March 16 coronavirus news

Nearly 111 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in the United States, according to data published Tuesday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC reported that 110,737,856 doses have been administered – about 77% of the 142,918,525 doses delivered.

About 1.7 million doses have been reported administered since yesterday. Despite this drop, the 7-day average remains above 2.4 million doses per day and has topped yesterday’s record high.

Nearly 22% of the population – about 72 million people – has received at least one dose of vaccine, and nearly 12% of the population – about 39 million people – are fully vaccinated, CDC data shows.

Among the 65-and-older population, more than a third are fully vaccinated, and nearly two-thirds have received at least one dose. Additionally, all states have fully vaccinated at least 10% of their adult population.

A note on the data: Data published by the CDC may be delayed, and doses may not have been given on the day reported.

For the first time in months, Los Angeles County is easing some of its Covid-19 restrictions as cases decline.

Restaurants — which up until now only offered take-out and/or outdoor dining — reopened indoors with up to 25% capacity. Museums, zoos and aquariums were also permitted to reopen with up to 25% maximum capacity. Gyms, fitness centers, yoga studios and dance studios were also able to reopen indoors with up to 10% maximum occupancy.

CNN's Stephanie Elam was live in Los Angeles. Watch more:

Iraq reported their highest daily Covid-19 cases since the start of the pandemic on Tuesday, the Ministry of Health said.

A record 5,267 new coronavirus cases were reported over 24-hours bringing the total number of cases in Iraq since the start of the pandemic last year to 768,352.

Thirty-nine coronavirus related deaths were also reported on Tuesday, pushing the total number to 13,827.

There are currently 59,341 Covid-19 patients hospitalized across the county, among them 463 cases in intensive care units.

Last week, Iraq extended a series of restrictive measures announced last month for two more weeks "in light of the increasing number of infections among citizens," to contain the spread of coronavirus.

The measures include a full curfew on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays between March 9 through March 22.

Despite the restrictions imposed by the government, hundreds of thousands of Shiite pilgrims visited the holy shrine of Imam Musa al-Kadhim in Iraq last week, to commemorate his death.

It's unclear whether the increase is related to Shia yearly ritual.

New York City is on track to surpass the administration of three million Covid-19 vaccines on Tuesday, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

The city recorded over 370,000 vaccinations last week – the highest weekly total since vaccinations began – and the city hopes to increase that figure to over 500,000 weekly vaccinations, de Blasio said, adding that their goals are still contingent on the supply they receive.

New York City reported a 6.4% Covid-19 positivity rate on Tuesday. For the second day in a row, the city also reported under 200 people admitted to hospitals for Covid-19. De Blasio said it was the “first time in a long time” that new Covid-19-related hospital admissions were that low, but said it’s still too early to see if it’s a trend.

De Blasio also there was “no rhyme or reason” to New York state’s vaccine eligibility and said he did not understand how the state made its decisions regarding which categories of people were deemed eligible and other categories that are still left out. He said he believes other groups — such as members of the media and court workers — should also be among those eligible.

Note: These numbers were released by the city’s public health agency, and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Health and Human Services

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced today that Ohio will offer the Covid-19 vaccine to anyone 40 and older starting on Friday and promised to expand to anyone over the age of 16 on March 29.

Dewine said during a news conference today that anyone with cancer, chronic kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), heart disease, or obesity, will also be eligible for the vaccine on Friday.

The two new eligibility groups means that "about 1.6 million new Ohioans" will be eligible for a vaccine shot on Friday, according to DeWine. 

DeWine was in Cleveland announcing the opening of Ohio's first FEMA-coordinated mass Covid-19 vaccination clinic, located at Cleveland State University's Wolstein Center. 

The location is able to handle 1,500 people per day now but, "assuming that everything is working fine," in several days it will be vaccinating 6,000 people per day, according to DeWine. 

Cuyahoga County Executive, Armond Budish, stressed the location's role in reaching communities of color and minorities at the press conference. 

Budish said that state vaccine registration data for the Wolstein Center shows that "people of color, specifically Black and brown people, are registering at a much lower rate than white people."

Budish said that the reason for the disparity comes down to barriers in getting to the location as well as a lack of trust in the government.

Budish said that the county is working with local organizations like the Urban League, the NAACP, as well as churches and community centers, to try and overcome the distrust.

France is experiencing “what looks like a kind of third wave” of the coronavirus pandemic, Prime Minister Jean Castex told lawmakers Tuesday.  

Speaking at the French National Assembly, the prime minister said the country has seen a rise in cases of new coronavirus variants, warning that the third wave has been “characterized by variants, a lot of them.” 

Castex is set to participate in a televised interview on Tuesday evening, in which he is expected to speak about the coronavirus pandemic. 

The Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine has been provisionally approved for use in South Africa, but will remain under surveillance for efficacy and safety. 

The South Africa Health Products Regulatory Authority announced on Tuesday: “SAHPRA has approved the Section 21 application for the Pfizer/Biontech Comirnaty Vaccine.

The statement added: “This approval is subject to conducting a post Section 21 authorization efficacy and safety surveillance.”

South Africa has ordered 20 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, however a date on when the doses will arrive in the country has so far not been announced. 

This spring break, Miami Beach is seeing “too many people coming that want to just let loose in ways that are unacceptable,” Mayor Dan Gelber said, adding that it is concerning with the pandemic still on and the threat of the variants looming large.

Experts have told the mayor that it could easily spread elsewhere, he said Tuesday.

Gelber also criticized Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for restricting local and city leaders to enforce mask mandates.

“The problem is that the message people are getting from the governor and others is that they shouldn’t have to worry about this. And that’s the hardest thing,” Gelber said. “They’re getting mixed messages, including from the most prominent voice in the state.”

Watch more:

Savannah is “wide open” for St. Patrick's Day celebrations this year, the city's Mayor Van Johnson told reporters on Tuesday, while urging Covid-19 mitigation efforts to be upheld.

“It’s important to note that Savannah is wide open. We’ve been wide open. And the way we stay open is to require the use of mask,” Johnson said highlighting how important St. Patrick’s Day celebrations are to the local economy.

Last year, Savannah's St. Patrick's Day festival and parade were canceled by Johnson due to the pandemic.

Despite the pandemic and a city-issued mask mandate, thousands of residents and tourists, some maskless and many not socially distanced, packed Savannah’s streets and businesses over the weekend. 

Johnson said he was “irritated” by some instances of national news coverage comparing his city to Miami Beach, another destination being flooded with tourists, because “we have worked very hard to keep Savannah open” by masking. The mayor acknowledged he observed “lively” and maskless patrons at local establishments, a reality he feared would lead to “super-spreader” occurrences.

Johnson said Savannah Police were out in force visiting establishments selling alcohol and enforcing city and state ordinances. Johnson said police performed 48 inspections and issued 23 citations to 19 establishments that were in violation over the weekend.

Johnson said his expectation of businesses is they would comply with the city ordinances and require masks. Johnson issued a mask mandate for Savannah in July of 2020.

Police and city’s Covid-19 Taskforce estimate they have given out over 18,000 masks, the mayor said.

Savannah will open its first mass vaccination site on Wednesday.