According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), when infected with COVID-19, a person’s mental health disorders are added to the list of ailments that increase the likelihood of becoming extremely ill.
As a result of the decision, millions more Americans will be eligible for vaccine booster doses. According to the agency, the change was implemented on October 14 and included patients suffering from depression, schizophrenia, and other mental illnesses. The list already includes people over the age of 65, those with weakened immune systems, and those at high risk of contracting the virus through their daily work activities.
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, approximately one in every five American people suffers from a mental health problem at some point during the year. In addition, according to a study published in The Lancet Psychiatry last year, data from 69 million individuals revealed that the likelihood of receiving a diagnosis of COVID was higher in patients who had a history of psychiatric disease.
According to a New York Times tracker, the United States continues to experience approximately 1,400 COVID deaths per day on average, with the vast majority of those occurring in persons who are not vaccinated. Despite this, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine tracker remains stubbornly unchanged at 191 million individuals, or 57.6 percent of the global population, which is still far below the 70 percent experts believe is required to halt the spread of the virus entirely.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more people obtain booster shots every day than primary shots. A total of 15.4 million people have received a booster so far.
According to the Associated Press, the state of Florida has filed a lawsuit against President Joe Biden’s administration over the administration’s coronavirus vaccine mandate for federal contractors, launching another battleground between Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and the White House.
At a news conference, DeSantis announced the complaint, in which he claims that the president lacked the jurisdiction to issue the order and that it violates procurement law.
Earlier this year, DeSantis threatened to take legal action against the federal immunization mandate and fought against masks and vaccine laws enacted by local governments in Florida. Earlier this month, the governor said that he would convene state legislators in the Capitol next month to pass legislation to oppose vaccine mandates imposed by private companies.
In addition to a mandatory vaccine requirement for federal contractors, which is set to take effect in December, Biden has announced that private employers with 100 or more employees will require them to be vaccinated or tested weekly as part of a broader healthcare reform package. In addition, the approximately 17 million employees of healthcare establishments that receive federal Medicare or Medicaid will also be required to undergo a complete vaccination. Additional information on the policies is scheduled to be revealed in the near future.
In other news, the South China Morning Post claimed that Beijing had ordered citizens to postpone weddings and reduce funerals as part of its efforts to contain an outbreak of COVID cases before the upcoming Winter Olympic Games in Beijing. Authorities have ordered almost six million people in three cities to remain at home to control the spread.
The Moscow Times claimed that Russia established another record for a single day’s death toll on Friday, this time with 1,163 deaths. In the last 11 days, Russia has set new records on nine occasions, and the country has gone into a partial lockdown that will last for a week.
According to WHO data, Russia and surrounding countries in Eastern Europe are responsible for a spike in cases in Europe in the most recent week, when it was the only region to have an increase in cases.