Coronavirus vaccine and Delta variant updates for 9-10-2021

<p>This is Vaccine 411, the latest coronavirus vaccine information for September 10th, 2021.</p><p><br></p><p>In the U.S., the administration announced new steps, including mandates to tackle the pandemic. Those steps include mandating vaccines for federal workers, contractors and certain health care workers, mandates for employees at companies with 100 or more workers to be vaccinated or tested weekly, and a recommendation large venues require proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>The Los Angeles board of education voted to mandate students 12 and older be vaccinated in order to be allowed to come to school. The Los Angeles Unified School District, which has more than 600,000 mostly Latino students, already tests all students and employees weekly, requires masking indoors and outdoors, and has ordered employees to be vaccinated.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>If we want to know what happens when you vaccinate even younger kids, we can watch Cuba. That government has begun to vaccinate children as young as two. They are using Cuban vaccines and say it’s safe for young children but have provided little data to outside observers to confirm this.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>If you think the pandemic hasn’t been confusing enough, throw this into the mix. The CDC changed the definitions of vaccine and vaccinated. The changes mostly involve backing away from the word “immunity” and saying it offers “protection,” so as not to raise expectations. A CDC spokesperson said changing the words of a definition doesn’t change the definition.</p><p><br></p><p>Here’s some good news considering it’s never healthy to hold it in. Peer-reviewed research has found public toilets pose little risk of catching the virus. No evidence of airborne transmission for pathogens was found there. Yes, there was some risk of aerosolization from flushing and those hand blowers, but nothing that increased the chances of transmission.</p><p><br></p><p>In the United States cases were down 2%, deaths are up 32%, and hospitalizations