Month: July 2021

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director, said on Tuesday that the more contagious delta variant of COVID-19 now makes up 83% of sequenced samples in the United States. Walensky said in a Senate committee hearing: “This is a dramatic increase, up from 50% for the week of July 3.”

Health experts confirm that the delta variant is more transmissible than any other identified COVID-19 variant so far.  Recent data from Israel, evaluating effectiveness of the Pfizer/BionTech mRNA vaccine against the delta variant, found the vaccine to be 64% protective against infection, and that the vaccine is 93% effective in preventing severe disease and hospitalizations. Other studies indicate that the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are also effective against the delta variant.

However according to the CDC, more than half of the U.S. is not yet fully vaccinated, which is becoming increasingly worrisome to health experts. If many of these people do not get inoculated, Dr. Anthony Fauci said the U.S. can expect a “smoldering” outbreak for “a considerable period of time.”

The rise of the delta variant comes as the U.S. sees a new uptick in COVID-19 cases and an increase in hospitalizations and deaths. The average of new daily cases this week is up 66% from last week and 145% from two weeks ago, as cases surge in 44 states, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. In addition, hospitalizations are up 26% from last week. 99.5% of deaths are among the unvaccinated.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and three crewmates soared into space aboard a Blue Origin rocket from Texas, landing safely in the desert about 10 minutes later.  The New Shepard suborbital rocket lifted off about 9:12 a.m. EDT from the company’s Corn Ranch launch site 160 miles east of El Paso.

Bezos’ brother, Mark Bezos, rode into space with crewmates Wally Funk, an 82-year-old aviation pioneer from Texas, and 18-year-old Oliver Daemen — the youngest and oldest to ever fly in space. Daemen also became the first paying customer on a private company’s spacecraft, after a Blue Origin auction June 12.  The four crew members ascended the launch tower and reached the capsule via a walkway about 30 minutes before liftoff, where they were strapped into seats in the capsule for the countdown. The rocket, about five stories tall, accelerated to about 2,200 mph emitting 110,000 pounds of thrust, creating gravity forces of about three times the normal pull on Earth. After reaching space, the crew experience a few minutes of weightlessness before returning to Earth.

Bezos became the second person to reach space aboard his own company’s private spacecraft, the Blue Origin capsule. Just nine days earlier, Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Galactic, launched from the public Spaceport America, which is owned by the state of New Mexico. Bezos said he chose July 20 for the launch because it is the anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969. Bezos said at a news conference that his company plans two more flights this year with people on board, and that he hopes Blue Origin can eventually build orbital rockets and facilities on the moon — and even asteroids or Mars.

Editorial credit: JennLShoots / Shutterstock.com

Canadian health officials announced on Monday that American citizens who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will be allowed entry into Canada for non-essential travel, beginning next month. The Public Health Agency of Canada said in an official update that beginning Aug. 9, Americans who have completed regimens of approved vaccines can enter the country for discretionary travel if they can provide proof of vaccination and meet several other criteria. Unvaccinated American children under the age of 12 will also be allowed entry after Aug. 9 if accompanied by a qualified parent or adult guardian.

When the new rules are implemented, non-essential travel between the United States and Canada would be allowed to resume for the first time since the earliest stages of the pandemic in March 2020. The government said it intends to further open its borders starting Sept. 7 when it will allow fully vaccinated travelers from any country to enter Canada as long as they can show they had become immunized at least 14 days before entry.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters his government has been in “close communication” with the U.S. administration about the move, saying: “I can tell you that as we made decisions around reopening to the world in early September and to American travelers a few weeks before that we kept the American government fully apprised of exactly those issues,” adding, “every country makes its own decisions about its own borders.”

Ben & Jerry’s, which is owned by Unilever, will no longer sell ice cream in occupied Palestinian territories, saying it’s inconsistent with the values of the socially conscious brand. The ice cream company has been doing business in Israel since 1987. The Vermont-based company has aligned itself with liberal causes, including diverting some funds destined for police departments and investing “that money in community-driven solutions that foster real health, peacekeeping, and safety.” The company called on the United States to end white supremacy and launched a podcast on racism in America last year.

Customers have criticized the company for its business in Israel, particularly in West Bank settlements, arguing it doesn’t align with Ben & Jerry’s liberal image. In 2015, Ben & Jerry’s posted on its website that it was “keenly aware of how complex the local market can be,” and it believed it could affect positive change by maintaining a presence in the region. However on Monday, Ben & Jerry’s had a change of heart, saying it heard and recognized the concerns shared by its fans and partners. Ben & Jerry’s said it informed its licensee in Israel that its agreement will not be renewed when it expires at the end of 2022. After then, Ben & Jerry’s will no longer be sold in the Palestinian territories. The company’s ice cream will, however, continue to be sold in Israel, “through a different arrangement.”

Israel’s new prime minister, Naftali Bennett, criticized the decision and said that Ben & Jerry’s has decided to brand itself as the”anti-Israel ice cream.” Ayelet Shaked, Israel’s minister of interior, tweeted, “Your ice cream is not in line with our taste,” she said. “We will manage without you.”

Editorial credit: James R. Martin / Shutterstock.com