(CNN) — Mask wearing mandates are being lifted in the United States. Coronavirus cases and hospitalizations are declining. People are getting vaccinated. All of these promising signs suggest that the summer of 2021 in the US could be very different than it was a year ago.
Half of the adult population is now fully vaccinated, according to data released Wednesday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Last week, the United States averaged about 28,000 new cases daily, a 19% drop from the previous week, according to the CDC.
However, a new study underscored the importance of vaccinating more people, detailing how some of those who had COVID-19 may experience symptoms months later.
Nearly three-quarters of moderate-to-severe COVID-19 patients had at least one long-term symptom, according to analysis published Wednesday in JAMA Network Open.
Researchers at Stanford University conducted a review of 45 existing studies that followed 9,751 patients in the months after a COVID-19 infection. They found that 73% of the patients had at least one symptom 60 days after diagnosis, onset of symptoms, or admission to hospital. That finding was consistent even in studies that followed patients for up to six months.
The researchers also found in the studies that 40% of the participants experienced fatigue, 36% had shortness of breath, and another 25% reported an inability to concentrate, which is often referred to as brain fog.
“We had no data on people who got COVID-19 and they just went about their day, so we don’t want to cause much alarm with the value of 73% of people experiencing long-term symptoms,” Tahmina Nasserie told CNN, Ph.D. candidate in epidemiology and population health at Stanford University and lead author of the study. “We want people to understand that these are primarily hospitalized, so we can only generalize our findings to that particular population.”
Another study, conducted by researchers from the national clinical laboratory LabCorp, found that up to 9 out of 10 people infected with COVID-19 develop immunity against the virus that “remains with little decomposition for ten months. Within three weeks, 90% of the people in the study developed antibodies to COVID-19, according to the study.
Race for vaccination
Although half of the US population is fully vaccinated, the CDC director expressed concern about people who do not receive the vaccine.
During the House Appropriations Committee’s subcommittee hearing on Wednesday, CDC officials were asked what is keeping them awake.
“The variants and the concern that people are not getting vaccinated and the fact that we are not serving everyone in the country equally,” responded CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky.
Dr Anne Schuchat, CDC Senior Deputy Director, added: ‘I think we have to remind the rest of the world, and that while it’s getting better here, there are a lot of places at risk, so until we’re all free of this , none of us will be free from this.
Health experts have recently focused on persuading young people to get vaccinated.
Young children when infected are less likely to have a serious illness compared to an older person or a person who has an underlying health condition, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
However, “they are not exempt from contracting a serious illness,” he said during President Joe Biden’s YouTube forum on vaccination against COVID-19. “So you want to protect young people, whether they are teenagers or young children.”
The country keeps reopening
For many Americans, the Memorial Day holiday weekend marks the beginning of the summer season, and experts are growing hopeful given the trend for fewer covid cases and more vaccinations.
“It means a lot. It means the summer is looking bright, ”said Dr. Monica Gandhi, professor of medicine and associate division chief in the division of HIV, infectious diseases and global medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.
And local leaders are preparing for a possibly almost normal summer.
New Orleans will begin on Friday to expand the way people can get together, including opening gyms to 100% capacity.
Large indoor events will be allowed at 50% capacity without masks or distancing, 100% capacity with required masks, or 100% capacity without masks if individuals provide proof of vaccination or a negative covid-19 test within 72 hours hours.
For large outdoor events, 75% of capacity without masks and spacing, 100% of capacity with required masks, or 100% of capacity without masks will be allowed if individuals provide proof of vaccination or a negative test indoors. of the 72 hours.
National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell said the league expects full stadiums for all 32 teams next season.
“We think it will be a much more normal experience than it has been,” Goodell said on a conference call Wednesday.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced Monday that MetLife Stadium, home of the Jets and Giants in East Rutherford, could operate at full capacity next season.
In Kentucky, Governor Andy Beshear announced that in-person visits to all Kentucky Department of Corrections state prisons and Juvenile Justice Department facilities will resume the week of June 20.
The new in-person visitation guidelines only apply to the 14 state jails and not county jails. Visitors will need to schedule their visit in advance, Beshear said.
As of earlier this week, 76% of adult inmates housed in state custody have been vaccinated.
And then, to those in custody: good for you! Good for you! I know you have seen the damage from this virus and thank you for responding so responsibly, “said the governor.
CNN’s Ryan Prior, Jamiel Lynch, Rebekah Riess, Gregory Lemos, Jacob Lev, and Stephen Collinson contributed to this report.
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