Coronavirus vaccine and Delta variant updates for 7-22-2021

<p>This is Vaccine 411, the latest coronavirus vaccine information for July 22nd, 2021.</p><p><br></p><p>Cases nearly tripled in the U.S. over the past two weeks. Hospitals are again canceling elective surgeries and procedures. Just 56.2% of Americans have gotten even one dose of the vaccine.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>New Orleans has become one of many cities that have gone back to “strongly recommending” mask-wearing indoors. They’re hoping to avoid total shutdowns that devastate tourism economies. Hospitalizations in New Orleans for COVID are up more than 600 since June 19.</p><p><br></p><p>Tunisia isn’t playing games. That country’s president has ordered the military to take over management of the national pandemic response. They’re fighting one of Africa’s worst outbreaks. The last health minister was fired over his surprise decision to open vaccination centers to all adults for the first time this week during the Muslim holiday, causing confusion and chaos.</p><p><br></p><p>Reports of breakthrough cases, cases of COVID in people who have been fully vaccinated, are increasing. It’s a small number compared to overall cases, but it’s enough that it’s creating communication problems for the White House. This was not helped when it was leaked, then later confirmed, that a vaccinated White House aide recently tested positive. The White House press secretary also acknowledge this isn’t the first breakthrough case at the White House, though she would not say how many there’ve been. The case comes days after the administration settled on a new message about COVID that it’s now a pandemic of the unvaccinated.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>It was quite a weekend’s work. An Australian socialite, Anthony Hess, unknowingly spread the Delta variant to at least 60 people in Los Angeles in just one weekend. He was fully vaccinated. He said, “I have no idea how many people I infected, it could be hundreds.” Hess said it appears the Delta variant is overpowering vaccines since most of the people he infected were also fully vaccinated.&n