Coronavirus vaccine and COVID variant updates for 02-22-2022

This is Vaccine 411, the latest coronavirus vaccine information for February 22nd, 2022.

If you want something to worry about, you can continue to worry about the Omicron variant BA2, because it’s spreading about 30% more easily than the first Omicron, which as we recall spread pretty darn fast. Infectious disease experts are keeping a close eye on it because they assumed it would take off in the US like it has in Europe. So far that hasn't happened, but it’s steadily spreading even as the Omicron surge keeps dissipating.

Britain is scrapping the self-isolation rules starting Thursday to jump start the country's economy. People who test positive will no longer have to self-isolate for a minimum five days. That doesn’t apply to Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, which set their own regulations. The reasoning is that COVID isn’t going to suddenly disappear and waiting for that would restrict the liberties of the British people for a long time to come.

Even as we report falling case numbers, there’s still an average 2,200 people dying with COVID in the US daily. So who are these people? Doctors say it’s still mainly unvaccinated people, most of whom are in their 30s and 40s, who had no underlying health issues. A smaller percentage of deaths are among fully vaccinated (and boosted) people who are either older or have preexisting conditions.

We’re all eager to put the pandemic behind us, or at least beside us. But the Cleveland Clinic says it’s too soon to give the coronavirus endemic status. Doctors say they don’t know if it’s going to settle as a seasonal respiratory virus like the other coronaviruses or mutate and come back as something worse. It’s a game of wait and see. They say right now, the precautions people take will most likely be based on their personal comfort levels.

You may have heard it before, the place you’re most likely to get sick is in a hospital. And it was thought that hospitals were an outstanding place to catch COVID as well. But a study has shown that the rates of acquiring COVID during a hospital stay were actually quite low, with only about 1.8% of patients contracting it during their stay at the highest peak of cases in December 2020.

In the United States, cases were down 65%, deaths are down 15%, and hospitalizations are down 42% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending down since January 14.

The five states that had the most daily deaths per 100,000 are Tennessee, Maine, West Virginia, Mississippi, and Oklahoma.

There are 27,255,881 active cases in the United States.

The top 10 areas with the highest number of recent cases per capita according to The New York Times: Nome Census Area, AK. Marengo, AL. Manassas Park, VA. Pointe Coupee, LA. Attala, MS. Big Horn, MT. Perry, KY. Estill, KY. Floyd, KY. And Butler, KY.

There have been 935,970 deaths in the U.S. recorded as COVID-related.

The top 3 vaccinating states by percentage of population that’s been fully vaccinated: Rhode Island at 80.3%, Vermont at 80%, and Maine at 78.2%. The bottom 3 vaccinating states are Alabama at 50%, Wyoming at 50.5%, and Mississippi at 50.7%. The percentage of the U.S. that’s been fully vaccinated is 64.7%.

Globally, cases were down 38% and deaths down 7% over 14 days, with the 7-day average trending down since January 25.

There are 67,132,248 active cases around the world.

The five countries with the most new cases: Russia 152,337. Germany 111,824. South Korea 95,347. Turkey 85,026. And Japan 72,861.

There have been 5,889,937 deaths reported as Covid-related worldwide.

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