Coronavirus vaccine and COVID variant updates for 01-05-2022

<p>The U.S. added more than 1 million people to its case count Monday that encompasses a surge in infections over the holidays. It doesn’t really count as a single day record since much of the reporting was delayed and came in all at once. But on the other hand, many are testing at home and don’t report to authorities, which means the numbers are probably being underestimated if anything. The CDC says Omicron now makes up around 95.4% of new cases.&nbsp;</p><br><p>Speaking of those at home tests, you may not be able to find any. But if you do, expect to pay more. Walmart, Kroger and Amazon had been selling them "at cost" as part of a deal with the White House. Now the kits will go up to $23.99 for a package of two. And most places still have limits on how many you can buy.&nbsp;</p><br><p>Things are getting very rough for residents of the Chinese city of Xi'an who are under a strict zero tolerance coronavirus lockdown. Business owners are suffering and many of the 13 million residents have started having trouble finding food as they are largely confined to their homes. And now another city, Yuzhou, has been placed under a similar lockdown after three asymptomatic cases were discovered.</p><br><p>You have enough problems without your body attacking itself, but a new study of 177 health care workers indicates those who recover from even mild cases often have elevated autoantibody levels that can cause the body to mistakenly attack itself months later. Gender also appears to make a difference, with males carrying the risk of autoimmune activation after symptomatic COVID, and females carrying the risk after asymptomatic exposure.</p><br><p>Add this to the list of things that no, you can’t do that. A teacher in New York was arrested New Year's Eve for allegedly giving a vaccine injection at her house to a 17-year-old boy. And no, his mother did not give her permission. While the teacher was a science teacher, she was in no way authorized to administer vaccines.</p><br><p>In the United States, cases were up 254%, death