The latest on the coronavirus pandemic and vaccines

It's been a long year for Disneyland fans, but "The Happiest Place On Earth" is finally set to reopen its doors.

The Disney resort, which houses Disneyland and its sister theme park California Adventure, plans to reopen with limited capacity on April 30, the company announced Wednesday.

Disneyland, the company's flagship theme park located in Anaheim, California, has been closed more than a year because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Massachusetts is expecting to hit one million fully vaccinated residents within the next 24 hours, Gov. Charlie Baker announced today. 

During a visit to a vaccine distribution site, Baker said that there are currently 946,306 people fully vaccinated. He also said that 1.6 million have received a first dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, and 63,000 have received a dose of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine.

This comes as the state announced Wednesday morning that they would open vaccine eligibility to people 16 and over starting April 19, which was made possible by an increase in vaccines from the federal government.

The seven-day average positivity rate for the state is currently at 1.86%, and the rate has been under 2% for the last several weeks, he said.

Note: This information was provided by the state health department and may not line up directly with JHU’s Covid Tracking project.

In the first two and half months of Covid-19 vaccine distribution in the US, counties considered to have high social vulnerability had lower vaccine coverage than counties considered to have low social vulnerability, according to a study published Wednesday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

The CDC social vulnerability index identifies communities that may need additional support during emergencies based on 15 indicators across four categories: socioeconomic status, household composition, racial/ethnic minority status and housing type. Counties were split equally between high, moderate and low social vulnerability.

By March 1, nearly 52 million vaccine doses had been administered in the US, and about 15.1% of the population had received at least one dose. But vaccination coverage was about 2 percentage points higher in counties with low social vulnerability (15.8%) than in counties with high social vulnerability (13.9%). The differences were largely driven by socioeconomic disparities, particularly differences in the share of the population with a high school diploma and per capita income. 

Only five states – Arizona, Montana, Alaska, Minnesota and West Virginia – had higher coverage in counties with high social vulnerability than in counties with low social vulnerability based on the overall index. 

Best practices in these states included prioritizing racial/ethnic minority groups in early vaccine coverage, actively monitoring barriers to vaccination, directing vaccines to vulnerable communities, offering free transportation to vaccination sites and collaborating with community partners and tribes, according to the study. 

The CDC says that achieving vaccine equity – not just equality – is an important goal, requiring “preferential access and administration to those who have been most affected” beyond proportionate distribution based on population.  

Despite disproportionate incidence of Covid-19 among non-English speaking communities and people with a disability, equal vaccination coverage was observed in these metrics for communities with both high and low social vulnerability.

Also, higher coverage in counties with larger shares of older adults is consistent with prioritization strategies. But disparities linked to access to a vehicle were “unexpected and warrants further investigation,” according to the CDC. 

The CDC social vulnerability index does not include all factors that may be used to identify disparities. Internet access, for example, is not measured. Also, population-based measures do not assess individual-level vulnerability, and vulnerabilities may vary within counties. Finally, vaccine priority groups varied by state, which may drive some differences.

An ensemble forecast published Wednesday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now projects there will be 554,000 to 574,000 coronavirus deaths in the United States by April 10.

Unlike some individual models, the CDC’s ensemble forecast only offers projections a few weeks into the future.

The previous ensemble forecast, published March 10, projected up to 571,000 coronavirus deaths by April 3.

At least 536,925 people have already died from Covid-19 in the United States, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Several states are actively loosening restrictions meant to curb coronavirus, including lifting mask mandates and welcoming spring breakers.

Here's a snapshot of what the Covid-19 data shows in three of those states. 

Mississippi 

Texas

Florida

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker announced that as of April 19, people ages 16 and older will be eligible for a Covid-19 vaccine. 

In announcing the timelines for remaining eligibility groups, the governor said:

The governor said this week that the state is receiving a modest increase in supply of first doses, amounting to approximately 170,000, which includes an unexpected 8,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Global cases of Covid-19 increased by 10% over the past week, but deaths are declining, according to the weekly epidemiological update from the World Health Organization published Tuesday. 

Globally cases increased 10% over the past week to over three million new reported cases, according to the report. The number of new cases peaked in early January, then declined in the week beginning Feb. 15. They have now increased for the past three weeks. 

All WHO regions have reported a rise in new cases apart from Africa. 

New deaths have continued to decline, the report said. They are now under 60,000, down from a peak of over 95,000 deaths in the week beginning Jan. 18. The last time that deaths were this low was four months ago. 

This week, deaths rose in two WHO regions: the Eastern Mediterranean and the Western Pacific. 

Over 80% of the new reported cases and deaths come from the Americas and Europe. 

Brazil reported the highest number of new cases – just over 494,000 – followed by the US, France, Italy and India. 

After several European Union countries temporarily suspended the use of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, the World Health Organization said Wednesday that the vaccine’s benefits outweigh its risks and vaccinations should continue.

The statement follows reports of rare blood clotting disorders in people who have received the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine. WHO notes that it’s routine for countries to signal potential adverse events during extensive vaccination campaigns, and it doesn’t necessarily mean the events are linked to the vaccination.

The statement said WHO is in regular contact with the European Medicine Agency and regulators around the world, and its Global Advisory Commission on Vaccine Safety is “carefully assessing” the latest safety data.

“Once that review is completed, WHO will immediately communicate the findings to the public,” it said.

Covid-19 cases are rising by more than 10% in 14 states this week compared to last week, with half of those states rising by more than 20%.

While nationally the number of new cases has continued to decline – though at a much slower rate over the past three weeks compared to late January and February – the trend is not down for all states. 

One month ago, on Feb. 17, there were only 3 states showing increases of 10% or more (North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska).

Michigan cases are increasing the fastest, at more than 50% this week compared to last, with Delaware (39%), Montana (34%), Alabama (31%) and West Virginia (29%) in the Top 5.

The 14 states increasing by more than 10% are: