Covid-19 live updates: Cases and hospitalizations are on the rise. ‘We cannot afford to let our guard down,’ CDC director says.
Here are some significant developments:
- The Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine was safe and effective in adolescents as young as 12, the drug companies announced. The news signals that vaccines are on the way for children, but it will take time.
- Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) asked the White House on Tuesday to consider rushing coronavirus vaccine doses to hard-hit parts of the country, including her state, rather than allocating vaccines based on population. She was rebuffed.
- World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus questioned whether China has been transparent enough about the coronavirus’s origins and suggested that more research may be needed.
- Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany will halt the use of Oxford-AstraZeneca’s vaccine for people under 60 over concerns that it is causing rare but occasionally deadly blood clots.
- Republicans are opening a new front in the pandemic culture wars, attacking efforts by the Biden administration to develop guidelines for coronavirus vaccination passports.
- With the average number of deaths over the past seven days rising 9 percent, the total number of fatalities in the United States reached 551,000.
