor was prepared for a surge in demand for tests, the report said.
Errant spending, being overly reliant on expensive contractors and a lack of coordination with local authorities are among some of the program’s key criticisms detailed in the report.?
Speaking on UK broadcaster Sky News on Wednesday, UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said that although the cost of fighting coronavirus hasn’t been cheap, it has “absolutely been necessary.”
“Whatever the coronavirus experience we have had as a nation, good or bad, it would have been one heck of a lot worse if we didn’t have a Test and Trace system which has contacted so many people and prevented the disease spreading further,” Shapps said.
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South Korea will vaccinate Olympic athletes on priority for Tokyo 2020
From CNN’s Jake Kwon and Gawon Bae
A nurse prepares to administer a dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at a health care center in Seoul, South Korea, on February 26.
Jung Yeon-je/Pool/AP
South Korea will provide priority coronavirus vaccination for Olympic athletes before their travel to Japan for the Tokyo Olympics, the Korean Sport and Olympic Committee confirmed to CNN on Wednesday.
The country began its vaccination rollout in late February. For now, the coronavirus vaccines are available to frontline healthcare workers and those working and staying in nursing facilities. The general public will only receive the vaccine in July according to South Korea’s Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
KDCA is making an exception for Olympic athletes as they are due to travel to Japan for “public service”.?
It also confirmed that it will allow Covid-19 vaccination for short-term travellers on essential governmental or business travel abroad.?
However, details including administration date and number of recipients have not been decided yet. Though KDCA did announce that essential governmental and economic workers can start applying on March 17.?
The KDCA and relevant ministries will review the applications, according to Senior Health official Yoon Tae-ho.
The Tokyo Olympics, postponed by a year because of the pandemic, are scheduled for July 23 to August 8.
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Vaccine production of Sputnik V will begin this summer in Europe
From CNN’s Matthew Chance, Zahra Ullah, Sharon Braithwaite and Stephanie Halasz
A medical worker fills a syringe with the Sputnik V vaccine at a vaccination site in Moscow on March 3.
Alexander Shcherbak/TASS/Getty Images
Vaccine production of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine will begin this summer in Europe, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) told CNN on Tuesday.
A spokesperson from the RDIF said they had brokered deals with production facilities in Italy, Spain, France and Germany to manufacture Sputnik V.
The Russian sovereign wealth fund had struck a deal with Swiss-Italian company Adienne to produce Sputnik V in Italy, the spokesperson said.
The Italian-Russian Chamber of Commerce released a statement on Monday welcoming the deal, which would see Italy becoming the first EU country to produce the Russian?vaccine.
They statement added that production could start as early as July 2021, and will create new jobs and allow Italy to control the entire production process. The partnership could see production of 10 million doses by the end of the year, the Italian-Russian Chamber of Commerce said.
The news follows an announcement last week that the European Union’s vaccine regulator, the European Medicines Agency (EMA), has begun a rolling review of Russia’s Covid-19 vaccine.
The rolling review came after complaints about the European Commission’s slow vaccine deployment led member states to unilaterally approve the Russian vaccine.
Earlier on Tuesday,?Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov criticized remarks by EMA Chairwoman Christa Wirthumer-Hoche, who compared the idea of emergency authorization of?Sputnik?V to “playing Russian roulette.”
Sputnik V developers also posted on Twitter, demanding an apology from?Wirthumer-Hoche, saying that “her comments raise serious questions about possible political interference in the ongoing EMA review.”
“Sputnik?V is approved by 46 nations,” the developers added.
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EU backs off claims of UK vaccine nationalism in ongoing spat
From CNN's Lindsay Isaac
The European Union has backed down from accusing the UK of vaccine nationalism in an ongoing dispute over supply of Covid-19 shots.?
On Tuesday, President of the European Council Charles Michel wrote in a newsletter that the UK had “imposed an outright ban on the export of vaccines or vaccine components” produced in the country.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson pushed back on those claims, saying that the UK has not blocked export of any vaccines to the European Union.?
Speaking in British parliament on Wednesday, Johnson said:
The accusations had first prompted British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to reject the “false claims” in a letter of response to Michel on Tuesday, a source told CNN.
“I wanted to set the record straight. The UK government has not blocked the export of a single COVID-19 vaccine or vaccine components,” Raab wrote, according to the source, who has seen the letter.??
In a conciliatory tweet on Tuesday evening, Michel said that he is “glad if the UK reaction leads to more transparency and increased exports to EU and third countries.”?
However, he added that there are “different ways of imposing bans or restrictions on vaccines/medicines.”
A representative of the EU’s delegation to the UK has been summoned to the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to discuss the issue further because the “false claim has been repeated at various levels within the EU and the Commission,” the source also said.??
Nashville, TN plans on vaccinating 10,000 to move city closer to herd immunity
From CNN’s Artemis Moshtaghian
Nashville Mayor John Cooper is planning on vaccinating 10,000 Nashville residents in a drive-thru mass vaccination event scheduled for March 20 at Nissan Stadium, according to tweet by the Mayor and the Metro Public Health Department in Nashville.
“Nashville Health plans on vaccinating 10,000 of our residents to move our city closer to herd immunity and a return to normal life,” Cooper?said in the tweet.?
On Tuesday Nashville Health reported 90,984 confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Nashville/Davidson County, noting an increase of 53 in the past 24 hours.?The health agency reports that to-date,?652 deaths have been attributed to Covid-19.
Tennessee is currently in?Phase 1C of its Vaccine Distribution Plan, which means that Tennesseans 16 years old or older with high-risk health conditions have been eligible to be vaccinated as of Monday.
As of March 4, 14% of Nashville residents (97,416) had received a first dose of Covid-19 vaccine and 7.9% of residents (55,157) were fully vaccinated, according to Nashville Health.?
Note: These numbers were released by the state’s public health agency and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University, The Covid Tracking Project and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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Novavax expects to see results from its Phase 3 vaccine trial in the US and Mexico in April
From?CNN Health's Jacqueline Howard
Medical laboratory scientist Anielia Sobel tests samples from the Novavax Phase 3 Covid-19 clinical vaccine trial at the UW Medicine Retrovirology Lab in Seattle, Washington, on February 12.
Karen Ducey/Getty Images
Biotechnology company?Novavax?still expects to see results from its?PREVENT-19?trial, a Phase 3 study of its Covid-19 vaccine in the United States and?Mexico, sometime in April. The trial has enrolled 30,000 volunteers across more than 100 locations.
“Everybody’s enrolled and now we’re watching for cases,” Dr.?Gregory Glenn, president of research and development for?Novavax, told CNN on Tuesday.
“I think sometime in the April timeframe we’ll have finished that trial. So, we’ll have three pivotal trials testing our vaccine – that’s extremely important for evidence that your vaccine is safe and can work,” Glenn said.
Novavax?is also developing?a?booster?shot to its coronavirus vaccine, and company officials anticipate that vaccinated people might need boosters every six months or annually to stay protected against Covid-19.?Similar to others,?Novavax’s Covid-19 vaccine is administered as two doses given three weeks apart.
After the second dose, “we’re seeing that at six months, there’s a pretty big decline in antibodies and I think all the vaccine makers are going to see that,”?Glenn said.
“But it’s our view that somewhere between six months and one year, we’re going to need to boost everybody to protect them,” Glenn said. “I think governments are gearing up for that kind of thinking – but we’re still collecting the information that will guide that. This is a new virus, these are new vaccines, and we just don’t have enough information.”
Novavax?has initiated a booster shot study to gather that information.?
“We have actually started a trial where some of the people who got our vaccine last summer, at six months later we’re giving them a boost,” Glenn said. “We’re going to see how good that looks in terms of immune responses – and it can either be one dose, given once, or maybe we kind of repeat the same thing we did before where we give them a three-week interval.”
The company is currently manufacturing its vaccine at 10 sites in eight countries – with two sites in the United States, in North Carolina and Texas, Glenn said.
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Brazil reports nearly 2,000 Covid-19 deaths in highest daily toll of the pandemic
From Marcia Reverdosa in Sao Paulo and CNN's Tatiana Arias in Atlanta
Brazil reported its highest daily death toll since the beginning of the?Covid-19 pandemic on Tuesday, according to data from the country’s Health Ministry, with 1,972 new fatalities.
The country’s total coronavirus death toll now stands at 268,370.
Workers wearing protective suits walk past the graves of COVID-19 victims at the Nossa Senhora Aparecida cemetery, in Manaus, Brazil, on February 25.
Michael Dantas/AFP/Getty Images
On Tuesday, the ministry reported 70,764 new?confirmed Covid-19 cases, raising the country’s total number of infections to 11,122,429 – the third highest in the world after the United States and India.
In the southeastern state of Sao Paulo on Tuesday, a record number of 517?Covid-19 related deaths were reported by health authorities in the past 24 hours.
Sao Paulo’s death toll now stands at 62,101, with 2,134,020?confirmed Covid-19 cases, according to official data.
Rich nations vaccinating 1 person per second, but most poorer ones haven't given a single shot, watchdog says?
From CNN’s Christopher Rios
People queue in vehicles as they arrive for vaccinations at California State University of Los Angeles on March 4.
Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images
Rich countries are vaccinating one person every second against Covid-19 while the majority of their poorest counterparts have yet to administer a single dose, the People’s Vaccine Alliance said Tuesday.?
These same rich nations are blocking efforts by developing countries to waive intellectual property rights on?Covid-19 vaccines, the alliance said. The World Trade Organization’s Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS) committee meets Wednesday to discuss the TRIPS waiver.
The People’s Vaccine Alliance, a group of organizations including Oxfam International, Frontline AIDS, UNAIDS, and others, says this is yet another example of rich countries prioritizing the interests of big pharmaceutical monopolies over people’s lives.?
“By allowing a small group of pharmaceutical companies to decide who lives and who dies, rich nations are prolonging this unprecedented global health emergency and putting countless more lives on the line,” said Oxfam’s executive director Gabriela Bucher.
“At this crucial time, developing countries need support – not opposition.”?
The proposed TRIPS wavier would remove legal barriers and allow manufacturers across the world to start producing vaccines at scale within months, the alliance said.?
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Analysis: Biden's Covid relief bill is huge, ambitious and about to pass
Analysis from CNN's Stephen Collinson
President Joe Biden plans to use the?$1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief bill?expected to pass Congress on Wednesday as a platform for a generational transformation of the economy to benefit the least well-off Americans and alleviate poverty.
The passage of a bill of this scale and ambition two months into any new president’s term would represent a power-affirming win. The political payoff for Biden of his first legacy achievement may be even greater. He had to navigate the measure through thin congressional majorities and a Democratic caucus riven by ideological divides – and amid the worst domestic crisis since World War II.
Biden ran for election pledging to send stimulus payments to millions of Americans and to secure money to fund the return of kids to school, while speeding up the pace of vaccinations. When he gives his first?prime-time address to Americans on Thursday, he can make a case that he kept his word as he battles to end a pandemic that has killed more than 527,000 Americans.
