COVID-19 variants could lead to a fall surge in U.S. cases after months of decline, if more people don’t get vaccinated.<\/p>\n
That’s the warning in a recent briefing from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, which has published an influential virus model throughout the pandemic. The briefing also says vaccines will need to effectively fight the variants\u00a0for the U.S. to escape a seasonal surge in the fall.<\/p>\n
“Cases and deaths should remain low until mid-September. At that point,\u00a0we expect … increasing transmission,” the model says.<\/p>\n
The model projects about\u00a067% of U.S. adults are likely to be vaccinated \u2014 the same number USA TODAY is predicting could be at least partially vaccinated by July 4 at the current pace.<\/p>\n
Globally, the World Health Organization warned that the Group of Seven promise of 1 billion vaccine doses was good news but \u201cwe need more, and we need them faster.\u201d<\/p>\n
Also in the news:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u25ba\u00a0<\/strong>A recently\u00a0discovered note marked the “apocalyptic, surreal”\u00a0moment a pilot parked a jet in storage at the beginning of\u00a0the pandemic. The\u00a0“time capsule” is serving as a reminder of how much has changed in the past year.<\/p>\n \u25ba<\/strong>Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro was hit with a fine for failure to wear a mask in violation of local pandemic restrictions when he led\u00a0thousands of motorcyclist supporters through the streets of Sao Paulo on Saturday.<\/p>\n \u25ba\u00a0<\/strong>Starting June 15, Walt Disney World\u00a0will no longer require\u00a0guests who have been fully vaccinated to wear face masks in most areas. All guests, however,\u00a0must continue to wear their masks while\u00a0on Disney transportation, including Disney buses, monorails and the Disney Skyliner aerial gondolas.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u25ba <\/strong>Last year, about 19.5 million kids missed out on the fun of summer camp because of\u00a0the pandemic. This year, even though most camps are set to\u00a0reopen, COVID-19 restrictions\u00a0and a pandemic-induced\u00a0labor shortage will keep numbers well below a normal threshold of about 26 million summer campers, said Tom Rosenberg of the American Camp Association.\u00a0<\/p>\n \ud83d\udcc8\u00a0Today’s numbers:\u00a0<\/strong>The U.S.\u00a0has more than 33.4 million\u00a0confirmed coronavirus cases and over 599,000 deaths, according\u00a0to\u00a0Johns Hopkins University\u00a0data. The global totals: over 175 million\u00a0cases and\u00a0over 3.7\u00a0million\u00a0deaths. More than 143\u00a0million\u00a0Americans have been fully vaccinated \u2013\u00a043.1% of the population,\u00a0according to\u00a0the CDC.\u00a0<\/p>\n \ud83d\udcd8\u00a0What we’re reading:\u00a0<\/strong>Scientists say biology tells us why it has been so much easier to\u00a0vaccinate against COVID-19 when other medical problems remain intractable.<\/p>\n Keep refreshing this page for the latest updates. Want more?\u00a0Sign up for our\u00a0Coronavirus Watch\u00a0newsletter\u00a0for updates to your inbox and\u00a0join our Facebook group.<\/em><\/p>\n The head of the World Health Organization has welcomed the vaccine-sharing announcements coming out of the Group of Seven summit but says \u201cwe need more, and we need them faster.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe challenge, I said to the G-7 leaders, was that to truly end the pandemic, our goal must be to vaccinate at least 70% of the world\u2019s population by the time the G-7 meets again in Germany next year,\u201d WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters Saturday at the summit in southwest England.<\/p>\n \u201cTo do that, we need 11 billion doses,\u201d Tedros said, adding that it was \u201cessential\u201d for countries to temporarily waive intellectual property protections for coronavirus vaccines.<\/p>\n British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the summit’s host, has said the group would pledge at least 1 billion doses, with half that number coming from the United States and 100 million from Britain over the next year.<\/p>\n Tedros reiterated his target of vaccinating 30% of the population of every country by the end of 2021. He said that reaching the goal requires 100 million doses in June and July, and 250 million more by September.<\/p>\n The Transportation Security Administration on Friday screened more than 2 million people for the first time since the onset of the pandemic, a major\u00a0milestone for the travel industry.\u00a0The agency\u00a0screened 2,028,961 people that day, about four times the number screened on the same day in 2020 and 74% of the\u00a0travel volume in 2019. Before the pandemic, the TSA screened 2 million\u00a0to 2.5 million people per day on average.\u00a0<\/p>\n The number is a strong signal for the return of travel this summer, which has been one of the industries hit hardest by the pandemic. Experts expect a healthy amount of leisure travel this summer as vaccination rates continue to climb in the U.S. and pent-up demand pushes Americans to book trips.<\/p>\n \u201cThe growing number of travelers demonstrates this country\u2019s resilience and the high level of confidence in COVID-19 counter measures, to include ready access to vaccines,\u201d TSA acting administrator Darby LaJoye\u00a0said in a Saturday news release. \u201cTSA stands ready to provide a safe and secure screening process as part of the overall travel experience.\u201d<\/p>\n The lowest pandemic-era\u00a0screening volume at the TSA was on April 13, 2020, when 87,534 people were screened.<\/p>\nWHO says vaccine donations aren’t enough<\/h2>\n
TSA screens more than 2 million for the first time since pandemic began<\/h2>\n