Coronavirus vaccine news, updates and information for 6-15-2021

<p>This is Vaccine 411, the latest coronavirus vaccine information for June 15th, 2021.</p><p><br></p><p>The U.S. is not going to meet its vaccination goal and a new report from Stanford and the Kaiser Family Foundation points out why. The only demographic projected to exceed a 70% vaccination rate of at least one dose by July 4 are Asians. Whites are projected to be at 66% by that date, Hispanics at 63%, and Black Americans at 51%. The pace of vaccinations would need to speed up significantly to hit the national goal, the pace is in fact slowing down.</p><p><br></p><p>The Delta variant has been detected in 74 countries and continues to spread rapidly on its way to becoming the dominant strain worldwide. Outbreaks have been confirmed in China, the U.S., Africa, Scandinavia, and Pacific rim countries. In the US, cases are doubling roughly every two weeks and account for 10% of all new cases, while in the UK it accounts for more than 90% of new cases.</p><p><br></p><p>Because of the surge in England, as expected, the next planned relaxation of restrictions will be delayed four weeks, until July 19. The Prime Minister said the new date will be the final delay as the vaccination drive is accelerated.</p><p><br></p><p>It’s like watching your parents having a disagreement. Dr. Marty Makary of the respected Johns Hopkins Hospital claimed the also respected CDC "sits on a lot of data.” Data that includes no child in a study of the effects of COVID-19 on youth died of COVID, and the hospitalization rate was lower for COVID than it was for influenza. He added the CDC and medical leadership fails people by "ignoring natural immunity,” remaining quiet when schools issue blanket vaccine mandates. Makary is in favor of vaccines, just not necessarily for those who are already immune.</p><p><br></p><p>Hopefully, we can all still agree that front line healthcare workers, first-responders and essential workers were and are heroes throughout this pandemic. And New York City is going to honor them with a ticker tape parade. It’ll be