A smaller portion of U.S. children got routine vaccinations required for kindergarten during the pandemic, government researchers said Thursday, raising concerns that measles and other preventable diseases could increase.
Rates were close to 94% for measles, whooping cough and chickenpox vaccinations for the 2020-21 school year. That was down 1% from a year earlier and means 35,000 U.S. children entered kindergarten without evidence that they were vaccinated for extremely contagious diseases, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a report.
In addition, almost 400,000 fewer children than expected entered kindergarten and their vaccination status is uncertain, the CDC said.
Pandemic-related disruptions likely contributed to the decline, the report said, as pediatricians canceled non-emergency appointments, parents skipped checkups for their children and vaccine requirements were eased for students doing remote learning.
“We haven’t seen outbreaks and that’s probably representative of the fact that families were staying home during the pandemic,’’ said Dr. Georgina Peacock, the CDC’s director of immunization services. But authorities worry that could change if kids remain behind on their shots as more people return to normal routines.
Data for the current school year, due in November, should indicate whether the lag persisted, said the CDC’s Shannon Stokley.
The data come from schools’ reports on vaccination rates in 47 states plus Washington, D.C. The CDC said staffing shortages and other pandemic disruptions could have led to incomplete or absent school reports, a limitation in assessing the true vaccination rates.
In 16 states, rates for kids entering kindergarten were at least 95% for measles shots and for the combination diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough shot. The rates were below 90% for the combined whooping cough shot in eight states plus Washington, D.C., and in seven states plus Washington, D.C., for measles shots.
For chickenpox vaccinations, 17 states had rates of at least 95% and nine plus Washington, D.C., had rates below 90%.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Hong Kong relaxed pandemic restrictions on Thursday, with Disneyland and museums reopening and nighttime restaurant dining resuming as the city’s worst COVID-19 outbreak appears to be fading.
Enthusiastic visitors ran into Disneyland the moment the gates opened after a three-month closure.
Popular theme parks were ordered to close in January as Hong Kong’s fifth wave of the coronavirus took hold. Nearly 1.2 million people in the city of 7.4 million were infected in less than four months, and nearly 9,000 have died.
“Since Christmas we haven’t been back here, my daughter’s really happy, she’s been waiting so long,” said Joyce Mak, 36, who brought her young daughter to Disneyland. “Last night she was so excited, she didn’t want to go to sleep.”
The city was caught off-guard as the surge, driven by highly transmissible omicron variant, overwhelmed hospitals. At the peak of the outbreak, bodies had to stored in refrigerated containers because mortuaries couldn’t cope.
The easing of restrictions came after officials acknowledged that people were getting frustrated with the measures, and that there must be a balance between fighting the epidemic and resumption of normal activities.
The relaxation of measures before Hong Kong has reached zero COVID-19 cases marks a shift from the city’s earlier strategy, which was aligned to mainland China’s zero-tolerance for any outbreaks. Previously, authorities were reluctant to ease measures until it was clear that outbreaks in the city were stamped out.
A 15-year-old student, Cynthia Cheung, said Disneyland was her ”happiest place.”
“It’s been such a long time since coming here, last time was in December,” she said. “I really missed it.”
Theme parks are currently allowed to operate at 50% capacity, and visitors must show proof of vaccination. Disney employees held up signs reminding people to keep social distance.
In mainland China, the death toll rose to 25 in an outbreak in Shanghai that has all but shut down the country’s largest city. Health authorities said Thursday that eight more people had died in the previous day. The relatively low number of reported deaths highlights China’s use of much narrower criteria than the rest of the world for its pandemic statistics.
Shanghai has eased the lockdown somewhat in areas that have not reported new cases in seven to 14 days, allowing residents out of their homes but still restricting them to their compounds or neighborhoods. Some said on social media that they dare not venture out anyway, wary of entering nearby areas that have had recent cases.
Officials said this week that 12.3 million people in the city of 25 million are now in “control” or “prevention” areas, which are less restrictive than lockdown zones in a three-tier system. That is 4 million more than 10 days ago, they said.
However, one of the city’s 16 districts announced Thursday that no residents would be allowed to leave their compounds. The Jing’an district in central Shanghai said that even those in prevention areas, the least restrictive zone, would no longer be able to venture into the surrounding neighborhood.
The city reported 18,495 new local cases on Thursday, including 15,861 without symptoms.
In eastern Shanghai, some residents were ordered to leave their homes while health workers carried out a large-scale disinfection following a spike in infections, according to news reports and social media posts.
It wasn’t clear how many people in Beicai town were affected. The area’s population is nearly 300,000. Phone calls to the municipal government weren’t answered. Photos published by The Paper, an online news outlet, showed workers in hooded, white protective suits spraying disinfectant in homes.
In Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous Chinese region, attractions such as Ocean Park and M+ museum reopened Thursday. Gyms, beauty salons and massage parlors were also allowed to resume business. Customers must have at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and scan a QR code upon entry for contact-tracing purposes.
Restaurants, which had been barred from providing dine-in service after 6 p.m., can reopen in the evening, although each table is capped at four guests.
Hong Kong reported 603 locally spread infections Thursday, down more than 99% from the peak of more than 30,000 in March.
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Soo reported from Singapore. Associated Press researcher Chen Si in Shanghai, writer Joe McDonald and researcher Yu Bing in Beijing contributed to this report.
The World Health Organization says that the number of reported new COVID-19 cases worldwide decreased by nearly a quarter last week, continuing a decline since the end of March.
The Geneva-based U.N. health agency said in a weekly report that nearly 5.59 million cases were reported between April 11 and 17, 24% fewer than in the previous week. The number of newly reported deaths dropped 21% to 18,215.
WHO said new cases declined in every region, though only by 2% in the Americas. The report was dated late Wednesday and sent to journalists on Thursday.
The agency said that “these trends should be interpreted with caution as several countries are progressively changing their COVID-19 testing strategies, resulting in lower overall numbers of tests performed and consequently lower numbers of cases detected.”
The countries with the highest reported case numbers last week were South Korea with more than 972,000, France with over 827,000 and Germany with more than 769,000, WHO said. The highest numbers of new deaths were reported by the U.S., with 3,076, Russia with 1,784 and South Korea with 1,671.
In all, more than 502 million cases of COVID-19 and nearly 6.2 million deaths related to the coronavirus have been reported so far.
Total Doses Distributed = 719,789,345. Total Doses Administered = 570,485,199. Number of People Receiving 1 or More Doses = 256,935,026. Number of People Fully Vaccinated = 219,047,079.
Spain took another step Wednesday toward a sense of normality amid the pandemic by partially ending the near two-year-long obligatory use of masks indoors.
The government decree, passed Tuesday, keeps masks mandatory for visitors and staff in medical centers and nursing homes, although patients won’t always be obliged to wear them.
Masks will also be mandatory on all forms of public transportation, but not in stations or airports.
It remains unclear what impact the decree will have on workplaces such as public and private company offices, banks, factories and stores as the government is letting employers decide to keep them in use if they deem there is a health risk.
In turn, they are recommended, but not obligatory, in multitudinous gatherings, in packed areas or in the presence of vulnerable people. Schools are also exempted from having to use them.
Masks became obligatory indoors and outdoors shortly after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain early 2020. The restriction for outdoor use was lifted in mid-2021, but reimposed between December and February amid a major surge of infections of the highly contagious omicron variant.
“The mask without doubt has been one of the most identifiable measures over the past two years and it will no longer be obligatory,” Health Minister Carolina Darias said Tuesday. “They will continue to be with us as an element of protection, particularly for the most vulnerable.”
With more than 92% of Spaniards over 12 years old having received at least two vaccine doses and the number of coronavirus infections and deaths dropping sharply in recent months, Spain has also eliminated mandatory home isolation for people infected with the virus who experience no symptoms or mild ones.
The ebbing of the pandemic comes as Spanish prosecutors turn their attention to possible illegalities in the purchasing of masks and other medical products by authorities in the critical first few months of the outbreak.
Two of the most prominent cases involve the Madrid region and the capital city’s town hall.
State prosecutors are investigating two men who they say pocketed more than 6 million euros ($6.5 million) in commission by selling masks and other products to Madrid city hall at exorbitantly inflated prices. Prosecutors say the two bought luxury cars, watches and even a yacht with the money.
Meanwhile, Spanish and European prosecutors have also been looking into the purchase of masks by the the Madrid regional government in a deal brokered by the brother of regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso for a substantial commission.
In both cases, authorities say they acted in good faith during a national emergency and that it was extremely difficult to obtain these products at the beginning of the pandemic.
Meanwhile, analyzing the books of Spain’s major cities and some major institutions during the first three months of the pandemic, Spain’s Court of Auditors has found that there were often major exorbitant differences in the prices paid for masks and other products.
A health official says 4 million more people in Shanghai have been allowed to leave their homes as anti-coronavirus quarantine rules ease.
The official, Wang Ganyu, said Wednesday a total of almost 12 million people are allowed to leave their homes as China’s most populous city tries to contain virus outbreaks.
Authorities imposed rules that confined most of Shanghai’s 25 million people to their homes starting March 28 following a surge in infections.
China’s case numbers in its latest infection surge are relatively low, but the ruling Communist Party is enforcing a “zero-COVID” strategy that has shut down major cities to isolate every case.
