May 11 coronavirus news

By Brad Lendon, Melissa Macaya, Melissa Mahtani, James Griffiths, Mike Hayes and Veronica Rocha, CNN

Updated 8:07 PM ET, Tue May 11, 2021
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5:43 p.m. ET, May 11, 2021

Fauci pushes back on what he calls senator's "conspiracy theory" questions

From CNN's Ryan Prior

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing to discuss the ongoing federal response to COVID-19 on May 11 in Washington, DC.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing to discuss the ongoing federal response to COVID-19 on May 11 in Washington, DC. Greg Nash/Pool/Getty Images

President Biden's chief medical adviser pushed back against what he called "conspiracy theory" questions that were lobbed at him during a Senate hearing Tuesday morning.

"It is disconcerting, Sanjay ... when you're working 17-18 hours a day, seven days a week ... And then you get there, and somebody, a senator, starts talking about things in an accusatory way that's totally conspiracy theory," Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said during a conversation on Clubhouse moderated by CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

Earlier Tuesday, Fauci sparred with Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky, in a Senate Health, Education Labor and Pension Committee hearing about combating the Covid-19 pandemic.

"You want to be respectful in your answers, but they talk to you in a way that just almost doesn't make any sense. And you kind of think they're just playing for the cameras,” Fauci said.

Fauci had repeatedly emphasized to Paul that the NIH has not funded a controversial type of virus research at a lab in Wuhan, China.

"I was expecting something like that to happen," Fauci said. "You just have to keep your cool, answer with the facts, with the evidence, with the data."

During the Clubhouse chat, Fauci also reflected on an approach that has seen him through political ups and downs of service guiding the nation's response to epidemics under seven presidents, dating back to President Ronald Reagan. 

"If you are consistent, and the first thing is you have to stay completely apolitical, which is what I am, you cannot even begin to step into any ideological spaces," Fauci said. "I've dealt with Republicans, I've dealt with Democrats, I've dealt with very liberal, I've dealt with moderates, I've dealt with compassionate conservatives."

His primary approach is to "stick with the science," Fauci said, later adding that the best advice he had heard for advising high level policymakers was to always tell the truth even if it meant not being invited back. 

"The 500th time I'm going to walk into the White House, I still tell myself that, you know, I whispered to myself, you walk in here, 'this may be the last time you walk into this place.'"

 

3:58 p.m. ET, May 11, 2021

About 263 million Covid-19 vaccine doses administered in the US

From CNN's Naomi Thomas

Lorena Castilla gets a Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccination from a healthcare worker at Miami International Airport on May 10 in Miami.
Lorena Castilla gets a Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccination from a healthcare worker at Miami International Airport on May 10 in Miami. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

About 263 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in the United States, according to data published Tuesday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC reported that 263,132,561 total doses have been administered, about 79% of the 334,081,065 doses delivered.

That’s about 1.5 million more administered doses reported since yesterday, for a seven-day average of about 2.2 million doses per day.

Just over 46% of the population – 153 million people – have received at least one dose of vaccine, and 35% of the population – 117 million people — have been fully vaccinated.

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

3:44 p.m. ET, May 11, 2021

72% of US coronavirus sequences are B.1.1.7 variant first identified in UK, CDC director says

From CNN’s Virginia Langmaid

More than 72% of coronavirus genetic sequences in the United States are the B.1.1.7 variant first identified in the United Kingdom, the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in an interview released Tuesday. 

“We know that there are numerous variants circulating here in the United States,” Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in an interview with CNBC taped Friday. “The B.1.1.7, otherwise known as the UK variant is now the predominant virus that is circulating here in the United States.”

“Over 72% of sequences are related to that variant,” she said. 

Walensky said the prevalence of the variant emphasizes the importance of stopping the global spread of Covid-19, to tamp down spread and creation of new variants. 

In testimony Tuesday in front of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee, Walensky said genomic sequencing nationwide has increased from 3,000 samples per week to 35,000 samples per week.

3:55 p.m. ET, May 11, 2021

UK's Brit Awards will take place in-person in Covid-19 experiment

From CNN’s Arnaud Siad

A general view of the winners room is seen at The BRIT Awards 2020 at The O2 Arena on February 18, 2020 in London.
A general view of the winners room is seen at The BRIT Awards 2020 at The O2 Arena on February 18, 2020 in London. David M. Benett/Getty Images

The 2021 Brit Awards – Britain’s biggest music award ceremony — is taking place in front of a 4,000-person live audience in London without social distancing or face masks on Tuesday. The show is part of the UK government's pilot scheme for reopening live events.

According to a statement from the British government, those attending must have proof of a negative Covid-19 lateral flow test result to enter the venue.

As part of the wider scientific research on the trial events, attendees will also be asked to take a test after the event to gather further evidence on the safety of indoor settings, reduced social distancing and the removal of non-pharmaceutical interventions like face masks, they added.

Live performances will include Dua Lipa, Headie One, Arlo Parks and Coldplay.

Taylor Swift will also be the first female artist to be presented with the BRITs Global Icon award — the highest accolade from the ceremony — “in recognition of her immense impact on music across the world and incredible repertoire and achievements to date,” according to the Brit Awards webpage.

Previous winners include Elton John, Robbie Williams and David Bowie.

2:41 p.m. ET, May 11, 2021

Biden says a "more aggressive effort" to issue guidance for fully vaccinated is coming soon

From CNN's Jason Hoffman

Pool
Pool

President Biden said he expects public health experts, and the White House, to be “more aggressive” in laying out what fully vaccinated individuals can do, in an effort to continue to persuade Americans to get vaccinated.

During a meeting with a group of governors today, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox told the President that one thing the administration can do to help states convince their populations to get vaccinated is showing Americans the benefits of getting the vaccine.

 “We want people to understand that the vaccine is really the key to ending that. And that’s one area where we could use some help from the White House and others, and that is modeling what a fully vaccinated person can do. I like to say we have fully vaccinated people, we should start acting like it,” Cox said.

Biden responded to Cox, saying “good point,” and said while the administration has been cautious in its guidance for vaccinated individuals so far, new guidance, including on wearing masks indoors, should be coming soon.

“The idea, you talking about, is what we nationally can do in terms of drawing a portrait of what it means if you’re fully vaccinated, what you can do and what you can’t do, relative to the rest of the population. And we’re just getting there now to the degree that I think you’re gonna see a more aggressive effort on our part to lay out that once vaccinated, not only can you hug your grandchildren, you can do a lot more. And whether or not you have to have, even at some point soon, mask inside vs. outside,” Biden said.

“It’s not everything but I think you’re right about it would increase the prospects of, the desire to get vaccinated,” he added. 

The President said the administration has been intentionally cautious in guidance for fully vaccinated Americans to make sure they had the number of vaccinated Americans correct.

White House Covid-19 response coordinator Jeffrey Zients said more guidance for vaccinated individuals from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected.

2:30 p.m. ET, May 11, 2021

Walgreens partners with Biden administration to vaccinate community college students and staff

From CNN’s Virginia Langmaid

A pedestrian walks past a Walgreens store in San Francisco on April 13.
A pedestrian walks past a Walgreens store in San Francisco on April 13. David Paul Morris/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Walgreens will be partnering with the Biden administration in a push to vaccinate students, staff and faculty at community colleges this summer, the company told CNN. 

“The administration will launch partnerships between federal pharmacy partners and high-enrollment community colleges to provide on-site clinics for students, staff, and local communities,” the White House said in a statement Tuesday. 

“Walgreens is proud to partner with the Biden administration to host COVID-19 vaccination clinics for community college students, faculty and staff, throughout May and June,” the company said in a statement to CNN. “This is an important program that can help get more people vaccinated as we prepare for a safer return to school this fall.”

The company said in addition to community college efforts, it has reached out to over 1,000 school districts in order to provide vaccination support in anticipation of vaccinating people ages 12 to 15. 

1:25 p.m. ET, May 11, 2021

At least 19 Indian states record Covid-19 positivity rate higher than 20%

From CNN's Swati Gupta in New Delhi

At least 19 Indian states are recording a Covid-19 positivity rate of more than 20%, including six states that are registering a positivity rate higher than 30%, according to an analysis from the Indian health ministry for the week of May 5 to 11.

Goa remains the state with the highest positivity rate, recording 49.6% – meaning almost one in two people are testing positive for Covid-19. Puducherry, West Bengal, Haryana, Karnataka and Rajasthan are the other states registering higher than 30% positivity.

“In 26 states, we have noted a wider spread of the infection… only 4 states have less than five percent positivity rate,” said Lav Agrawal, senior health official at a press briefing Tuesday.

A total of 533 districts across India have a positivity rate of more than 10%.

“We need to take stringent action in these 533 districts… On 27th April, we found that the case positivity was 19 percent but if we look at the data from the past 24 hours, it is 18 percent. So, after 14 days we are seeing an overall trend in decrease in positivity has been noted,” added Aggarwal.

India recorded 329,942 fresh cases Tuesday, bringing the country’s total to 22.9 million cases. Since April 22, India has registered more than 300,000 daily cases.

12:56 p.m. ET, May 11, 2021

Uber and Lyft will provide free rides to US vaccination sites as part of new White House partnership

From CNN's Jeremy Diamond

Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images
Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images

Uber and Lyft will provide free rides to and from vaccination sites until July 4 as part of a new partnership with the White House, a White House official said.

The partnership is aimed at improving access to the coronavirus vaccine and helping to meet President Biden's goal of 70% of adults getting at least one coronavirus shot by July 4.

White House coronavirus coordinator Jeff Zients detailed the new steps in a call with governors on Tuesday and Biden will highlight the program during a virtual meeting with a bipartisan group of governors on Tuesday afternoon.

The White House shared information on the location of about 80,000 vaccination sites with the ride share companies and the two companies plan to promote the free rides in their apps.

"People will be able to simply select a vaccination site near them, follow simple directions to redeem their ride, and then get a ride to take them to and from a nearby vaccination site free of charge. The feature will launch in the next two weeks and run until July 4," the White House said in a statement. "By helping Americans get a free ride to a vaccination site, Lyft and Uber are eliminating a potential barrier and driving America closer to the President’s goal of getting 70% of the U.S. adult population with at least one shot by July 4th."

The Wall Street Journal first reported on the new partnership.

 

12:22 p.m. ET, May 11, 2021

Majority of Americans support showing proof of vaccination in certain situations, poll finds

From CNN's Naomi Thomas

More than half of Americans support proof of vaccination as a requirement in certain situations, such as flying and attending sporting events, according to a new Axios-Ipsos poll published Tuesday.

Nearly two-thirds of respondents now reported getting one or more shot, according to the poll, which was conducted May 7 to 10 and made up of a nationally representative sample of 1,078 US adults.

The poll found that 64% of respondents were in favor of showing proof of vaccination for international flights, and 63% were in favor for domestic flights.

Sixty-one percent were in favor of proof of vaccination to vacation at a hotel, resort or on a cruise ship; 57% to attend a sporting event; and 55% to return to the workplace.

There were more mixed views on whether proof of vaccination should be needed to eat a restaurant or go to a salon. 

Those who were more in favor of requiring proof of vaccination for certain activities were also more likely to talk openly about vaccination status.

Axios-Ipsos found that 62% of respondents have asked their family or close friends about their vaccination status, and that 61% have been asked. Slightly fewer – 42% – said they had asked those outside of their close circle.

Employers asked 28% of respondents about their vaccination status, and only 5% said that being vaccinated was required by their employer.

These conversations, excluding employer requirements, were more common in vaccinated people, Democrats, people living in urban or suburban areas, and those over age 50.

As the US Food and Drug Administration authorizes Pfizer/BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine for children ages 12 to 15, half of the respondents who had a child under the age of 18 said they would likely get their child vaccinated as soon as they are eligible.

Here are the latest vaccination numbers: