US President Joe Biden announced his plan to limit the spread of the coronavirus on Thursday. The Democratic president's plan is based on six pillars, with the key element being vaccination and increasing the immunity rate of the population.
Joe Biden believes that reducing the pandemic will mitigate the impact on economic activity and reduce costs significantly, so that he and his colleagues can implement the program to rebuild the US economy and recover lost jobs after the outbreak of the pandemic.
The Professors of the Medical School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Lina Paschou, Theodora Psaltopoulou and Professor Thanos Dimopoulos (Rector of EKPA), spoke to ERT and highlighted the main points of the project:
1. Compulsory vaccination for public and private sector employees. An instruction was issued through the Ministry of Labor, so that employers with more than 100 employees are obliged to ensure the vaccination of employees or their regular examination with tests in some cases. The White House is becoming more inflexible about selecting its employees for regular testing compared to vaccination. According to recent polls, 19% of U.S. employees say they think their employer will require COVID-19 vaccination to return to work, up from 9% in July.
2. Additional protection of those vaccinated through booster doses . Some people who have been vaccinated early with a Pfizer preparation may receive a booster dose as early as September 20. Of course, the FDA has not yet given approval. An important meeting will take place on 17 September, and guidelines need to be laid down. It seems that they will relate to a period of at least 8 months after taking the second dose, while emphasis will be placed on the elderly and those who did not show an adequate immune response.
3. Open schools. To achieve this it seems that vaccination strategies will be adopted, possibly mandatory, for teachers and other school staff. It is also considered necessary to use a mask by teachers, professors and students, to a large extent with state coverage of their costs. Infections and hospitalizations in children are on the rise in the United States, but they are still the least likely age group for serious illness or death from coronavirus.
4. Increase of tests. The production of rapid tests will be accelerated and 25 million free tests will be sent to health structures in the country. In fact, it seems that there will be a partnership with companies such as Amazon, Kroger and Walmart, which will distribute the tests at cost to homes for the next 3 months. If the tests become accessible and performed regularly, they will be able to help stem the pandemic by informing people if they are contagious and should stay home, even if they do not feel sick.
5. Economic recovery for many. A lending program will be expanded to allow small businesses particularly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic to borrow up to $ 2,000,000 at a low interest rate. It is worth noting that in July 2021 the number of available jobs in the US increased to 10.9 million, which is a high record.
6. Improving health care for those infected with COVID-19. The availability of new effective drugs based on scientific data will increase in the US. For example, it has already been announced a 50% increase in the average rate of distribution of monoclonal antibody therapy throughout the territory free of charge. In addition, the Ministry of National Defense is going to double the number of military health teams that will assist in the overloaded health system.
BioNTech vaccine against Covid19 will be available for children aged 5-11 from mid-October, the company estimates
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