Spotlight on Health Headlines
P resident Biden urged governors and local leaders who dropped sweeping mask mandates to reinstate their orders, indicated some states should wait to reopen their economies while condemning “reckless behavior” likely to spur more infections. “Our work is far from over. The war against Covid-19 is far from won,” Biden said at a press briefing, where he announced a series of plans to vastly expand access to the vaccines in the coming weeks. “This is deadly serious.” The president said he supports the warnings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, stating that the U.S. is facing “impending doom” as daily Covid-19 cases begin to rebound once again. Biden also said he believes some states should pause their reopening plans amid the recent spike in cases. Despite those pleas, a handful of governors have moved to lift capacity restrictions on businesses. CURRENT COVID VACCINES COULD BE INEFFECTIVE IN A YEAR BECAUSE OF MUTATIONS M utations of the coronavirus could render current vac- cines ineffective within a year, according to a majority of epidemiologists, virologists and infectious disease specialists surveyed by the People’s Vaccine Alliance. The survey of 77 experts from some of the world’s leading academic institutions across 28 countries found that almost a third gave a time frame of nine months or less. Fewer than 13 percent said they believed that mutations would never render the current vaccines ineffective. Roughly two-thirds of the experts surveyed believe that we had a year or less before the virus mutates to the extent that the majority of first-generation vaccines are rendered ineffec - tive and new or modified vaccines would be required. RISING COVID CASES HAS POTUS URGING STATES TO REINSTATE MASK MANDATES AND WAIT TO REOPEN BUSINESSES
T he number of colleges and universities that will require students be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 is suddenly escalating. Recently universities and colleges such as Duke University, Brown, Northeastern University, the University of Notre Dame, Syracuse University and Ithaca College all announced that stu- dents returning to campus in the fall must be fully vaccinated before the first day of class. Cornell University, Rutgers University, Nova Southeastern Uni- versity, Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island, Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, and St. Edward’s Universi- ty in Austin, Texas, have also said vaccinations will be mandato- ry for the fall of 2021. Some companies are offering their employee incentives to get vaccinated. For example, Bangor Savings Bank recently said it will pay $500 to employees who are fully vaccinated. With employ- ers such as AT&T, Instacart, Target, Trader Joe’s, Chobani, Petco, Darden Restaurants, McDonald’s and Dollar General being part of a growing list of other companies giving workers time off and extra money to get vaccinated for Covid-19. MORE U.S. COLLEGES MAKE COVID VACCINES MANDATORY Y ou would think that staying safe and healthy would-be enough motivation to get your Covid-19 vaccination, but it seems now that most adults in the U.S. are eligible for the Covid-19 vaccine that businesses are trying to do their part to motivate the masses to get their shot. Companies like Krispy Kreme Doughnuts to The Mint Dispensa- ry in Arizona are offering free doughnuts to cannabis edibles to anyone of legal age with proof of a Covid vaccination. THE BENEFITS OF GETTING YOUR COVID VACCINATION ARE MORE THAN YOU THINK
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APRIL 2021 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • APRIL 2021
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