Total Doses Distributed = 751,433,155. Total Doses Administered = 589,231,370. Number of People Receiving 1 or More Doses = 258,800,250. Number of People Fully Vaccinated = 221,506,997.
COVID-19 Vaccination Data Updates
WKMG News 6 & ClickOrlando
Diners returned to restaurants in most of Beijing for the first time in more than a month Monday as authorities further eased pandemic-related restrictions after largely eradicating a small COVID-19 outbreak in the capital under China’s strict “zero-COVID” approach.
Museums, cinemas and gyms were allowed to operate at up to 75% of capacity and delivery drivers could once again bring packages to a customer’s door, rather than leave them to be picked up at the entrances to apartment compounds.
The return to near-normal applied everywhere in Beijing except for one district and part of another, where the outbreak lingered. Schools, which partially reopened earlier, will fully do so on June 13, followed by kindergartens on June 20.
Authorities conducted multiple rounds of mass testing and locked down buildings and complexes when infections were discovered to stamp out an outbreak that infected about 1,800 people over six weeks in a city of 22 million. The number of new cases dropped to six on Sunday.
The ruling Communist Party remains wedded to a “zero-COVID” strategy that exacts an economic cost and inconveniences millions of people, even as many other countries adopt a more relaxed approach as vaccination rates rise and treatments become more widely available.
In Shanghai, a population of 25 million people endured a citywide lockdown that kept most confined to their apartments or neighborhoods for two months. The city reopened last week, but restaurants remain closed except for delivery and takeout. One neighborhood conducted more mass testing on Monday after finding new cases in a residential compound, which is now locked down for 14 days.
In both Beijing and Shanghai, anyone entering the subway or an office building, shopping mall or other public place must show a negative test result within the past 72 hours. People lined up at testing stations that have been set up around the cities to meet the requirement.
All ferries in Shanghai, which is bisected by the Huangpu river, resumed normal operation on Monday. But organizers postponed the Shanghai International Film Festival, which was scheduled to be held this month, until next year.
Elsewhere, the government responded to outbreaks in China’s Inner Mongolia region, where 39 new cases were recorded on Sunday and in the northeast city of Dandong, which has had about 130 cases in the past two weeks. Dandong is on the border with North Korea, which acknowledged an outbreak for the first time last month.
Total Doses Distributed = 751,433,155. Total Doses Administered = 589,110,077. Number of People Receiving 1 or More Doses = 258,779,830. Number of People Fully Vaccinated = 221,492,058.
COVID-19 Vaccination Data Updates
Total Doses Distributed = 751,414,255. Total Doses Administered = 588,874,667. Number of People Receiving 1 or More Doses = 258,747,147. Number of People Fully Vaccinated = 221,464,416.
COVID-19 Vaccination Data Updates
WKMG News 6 & ClickOrlando
Florida health officials have asked the state medical board to draft new policies that would likely restrict gender dysphoria treatments for transgender youth as the state amps up its ongoing attacks on the treatments amid the country’s culture wars.
The officials are also arguing that such treatments should not be covered by Medicaid. In a lengthy report dated Thursday, the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration said puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and sex reassignment surgery have not been proven safe or effective in treating gender dysphoria. Tom Wallace, the state’s deputy director of Medicaid, signed off on the report.
In response, Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo wrote a letter to the state Board of Medicine asking it to review the findings and establish new standards for children seeking “these complex and irreversible procedures.”
“Florida must do more to protect children from politics-based medicine,” Ladapo wrote. “Otherwise, children and adolescents in our state will continue to face a substantial risk of long-term harm.”
Transgender medical treatment for children and teens is increasingly under attack in many states where it has been labeled a form of child abuse or subject to various bans.
Many doctors and mental health specialists argue that medical treatment for transgender children is safe and beneficial and can improve their well-being, although rigorous long-term research on benefits and risks is lacking. Federal guidelines say gender-affirming care is crucial to the health and well-being of transgender and nonbinary children.
Last year, the American Medical Association issued a letter urging governors to block any legislation prohibiting the treatment, calling such action “a dangerous intrusion into the practice of medicine.” The letter noted that medical treatments are among several “supportive interventions” promoted for transgender minors.
This is not the first time Florida officials have opposed such treatments. Similar steps have already been taken by the administration of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has embraced clashes in the country’s culture war as he runs for reelection and eyes a run for president in 2024.
Last month, the administration issued guidance that pushed back against the federal guidelines by opposing “social gender transition” or gender reassignment surgery for children and adolescents, and puberty blockers for anyone under 18.
Last year, DeSantis signed a law barring transgender girls and women from playing on public school teams intended for student athletes identified as girls at birth.
The actions have drawn condemnation from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, an international group of doctors and others involved in treating transgender people.
“Florida’s assault on transgender communities has been relentless,” Dr. Walter Bouman, the group’s president, said in a statement Friday. He noted that the association’s U.S. affiliate previously attacked Florida’s ongoing efforts, saying they “lack scientific merit, and in some cases misinterpret or distort available data.’’
“Florida’s health agencies have an obligation to support the health and well-being of its residents, including those who are transgender,’’ Bouman said. “The state has instead chosen to issue misleading and dangerous reports designed to harm transgender people.”
Total Doses Distributed = 749,982,055. Total Doses Administered = 588,473,704. Number of People Receiving 1 or More Doses = 258,682,487. Number of People Fully Vaccinated = 221,411,336.
COVID-19 Vaccination Data Updates