Supply limits local COVID vaccinations
Thousands more residents could be getting COVID19 shots if public health officials' requests for vaccine were being met, the chief operating officer of the Oklahoma City-County Health Department said Tuesday.
Phil Maytubby gave a pandemic update at City Hall before the Oklahoma City Council voted to extend the city's mask mandate through March 5, the fourth extension since it was first adopted July 17.
Maytubby said the Health Department could" distribute four to five times the vaccine available now." The agency sought 25,000 doses last week and received only 6,000, he said. Hopes are for improvement next week.
The percentage of tests coming back positive is high, and cases have been at a "high plateau" since Christmas, he said.
"We're just not in a good spot," Maytubby said, calling the coronavirus "ubiquitous in the community."
High numbers are being seen among those in the 18-35 and 35-50 age ranges, he said, citing schools and offices as apparent hubs of transmission.
"Workplace exposures are one of our top items now," he said.
The vaccine distribution network is fully operable, but appointment slots fill quickly, May tub by said, citing a recent instance of 4,000 being claimed in 30 minutes.
"We're very good at this," he said. "We just need the vaccine to get it done."
Public health officials have said for months, and Maytubby reiterated Tuesday, that masks slow the virus' spread.
Oklahoma City' s or dinance requires that masks be worn, indoors, in many public places.
ban on visitors f rom several predominantly Muslim countries, and extending pandemic-era limits on evictions and student loan payments.
Trump won' t attend Biden's inauguration, the first outgoing president to skip the ceremony since Andrew Johnson more than a century and a half ago. The White House released a farewell video from Trump just as Biden landed at Joint Base Andrews. Trump, who has repeatedly and falsely claimed widespread fraud led to his election loss, extended “best wishes” to the incoming administration in his nearly 20- minute address but di d not utter Biden's name.
Trump also spent some of his last time in the White House huddled with advisers weighing final-hour pardons and grants of clemency.
Trump plans to depart from Washington Wednesday morning in a grand airbase ceremony that he helped plan himself.
Biden at his Delaware farewell, held at t he National Guard/ Reserve Center named after his late son Beau Biden, paid tribute to his home state. After his remarks, he stopped and chat ted with friends and well-wishers in the crowd, much like an Iowa rope line at the start of his long campaign journey.
“I'll always be a proud son of the state of Delaware,” said Biden, who struggled to hold back tears as he delivered brief remarks.
After arriving in Washington, Bi den went directly to an evening ceremony at the Reflecting Pool near the Lincoln Memorial to honor American lives lost to COVID-19. He was joined by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris who spoke of the collective anguish of a nation.
“For many months we have grieved by ourselves,” Harris said. “Tonight, we grieve and begin healing together.”
Bid en followed with his own brief remarks, telling Americans that “to heal we must remember.” As he spoke with 400 lights representing the pandemic victims illuminated behind him, he faced the statue of Abraham Lincoln, the Civil War president who served as more than 600,000 Americans died. As he turned to walk away at the conclusion of the vigil, he faced the black granite wall listing the 58,000-plus Americans who perished in Vietnam.
Inaugural organizers this week finished installing some 200,000 U.S., state and territorial flags on the National Mall, a display to represent t he American people who couldn't come to the inauguration, which is restricted under the tight security and Covid restrictions.
It's also a reminder of all the president-elect faces as he looks to steer the nation through the pandemic with infections and deaths soaring.
Out of the starting gate, Biden and his team are intent on moving quickly to speed up the distribution of vaccinations to anxious Americans and pass his $1.9 trillion virus relief package, which includes quick payments to many people and an increase in the minimum wage to $15 an hour.
Biden also plans to unveil a sweeping immigration bill on the first day of his administration, hoping to provide an eight-year path to citizenship for an estimated 11 million people living in the U.S. without legal status. That would be a major reversal from the Trump administration's tight immigration policies.
Some leading Republican have already balked at Biden's immigration plan. “There are many issues I think we can work cooperatively with President-elect Biden, but a blanket amnesty for people who are here unlawful ly isn' t going to be one of them,” said Sen. Marco Rubio, R- Fla., who is often a central player in Senate immigration battles.
But Bid en' s legislative ambitions could be tempered by the hard truth he faces on Capitol Hill, where Democrats hold narrow majorities in both the Senate and House. His hopes to press forward with an avalanche of legislation in his first 100 days could also be slowed by an impeachment trial of Trump.
As Bi den made hi s way to Washington, five of his Cabinet picks were appearing on Tuesday before Senate committees to begin confirmation hearings. Treasury nominee Janet Y ellen, Defense nominee Lloyd Austin, Homeland Security nominee Alejandro Ma york as, Secretary of State nominee An tony Blink en and Director of National Intelligence nominee Avril Haines were being questioned.
Yellen at her confirmation hearing urged lawmakers to embrace Biden's virus relief package, arguing that “the smartest thing we can do is act big.”
Aides say Biden will use Wednesday' sin augural address — one that will be delivered in front of an unusual ly small in-person group because of virus protocols and security concerns and is expected to run 20 to 30 minutes — to call for American unity and offer an optimistic message that Americans can get past t he dark moment by working together. To that end, he extended invitations to Congress' top four Republican and Democratic leaders to attend Mass with him at St. Matthew's Cathedral ahead of the inauguration ceremony.
As Biden presses bipartisanship, he's also facing pressure from his left to go big right away, with the progressive wing of the Democratic Party calling on Senate Democrats to help by doing away with the chamber's filibuster.
“We are glad Presidentelect Biden is ready to start addressing the des perate needs of the American people and put forth a Covid aid proposal which begins to address the many issues we face,” the progressive groups Justice Democrats, Sunrise Movement and New Deal Strategies wrote in a memo on Monday. “We hope ten Senate Republicans will support it, but are not holding our breath. The big question is, what happens when Republicans block Biden?”
Ahead of Biden's arrival, 12 U.S. Army National Guard members were removed from the presidential inauguration security mission after they were found to have ties with right-wing militia groups or posted extremist views online, according to two U.S. officials. There was no threat to Biden, they said.
The officials, a senior intelligence official and an Army official briefed on the matter, did not say which fringe group the Guard members belonged to or what unit they served in. The officials were not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.