In order to combat the skyrocketing coronavirus cases, particularly in the South, Walmart is temporarily closing some locations in order to do some deep cleaning. Locations in Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, Oklahoma, and elsewhere have been shutting down for a few days to handle special sanitization and cleaning protocols. Most of these locations are still running curbside service through the pharmacies while the stores themselves are closed.
At this point in time, 62.8% of Americans are fully vaccinated, and with schools starting up again, cases have been on the rise again. With states unwilling to pass mask mandates and with vaccine misinformation increasing daily, it seems unlikely that this pandemic will be open any time soon. Additionally, hospitals across the country are reporting full ICUs due to influxes of COVID patients, leading to long waitlists for beds and critical care. According to USA Today, “New Mexico’s Health and Human Services secretary, Dr. David Scrase, said there was a 20% increase in COVID patients in just the last day, and the state is on pace to surpass its worst-case projections for cases and hospitalizations. Data shows 90% of the cases since February have been among the unvaccinated.”
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While it has been a struggle to get a large segment of the population vaccinated, the CDC has since recommended getting a COVID-19 booster shot starting on September 20. There is still discussion about how ofter the shot should be administered, with anywhere from every five months to every eight months being considered.
“The question raised is should it be shorter than eight months? Should it be as little as five months? That’s being discussed. I spoke with Dr. Fauci this morning about that,” President Joe Biden said in the Oval Office during a visit from Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Friday. Biden also said that booster shots for Americans “will start here on Sept. 20 pending approval of the FDA and the CDC committee of outside experts.”
