April 10, 2021
Yesterday and today, ADPH reported an average of 336 new cases each day and an average of 3,211 tests, resulting in a positivity rate for the 2 days of 10.5%. The 7-day moving average of new cases is 282 per day, but the average for the last 4 days is significantly higher - 368 cases per day. There were also 37 more COVID-related deaths reported in Alabama over the last 2 days.
I am also concerned that the hospitalization rate ticked up to 3.2 patients per reporting hospital, compared to 2.98 patients per hospital yesterday. There were 51 new COVID patients admitted to Alabama hospitals compared to just 43 the day before and 35 the day before that. A 4-day increase in new daily cases and in hospitalizations bears watching, particularly since there are strong indications of a surge in the Upper Midwest and Northeast.
The last week witnessed a 3% rise in vaccine distribution in Alabama compared to the prior week. An average of 29.7K doses per day were administered in the State last week, which has now administered at least one dose to 1,344,658 people, covering 34.1% of the eligible population and 27.4% of the State’s entire population (national average = 34.5%). At least 788,325 Alabamians have been fully vaccinated, or 16.1% of the State’s entire population (national average = 20.5%).
The pace of vaccinations in Alabama and throughout the country clearly has slowed. As a result, according to the Washington Post, at one point last week, 13 states had more than 100,000 doses apiece allocated to them that were not ordered. According to the CDC, Alabama has administered just 63% of the vaccine doses that have been allocated to the State, while in neighboring Mississippi, there were more than 73,000 slots to be had on the state’s scheduling website on Thursday, up from 68,000 on Tuesday. This could be a harbinger of the future, as vaccine hesitancy remains a serious challenge in many red states in the South and the Midwest.
There was one bit of news that could help to hasten the occurrence of herd immunity. After completing a trial of more than 2,000 adolescents between the ages of 12 and 15 in the United States, Pfizer and BioNTech requested on Friday that the FDA expand the emergency use authorization for their vaccine to be used in that age group. Among those who received the vaccine in the trial, none developed symptomatic coronavirus infections or exhibited serious side effects. In March, Pfizer began testing its vaccine in children under 12, with results expected during the second half of the year. The totals;
3/28- 319
3/29- 228
3/30- 361
3/31- 408
4/1 - 478
4/2 - 400
4/3 - 349
4/4 - 194
4/5 - 109
4/6 - 196
4/7 - 338
4/8 - 464
4/9 - 318
4/10- 354