While the Food and Drug Administration on Monday issued full approval for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, America’s delta-driven surge of COVID-19 has entered a deadlier phase.
Cases are rising in 42 states, the lowest such number in six weeks. But deaths are now increasing in 43 states – the worst tally since December, before America’s deadliest month of the pandemic, a USA TODAY analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows.
U.S. deaths in the week ending Monday totaled 7,225. By comparison, about 5,400 Americans died in the Pearl Harbor and 9/11 attacks combined.
The face of who is dying is also changing quickly. Deaths are increasingly centered among white non-Hispanic people, a USA TODAY analysis of National Centers for Health Statistics data shows.
Most other racial and ethnic groups now have a smaller share of deaths, but white non-Hispanics, which represent about 61.1% of all deaths during the pandemic, made up 68.8% of the deaths reported so far in July and August.
Meanwhile, the share of deaths among young people is jumping, too: Those in their 30s and people 18 to 29 have roughly tripled their share of deaths in July and August, preliminary Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tallies show.
People in their 50s and early 60s have represented fewer than 1 of every 6 victims in the pandemic, but in July and August they make up more than 1 of every 4.
– Mike Stucka
Also in the news:
â–ºMassachusetts will require all school teachers and students in grades K-12 to wear masks through at least Oct. 1.
â–ºMissouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed a class action lawsuit Tuesday trying to stop school districts from enforcing mask mandates, citing the low death rate from COVID-19 among school-aged children. For information on vaccine and mask mandates in every state, click here.
â–ºStarting Friday, Oregon will require masks to be worn in most public outdoor settings where physical distancing is not possible, regardless of vaccination status.
►LSU, ranked 13th in the USA TODAY college football coaches preseason poll, said Tuesday that fans 12 and older attending home games this season will have to present proof of vaccination against COVID-19 or a negative test.
►Florida’s Walt Disney World will require its workers to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to keep their jobs at the theme park, starting Oct. 22.
📈 Today’s numbers: The U.S. has had nearly 38 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 629,800 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The global totals: More than 212.8 million cases and 4.44 million deaths. More than 171.3 million Americans – 51.6% of the population – have been fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.
📘What we’re reading: After the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine received full approval Monday from the FDA, millions of Americans were left with a confusing, difficult task: How in the heck do you pronounce Comirnaty? That’s the brand name for the companies’ COVID-19 vaccine. Here’s how you say it.
Keep refreshing this page for the latest news. Want more? Sign up for USA TODAY’s Coronavirus Watch newsletter to receive updates directly to your inbox and join our Facebook group.
Dr. Anthony Fauci pushes for use of monoclonal antibodies
Amid the continued push for Americans to get vaccinated against COVID-19, Dr. Anthony Fauci also called Tuesday for increased used of another intervention that can serve as both treatment and prevention.
Fauci, who is President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, said monoclonal antibodies have been “much underutilized’’ even though they can reduce the risk of hospitalization or death from COVID-19 by 70%-85%. He emphasized that level of effectiveness hinges on early treatment after infection.
“We want people out there, including physicians as well as potential patients, to realize the advantage of this very effective way of treating early infection,’’ Fauci said.
Monoclonal antibodies can also be used to prevent infection among those exposed to the virus, Fauci said, adding that current studies are looking at the effectiveness before exposure.  There are three brands available under FDA emergency use authorization and they work by targeting the coronavirus’ spike protein.
President Donald Trump was treated with monoclonal antibodies when he was infected in October 2020, and more recently Texas Gov. Greg Abbott also received the therapy when he had a breakthrough infection. Demand for the drugs increased five-fold last month to nearly 110,000 doses; the majority is going to states with low vaccination rates.
“This is a very effective intervention for COVID-19,’’ Fauci said. “It is underutilized, and we recommend strongly that we utilize this to its fullest.’’
FDA approval will be a ‘much bigger deal’ than some believe
Will the FDA’s full approval of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine persuade the nearly 30% of eligible Americans still declining to get the shot?
Certainly not all will come around willingly, but those who remain unconvinced will face increased challenges, starting with the growing number of employers that will now require inoculations. That includes the 2.1 million members of the U.S. military and National Guard, in addition to federal workers and employees for many companies and government entities.
The FDA’s clearance will also prompt more businesses like bars, restaurants and sports teams to require proof of vaccination for admittance.
“Full approval will be a much bigger deal than people think,” said Dr. Robert Murphy, executive director of the Institute for Global Health at Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University.Â
Pediatricians: Don’t yet vaccinate children under 12 against COVID-19
Leading pediatricians said loudly and in unison Monday that doctors should not prescribe COVID-19 vaccines to children under 12.Â
With the FDA’s full approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, such “off-label” use is now legal. But it’s definitely not a good idea, a number of experts said.
“We don’t have the data on young children. So that really ought to be a no-no,” said Dr. Jesse Goodman, an infectious disease expert at Georgetown University.
Yet while the American Academy of Pediatrics agreed children should not yet get vaccinated, the group is also calling on the FDA to accelerate the process of authorizing shots for children under 12 by relying on early trial data rather than waiting for more complete results.Â
In the week ending Aug. 19, there were approximately 180,000 children and adolescents infected with COVID-19, virtually all with the delta variant, the AAP said Monday. Since the beginning of the pandemic in the U.S., nearly 4.6 million minors have been infected – 12% of total cases – and rates have increased fourfold in just the last month, reaching roughly the same levels as last winter’s surge. Hospitalizations and deaths remain low among children.
– Karen Weintraub
Vaccine approval, mandates may help control COVID by 2022, Fauci says
As the FDA’s approval and additional vaccine mandates were announced Monday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, said the measures might help the U.S. get a handle on the disease by next year.
“If we can get through this winter and get really the majority – overwhelming majority – of the 90 million people who have not been vaccinated, vaccinated, I hope we can start to get some good control in the spring of 2022,†Fauci told CNN.Â
After the FDA issued full approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, CVS, the University of Michigan, Chevron, the city of Chicago and New York and New Jersey’s public schools were all among the businesses, schools and governments to announce new vaccine requirements for some or all of their employees.
President Joe Biden also called on companies, nonprofit groups, government agencies and schools to “step up vaccine requirements that will reach millions more people.”Â
FDA warns against use of animal dewormer as COVID-19 treatment
Health officials are warning against using a drug called ivermectin for unapproved use as a medicine to prevent or treat COVID-19. The drug, which has been approved only as an anti-parasitic treatment for humans and animals, such as livestock and horses, has been the subject of a spike in calls to the Mississippi Poison Control Center.Â
The drugs produced for humans are different than what’s made for livestock, which is “highly concentrated and is toxic to people, and can cause serious harm,” the Mississippi State Department of Health said in an alert Monday. At least two people have been hospitalized with potential ivermectin toxicity after ingesting the drug produced for livestock, the state’s poison control center said Monday.
Interest in the drug is rising as the delta variant of the coronavirus has spurred higher COVID-19 transmission rates and increased concern among the vaccinated about becoming infected.
Multiple reports of patients treated or hospitalized after “self-medicating with ivermectin intended for horses” led the FDA to issue a warning Friday. “You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y’all. Stop it,” the agency said on Twitter.  Â
Hawaii Gov. David Ige urges tourists to stay home amid COVID surge
Hawaii Gov. David Ige is urging tourists not to visit the popular vacation destination through October because of a surge in COVID cases that has the state’s hospitals at capacity.
“It’s not a good time to travel to the islands,” he said at a news conference Monday.
That doesn’t mean travelers cannot visit Hawaii, as the state did not tighten its entry requirements. Since October, travelers have been able to visit by presenting a negative COVID test to bypass the state’s strict quarantine. In July, the testing requirement went away for vaccinated travelers.
There has been speculation the testing requirement would return because of the spike in COVID cases from the delta variant, but Ige said that is difficult to do because the CDC says domestic travel is safe for vaccinated travelers.
How one woman vaccinated more than 94% of her Alabama townÂ
Dorothy Oliver runs a General Store out of a white trailer in in Panola, Alabama, the only place to shop for miles. She’s not afraid to ask her customers about their vaccination status and help ease their concerns. When the COVID-19 vaccine became widely available, the nearest clinics offering them were about a 40-minute drive away.
Oliver said she wanted to make the process easy, so she volunteered to help schedule appointments and drive her customers to and from the sites. “A lot of them had a lot of doubts, and then I had a lot of them that were excited that they had somebody who could help them,†Oliver said. Â
There are about 350 people in the Panola area, and according to Oliver’s records, only about 20 adults in the community are left unvaccinated. She keeps a slowly dwindling list of them. Read more about Oliver’s efforts here.Â
Contributing: The Associated Press
