LEXINGTON, Ky.: The Rev. Jim Thurman counts himself among the converts who recognize the importance of taking a COVID-19 vaccine.
The prominent Black activist received his second dose of vaccine Wednesday as Kentucky’s governor highlighted efforts to encourage minority populations to roll up their sleeves for the shots.
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“It’s a matter between life and death,” said Thurman, president of the Lexington-Fayette County branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Thurman said he initially refused to be inoculated, pointing to historical reasons for part of his hesitancy. He specifically noted the so-called “Tuskegee Syphilis Study,” in which the federal government let hundreds of Black men in Alabama go untreated for syphilis for 40 years for research purposes.
But after considerable prayer, Thurman said, he saw the value of getting the shot.
Gov. Andy Beshear joined Thurman and other Black leaders at Shiloh Baptist Church to promote efforts to increase vaccination rates among the state’s minority residents.
Blacks make up 8.4% of Kentucky’s population but account for 4.6% of those vaccinated so far, the governor’s office said.
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THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:
States are passing their own virus aid, not waiting for Washington. The U.N.'s global vaccine plan is underway, but problems remain. Ghana's first to get those COVAX shots. The FDA says single-shot dose from Johnson & Johnson prevents severe COVID. And Pfizer's vaccine works well in first big ‘real world’ test. Vaccinated for the virus, Jimmy Carter and wife can retur n to church.
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Follow all of AP’s pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic, https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:
LOS ANGELES — California is revamping its plan to help essential workers and seniors in underserved communities get coronavirus vaccinations after officials learned that access codes for appointments were being used by people who aren’t eligible for the shots.
It comes as the state of 40 million people tries to prioritize vaccinating the most vulnerable.
California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services spokesman Brian Ferguson said Wednesday the state provided general access codes to community groups to sign up residents at federally funded vaccination sites in Los Angeles and Oakland. But the codes were passed on, leading some people to sign up for shots who shouldn’t. The state will issue individual codes starting next week.
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WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. -- Navajo Nation health officials have reported 20 new confirmed COVID-19 cases with seven additional deaths.
The numbers released Tuesday night bring the total number of cases on the vast reservation that covers parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah to 29,576 since the pandemic began. There have been 1,152 reported deaths that were related to COVID-19.
The Navajo Department of Health on Monday identified 21 communities with uncontrolled spread of COVID-19 from Feb. 5-18. That’s an increase from last week’s 15 communities, but down from 75 communities with uncontrolled coronavirus spread last month.
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ATLANTA — After weeks of waiting and political pressure, Gov. Brian Kemp is ready to announce that teachers are up next for COVID-19 vaccinations in Georgia.
Kemp spokesperson Mallory Blount says the Republican governor will announce vaccination plans that will include teachers on Thursday.
She says Kemp will include other “vulnerable Georgians.” Kemp has also faced pressure to open vaccinations to people with disabilities and frontline workers like those who work in poultry processing plants.
One key question is whether there are dedicated sources of vaccines for teachers, like in-school clinics, to keep them from having to compete with the general public for appointments.
Right now in Georgia, anyone 65 and older is eligible for vaccination, as well as emergency workers, health care workers, and employees and staff of long-term care facilities such as nursing homes.
Opening the gates to many more groups could prompt a rush like that seen when Kemp made everyone over 65 eligible in mid-January.
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JUNEAU, Alaska — Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has tested positive for COVID-19 and has mild symptoms, his office announced Wednesday.
Dunleavy, a 59-year-old Republican, is currently at home in the Wasilla area, north of Anchorage.
On Sunday, Dunleavy was identified as a close contact of someone who tested positive for COVID-19. He felt well and tested negative but went into quarantine to reduce possible exposure to others.
Dunleavy felt well until Tuesday night, the statement said. A second test Wednesday morning confirmed he tested positive for the virus.
Because Dunleavy was in quarantine during his infectious period, his office says currently there are no known close contacts.
The state’s chief medical officer, Dr. Anne Zink, and Dunleavy’s personal physician are monitoring the governor and will “provide the public with updates as needed,” the release said.
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RALEIGH, N.C. — With cases and other key metrics trending downward in North Carolina, Gov. Roy Cooper on Wednesday announced the state will ease gathering and occupancy restrictions and end its 10 p.m. statewide curfew starting Friday.
For the first time since early into the coronavirus pandemic, the Democratic governor is allowing bars and taverns to offer indoor service. His new executive order also increases alcohol sale cutoff times by two hours from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. and lets those businesses operate at 30% capacity or up to 250 people. If they follow state health guidelines, such as mask wearing and physical distancing, night clubs, conference spaces, indoor amusement parks, movie theaters and sports and entertainment venues may also operate with the same capacity.
Larger sports venues able to seat over 5,000 people can host up to 15% of their fans, provided they adhere to additional safety restrictions as well.
Shortly after the news, the Hurricanes announced the team will begin hosting fans for its March 4 game against the Detroit Red Wings.
Cooper’s directive goes into effect at 5 p.m. Friday and expires at the same time on March 26. Restaurants, breweries, wineries, gyms, bowling alleys, swimming pools, museums, outdoor amusement park areas, hair salons and retailers are given a 50% capacity limit.
The governor’s directive also allows more people to congregate, boosting the indoor gathering limit from 10 to 25. Outdoor gatherings remain limited to 50 people.
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CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Moderna announced Wednesday it has brewed experimental doses of its COVID-19 vaccine that better match a mutated version of the virus, ready for tests to tell how the update works.
Health authorities say first-generation COVID-19 vaccines still protect against variants of the virus that are emerging in different parts of the world. But in case the vaccines eventually need to be updated, manufacturers are working on how to tweak their recipes.
The variant sparking the most concern currently is one that first emerged in South Africa. Moderna said it has made doses of vaccine specifically targeted to that variant and shipped them to the National Institutes of Health for a study.
U.S. regulators say a revamped vaccine wouldn’t need to be studied for months in thousands of people. But it would need testing in several hundred people, to see if their immune systems react similarly to the updated shot as to the original.
Moderna said it also has begun testing whether simply giving a third dose of the original vaccine would offer an extra immune boost that could guard against variants, even if it’s not an exact match.
In a separate announcement, Moderna also said it plans to manufacture 700 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine globally this year, up from 600 million. The company also said it was making new manufacturing capacity investments that could yield 1.4 billion doses in 2022.
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WASHINGTON — The sister of Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has died from complications related to COVID-19. Bowser’s office announced Wednesday that Mercia Bowser had died at the age 64 from “COVID-19 related pneumonia.”
“Mercia was loved immensely and will be missed greatly, as she joins the legion of angels who have gone home too soon due to the pandemic,” said Bowser in a statement.
The youngest of six siblings, Bowser, 48, asked the public for “the time and space we need to mourn the loss of Mercia.”
Hours prior to her sister’s death, Bowser had already declared Feb. 24 a day of remembrance to mark the nation’s capital passing 1,000 COVID-19 deaths.
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WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden plans to distribute millions of face masks to Americans in communities hard-hit by the coronavirus.
It’s part of his effort to ensure equity in the government’s response to the pandemic. Biden is aiming to reach underserved communities and those bearing the brunt of the outbreak. His plan will distribute masks not through the mail, but through Federally Qualified Community Health Centers and the nation’s food bank and food pantry systems.
The White House announced it expects more than 25 million American-made cloth masks in both adult and kid sizes will be distributed.
Biden has asked everyone to wear face masks for the first 100 days of his term. He’s also required mask-wearing in federal buildings and on public transportation.
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ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A coronavirus variant originally traced to Brazil has been discovered in Alaska.
The variant was found in a specimen of an Anchorage resident who developed COVID-19 symptoms, the Anchorage Daily News reported. The person had no known travel history.
Dr. Joe McLaughlin, an epidemiologist with the state health department, says there is some evidence to suggest the P.1 variant is more transmissible than the original virus.
The person ate at an Anchorage restaurant with at least one other person in late January and didn’t wear a mask. The infected person developed symptoms four days later and tested positive on Feb. 8.
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ROME — Italy registered 16,424 coronavirus cases, the highest number in six weeks.
Italy’s vaccination program recently was forced to slow, after a quick initial start, when vaccine manufacturers didn’t deliver all the doses according to the original timetable.
Italy’s total confirmed cases rose to 2.8 million. With 318 more deaths, the known total rose to 96,666, Europe’s second-highest confirmed death toll after Britain.
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SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — Bosnia’s foreign minister says all the preparations for the arrival of vaccines through the World Health Organization’s COVAX program were done but no shots have arrived.
Officials with COVAX, the program designed for poorer countries, says the promised batch of the vaccines haven’t t been dispatched because Bosnia’s authorities haven’t met Pfizer’s ultra-cold storage requirements.
Foreign minister Bisera Turkovic says the “cold chain” has been met, money has been paid for the vaccines and the non-arrival problem is on COVAX and Pfizer.
Bosnia, a country of 3.3 million, expects 1.2 million vaccines through COVAX. The program has faced delays in the global vaccine distribution because of problems with deliveries from suppliers.
The Serb-run half of the state has received about 2,000 doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine. Its health workers have been receiving shots in neighboring Serbia, which managed to make direct deals with China, Russia, Pfizer and AstraZeneca.
On Wednesday, Ghana has become the first country to receive COVID-19 vaccines through COVAX.
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TORONTO — Canada’s largest city, Toronto, has cancelled all outdoor events until July 1 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Toronto Mayor John Tory says that includes Canada Day celebrations and Pride parade. He says it’s too soon to say whether events after that date will be cancelled as well.
The provincial Ontario government says they won’t start vaccinating people 80 years or above until the third week of March and won’t start with those 60 and above until July 1.
Canada has had a shortage of vaccines until this week but expects to get 6 million vaccines before the end of March and 29 million by July for a population of 37 million people.
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WASHINGTON — The National Institutes of Health is launching research to understand the causes and consequences of the lingering brain fog, breathing problems and malaise reported by many recovering COVID-19 patients.
Dr. Anthony Fauci says some studies have shown up to 30% of patients report symptoms that can endure for months, complicating their return to normal routines and work, and plunging many recovering patients into depression.
Fauci noted at a White House coronavirus briefing on Wednesday that work at NIH started this week thanks to more than $1 billion provided by Congress for COVID-related medical research. Government scientists are looking to enlist doctors and research institutions around the country in the effort to learn about “long-haul” COVID-19.
Fauci says a critical issue is whether COVID-19 predisposes some patients to other medical problems later, such as conditions affecting the heart or brain.