Maine will open Covid-19 vaccination to anyone 16 or older on Wednesday. Virginia will do so on April 19.
Hungary plans to ease restrictions, despite having one of the world’s worst per capita death rates.
Air travel within the U.S. to vacation spots is bouncing back.
Get the latest updates here, as well as maps and vaccines in development.
Two states, and the Covid race
The United States is in a perilous race between vaccinating residents as quickly as possible and succumbing to a new wave of infections driven by the faster-spreading variants.
Nationally, the number of cases has begun to tick up again, even as the vaccination campaign has quickened and the country is approaching universal eligibility for all adults. Two states — Michigan and Maryland — show the issues on both sides of the struggle.
Michigan is giving the country a glimpse at the threat of the new surge, as the state is facing one of the most alarming outbreaks in the country. Cases have soared to more than 5,600 a day from about 1,000 in late February. The nation’s top five metro areas in recent cases per capita are all in Michigan: Jackson, Detroit, Flint, Lansing and Monroe. The state’s hospital system is being stretched thin as the number of coronavirus patients has doubled in the last month, to more than 2,200.
Health officials attribute the rise in cases in part to the B.1.1.7 variant, which is widespread in Michigan. But they also say that relaxing virus regulations, mask-wearing and social distancing has played a role. Restaurants are busy, and crowds of people gather unmasked in hotel lobbies and bars.
Maryland is demonstrating the challenges that still face the vaccination campaign, because it has encountered nearly all of them. They include poor urban neighborhoods and isolated rural areas with lack of access to regular care; wealthy Washington suburbs whose residents have vacuumed up shots meant for other ZIP codes; and a headache-inducing sign-up system.
To address these issues, the state is planning on opening four more mass vaccination sites this month and has begun adding primary care doctors to the effort. But it will also rely on churches, storefront service organizations and vaccine-stocked vans.
The biggest hurdle in Maryland, and across the country, is still supply. “We’ve deployed people like you wouldn’t believe,” said Dr. Maulik S. Joshi, the president of a local hospital system. “We’re hiring. We’re ready to go. It’s not a cost issue or a people issue for us, it’s just a vaccine issue.”
The New York Times