How to have a COVID-safe summer
A sign requiring the use of masks is seen at a beach last summer in Del Mar, California, U.S., July 15, 2020. Experts warn that dismissing pandemic precautions too soon could lead to another surge in cases and threaten the progress being made by the nation's robust vaccination effort. Mike Blake/Reuters
Around 3 million people are getting vaccinated against COVID-19 every day in the United States, making the total number of Americans fully vaccinated close to 15 percent of the population. Nonetheless,
case counts are growing nationally, especially in hotspots like Michigan.
It’s clear that these shots offer significant protection against the virus. But that doesn’t mean you should toss your masks out two weeks after you’ve received your final dose, which is when experts say you can consider yourself fully vaccinated.
The CDC is updating its guidance for those folks as it learns more about what is safe. On Friday, the agency
updated its recommendations on travel, announcing that traveling domestically or internationally poses a “low risk” to fully vaccinated people. But the agency reiterated that mask wearing, social distancing and other basic precautions are here to stay. With that in mind, here’s our guide to how to
safely go about life during the second summer of this pandemic.
A growing number of public health experts say that verifying a person’s vaccination status is an inevitable step to getting back to “normal” in the U.S. But determining how to do that while protecting privacy and addressing existing inequities is a tricky line to walk. In many countries, vaccine passports -- or ways that
residents can document and prove their vaccination status -- are gaining traction to facilitate a safe reopening process that reduces transmission risk both inside and across borders.
Pfizer announced this week that its vaccine is safe for adolescents aged 12 to 15 years old, a conclusion
based on results from its most recent clinical trial. The drug company will now ask the Food and Drug Administration to
consider authorizing its shot for that age group, a decision that could be made by this summer. Experts say that vaccinating young people will be a key step toward protecting the broader public against the coronavirus.
Even as the U.S. sets records for daily COVID-19 vaccinations, disparities in availability persist. Many medically vulnerable people are
still waiting for their shot, despite being at higher risk for severe disease. That’s in part because most states didn’t prioritize that group early on in the vaccine rollout, in addition to the fact that eligibility has varied from state to state.
For similar reasons, despite having underlying health conditions that make them more susceptible to COVID-19, many people with
intellectual and developmental disabilities are also facing an uphill battle when it comes to securing a vaccine appointment.
The coronavirus most likely started in bats and jumped to humans through an intermediate animal host, according to a recent report from the World Health Organization. The researchers behind that report say it’s
just a starting point in this ongoing investigation but critics --
including the White House -- say it hasn’t gone far enough.
Millions of doses of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine were thrown out this week because they did not meet quality standards, according to the Associated Press. The pharmaceutical company has said that it still plans to
deliver 100 million doses to vaccine distributors by the end of May. But the Associated Press found that the company behind the mishap, Emergent BioSolutions, has a history of “citations from U.S. health officials for quality control problems.”
Editor’s note: Johnson & Johnson is a funder of the PBS NewsHour.
Have a burning science question — pandemic related or otherwise — or a favorite science story from this week? Email us at sciencedesk@newshour.org
Ask the science desk
NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter is a piece of experimental technology that accompanied the agency’s Perseverance rover, which
completed its journey to Mars last month. If successful, according to NASA, Ingenuity will be the “
first [controlled,] powered flight in the extremely thin atmosphere of Mars.
During that first flight, Ingenuity will attempt to
hover for 20 to 30 seconds before landing back on the planet’s surface. Then, researchers on Earth “attempt additional experimental flights of incrementally farther distance and greater altitude,” according to NASA.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory tweeted Wednesday that this experiment is set to launch “
no later than April 11,” a slight delay from the
previous target of April 8. In the meantime, you can check
that account or NASA’s
latest news releases for updates.
What we’re reading, watching and listening to this week:
Listen: How a New Deal legacy is building clean energy in rural North Carolina. (Short Wave/NPR)
- “In North Carolina, a rural electric cooperative is reliving its New Deal history, bringing technologies like fast Internet and clean, low-carbon heating to communities that some have abandoned.”
What happens when solar power gets much, much cheaper? (InsideClimate News)
- “The Department of Energy is aiming to cut the price of utility-scale solar by more than half by 2030.”
What can we learn from a coral’s smell? (Hakai Magazine)
- “Gassy chemicals may tell tales of coral health and climate change.”
Scientists have observed ominous winter leaks in Greenland ice sheet lakes. (Gizmodo)
- “For the first time ever, scientists have shown that lakes on Greenland’s ice sheet can drain during the winter months, in a phenomenon that could accelerate the rate of glacial melt.”
A meteor may have exploded over Antarctica 430,000 years ago. (Science News)
- “A similar impact today in a populated area would be devastating.”
Narwhal tusks are full of illuminating secrets. (Popular Science)
- “The giant teeth can reveal clues about pollutants in the Narwhal's diet.”
Until next time,
Bella Isaacs-Thomas
Megan McGrew
News assistant on the
PBS News