September 23, 2020 - J&J Vaccine
J&J Vaccine
September 23, 2020
ADPH reported 569 cases today (incl. 105 probables), which is the lowest daily total since September 6. But, there were only 5,450 tests, which is again well below the 7-day rolling average of 6,243. Our positivity rate stands at 13.53%; only 7 states had positivity rates worse than 13.53% over the last week, the highest being Arkansas at 20.74%. Finally, 31 more Alabamians lost their lives to COVID-19, bringing our overall total to just shy of 2,500 deaths.
In general, it seems clear that our daily cases and infection rate have plateaued over the last 10 days to 2 weeks. That is the good news. If you look over the course of the last 6 months, it is a different story. Since the start of the pandemic, Alabama has had 2990 cases per 100K population, which is the 4th highest per capita case rate in the nation, behind only our sister Southern states of Louisiana, Florida and Mississippi. On the testing end of the spectrum, we have averaged 2,289 per 100K population, which is good for 40th in the nation. No other state has a wider disparity between its per capita cases and its per capita tests. That means, no State has had a higher overall positivity rate over the course of the pandemic.
There was one encouraging study out of Brown University today having to do with schools. Tracking infections over a two-week period beginning Aug. 31, the study found that 0.23 percent of students had a confirmed or suspected case of the coronavirus. Among teachers, it was 0.49 percent. The conclusion is that school infection rates, so far at least, are far lower than expected. Public health experts cautioned that these are only early data, yet they are encouraging.
Finally, Johnson & Johnson announced its plans to enroll 60,000 persons in its Phase 3 vaccine trial. The company said it could know by the end of this year if its vaccine works. And its vaccine has advantages over its two primary competitors - Moderna and Pfizer. First, the J&J vaccine will be administered in a single injection instead of two. Second, while the vaccine must remain refrigerated, it does not have to be frozen, which will be advantageous for widespread distribution. Now, for the totals:
9/10 - 1,148
9/11 - 1,138
9/12 - 943
9/13 - 1,109
9/14 - 704
9/15 - 701
9/16 - 927
9/17 - 670
9/18 - 1,106
9/19 - 1,301
9/20 - 798
9/21 - 818
9/22 - 804
9/23 - 569
There are now 8 counties with lower than 5% weekly positivity rates: Wilcox, Monroe, Tallapoosa, Chambers, Sumter, Greene, Clarke and Houston counties. Three counties have rates that top 20%: Clay, Cleburne and Bullock.