This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots for September 22nd, 2021.

There are approximately 71 million unvaccinated Americans. And COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. have climbed to an average of more than 1,900 a day for the first time since early March. Many hospitals are full and health care workers demoralized, with patients dying and disbelief about the virus continuing. Dr. William Moss of Johns Hopkins said, “I think this is a failure of society.”

Almost 400 Novant Health employees in North Carolina aren’t overworked anymore. They’ve been suspended after failing to comply with the hospital system’s vaccination program. Those who got their first vaccine of Pfizer or Moderna have until October 15 to get the second, or they’re gone too.

People who got the Johnson & Johnson booster shot are better protected, and for a longer period of time, according to their own latest trial results. The one-dose vaccine has been found to be 72% protective against severe cases in the U.S. But get a second shot two months later and that protection goes up to 94%.

Two big retail groups have asked the Biden administration for at least a 90-day heads up before imposing new rules that’ll require employees at bigger companies to be vaccinated or submit to regular testing. The groups represent brands like Walmart, CVS, Target, and Home Depot and said "there could be as many as 4 million workers who may need to be tested weekly," and they need time and guidance to figure out how that gets done. 

He’s one of the most famous filmmakers you don’t know, and he has died from COVID. His name is George Holliday. He was actually a plumber in Los Angeles. But it was he who shot the grainy video of four white police officers beating black motorist Rodney King back in 1991, an incident which later sparked massive riots. He was 61 and had been fighting COVID in the hospital for over a month. 

In the United States cases were up 4%, deaths are up 51%, and hospitalizations are down 8% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending down since September 13.  

There are 9,715,410 active cases in the United States.

With not all states reporting daily numbers, the five states with the greatest increase in per capita hospitalizations over 14 days are Vermont, the number one most vaccinated state in the United States at 44%, Montana 35%, Idaho 34%, Ohio 32%, and West Virginia 30%.  

The top 10 counties with the highest number of recent cases per capita according to The New York Times: Russell, KY. McCreary, KY. Andrews, TX. Scott, TN. Lewis, WV. Green, KY. Knox, KY. Braxton, WV. Whitley, KY. And Perry, KY. 

There have been at least 678,405 deaths in the U.S. recorded as Covid-related.

The top 3 vaccinating states by percentage of population that’s been fully vaccinated: Vermont at 69%, Connecticut at 67.9%, and Maine unchanged at 67.5%. The bottom 3 vaccinating states are West Virginia at 40.2%, Wyoming unchanged at 40.6%, and Idaho unchanged at 40.8%. The percentage of the U.S. that’s been fully vaccinated is 54.7%.

The 5 countries with the largest recent 24-hour increase in the number of fully vaccinated people: Pakistan, Oceana, Georgia, Bangladesh, and India all up 2%.  

Globally, cases were down 9% and deaths were down 7% over 14 days, with the 7-day average trending down since August 27. 

There are 18,561,770 active cases around the world.

The five countries with the most new cases: The United States 120,579. The U.K. 31,564. Turkey 29,338. India 27,333. And Russia 19,179.  

There have now been at least 4,707,662 deaths reported as Covid-related worldwide. 

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