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This is Covid 411, the latest on Omicron and other COVID variants, and new hotspots for December 31st, 2021.

Lots of concern about the number of children being hospitalized with COVID, and most of them aren’t vaccinated. The CDC says during the week of Dec. 22-28, an average 378 children 17 and under were admitted daily with the coronavirus, a 66% increase from the prior week. While it’s not being reported whether these cases are Delta or Omicron, the kids do seem less sick than those who came in during the Delta surge. 

As expected, Israel has approved dose number four the vaccine for the most vulnerable, becoming one of the first countries to do so. The Health Ministry said it will watch the data to see if the fourth shot needs to be expanded out to even more people.

Germany is dropping the requirement that travelers from Britain quarantine and provide negative COVID tests January 4. And in South Africa, they’ve lifted a midnight to 4 a.m. curfew, saying they believe the country’s passed the peak of its Omicron-driven fourth wave of the virus. South Africa’s currently at the lowest of its five-stage COVID alert levels.

Good news for you Johnson & Johnson recipients, two reports have shown those who get booster doses of that vaccine are well protected against severe disease and hospitalization from Omicron. One study showed vaccine effectiveness against hospitalization at 85% post booster. The other showed the vaccine stimulates a strong immune response from T-cells, which protect you even if the virus isn’t completely blocked.

If you think you can avoid the coronavirus by isolating yourself, try this on for size. Two-thirds of researchers in a remote station in Antarctica caught it even though they were fully vaccinated, PCR tested before arriving, and miles from civilization. So good luck with that isolation thing. 

In the United States, cases were up 153%, deaths are down 7%, and hospitalizations are up 14% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending up since December 14.  

The five states that had the most daily deaths per 100,000 are Michigan, Tennessee, New Mexico, Arizona, and Pennsylvania.

There are 12,933,384 active cases in the United States.

The five areas with the greatest increase in hospitalizations per capita: Puerto Rico 335%, Washington DC 168%, Louisiana 118%, Florida 104%, and Hawaii 101%.  

The top 10 areas with the highest number of recent cases per capita according to The New York Times: Pitkin, CO. Summit, CO. Essex, NJ. Eagle, CO. New York City, NY. Nassau, NY. San Juan, PR. Washington, DC. Miami-Dade, FL. And Guaynabo, PR.

There have been at least 824,277 deaths in the U.S. recorded as Covid-related.

The top 3 vaccinating states by percentage of population that’s been fully vaccinated: Vermont unchanged at 77.3%, Rhode Island at 76.3%, and Maine unchanged at 75.7%. The bottom 3 vaccinating states are Wyoming at 47.5%, Alabama unchanged at 47.6%, and Mississippi unchanged at 48.1%. The percentage of the U.S. that’s been fully vaccinated is unchanged at 61.9%.

Globally, cases were up 68% and deaths down 12% over 14 days, with the 7-day average trending up since October 15. 

There are now over 28 million active cases around the world, at 28,254,090.

The five countries with the most new cases: The United States 565,987 – over a half million new cases in just one day. France 206,243. The U.K. 189,213. Spain 161,688. And Italy 126,888. 

There have been at least 5,428,687 deaths reported as Covid-related worldwide. 

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