The latest on the Covid-19 pandemic in the US

By Melissa Mahtani, Melissa Macaya and Veronica Rocha, CNN

Updated 8:00 p.m. ET, September 17, 2021
39 Posts
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6:56 p.m. ET, September 17, 2021

White House calls FDA vaccine advisers' decision "an important step forward"

From CNN's Phil Mattingly and Arlette Saenz

A decision Friday by the US Food and Drug Administration's vaccine advisers to recommend emergency use authorization of a booster dose for people 65 and older and those at high risk of severe Covid-19 was "an important step forward," the White House said.

“Today was an important step forward in providing better protection to Americans from COVID-19. We stand ready to provide booster shots to eligible Americans once the process concludes at the end of next week,” White House spokesperson Kevin Munoz said.

Some background: The decision came after members of the FDA's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee rejected a broader application to approve booster doses of Pfizer's vaccines in everyone 16 and older six months after they are fully vaccinated. Members of the committee expressed doubts about the safety of a booster dose in younger adults and teens, and complained about the lack of data about the safety and long term efficacy of a booster dose.

6:53 p.m. ET, September 17, 2021

Florida reports fewer than 100,000 new Covid-19 cases in a week for the first time since July

From CNN’s Virginia Langmaid

A healthcare worker administers a Covid-19 test on August 30, in Miami, Florida.
A healthcare worker administers a Covid-19 test on August 30, in Miami, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Florida reported fewer than 100,000 new cases of Covid-19 in the past week for the first time since July 16, according to data published Friday by the Florida Department of Health. 

Florida reported 75,906 new Covid-19 cases over the past week, for an average of about 10,844 cases each day.

New cases per week in Florida have been declining steadily since Aug. 20, when the state hit its peak of 151,880 new cases in a week.

Over the past week, Florida reported a case positivity rate of 11.2%, according the state health department’s Covid-19 Weekly Situation Report. 

According to the published data, Florida saw 384 deaths from Covid-19 in the past week.

6:11 p.m. ET, September 17, 2021

L.A. County will require vaccine verification for bars, wineries and nightclubs

From CNN's Sarah Moon

A scene at Sound Nightclub in Los Angeles, California on June 19, following 15 months of total shutdown.
A scene at Sound Nightclub in Los Angeles, California on June 19, following 15 months of total shutdown. (Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images)

Los Angeles County will be requiring proof of Covid-19 vaccination for all customers and employees entering indoor bars, wineries, breweries, nightclubs, and lounges starting Oct. 7. 

While the new health order is strongly recommended for restaurants, it will not be required. Children under 12 are also exempt, Dr. Barbara Ferrer, L.A. County's public health director, announced Friday at a media briefing.

“This modified health officer order aligns with the continued need to reduce risk for transmission,” Ferrer said. “It offers us a reasonable path forward that hopefully positions us to be better able to break the cycle of surges.”

Customers and employees will need to have at least one dose of the vaccine by Oct. 7 and be fully vaccinated by Nov. 4.

The new health officer order also requires vaccine verification or a negative test result within 72 hours for those attending large events with 10,000 or more attendees in venues or events that are ticketed with controlled points of entry. This includes sports and music arenas as well as theme parks and amusement parks, Ferrer said.

Ferrer said she hopes the new health officer order will motivate more people to get vaccinated.

“It is the most powerful tool for preventing this constant cycle of new variants of concern,” she said.

To date, Los Angeles County reports a total of 1,440,721 coronavirus cases and at least 25,799 deaths. Among the county’s 10.3 million residents, including those who are not yet eligible for vaccine, about 58% have been fully vaccinated.

4:57 p.m. ET, September 17, 2021

Here's what some FDA vaccine advisers said about Covid-19 boosters — and what comes next 

From CNN’s Maggie Fox

Vaccine advisers to the US Food and Drug Administration voted unanimously Friday to recommend emergency use authorization of a booster dose of Pfizer’s vaccine six months after full vaccination in people 65 and older and those at high risk of severe Covid-19. They rejected Pfizer’s application for boosters for a wider group of people, age 16 and older.

Here's how some of the advisers reacted:

“I am really glad that we authorized this vaccine for a third dose and I plan to go out and get my third vaccine this afternoon,” said Dr. Jay Portnoy, a professor of pediatrics at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City.

Dr. Steven Pergram, medical director for infection prevention at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, expressed concern that the recommendation did not cover health care workers, who are at high risk of exposure to coronavirus even if they are not necessarily at high risk of severe disease.

Dr. Peter Marks, who heads FDA’s vaccine arm, said the agency can make its own decision and asked the committee members to weigh on possible changes in wording on the EUA. “We are not bound at FDA by your vote,” Marks said. “We can tweak it.”

So the committee members voted unanimously to informally advise the FDA to include health care workers or others at high risk in the EUA.

What happens next: The Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices meets next week to advise the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on how to apply the FDA’s eventual decision and can fine-tune the recommendation.

The CDC has scheduled a meeting of its vaccine advisers for Sept. 22 and 23 — and CDC must give its stamp of approval for any booster doses to be officially given.

5:28 p.m. ET, September 17, 2021

FDA vaccine advisers vote to recommend Covid-19 booster in people 65 and older and those at high risk

From CNN's Maggie Fox

A healthcare worker administers a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at a senior living facility in Worcester, Pennsylvania on August 25.
A healthcare worker administers a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at a senior living facility in Worcester, Pennsylvania on August 25. (Hannah Beier/Bloomberg/Getty Images)

Vaccine advisers to the US Food and Drug Administration voted unanimously Friday to recommend emergency use authorization of a booster dose of Pfizer’s vaccine six months after full vaccination in people 65 and older and those at high risk of severe Covid-19.

Members of the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee had rejected a broader application – to approve the use of booster doses of Pfizer’s vaccines in everyone 16 and older six months after they are fully vaccinated.

So the FDA offered a revised question to vote on.

Members of the committee expressed doubts about the safety of a booster dose in younger adults and teens, and complained about the lack of data about the safety and long term efficacy of a booster dose.

Remember: The meeting and vote is just the start of the process. It's the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who will decide whether or not they should be used. After the FDA advisory committee makes its recommendation, the FDA makes the decision about whether to approve the booster dose.

The CDC has scheduled a meeting of its vaccine advisers for Sept. 22 and 23 — and CDC must give its stamp of approval for any booster doses to be officially given.

In a letter sent Thursday and obtained by CNN, the CDC urged local and state health officials to wait to administer boosters until both agencies had signed off.

Biden administration officials have previously announced a plan to begin administering booster doses to the general population during the week of Sept. 20, pending signoff from the FDA and CDC.

Where things stand now on vaccines and boosters: Third doses are already approved for certain immunocompromised people, but not for the general public.

Pfizer received full approval for its vaccine from the FDA, so the request to add a booster dose is a supplement to that approval. Pfizer — and other researchers — say their studies show people develop strong immunity after two doses of vaccine, but that levels of antibodies start to drop after a few months

The FDA noted in its briefing documents that Pfizer's vaccine — as well as vaccines made by Moderna and Johnson & Johnson — still provide strong protection against severe disease, hospitalization and death, even if antibodies do wane over time.

CNN's Jamie Gumbrecht and Jacqueline Howard contributed reporting to this post. 

4:58 p.m. ET, September 17, 2021

Florida surpasses 50,000 Covid-19 deaths

From CNN's Deanna Hackney 

Orange County, Florida, Mayor Jerry Demings opened a news conference this afternoon by acknowledging a "fairly grim milestone" in the state as Florida marks over 50,000 Covid-19 deaths.  

"One-quarter of those deaths have occurred since the surge of infections from the Delta variant, so that puts an exclamation point on the fact, just how deadly the Delta variant has been for all of us," Demings said.  

They have "seen the same trends in Orange County as well," Demings said, with at least 372 resident deaths in August. There have been at least 85 additional Covid-19 deaths since the last briefing this Monday alone. 

However, Orange County is also "seeing some very promising news," said the mayor, such as the number of daily infections declining. For the 13th straight day, the number of daily cases has been under 1,000. 

In addition, Demings pointed to Advent Health transitioning to "green status" for their facilities in Central Florida, meaning they have now returned to normal operations. This is a direct result of the steady decrease in infections in the area since the peak in August. 

There is also a continued increase in the number of eligible county residents getting their vaccinations for Covid-19, the mayor said.

"As of today, 72% of eligible residents ages 12 and up have received one or more doses of the vaccine," he said.

What the latest data shows: According to data from John Hopkins University, the five states reporting the highest numbers of total Covid-19 deaths are:

  • California: 67,754
  • Texas: 61,229
  • New York: 54,742
  • Florida: 50,811
  • Pennsylvania: 28,812

As of 3:30 p.m. ET Friday, the total US death toll from Covid-19 was 671,098.

4:23 p.m. ET, September 17, 2021

FDA vaccine advisers get a new question to consider about boosters

From CNN's Maggie Fox

Vaccine advisers to the US Food and Drug Administration have received a new question to consider about boosters.

The FDA has rewritten the question it is asking its advisers. Although the Pfizer vaccine has full approval, the committee will be asked to vote on an emergency use authorization or EUA for a booster.

They are being asked to vote on whether boosters should get emergency use authorization for a booster dose six months after full vaccination in people 65 and older and those at high risk of severe Covid-19.

4:16 p.m. ET, September 17, 2021

FDA vaccine advisers return from break to revise their vote on booster doses

From CNN's Maggie Fox

Members of the US Food and Drug Administration's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee have returned from their break to revise their vote on Pfizer’s application to add a booster dose of its coronavirus vaccine.

They are readying to vote on a rewritten question they will vote on after rejecting approval of a booster dose for everyone 16 and older six months after full vaccination.

4:18 p.m. ET, September 17, 2021

Some vaccine advisers express concerns about giving boosters to entire population at this moment

From CNN's Maggie Fox

After vaccine advisers to the US Food and Drug Administration rejected Pfizer's application to add a booster dose of its Covid-19 vaccine, several members of the committee voiced doubts that it is a good idea to start giving boosters to the entire population.

They especially expressed concern about younger adults and older teens, who may have a higher risk of a rare complication called myocarditis – an inflammation of the heart.

“I have major concerns with regard to the extrapolation of data from much older populations to 16- and 17- year-olds,” said Dr. Archana Chatterjee, dean of the Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University. “We have no data on the safety in this population at all, that have been presented so far, and, and that concerns me significantly,” she added.

“Recommending a third dose for younger people is not something I would be comfortable with at this point,” said Dr. Melinda Wharton, director of immunization services at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The committee is now discussing voting on another question limiting the approval of a booster dose to a more limited group.