The latest It's been 17 months since the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus had caused a pandemic. Now, nations around the planet are learning what it means to live alongside this pathogen. In Indonesia, which largely lacks access to vaccines, space to bury the dead is running out. Uganda, also lacking shots, squashed a recent surge with a strict lockdown. In England, which boasts a high vaccination rate, cases have plunged. In the United States, some Americans may be feeling deja vu: It's risk-vs.-reward all over again, the calculus of socializing amid the delta variant. A recent poll found that a third of U.S. adults believe they are at moderate or high risk of getting covid-19. "Everybody's got to choose their own risk tolerance, which'll depend on your psychological state & your risk factors for a bad outcome," as one physician wrote in a recent Twitter thread. Despite delta, confidence in the vaccines among experts remains high – especially at preventing severe illness and death. And, yes, that includes the Johnson & Johnson shot. A new trial among health-care workers in South Africa found that the J&J vaccine was up to 71 percent effective at stopping hospitalizations, and 95 percent at preventing deaths, from infections with the delta variant. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention today finalized its recommendations for coronavirus vaccines and pregnancies: Women who are pregnant ought to get the vaccine, and should not fear increased risks of ill effects such as miscarriage. This shouldn't be a surprise – CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said three months ago the shots are safe for pregnant women. What's different is the agency has sufficient safety data among pregnant women to officially move from its technically "neutral" stance to a full-throated endorsement. About half of parents are waiting to vaccinate their eligible children, a Kaiser Family Foundation survey recently found. As the school year approaches – or, in some places, begins – only about 4 in 10 adolescents ages 12 to 17 have been vaccinated. That poll found a partisan divide over vaccine mandates, with about two-thirds of Democratic parents in favor while three-fourths of Republican parents against. Mask mandates in schools appear to be generally popular, though. Overall, 63 percent of parents said their children's schools need to require masks for unvaccinated people. The Department of Health and Human Services approved the delivery of 200 ventilators to Florida at the state's request. On average, more than 20,000 people in Florida are newly infected each day. And the Florida Hospital Association said hospitalizations have risen to 145 percent of what they were in the state's earlier peak, which was in July 2020. Other important news Chinese media amplified claims made by a Facebook user who said he was a Swiss scientist. That scientist does not appear to be real. A letter to the White House delivered Tuesday, signed by nearly 200 pandemic experts, warned that U.S. leaders ought to "act now" to wrestle the virus under control globally. Various religious groups are split whether vows to respect human life include supporting vaccine mandates. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has threatened to withhold the salaries of educators who insist on classroom mask mandates, despite his executive order banning them. The Biden administration is examining whether it could pay any defiant Florida educators. In an interview yesterday, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) scorned health regulations aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) did so, too, earlier this week. Also yesterday, the United States reported its highest single-day new infections in eight months.
As leading GOP officials oppose mask requirements and other precautions, some conservatives fear the Republican Party "is on track to make itself the face of the delta variant," reporters Felicia Sonmez and Hannah Knowles write. | 
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