April 8 coronavirus news

By Adam Renton, Martin Goillandeau, Luke McGee, Melissa Macaya and Melissa Mahtani, CNN

Updated 3:19 AM ET, Fri April 9, 2021
31 Posts
Sort byDropdown arrow
7:44 p.m. ET, April 8, 2021

A growing number of US colleges and universities are requiring students to receive Covid-19 vaccines

From CNN's Elizabeth Stuart

As colleges and universities nationwide make plans to welcome back students in the fall, a growing number have announced they will require all students to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 before returning to campus. So far, at least eight colleges have said the vaccine will be required, and that number is expected to grow.

Two universities, St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas, and Nova Southeastern University in Broward, Florida, are going a step further, requiring students and all campus employees to be vaccinated, saying they have a responsibility to provide a safe learning environment for students, faculty, and staff.

“With the extra protection of widespread vaccination, the NSU community will be able to resume more activities and operations sooner, leading to a more engaged educational and professional experience,” said Nova Southeastern University’s announcement on April 1.

Since the announcement, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order saying that vaccines are available but not mandated, and prohibited any government entity or business from requiring a vaccine passport.

On Thursday, NSU posted an update that it is now reviewing the executive order and how it relates to its vaccine requirements.

“Additionally, the President’s Office has been hearing from the NSU community in the past few days—some expressing support and others sharing your questions and concerns. All of this is being considered thoughtfully and we will have more details for you by next week,” a statement from the university said.

Universities have been implementing vaccination policies since late March, when Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, became one of the first to say that having all students vaccinated will allow for an "expedited return to pre-pandemic normal," making more in-person classes possible, as well as more on-campus events that will be allowed.

"This health policy update means that, with limited exceptions, all students planning to attend in the Fall 2021 semester must be fully vaccinated," a statement from Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway said, adding that proof of vaccination will be required.

Rutgers faculty and staff members are also being strongly urged to get vaccinated, but the statement did not say that it was required for them.

Cornell, Brown, Northeastern, and Fort Lewis College in Colorado have made similar announcements, though all will make exceptions for medical or religious reasons.

Cornell anticipates all members of the university community will be vaccinated in the spring or summer. Individuals who are not able to be vaccinated prior to their arrival to campus, “will be expected to be vaccinated as soon after their arrival as possible, and Cornell is investigating ways to facilitate this process,” a statement from the university said.

Cornell has also created an online registration COVID-19 Proof of Vaccination tool, so students and staff can register their vaccination status.

Brown University said in its announcement that it plans to return to a schedule of "mostly in-person operations" when the fall semester begins, and will require the Covid-19 vaccine for any student who will be on campus.

"Our plans to loosen current limitations on in-person activities for Fall 2021 are based on achieving a high level of immunity among students and employees who will be on campus," said University President Christina Paxson in a statement.

Northeastern is also planning to be fully reopened by the fall for all students to return and for all classes to resume in-person.

“We expect to be back fully in-person at regular occupancy, including fully in-person teaching, and normal occupancy in residence halls and dining facilities,” said Ken Henderson, chancellor and senior vice president for Learning at Northeastern. 

Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island, was one of the first schools to shut its campus at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic last March. It will now require students to enter their proof of vaccination through an online portal.

CNN's Laura Ly, Rebekah Riess and Alta Spells contributed to this report.

6:16 p.m. ET, April 8, 2021

New Hampshire will expand vaccine eligibility to people 16 and older

From CNN's Kelsie Smith

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu announced on Thursday starting April 19 the state will open Covid-19 vaccine eligibility to all people age 16 and older regardless of residency.

"We're going to have a lot of vaccine here," he said during a news conference. "So, we want to get it out to anyone who might actually be here in the state."

Currently, there are about 240,000 first dose appointments available to New Hampshire residents between now and Memorial Day, the governor said. 

"There's still an immense amount of opportunity for folks to come into the system," he said. "We've made sure that obviously New Hampshire residents have first shot at it."

New Hampshire residents still have about 10 days to make sure they are prioritized before the vaccination eligibility is expanded, Sununu said.

5:20 p.m. ET, April 8, 2021

Go There: What will the "new normal" look like in the US? CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta answers your questions

With vaccine availability and eligibility expanding in the US, many are beginning to contemplate what daily life will look like once things normalize — or at least reach a "new normal."

CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta answered your coronavirus questions.

Watch:

4:48 p.m. ET, April 8, 2021

More than 1 in 4 adults in the US are fully vaccinated against Covid-19

From CNN’s Deidre McPhillips

Maryland residents receive their second dose of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine at the Cameron Grove Community Center on March 25, 2021 in Bowie, Maryland. 
Maryland residents receive their second dose of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine at the Cameron Grove Community Center on March 25, 2021 in Bowie, Maryland.  Win McNamee/Getty Images

About a quarter of adults in the United States – more than 66 million people – are fully vaccinated against Covid-19, according to data published Thursday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

More than a third of the total US population – more than 112 million people – have received at least one dose of vaccine, including more than 43% of adults and nearly 77% of people age 65 or older.

CDC data shows that 174,879,716 doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been reported administered – about 76% of the 229,398,685 doses delivered.

That’s more than 3.4 million doses reported administered since yesterday, for a seven-day average of more than 3 million doses per day.

Note: Data published by the CDC may be delayed, and doses may not have been given on the day reported.

4:11 p.m. ET, April 8, 2021

Portuguese health authorities only recommend AstraZeneca vaccine for people over 60

From CNN’s Vasco Cotovio

A health technician loads up a syringe with a dose of the AstraZenecas COVID-19 vaccine on the day in which health personnel in line for immunity are being inoculated with the AstraZeneca vaccine at Multiusos de Gondomar on February 12, 2021 in Gondomar, Portugal. 
A health technician loads up a syringe with a dose of the AstraZenecas COVID-19 vaccine on the day in which health personnel in line for immunity are being inoculated with the AstraZeneca vaccine at Multiusos de Gondomar on February 12, 2021 in Gondomar, Portugal.  Octavio Passos/Getty Images

Portuguese health authorities are only recommending the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine for those above 60 years of age.

“The [Portuguese] Directorate General of Health recommends, until further information is available, the administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine to people with more than 60 years,” it said in a statement on Thursday.

“The [vaccination] plan is adjusted to guarantee that every people are vaccinated with the vaccine that guarantees protection and safety, in accordance with the established priority groups, minimizing eventual associated risks.”

With this decision, Portugal becomes the latest European country to restrict use of AstraZeneca following the announcement by the European Medicines Agency yesterday that it had found a "possible link" between the jab and the occurrence of very rare blood clots. 

In its statement, the Portuguese Directorate General of Health goes on to remind people who have already been vaccinated with AstraZeneca that these events are “extremely rare,” while recommending that those vaccinated remain vigilant to the appearance of symptoms within two weeks of vaccination. 

It also calls on people who have only received one dose of the vaccine to await further instructions. 

2:14 p.m. ET, April 8, 2021

Allocations of Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine expected to drop 84% next week, data shows

From CNN’s Deidre McPhillips

A medical worker with Northwell Health holds up doses of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine at the Northwell Health pop-up coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination site at the Albanian Islamic Cultural Center in Staten Island on April 08, 2021 in New York City. 
A medical worker with Northwell Health holds up doses of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine at the Northwell Health pop-up coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination site at the Albanian Islamic Cultural Center in Staten Island on April 08, 2021 in New York City.  Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

The number of Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine shots allocated to states and other jurisdictions by the federal government is expected to drop 84% next week, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This week, nearly 5 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine were allocated to states and other jurisdictions, but only about 785,000 are slated for next week.

Allocations of the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines for next week, however, will remain steady compared to this week. About 4.7 million first doses of Pfizer and 3.5 million first doses of Moderna have been allocated for next week, along with corresponding second doses.

Allocations of the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines have been largely consistent week to week. However, weekly allocations of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine have varied widely. 

According to data from the CDC, the first allocation of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine – for the week of March 1 – included more than 2.8 million doses. There are no allocations of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine logged for the week of March 8, and allocations dropped to less than 500,000 doses for the two following weeks. Then, for the week of March 29, allocations jumped to nearly 2 million, before more than doubling for this week.

Here are the total allocations for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to states and other jurisdictions each week, according to data from the CDC: 

  • Week of March 1: 2,833,400
  • Week of March 8: none
  • Week of March 15: 493,700
  • Week of March 22: 389,900
  • Week of March 29: 1,911,200
  • Week of April 5: 4,947,500
  • Week of April 12: 785,500

About 4.5 million people have been vaccinated with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, accounting for about 7% of people who are fully vaccinated in the US, according to the latest data from the CDC.

2:06 p.m. ET, April 8, 2021

African Union drops plans to buy additional AstraZeneca vaccine from India's Serum Institute

From CNN's James Frater

Vials of AstraZeneca's Covishield vaccine for COVID-19 are seen at a filling lab at the Serum Institute of India, Pune, India, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021.
Vials of AstraZeneca's Covishield vaccine for COVID-19 are seen at a filling lab at the Serum Institute of India, Pune, India, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021. Rafiq Maqbool/AP

The African Union has announced it is dropping plans to buy additional doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine directly from the Serum Institute of India and will instead focus on securing further vaccines from Johnson & Johnson. 

John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (ACDC), said the decision was not related to recent safety concerns over the AstraZeneca vaccine but “because we work very closely with COVAX,” the vaccine-sharing facility for the world’s poorest countries.

Addressing a virtual news briefing from Addis Ababa in Ethiopia Thursday, Nkengasong explained the pivot to Johnson & Johnson was to ensure, the “Indian Serum Institute was enabled to be able to supply doses to the COVAX mechanism.”  

“It was just a clear understanding of how not to duplicate efforts with the Serum Institute, so that we complement each other rather than duplicate efforts,” he added.

Last week, the African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (AVATT) signed an Advance Purchase Agreement with Johnson & Johnson for 220 million doses on behalf of the 55 member states of the African Union (AU).

Nkengasong said he hoped the vaccines would “begin to be available at the beginning of the third quarter.”

The AU will now explore options of securing an additional 180 million doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccine, he said.

“Given that the Johnson and Johnson vaccine is a single dose, that means we have the ability – if those vaccines are picked up by countries – to immunize 400 million people on the continent,” he said. 

The AU's decision comes a day after EU regulator European Medicines Agency (EMA) found that there was a “possible link” between the AstraZeneca vaccine and “very rare cases of blood clots.”

However Nkengasong said, “this (AstraZeneca) vaccine continues to be safe. We will still recommend that the vaccines be used.” He also reiterated the findings of the EMA saying, “the recommendation still stands that the benefits of receiving the vaccine outweighs the risk of the unusual and rare side effects of the vaccine.”

Nkengasong confirmed that “a total 33.8 million vaccine doses have been acquired by Member States, with approximately 12.9 million doses administered” so far.  

He welcomed the news that “Seychelles and Mauritius have received enough COVID vaccine doses to reach 20% target vaccination benchmark, which was what the COVAX facility promised.”

“I think every little step and progress that we observe in the continent is good progress” and “it's always good to highlight those success stories,” he added.

12:26 p.m. ET, April 8, 2021

Fauci says Brazil should "seriously think and consider" new restrictive measures amid Covid-19 surge

From CNN's Rodrigo Pedroso and Radina Gigova

A hospital worker prays as health workers from the Portuguese charity hospital in Belem, Para State, Brazil, sing and pray for colleagues and COVID-19 patients inside the hospital wards and ICU areas as part of Easter celebrations, on April 4, 2021.
A hospital worker prays as health workers from the Portuguese charity hospital in Belem, Para State, Brazil, sing and pray for colleagues and COVID-19 patients inside the hospital wards and ICU areas as part of Easter celebrations, on April 4, 2021. Tarso Sarraf/AFP/Getty Images

As coronavirus cases in Brazil continue to surge at alarming rates and vaccine rollout has been slow at best, infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said the adoption of restrictive measures against the virus could help curb its spread. 

“You don't have to do a lockdown without a date to finish, but if you restrict circulation and ensure that everyone wears a mask, you won't have people meeting in closed environments like in restaurants and bars, and that reduces the number of cases,” Fauci said in a BBC Brasil interview. 

Fauci's comments come as Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro continues to oppose lockdowns and restrictive measures, and criticizes governors and mayors with insulting language for implementing them.

On Wednesday, Bolsonaro once again told supporters that a national lockdown is out of the question, although the country registered a record 4,195 Covid-19 deaths the previous day. 

"Public health restrictions are crucial to gain control over epidemics,” Fauci said.

“We have seen in many other countries where there have been a large number of cases that, when public health measures were implemented, the number of cases has dropped dramatically," he continued. "So, this is one of the things that Brazil should seriously think about and consider given the very difficult period that it is going through.”

Why Fauci is making those remarks: The Covid-19 P1 variant, first founded in Brazil, is causing a rise in cases in neighboring countries, including Paraguay, Uruguay, Peru, and Argentina. It's also causing a sharp rise in hospitalizations. Intensive care occupancy rates in most Brazilian states are at or above 80% and some local healthcare systems have already collapsed. 

Fauci said he preferrers not to refer to Brazil as a “global threat,” a term used by foreign and Brazilian media to describe the ongoing crisis in the country, but said “there is no doubt that severe public health measures, including lockdowns, have been very successful.”

“I am not going to make a statement that Brazil is a threat, because that could be taken out of context and would be an unfortunate phrase. What I am saying is that Brazil is in a serious situation that is spreading to other countries in South America, which is unfortunate.” Vaccinations, especially in Brazil, should be conducted "as soon as possible," he added. 

12:01 p.m. ET, April 8, 2021

Man held in custody after failed bomb attempt on Netherlands vaccine center

From CNN’s Chloe Adams and Vasco Cotovio

A man is being held in custody in the Netherlands after plotting to blow up a vaccine center, a spokesperson for the Dutch Public Prosecution Service (OM) told CNN on Thursday. 

Police arrested the 37-year-old man on March 18 on suspicion of preparing a terrorist attack on the former town hall of Den Helder on the Drs. F. Bijlweg. The building has been in use as a coronavirus vaccination center since March 8.

The police investigation so far has revealed the suspect, from Den Helder in North Holland, intended to cause an explosion with a firework bomb, according to the Public Prosecution Service, which classified the actions as an act of terror.

Speaking to CNN on Thursday, OM said the suspect tried to sabotage a crucial government process, namely the nationally coordinated vaccination program, in an "extremely violent way." 

"This has also put public health at risk, the fewer people that can be vaccinated, the more victims the virus will make."
"With his actions, the suspect intended to terrify the population and to disrupt the economic and social structures of the country." OM said, adding “To sabotage the country’s coordinated vaccination program is a very severe crime.” 

The man has been detained since his arrest and will be remanded in custody for at least 90 days while police gathered more information, the spokesperson said. He will appear later for trial.

An investigation is also being carried out into possible co-suspects.

Correction: A previous version of this post stated the man had been found guilty. A verdict has not yet been made in the case.