Coronavirus vaccine news, updates and information for 5-03-2021

<p>This is Vaccine 411, the latest coronavirus vaccine information for May 3rd, 2021.</p><p><br></p><p>The CDC says the United States has now fully vaccinated more than 100 million people. And health experts say the only thing that could threaten a rather positive outlook is the spread of variants. Nearly 40% of adults have been inoculated, but to achieve herd immunity, 70-85% of the population would need to be vaccinated.</p><p><br></p><p>Soon to be included in those getting vaccinated, children. Pfizer and Moderna are currently studying vaccine safety and effectiveness in kids as young as 6 months old. Children under 18 make up 85 million people in the U.S., which is about 20% of the entire population.</p><p><br></p><p>A new study in Israel shows the Pfizer vaccine is effective for autoimmune disease patients. The original Pfizer studies didn’t include this group. Autoimmune diseases are characterized by an immune system that attacks the body’s normal components. It was thought such patients might not respond to the vaccine because they’re immuno-suppressed.</p><p><br></p><p>Despite falling case numbers and deaths, the TSA will continue requiring travelers wear face masks at airports, aboard commercial flights and on all other public transportation until Sept. 13th.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>One of the surest signs of a return to normalcy, the reopening of Disneyland in Anaheim, California after being closed 13 months. There were so many cases in California just 4 months ago patients were being treated in outdoor tents. The park is open under limited capacity and only to state residents for now.</p><p><br></p><p>In the United States cases were down 27%, deaths are down 8%, and hospitalizations are down 7% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending down since April 14.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>There are now 6,765,579 active cases in the United States. The current top 5 states by number of active cases: California, Virginia, New York, Maryland, and Florida.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>The top 10 c