At Least Trump Is Gone (Pandemic Part XVIII)

Joe Biden has been president for more than three weeks, and I can't adequately express my relief! It feels like a miracle that adults are in charge again and I don't have to worry about the next crazy and potentially dangerous thing Trump does. 

Biden inherited more crises than any modern president, and he's working quickly to address them, often through executive orders. COVID is at the top of his list, of course. As he learns about all that was left undone by the previous administration, he is scrambling to right the ship. And he's struggling to get his proposed $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package through Congress.

Wed., Jan. 20

• The first case of COVID-19 in the U.S. was diagnosed one year ago.
• Trump left the White House for good!
• President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were inaugurated under tight security, with few spectators. The day was filled with virtual events, including a concert and the most amazing fireworks on the National Mall.
• Biden signed executive orders re-joining the World Health Organization, requiring masks on Federal property, and requesting an extension of the moratorium on evictions.
• Surgeon General Jerome Adams resigned at Biden's request.
• In Maine, 16,000 doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines spoiled because they were kept at the wrong temperature.
• The U.S. had a new daily record of 4,400 deaths.

Thurs., Jan. 21

• Biden announced the U.S. would join Covax, a coordinated, global effort to vaccinate people.
• Dr. Fauci attended the WHO executive board meeting.
• The administration released a new COVID strategy and will ask for Congress to pay for vaccinating people on Medicaid.
• Biden issued an executive order requiring masks on buses, trains, and planes.
• Biden said the country's COVID death toll would likely top 500,000.
• The District of Columbia announced that all overweight residents would get priority for vaccines.

Fri., Jan. 22

• The U.K. variant of the virus was spreading rapidly in Denmark.
• The Federal Emergency Management Agency planned to open 100 mass vaccination sites around the country.
• Biden planned to increase production of low dead-space syringes to get a sixth dose out of a vial of Pfizer vaccine that is meant to hold five. Vaccine shipments from Pfizer accompanied by low dead space syringes would be counted as six doses, and those with regular syringes would count as five, against Pfizer’s contract for 200 million shots.

Sat., Jan., 23

• TV talk show host Larry King died of COVID. 
• One year ago, Wuhan, China, shut down for 76 days. Eleven million people couldn't leave their homes. The city hasn't had a case in months now.
• The U.S. seemed to have avoided the worst-case coronavirus scenarios that officials feared would overwhelm hospitals in the aftermath of Christmas and New Year’s gatherings. Experts cautioned, however, that the threat from the virus had not diminished and could intensify with the emergence of new variants.

Sun., Jan. 24

• The Biden administration released a 200-page plan to fight coronavirus.
• Medical experts said 100 million vaccinations in 100 days wasn't ambitious enough since the country was already close to administering a million shots a day.
• The U.S. hit 25 million cases. 

Mon., Jan. 25

• Moderna said its vaccine protects against the U.K. and South Africa variants.
• Biden issued a travel ban for non-U.S. citizens traveling from South Africa, Brazil, the U.K., and 26 additional European countries because of increasing spread due to new variants.
• In her first interview since ending her role as Trump's pandemic response coordinator, Deborah Birx said he used a “parallel set of data” not made by her team. Birx told CBS she saw graphs and statistics in the president's hands that were different from the ones she had supplied.
• New evidence showed the economy was on the decline before lockdown orders last spring, as people were already staying in due to the virus.
• Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador tested positive for the coronavirus.
• Biden increased his vaccination goal to 1.5 million a day.
• Baker moved up the 65 and older cohort in the vaccine rollout. It's now right after the 75-plus in February. Massachusetts would be adding dozens of new vaccination sites by mid-February.
• About 18 million Americans have received at least one dose of vaccine; three million have received both doses.
• The first case of the Brazilian variant was found in the U.S. (Minnesota).

Tues., Jan. 26

• Deaths and cases were plateauing, dropping from two weeks ago, but still high. There were 3,100 deaths a day and 170,000 new cases.
• California lifted its stay-at-home order.
• The CDC found scant evidence that the virus was spread in schools, especially when masks were worn and distancing enforced.
• The Biden Administration was buying two million more vaccine doses for a total of 600 million.
• The University of Michigan shut down after the U.K. variant was widespread on campus.

Wed., Jan. 27

• I signed Mom up to get the vaccine at the Northampton Senior Center. There was a waiting list, and they would notify me by email.
• The Biden Administration planned to increase vaccine distribution to states by 16 percent.
• Massachusetts hit 14,000 deaths and nearly 485,000 cases.
• The world hit 100 million cases, with 25 percent in the U.S., which has only four percent of population. 

Thurs., Jan. 28

• Michael Osterholm, University of Minnesota researcher and Biden adviser, said the worst would be in 6-14 weeks, due to three new virus variants (U.K., South Africa, and Brazil).
• The first two cases of the South African variant in the U.S. were found in South Carolina.
• Experts started recommending double-masking due to more transmissible variants.
• Novavax released results of its vaccine testing. It had 90 percent efficacy on the original virus but only 50 percent on the South African variant.

Fri., Jan. 29

• Johnson & Johnson released results of its single-shot vaccine testing: 72 percent effective against moderate to severe disease in U.S. but 57 percent in South Africa. It's 85 percent effective at preventing severe disease (hospitalizations and deaths) everywhere.
• Experts were concerned about getting Americans vaccinated before the easier-to-transmit and harder-to-vaccinate-against variants take over.
• Federal reports showed that the government didn't use proper precautions when evacuating Americans from Wuhan a year ago, when the virus hit.
• University of Washington model predicted 654,000 deaths by May 1.

Sat., Jan. 30

• The CDC issued guidance that masks must be worn at train and subway stations, bus terminals, and airports nationwide, as well as on planes, trains, and other types of public transportation.
• WHO asked countries to pause vaccination once vulnerable populations were immunized to equitably disperse vaccines.
• The U.S. hit 26 million cases.
• Believers in false far-right and anti-vax claims caused a traffic jam to keep people from getting vaccinated at Los Angeles's Dodgers Stadium.
• Mom got the chair of the Goshen Board of Health to make vaccine appointments (first and second shots) for her at Baystate Health.

Sun., Jan. 31

• Experts were worried about the new more easily transmissible variants; the more easily a virus is transmitted, the greater the percentage of people that need to be vaccinated to reach herd immunity. Would need 80-85% vaccinated, rather than 70%.
• Research showed the U.K. variant may be 30 percent more lethal.
• Representatives from WHO were in Wuhan trying to determine if that's where the virus started. 

Mon., Feb. 1

• The planned opening of a mass vaccination site at Fenway Park was delayed due to a snowstorm. 
• Researchers were noticing a connection between getting COVID and developing diabetes.

Tues., Feb. 2

• Snowstorm canceled vaccine clinics in the Northeast.
• Massachusetts reached 500,000 cases.
• The Biden Administration announced a pilot agreement with 6,500 pharmacies across the country to administer vaccine. It planned to ship an extra one million doses on Feb. 11.

Wed., Feb. 3

• The U.S. hit 450,000 deaths.

Thurs., Feb. 4

• New infections, hospitalizations, and deaths were dropping as vaccinations picked up.
• Experts were telling people to avoid Super Bowl gatherings. Dr. Fauci said, "Just lay low and cool it."
• The virus was finding it harder to spread in India because a significant proportion of the population had already been infected.
• Johnson & Johnson sought emergency-use authorization from the FDA for its single-shot vaccine.
• The University of Washington model predicted 631,000 deaths by June 1.
• There were 5,000 daily deaths in the U.S., a new record.
• Someone posted in the Facebook AllThingsWilliamsburg group that there were extra vaccine doses at the Northampton Senior Center and people should drive there immediately. 

Fri., Feb. 5

• I tried to sign up Mom for a vaccine appointment at Big Y, but there weren't any available.
• Vaccine doses administered outnumbered new cases 10:1 in last week.
• After a year of campaigning for mask-wearing, about 75% of Americans were wearing them.
• The NFL announced it would make all of its stadiums available as mass-vaccination sites.

Sat., Feb. 6

• UMass, which welcomed some students back at the end of January, had a large number of cases.

Sun., Feb. 7

• The U.S. hit 27 million cases and more than 460,000 deaths.
• Rep. Ron Wright (R-Tex.) died on Sunday. He was the first sitting member of Congress to die after battling COVID-19.

Mon., Feb. 8

• Forty million vaccine doses had been administered in the U.S.
• Cases were declining, but the U.K. variant was becoming more common, and experts predicted it would be the dominant strain in the U.S. by the end of March.
• Dr. Fauci said giving more people first doses and postponing second doses to make sure more people were partially immunized wasn't wise.
• Gov. Baker eased statewide restrictions, allowing 40% capacity for restaurants (up from 25%).
• Conditions were ripe for superspreading among the maskless throngs who swamped Tampa’s streets after the Buccaneers’ Super Bowl win.
• UMass ordered students to stay in their dorms for two weeks. 

Wed., Feb. 10

• The CDC emphasized proper mask fit to protect against coronavirus variants, urging double masks in some cases.
• The U.S. had 470,000 deaths.
• Mom got her first dose of the Pfizer vaccine at the Northampton Senior Center.
• Gov. Baker issued an order allowing those accompanying elderly to vaccine appointments to also get immunized. It led to young people posting on CraigsList, offering money to drive seniors to appointments.

Thurs., Feb. 11

• Dr. Fauci said the vaccine should be available to the general public by April.
• Biden secured 200 million more shots.

Fri., Feb. 12

• FEMA sent 1,000 staff to vaccination sites to help.
• The CDC announced that schools could re-open safely, given certain precautions.
• It was revealed that then-President Trump's condition was much worse than the public was told last fall. Doctors were considering putting him on a ventilator.

Sat., Feb. 13

• We had our annual Chinese New Year celebration -- just the three of us.
• The Senate found Donald Trump not guilty of inciting an insurrection at the Capitol on January 6. Twice impeached, twice acquitted, but at least he's no longer president, and seven Republicans voted against him.

Mon., Feb. 15

• There had been 27,600,000 cases and 484,000 deaths. There were nearly 74,000 new daily cases reported. Nearly 53 million vaccine doses have been administered in U.S., with 14 million Americans having received two doses of vaccine.
• Four million Americans flew over the long weekend, despite warnings from health officials.

The number of new cases is declining rapidly, due to masking, distancing, vaccination,  and the number of people who have already been infected. The daily average, however, is roughly what it was at the end of October, which was much higher that the initial wave last spring and about the same as the second wave last summer. Experts caution that after each wave, cases don't return to levels before the wave; they remain higher.

It's a relief to have Mom on her way to being fully vaccinated. I hope Don will get immunized in the next couple of months. We're all tired of hybrid school, but Sarah is getting excellent grades. She spends hours a day FaceTiming with friends and Sophia, which I find a blessing and a curse. It's hard to say what the summer will look like, but we always have the cabin. We are blessed.