COVID, Coronavirus, Omicron and Delta variants, and vaccine updates for 02-15-2022
·5 min
The episode opens with New York City's enforcement of vaccine mandates, resulting in 1,430 firings and hundreds more getting vaccinated under threat of termination. Hong Kong announced it will offer vaccines to children as young as three, down from the previous age limit of five, while extending school closures and restricting access to public spaces to vaccinated individuals only. U.K. health officials confirmed the existence of Deltacron, a combination of Delta and Omicron variants that evolved in a person infected with both simultaneously, reversing earlier dismissals of this variant. Research indicates that famotidine, the active ingredient in Pepcid, may help COVID symptoms like breathing difficulties and changes to smell and taste resolve faster by preventing inflammation. In New Zealand, police used unconventional tactics against vaccine mandate protesters, playing Barry Manilow's Copacabana and Macarena on loop when sprinklers proved ineffective. U.S. COVID metrics show cases down 67%, deaths down 3%, and hospitalizations down 35% over 14 days, with the seven-day average declining since January 14. Mississippi, Virginia, West Virginia, Kansas, and Arkansas had the highest daily death rates per 100,000 people. The New York Times identified specific counties in Alaska, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Tennessee with the highest recent case rates per capita. Rhode Island leads U.S. states with 79.9% fully vaccinated, while Alabama and Mississippi trail at 49.9%. Globally, cases decreased 30% but deaths increased 13% over 14 days, with Russia, Germany, Japan, the United States, and Turkey reporting the most new cases.
