NEW YORK — Even people who have recovered from COVID-19 are urged to get vaccinated, and a new study shows survivors who ignored that advice had twice the risk of getting reinfected.
The report Friday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention comes as scientists urge people to get vaccinated because of the highly contagious delta variant. That includes people who had a prior infection.
The report out of Kentucky adds to growing laboratory evidence that vaccines offer an important boost to natural immunity, including broader protection against new variants.
“If you have had COVID-19 before, please still get vaccinated,” said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky. “Getting the vaccine is the best way to protect yourself and others around you, especially as the more contagious delta variant spreads around the country.”
There’s little information yet on reinfections with the newer delta variant. But U.S. health officials point to early data from Britain that the reinfection risk appears greater with delta than with the common alpha variant, once people are six months past their prior infection.
“There’s no doubt” that vaccinating a COVID-19 survivor enhances both the amount and breadth of immunity “so that you cover not only the original (virus) but the variants,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease expert, said at a recent White House briefing.
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MORE ON THE PANDEMIC:
— Study: Vaccines give COVID-19 survivors big immune boost
— Vaccination form for federal workers adds penalties for lies
— Some US schools reopen with mix of masks in classrooms
— United Airlines will require US employees to be vaccinated
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— Find more AP coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine
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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:
WASHINGTON -- Federal employees who need to certify their vaccination status under a new policy instituted by President Joe Biden intended to encourage COVID-19 shots will face disciplinary action and potentially criminal prosecution if they lie on the form.
The Biden administration on Friday unveiled the attestation form that employees will need to fill out about whether they have been fully vaccinated against the virus, adding legal teeth to the president’s mandate.
Federal employees won’t be following the “honor system” but will instead be required to acknowledge that making a “knowing and willful false statement on this form can be punished by fine or imprisonment or both.”
The Associated Press obtained a copy of the form, which was distributed Friday to agency leadership.
— By Zeke Miller
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LONDON — In Britain, the number of people testing positive for the coronavirus is falling across most regions of the country.
In its weekly survey of the levels of infection across the U.K., the Office for National Statistics says case rates appeared to be falling in England, Scotland and Wales, though not in Northern Ireland.
In England, the agency found 1 in 75 people in private households had COVID-19 in the week prior to July 31, down from 1 in 65 in the previous week.
There’s been a 13% decline in the number of people requiring hospital treatment for COVID-19 in the past week.
The declines are most noticeable among younger age groups. Many reasons have been cited for the seeming fall in infections, including the closure of schools for the summer and the end of soccer’s European Championship, which led many younger adults to mingle indoors.
Nearly 74% of the adult population, ages 18 and above, have been fully vaccinated. This week, the government accepted the advice of scientists to offer the Pfizer vaccine to youths ages 16-17.
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BATON ROUGE, La. — The number of patients hospitalized in Louisiana with COVID-19 climbed to new heights as the state grapples with its worst coronavirus surge.
For the fourth day, the state set coronavirus hospitalization records. The state Department of Health reported 2,421 people hospitalized around the state with COVID-19, up 71 more people from the day before and more than eight times the number hospitalized at the start of July.
Louisiana is confirming thousands of coronavirus cases each day, driven by the highly contagious delta variant and the large number of people who remain unvaccinated. The CDC says Louisiana has the highest number of new cases per capita nationally in the last week at 653 per 100,000 people. The state is among the bottom five with 37% of the total population fully vaccinated, according to state health department data.
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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — An Arkansas judge has temporarily blocked the state from enforcing a law that prevents schools and other governmental agencies from requiring masks.
Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox on Friday issued a preliminary injunction against the law Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed in April. Fox’s decision came shortly after Arkansas lawmakers left the ban in place, ending a session Hutchinson called to consider rolling it back for some schools.
Hutchinson said the change was needed to protect children under 12 who can’t get vaccinated as virus cases and hospitalizations skyrocket.
There had been growing calls to lift the ban before school starts statewide later this month. An east Arkansas school district has more than 800 students and staff quarantined because of a recent coronavirus outbreak.
Pediatricians and health officials have said masks in schools are needed to protect children as the delta variant and Arkansas’ low vaccination rate fuel cases.
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MCDONOUGH, Ga. — Schools have begun reopening in the U.S., with most states leaving it up to local schools to decide whether to require masks.
At one school in Atlanta’s suburbs where face coverings are optional, more than 60% of students were wearing them inside classrooms. Parents had mixed emotions. Some kept their children home in disagreement with the policy. California, Louisiana, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington state intend to require masks for all students and teachers regardless of vaccination status.
At the other end of the spectrum, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and Utah have banned mask requirements in all public schools.
Outbreaks have hit some schools already, adding to calls for more mask requirements. In Marion, Arkansas, more than 800 students and staff members have been quarantined because of exposure since classes began last week in the 4,000-student district. Superintendent Glen Fenter urged lawmakers to overturn the state law banning masks.
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LISBON, Portugal — Authorities in Portugal say they have reached the milestone of 70% of people on the mainland receiving at least one COVID-19 shot.
The Health Ministry says in recent weeks, 80,000 people a day have been vaccinated. The number is expected to climb during August when some 3 million vaccines are due to arrive.
Portugal, like other European Union countries, got off to a slow start in its inoculation drive because of a shortfall in expected deliveries. It now aims to have 70% of people fully vaccinated by the end of the summer.
The country of 10.3 million, including the Azores and Madeira archipelagoes, has inoculated almost 60% of its population. At the end of June, it had vaccinated just 32%.
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MIAMI — Miami-Dade County will require weekly COVID-19 testing for all 29,000 employees unless they show proof of vaccination amid a surge of infections from the delta variant of the coronavirus.
Florida’s new case numbers have grown 10 times in the last six weeks alone. Starting Aug. 16, employees who wish to opt out of the testing can show proof of vaccination, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said.
“We’ve endured too much and seen too many families hurting. We have the power to avoid what is truly preventable,” the mayor said in a tweet urging people to get the vaccine.
The county also hired Jared Moskowitz to be a special adviser on the county’s COVID response, she said. He oversaw Florida’s pandemic response as director of the state’s Division of Emergency Management until he stepped down in the spring.
Jackson Health System CEO Carlos Migoya said the hospital is rolling out a policy to encourage staff to get the vaccine. He’s said approximately 5,200 of the hospital’s 13,000 workers remain unvaccinated.
“They will not be allowed to enter any Jackson cafeteria, dining room or coffee shop, nor will they be able to take off their N95 masks to eat or drink inside of our facilities,” Migoya said.
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AMSTERDAM — The European Medicines Agency has recommended updating the information label for the coronavirus vaccine made by Johnson & Johnson, saying it should include warnings that a rare immune condition, tinnitus and dizziness are possible side effects.
In a statement on Friday, the EU drug regulator says a condition where the immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys blood cells needed for clotting, or immune thrombocytopenia, is an “important identified risk” and health workers and people receiving the vaccine should be informed of this possible side effect.
The EMA’s expert group also analyzed more than 1,180 cases of people who reported dizziness and tinnitus, or ringing in the ears, after receiving the one-shot J&J vaccine and concluded they were linked to the vaccine’s administration.
The agency, which regulates drugs across 27 European countries, says its assessment of the J&J vaccine was unchanged and the benefits of protection from COVID-19 still outweigh the small risk of side effects.
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CHICAGO — United Airlines will require U.S.-based employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by late October, joining a growing number of corporations responding to a surge in coronavirus cases.
United has 67,000 employees in the U.S. It’s the first major U.S. airline to say it will require vaccinations for workers.
Company leaders called it a matter of safety and cited “incredibly compelling” evidence of the effectiveness of the vaccines. United CEO Scott Kirby says he knows some employees will disagree with the decision, but adds it’s clear that everyone is safer when everyone is vaccinated.
The airline estimates up to 90% of its pilots and close to 80% of its flight attendants are already vaccinated.
The company told employees Friday they’ll need to be fully vaccinated by Oct. 25 or five weeks after the Food and Drug Administration grants full approval to any one vaccine — whichever date comes first. So far, the FDA has only granted emergency-use approval of the Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccines. Full approval is expected soon.
A United executive says the airline has no plans to require passengers be vaccinated, calling that a government decision. The CEOs of Delta and American have similarly ruled out a mandate for passengers.
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ROME — Visitors to Italy’s museums and theaters must show proof they’ve had a COVID-19 vaccine.
Or they can prove they’ve recovered from the coronavirus or recently tested negative.
A certification rule took effect nationwide on Friday. It also applies to gyms, inside restaurants, indoor swimming pools and crowded outdoor events such as concerts. The Italian government hopes requiring what it has dubbed a “Green Pass” will rein in a summer surge in coronavirus infections.
The Vatican is adhering to the rule and checking visitors to its museums have paper certificates or QR codes on their cellphones. Pompeii’s archeological park is offering free swab tests.
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BEIJING — Chinese President Xi Jinping has pledged that 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines would be supplied to the world through this year, increasing China’s commitment as the largest exporter of the shots.
Xi’s announcement was delivered late Thursday at a vaccine forum China hosted virtually.
The figure likely includes the 770 million doses China has already donated or exported already and it’s not clear if it includes a COVAX agreement for Chinese producers to supply 550 million doses.
Xi also promised to donate $100 million to the UN-backed COVAX program, which aims to distribute vaccines to low- and middle-income countries. Vaccine distributions have been starkly unequal, as wealthy countries now consider issuing booster shots to their citizens and poorer nations struggle to get enough vaccines for a first dose.
Hundreds of millions of Chinese shots, the vast majority of which are from Sinopharm and Sinovac, have already been administered to people in many countries across the world. However, there are concerns about whether they protect adequately against the highly transmissible delta variant.
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MANILA — Thousands of people have jammed coronavirus vaccination centers in the Philippine capital after false news spread that unvaccinated residents would be deprived of cash aid or barred from leaving home during a two-week lockdown.
Officials placed Metropolitan Manila under lockdown until Aug. 20 after a spike in COVID-19 infections that health officials say could be due to the highly contagious delta variant, which threatens to overwhelm hospitals.
The fake news reports spread a day before Friday’s lockdown start sent large crowds heading for vaccination centers in the cities of Manila, Las Pinas and Antipolo without prior registrations.
In Manila alone, up to 22,000 people showed up outside vaccination centers before dawn. Police were forced to stop vaccinations in at least one of the shopping malls and asked the crowds to return home.
Critics partly blamed President Rodrigo Duterte for the confusion. Duterte warned Filipinos last week that those who refuse to get vaccinated will not be allowed to leave their homes as a safeguard against the spread of the delta variant. He acknowledged there was no specific law for such a restriction.
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