Maj. W. Chris Clyne/Oregon National Guard Public Affairs via U.S. National Guard
(SALEM, Ore.) — Hundreds of National Guard members are on the ground in Oregon to help with a COVID-19 surge that’s overwhelming hospitals across the state.
Oregon has 1,000 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, according to state data, the highest ever in the pandemic. Gov. Kate Brown called the news a “terrifying milestone.”
The state seen cases skyrocket over the past six weeks, with nearly 3,000 reported Tuesday, according to the Oregon Health Authority’s COVID-19 dashboard. The state has 45 available adult ICU beds out of 667, roughly 7%, as of Tuesday.
The Oregon National Guard members — 500 initially were deployed on Aug. 20 — said they’re helping with nonclinical work and COVID-19 testing in 20 hospitals.
The state also has requested doctors, nurses, paramedics and respiratory therapists from out of state. At least 24 FEMA-deployed emergency medical technicians also have been sent out to assist at six Oregon hospitals, Brown said earlier this week.
Three Asante network hospitals in Jackson and Josephine counties in southern Oregon are reeling from a critical surge in COVID-19 cases. In those two counties, just four of 56 staffed adult ICU beds were available, according to the latest Oregon Health Authority data.
The Asante hospital network told ABC News that 80 National Guard members arrived on Aug. 19 and have been assigned to nonclinical support functions, including manning the COVID-19 hotline and assisting with drive-thru testing.
The hospital network reported 181 COVID-19 inpatients on Wednesday, a new record, and at least 9 in 10 hadn’t been vaccinated.
“All three of our hospitals are over capacity. Our ICUs are full. We’re putting two patients in ICU rooms at our Grants Pass hospital. These rooms are built to only house one patient,” Asante spokesperson Lauren Van Sickle told ABC News.
The hospital said capacity has not gone below 90% in the past six months and more than 400 surgeries have been canceled to deal with the surge, Van Sickle said.
In Jackson County, COVID-19 hospitalizations surged sevenfold from the beginning of July to the beginning of August.
Our hospital is actually in a really dire state right now,” Jackie DeSilva, the emergency preparedness manager with Asante, told ABC Portland, Oregon, affiliate KATU. “We are overflowing with patients.”
“We are actually extending our ICU beds into non-conventional areas that would not normally be considered ICU units so we can care for the patients,” she added.
State health officer Dr. Dean Sidelinger said in a statement Tuesday that current hospitalizations “far exceed” pre-vaccination surges last fall and winter, and a majority of those in hospitals aren’t vaccinated. So far 71.4% of those 18 and older are fully vaccinated in Oregon, according to state data.
“This is putting an unprecedented strain on our local hospitals. Already, we have seen some hospitals suspend much-needed medical procedures because of the overflowing capacity. This affects every Oregonian family and it is not sustainable,” he said.
Brown has been buckling down on public safety measures to cope with the surge in cases announcing a mask mandate for public outdoor settings on Tuesday, regardless of vaccination status, starting Friday. She also announced last week that health care workers and K-12 educators, staff and volunteers must be fully vaccinated.
(NEW YORK) — A limited-time Ferris wheel is opening in New York City’s Times Square Wednesday offering tourists and residents a new view of the city.
The 110-foot-tall ride is in operation from Aug. 25 to Sept. 12.
Times Square Alliance President Tom Harris called it “an incredible new way to enjoy Times Square from a completely new vantage point as we navigate these times and reflect on all we have been through this past year.”
Six people can ride in each gondola.
The Ferris wheel runs from noon to midnight seven days a week. General admission tickets are $20.
(NEW YORK) — The United States is facing a COVID-19 surge this summer as the more contagious delta variant spreads.
More than 630,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.4 million people have died from the disease worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Just 60.2% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing Wednesday. All times Eastern:
Aug 25, 4:25 pm
Gov. Abbott issues executive order maintaining ban on vaccine mandates
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order on Wednesday maintaining a ban on vaccine mandates.
I issued an Executive Order maintaining the prohibition of vaccine mandates.
Abbott also said he added the vaccine mandate issue to Texas’ Special Session agenda.
Abbott tested positive for COVID-19 last week and has since tested negative.
Aug 25, 2:35 pm
Pfizer asks FDA for full booster dose approval
Pfizer on Wednesday asked the Food and Drug Administration for full approval for a booster dose. The company said its Phase 3 data showed that people who received a third dose between five to eight months after the second shot had antibody levels three times higher than levels seen after the second dose.
Because the Pfizer shots were approved by the FDA on Monday, Pfizer is now asking the agency to consider a “supplemental” application for boosters for people ages 16 and over. This is a “rolling submission,” with Pfizer intending to complete the submission by the end of the week.
The Biden administration said its goal is to have boosters available beginning Sept. 20, with the recommendation of getting one eight months after the second shot of Pfizer or Moderna.
-ABC News’ Sony Salzman
Aug 25, 1:35 pm
Baby dies in Louisiana marking state’s 1st pediatric death in 6 months
A baby under the age of 1 died in connection to COVID-19 in the last 24 hours in Louisiana, the state’s Department of Health said Wednesday.
This marked Louisiana’s first pediatric COVID-19 death in six months, the department said. The baby was one of 110 people in Louisiana to die of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours.
Eleven children in Louisiana have died from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, the department said.
Aug 25, 1:07 pm
Hospitalizations at highest point in 7 months
There are now over 100,000 COVID-19 patients in U.S. hospitals, the most in seven months, according to federal data.
The rate of hospital admissions per capita among Americans 29 and younger is at the highest point of the pandemic, according to federal data.
Compared with July 4, six times as many children are being admitted to hospitals, and daily deaths are up 281% over the last six weeks to 775, according to federal data.
Eight states have ICUs over 90% full: Alabama (100%), Arkansas (89.58%), Florida (93.52%), Georgia (92.74%), Kentucky (89.33%), Mississippi (92.93%), Oklahoma (88.93%) and Texas (93.12%).
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Aug 25, 10:56 am
Pentagon announces mandatory Pfizer vaccinations
The Pentagon on Wednesday announced mandatory Pfizer vaccinations, calling it “necessary to protect the safety of our service members and force.”
Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine was granted full approval by the FDA on Monday.
Aug 25, 10:37 am
Delta Air Lines raising health insurance premiums for unvaccinated employees
Delta is raising health insurance premiums for unvaccinated employees by $200 a month to cover COVID-19 costs like potential hospitalization, which the airline says has cost it $40,000 per person on average.
In recent weeks, all Delta employees hospitalized with COVID-19 were not fully vaccinated, Delta CEO Ed Bastian wrote in a memo to employees.
Currently 75% of Delta employees are vaccinated, according to the airline.
The health insurance premium begins Nov. 1.
Unvaccinated employees will also have to wear masks indoors and be required to take a weekly COVID test beginning Sept. 12.
Aug 25, 10:00 am
Moderna finalizes submission to FDA for full approval
Moderna has finalized submission of its application to the Food and Drug Administration for full approval of its COVID-19 vaccine, the company announced Monday.
It’s not yet clear how long the FDA will take to review Moderna’s application.
Pfizer completed its vaccine application in May and was granted full approval on Monday.
Aug 25, 7:00 am
J&J says its vaccine booster shot raises antibody levels 9-fold
In the midst of a delta variant surge, a new study finds that giving a booster dose of the Johnson & Johnson shot six months after primary vaccination results in a nine-fold increase of a crucial antibody response, according to a company press release.
Meanwhile, a prior study found that people vaccinated with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine still had a durable immune response at least eight months later, even without a booster.
Collectively, the findings could help inform the U.S. government’s recommendations about booster shots for the 14 million people who received the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Boosting after six months “appears to be safe, and boosts immune responses substantially,” Dr. Dan Barouch, Ph.D., director of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, told ABC News.
Aug 25, 3:53 am
COVID-19 cases rise among athletes at Tokyo Paralympics
Several Paralympic athletes have tested positive for COVID-19 in Tokyo in recent days.
According to daily figures released by the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee, at least eight positive cases have been confirmed among unnamed Paralympic athletes so far, with two new cases reported on Wednesday following the opening ceremony.
The 2020 Summer Paralympics officially opened in the Japanese capital on Tuesday, after a yearlong delay due to the coronavirus pandemic. Like the 2020 Olympics, which ended on Aug. 8, this year’s Paralympics is taking place under a state of emergency as Japan struggles with a growing COVID-19 crisis.
Aug 24, 9:01 pm
Another Florida school district issues mask mandate
Leaders of the Orange County public school system voted Tuesday to require a mask mandate for all students and staff.
The rule goes into effect on Aug. 30 and will last for at least two months. There will be exemptions for medical reasons.
School board members cited the growing COVID-19 rates and hospitalizations in the area as the reason for their decision.
Aug 24, 5:54 pm
NYC School chancellor discusses teacher vaccine mandate
New York City Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter spoke with ABC News about the vaccine mandate for public school staff that goes into effect Sept. 27.
Porter said she was confident that teachers and other staff members would comply to ensure that classrooms are safe for everyone.
“This is the additional extra layer of protection that we didn’t have a year ago,” she said.
Porter said she has been in discussions with the United Federation of Teachers over what the penalties will be if a teacher doesn’t comply, and she was told that “many of their members are already vaccinated.”
The chancellor said those who still have concerns should know that the Food and Drug Administration has fully approved the Pfizer vaccine and it has shown to prevent severe illness.
Aug 24, 5:38 pm
Kentucky reports record hospitalizations, ICU patients
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear tweeted a dire update on the state’s COVID-19 cases.
The state health department reported that 2,014 people are currently hospitalized with the virus, 589 of whom are in intensive care units and 338 are on ventilators. Beshear said these are record numbers.
“Folks, this is dangerous. Please, get vaccinated and mask up indoors,” the governor tweeted.
(WASHINGTON) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday sharply criticized two House members for taking an unauthorized trip to Afghanistan, and the Pentagon said their unexpected visit took time away from its urgent military mission at the Kabul airport.
Rep. Peter Meijer, a Michigan Republican, and Rep. Seth Moulton, a Massachusetts Democrat — both Iraq War veterans — said they traveled to Kabul on Tuesday to review the situation at the Hamid Karzai International Airport — and have since defended the trip amid criticism that they distracted from the evacuation effort.
Pelosi on Wednesday chastised the two and warned other lawmakers not to try the same thing.
“There’s a real concern about members being in the region,” Pelosi said at a Capitol Hill press conference Wednesday. “This is deadly serious. We do not want members to go.”
Their trip, first reported by The Washington Post, prompted a letter to lawmakers from Pelosi on Tuesday evening, telling lawmakers not to travel to Kabul because it would distract from the ongoing evacuation and take up resources and that the Pentagon and State Department are adamantly against any external visitors.
She said at Wednesday’s press conference there was an “opportunity cost” of protecting the two congressmen in the region.
“It’s not just about them going to Afghanistan, but in going to the region, because there’s a call on our resources diplomatically, politically, militarily in the region as well, so this is deadly serious,” Pelosi said. “The point is, is that we don’t want anybody to think this was a good idea and that they should try to follow suit.”
“It was not, in my view, a good idea,” she added.
While Pelosi said she has not spoken to either Meijer or Molton since they returned, she noted that trips like this would require the approval of committee chairs — and it was not approved by the Democratic side.
“We put out the word to committee chairs, there ain’t going to be no planes or this or that for people going to the region,” Pelosi said.
The Pentagon echoed Pelosi’s sentiment in a briefing later Wednesday, saying that it had not been aware in advance of the visit and that it “took time away” from the military operations.
“They certainly took time away from what we had been planning to do that day,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
He said there was “a need to flex and to — to alter the day’s — the day’s flow, including — including, you know, the need to have protection for these members of Congress.”
“There was certainly a pull-off of the kinds of missions we were trying to do to be able to accommodate that visit,” Kirby added.
Like Pelosi, Kirby also took a chance to deter others from heading to Kabul.
“We are obviously not encouraging VIP visits to a very tense, dangerous, and dynamic situation at that airport and inside Kabul generally. And the secretary, I think, would have appreciated the opportunity to have had a conversation before the visit took place,” he said, referering to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
Colleagues in Congress, too, piled on the criticism.
Prominent Republicans and Democrats alike blasted Meijer and Moulton for their secretive and unauthorized trip during the last week of evacuations, calling it selfish and irresponsible.
“I was surprised and shocked,” said House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y. “I want to stay focused on the mission of bringing back our American citizens and our SIV’s and the Afghans who are in danger.I don’t think it helps necessarily for us to keep going over there, when we try to get people out of there was irresponsible for them to do that …it does not help.”
“I don’t think it’s the best decision, you put people at jeopardy,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said on Fox News on Wednesday morning. “But I understand why they wanted to go.”
Rep. Madeline Dean, D-Penn., called it “troubling” on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that “anybody, such as a congressperson, would come in, A, without telling the admin, but B, knowing that they will take resources from people who desperately need it.”
Meijer and Moulton said in a joint statement Tuesday evening that the purpose of their travel was “to conduct oversight on the mission to evacuate Americans and our allies.”
The statement said the lawmakers conducted the visit in secret to gather information about operations there, not disrupt them.
“We left on a plane with empty seats, seated in crew-only seats to ensure that nobody who needed a seat would lose one because of our presence,” they said.
Moulton, a former candidate for the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, tweeted out an image from the airport following their visit, calling the scenes he saw there “indescribable.”
ABC News’ Conor Finnegan and Ben Gittleson contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Consumer demand has soared for some grocery store products and retailers are scrambling to keep up.
According to The Wall Street Journal, some grocers are struggling to keep items in stock. From kid-favorite frozen waffles to certain beverages and Lunchables, the fight to keep store shelves filled with many popular brands is real.
“In the 50 years I’ve been in the business, we’ve never seen the markets like they are today. They’re wild,” Stew Leonard, CEO of his eponymous Northeast-based grocery chain, told Good Morning America.
Kraft Heinz said in a statement it is “seeing an all-time high demand for our brands.”
Kraft said it’s seen “double-digit growth for the first time in five years.”
The company told ABC News that it has increased production to meet demand and is “working fast and furiously to get more product into the hands of consumers as soon as possible.”
In the meantime, as demand outpaces supply for some items, Leonard said his stores have tried to come up with new solutions.
“Lobster is probably at a record high right now as far as the price per pound and lobster rolls are a big hit,” he said. “One of the things we’ve done is make a shrimp roll right now.”
According to the Food Marketing Institute, a national trade association, demand pressures have yet to go back to pre-pandemic levels. The food and retail organization told ABC News that a combination of factors such as shortages of materials and ingredients, combined with labor and transportation, “will continue to be disruptive and will create an uneven supply chain recovery, but we ask that shoppers hold on as we continue to recalibrate.”
Market research firm IRI, which examines consumer, shopper and retail market intelligence, found in its data that monthly grocery store sales are up 3% from last year and nearly 14% from August 2019.
The change, according to IRI, comes down to the simple factor that consumers have been eating at home more and out less.
“So many behaviors changed during the pandemic. And that’s kind of what we’re experiencing. There’s a lot more confidence in the kitchen,” Joan Driggs, vice president of content and thought leadership for IRI, told GMA. “We have a whole new generation of cooks out there who like it, they get more of exactly what they want, they take great pride in it.”
Driggs is telling consumers there’s no need to panic shop.
“People are able to go and fulfill their list — I don’t think we’re going to go back to that big stop, stock up panic shopping that we experienced in the spring of 2020,” he said.
(NEW YORK) — Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, one in five kids in the U.S. has experienced anxiety, according to data published this month in JAMA Pediatrics, a medical journal.
Now with most kids returning to school in-person this year amid the delta variant and as mask mandate debates continue throughout the country, it is to be expected that anxiety and stress levels may again be on the rise, experts say.
“We need to make space for the fact that kids may be experiencing very new things,” said Dave Anderson, Ph.D., vice president of school and community programs at the Child Mind Institute, an organization dedicated to mental health work with children and families. “It’s really important
to say, ‘Just because we’re excited to be returning to some sense of normalcy, what do I need to support you around? What might you be nervous about?'”
Leena and Sunil Saini, of Newtown, Pennsylvania, said they are in the midst of anxiety-inducing change as they send their daughters, Kirina and Ela, to school after socially isolating together for the past 18 months.
“We’ve been in this protective bubble until now and now we’re sending them out into the world,” said Leena Saini, whose husband, Sunil, is also returning to work in-person. “Sending them back to school now, it’s kind of anxiety-provoking, and what’s hard is we as parents are anxious, but don’t want to transfer that anxiety to our kids.”
Here are four tips from Anderson to help the anxiety families like the Sainis are experiencing in this time of big changes.
1. Stay calm and open with your child.
While parents like the Sainis’ may be worried about pushing their own anxiety onto their children, Anderson said it is okay for parents to talk to a certain extent with their kids about how they’re feeling.
“The answer is always something in moderation,” said Anderson. “We don’t want a parent to fully suppress everything that they’re feeling.”
When talking with their kids about school, parents should try not to ask leading questions, like, “Are you nervous about going back to school?” according to the Child Mind Institute’s back to school guide.
Anderson recommends parents listen to and validate their child’s feelings by telling them, “We know you’re going to have feelings. Those feelings are very valid. Let’s focus on the things that might you might be optimistic about this particular change, and then beyond that, we’re just going to take it as it comes.”
And parents themselves can help to ease their own anxiety by, first, taking a deep breath, according to Anderson. He noted that parents may also find it helpful to review the procedures their child’s school has put in place to help ease their worries.
2. Reassure your child you’ll still have time with them.
For many families, the pandemic lockdown meant more time together than they were used to spending. For some children, adjusting back to the routine of being apart during the day may prove difficult, according to Anderson.
“We can say to kids, ‘Even as I go back to the office, maybe those days where you see me less, know that I have valued this time where we’ve been able to see each other, and there will still be days when that rhythm is still kind of there,'” he said. “And I think kids get comforted by that.”
3. Talk to your child about things to do to stay safe.
Wearing face masks and taking other safety measures against COVID-19 may be anxiety-inducing for some students who are being asked by their parents to do so when their peers are not.
Especially when it comes to masks, which have become a heated debate in some school districts, parents should have conversations with their child ahead of time, according to Anderson.
“It’s going back and saying to the child, ‘Well, look, we’ve made the decision that you’re going to wear a mask. We’re going to find you a good fitting one,'” said Anderson, who added that parents can also talk to their child about when they can take mask breaks and the fact that some classmates may be unmasked. “And the reality is that any child who’s in a mixed-mask environment is going to feel comfortable fairly quickly with that norm, likely even more quickly than adults.”
4. Focus on sleep, diet and movement.
In addition to focusing on kids’ feelings, parents should also pay attention to what their kids are eating and how much sleep and movement they’re getting, according to Anderson.
Those elements of an overall healthy lifestyle can help children, and parents, cope with stress.
“It’s going back to basic wellness habits. Get some sleep, make sure you’re feeding yourself, make sure you’re moving your body in some way and that you’re getting some sort of social support,” said Anderson. “If you can check off those boxes a bit, you’re going to be better able to confront the challenges.”
Bonus tips:
Encourage flexibility.
A lesson from the pandemic is that anything can change at any time, so parents should prepare their children to be flexible and prepared for potential changes with school, according to the Child Mind Institute’s back to school guide.
“It’s helpful for kids to know that you’re prepared for changes that may occur. Let your child know that the whole family is going to have to be flexible,” the guide recommends.
Know when to seek help.
Parents can look for several behavior changes in their child that signal it is time to seek professional mental health help.
Those changes include having severe meltdowns at drop-off time for more than two or three weeks, and being unable to recover or to even stay at school, for more than three or four weeks, or having school-related worries that cause repeated headaches and stomachaches, constant visits to the school nurse, or refusal to go to school, according to the Child Mind Institute.
Sayed Khodaiberdi Sadat/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
(KABUL, Afghanistan) — Chaos has enveloped Kabul after Afghanistan’s government’s collapsed and the Taliban seized control, all but ending America’s 20-year campaign as it began: under Taliban rule.
The U.S. has evacuated approximately 37,000 people since the effort began on Aug. 14, Pentagon officials said Monday, while reiterating their focus remains on maintaining the airport perimeter and increasing the number of evacuees out of Kabul ahead of the Aug. 31 withdrawal deadline.
President Joe Biden sat down with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos for an exclusive one-on-one interview at the White House last week, the president’s first interview since the withdrawal from Afghanistan. Biden has also addressed the nation several times since.
Here are the latest developments. All times Eastern:
Aug 25, 7:18 am
US evacuates 19,000 people from Kabul in past 24 hours
The United States has evacuated and facilitated the evacuation of some 82,300 people from Kabul since Aug. 14 when the Taliban closed in on Afghanistan’s capital, according to a White House official.
In a 24-hour period from Tuesday to Monday, 42 U.S. military flights carried approximately 11,200 evacuees out of Kabul. Another 7,800 people were evacuated via 48 coalition aircraft. Since the end of July, approximately 87,900 people have been relocated from Kabul via U.S. military and coalition flights, the White House official said.
Aug 25, 6:20 am
World Bank freezes aid to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan
The World Bank said it has suspended funding for projects in Afghanistan in the wake of the Taliban’s return to power, becoming the latest international organization to do so.
“We are deeply concerned about the situation in Afghanistan and the impact on the country’s development prospects, especially for women,” a World Bank spokesperson told ABC News in a statement Wednesday. “We have paused disbursements in our operations in Afghanistan and we are closely monitoring and assessing the situation in line with our internal policies and procedures.”
“As we do so, we will continue to consult closely with the international community and development partners,” the spokesperson added. “Together with our partners we are exploring ways we can remain engaged to preserve hard-won development gains and continue to support the people of Afghanistan.”
The World Bank, headquartered in Washington, D.C., has committed some $5.3 billion for reconstruction and development projects in Afghanistan since 2002.
Last week, the International Monetary Fund announced that its financial resources will no longer be accessible to Afghanistan due to a “a lack of clarity within the international community” over the country’s government, after the Taliban seized control of the capital.
Aug 24, 9:09 pm
2 House lawmakers take unauthorized trip to Kabul amid evacuation operation
Veterans and Reps. Peter Meijer, R-Mich., and Seth Moulton, D-Mass., traveled to Afghanistan to review the situation at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul – an unauthorized trip they are now defending amid criticism that they distracted from the evacuation mission.
The Washington Post first reported on their unauthorized trip, and the anger it prompted inside the Pentagon and State Department as officials work around-the-clock to evacuate endangered Americans and Afghans.
Their trip prompted the letter to lawmakers House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent Tuesday that said travel to the region would distract from the ongoing evacuations.
Official travel by members of the House must be approved by the speaker or relevant committee chairs.
In a joint statement, the two representatives said they conducted the visit in secret to gather information about operations there and not disrupt them.
They provided few details on what they learned — except to say how proud they are of the U.S. officials — military and civilian — on the ground. They added that “Washington” should be “ashamed” of the position they’ve put these public servants in.
They added that they went into the visit wanting Biden to extend his deadline, but after talking to commanders on the ground, it is impossible to get “everyone out on time,” even if Biden pushed back the full withdrawal until Sept. 11.
“Sadly and frustratingly, getting our people out depends on maintaining the current, bizarre relationship with the Taliban,” they said in the statement.
While a congressional delegation to this humanitarian crisis took up time and seats, the two lawmakers defended themselves in their statement by saying in part, “We left on a plane with empty seats, seated in crew-only seats to ensure that nobody who needed a seat would lose one because of our presence.”
Aug 24, 7:52 pm
Pelosi warns lawmakers to avoid travel to Afghanistan
In a dear colleague letter, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi warned lawmakers to avoid traveling to Afghanistan given security concerns.
“Given the urgency of this situation, the desire of some Members to travel to Afghanistan and the surrounding areas is understandable and reflective of the high priority that we place on the lives of those on the ground,” she wrote. “However, I write to reiterate that the Departments of Defense and State have requested that Members not travel to Afghanistan and the region during this time of danger.”
“Member travel to the Afghanistan and the surrounding countries would unnecessarily divert needed resources from the priority mission of safely and expeditiously evacuating (Americans) and Afghans at risk from Afghanistan,” she continued.
(WASHINGTON) — Tens of thousands of Americans, Afghans and other foreigners have been evacuated from Kabul’s international airport to U.S. military installations in Qatar, a key U.S. partner in the Middle East that has received public shout-outs from President Joe Biden and his top officials.
But privately, Qatari officials are warning their American counterparts that the situation at U.S. facilities, where thousands of Afghan evacuees are being housed, is growing more dire, according to an internal State Department report obtained by ABC News.
Some Afghans and Americans who have been housed at the bases have spoken publicly about the lack of space, food and water or facilities. But the urgent warnings from Qatari officials to their American counterparts speak to how thin-stretched facilities have become — and the risks that it entails, including for human trafficking.
Asked about conditions on Tuesday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters the administration was “aware” of issues, but “worked quickly to improve” them.
“Certainly, we want the individuals who are being evacuated to be treated with respect. We also want them to be safe, hence the speed necessity, but we worked to improve the conditions as soon as we learned,” she said.
In meetings Monday, however, Qatar Foreign Ministry officials were still expressing concerns about “deteriorating health and security conditions” and over-crowding at Al Udeid Air Base and Camp As Sayliyah, according to the internal report.
In particular, Lolwah al Khater, a Qatari assistant foreign minister, told U.S. Ambassador John Desrocher that both bases “had hit maximum capacity to house in a safe and secure manner” and warned of “growing crises” at each.
Both Qatari bases include U.S. military installations that are hosting thousands of evacuees, although the pressure on them has decreased in recent days as more U.S. allies accept evacuation flights, especially Germany.
“The fact that we now have more than two dozen countries, across four continents, taking part in this operation has already provided relief to crowding in Doha,” a State Department spokesperson told ABC News Tuesday, adding they are “working closely to improve conditions on the ground in Qatar.”
Qatari officials were especially concerned about Al Udeid’s “ill-famed ‘Afghan hangar,'” according to the internal report, which houses some 4,500 Afghans. There are another 4,000 Afghans at Camp As Sayliyah, where the Qatari officials warned there were “increased tensions among the Afghan population,” according to the report, which provided no other details.
Khalifa Jassim al Kuwari, Qatar’s foreign aid and development chief, also “doubted that the USG (U.S. government) had sufficient personnel, food, medicine at CAS (Camp As Sayliyah) to care properly for Afghans there,” the report said he told U.S. officials.
The U.S. facility there lacks sufficient toilets and basic sanitation, the Qatari officials told their American counterparts. In fact, Qatar’s Red Crescent Society had already provided mobile shower trucks and hygiene kits in recent days to help address the desperate needs, and its Ministry of Foreign Affairs arranged for cleaning services.
A State Department spokesperson told ABC News on Tuesday that the administration was working to improve conditions, including by bringing in air-conditioning units, improving sanitation, increasing supplies, expanding housing and surging staff to more quickly process some people out of Qatar.
“Qatar has been at the forefront of our efforts as the first evacuation site. We are grateful to the Government of Qatar for their generous assistance that has allowed us to take-in over 20,000 people and sent hundreds of U.S. citizens to the United States and thousands of Afghans to the United States, Germany, and Italy for further processing,” they added in a statement.
Beyond food and water, Qatari officials expressed concern about “whether the USG could provide sufficient medicine and health care requirements for the large numbers of Afghans incoming,” the report said. Al Khater urged U.S. military officials to “muster greater health care resources … to care for the relocating Afghans,” it said.
Qatar also has safety concerns.
Al Khater told U.S. officials there was a “danger of human trafficking in such circumstances and highlighted the cases of unaccompanied minors coming from Kabul,” according to the internal report.
The U.S. government has been working to reunite some unaccompanied minors separated from their families amid evacuation efforts, a second State Department spokesperson told ABC News on Saturday, adding they had already successfully reunited “a number” of them with parents and loved ones.
State Department and Defense Department officials at the Kabul airport were “assisting” a number of unaccompanied minors “sheltering” at a “reunification center” run by Norway, according to an internal situation report from Monday that was also obtained by ABC News.
Additionally, al Khater and other Qatari officials asked the U.S. for manifests of all incoming and outgoing flights — saying they appreciated U.S. efforts, but were concerned there wasn’t a “rigorous filtering system to board those flights” in Kabul.
U.S. intelligence, law enforcement and counterterrorism officials are conducting screening and security vetting on all Afghans before they can enter the U.S., the first State Department spokesperson told ABC News on Tuesday. But it’s unclear what steps are being taken to assure Qatari officials.
Despite the high-level concerns, the internal State Department report noted that cooperation between the two countries on the “Afghan relocation crisis has improved markedly in recent days,” praising the “unprecedented level of senior- and working-level teamwork.”
(NEW YORK) — The United States is facing a COVID-19 surge this summer as the more contagious delta variant spreads.
More than 630,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.4 million people have died from the disease worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Just 60.2% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing Wednesday. All times Eastern:
Aug 25, 7:00 am
J&J says its vaccine booster shot raises antibody levels 9-fold
In the midst of a delta variant surge, a new study finds that giving a booster dose of the Johnson & Johnson shot six months after primary vaccination results in a nine-fold increase of a crucial antibody response, according to a company press release.
Meanwhile, a prior study found that people vaccinated with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine still had a durable immune response at least eight months later, even without a booster.
Collectively, the findings could help inform the U.S. government’s recommendations about booster shots for the 14 million people who received the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Boosting after six months “appears to be safe, and boosts immune responses substantially,” Dr. Dan Barouch, Ph.D., director of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, told ABC News.
Aug 25, 3:53 am
COVID-19 cases rise among athletes at Tokyo Paralympics
Several Paralympic athletes have tested positive for COVID-19 in Tokyo in recent days.
According to daily figures released by the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee, at least eight positive cases have been confirmed among unnamed Paralympic athletes so far, with two new cases reported on Wednesday following the opening ceremony.
The 2020 Summer Paralympics officially opened in the Japanese capital on Tuesday, after a yearlong delay due to the coronavirus pandemic. Like the 2020 Olympics, which ended on Aug. 8, this year’s Paralympics is taking place under a state of emergency as Japan struggles with a growing COVID-19 crisis.
Aug 24, 9:01 pm
Another Florida school district issues mask mandate
Leaders of the Orange County public school system voted Tuesday to require a mask mandate for all students and staff.
The rule goes into effect on Aug. 30 and will last for at least two months. There will be exemptions for medical reasons.
School board members cited the growing COVID-19 rates and hospitalizations in the area as the reason for their decision.
Aug 24, 5:54 pm
NYC School chancellor discusses teacher vaccine mandate
New York City Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter spoke with ABC News about the vaccine mandate for public school staff that goes into effect Sept. 27.
Porter said she was confident that teachers and other staff members would comply to ensure that classrooms are safe for everyone.
“This is the additional extra layer of protection that we didn’t have a year ago,” she said.
Porter said she has been in discussions with the United Federation of Teachers over what the penalties will be if a teacher doesn’t comply, and she was told that “many of their members are already vaccinated.”
The chancellor said those who still have concerns should know that the Food and Drug Administration has fully approved the Pfizer vaccine and it has shown to prevent severe illness.
Aug 24, 5:38 pm
Kentucky reports record hospitalizations, ICU patients
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear tweeted a dire update on the state’s COVID-19 cases.
The state health department reported that 2,014 people are currently hospitalized with the virus, 589 of whom are in intensive care units and 338 are on ventilators. Beshear said these are record numbers.
“Folks, this is dangerous. Please, get vaccinated and mask up indoors,” the governor tweeted.
(NEW YORK) — In the midst of a delta variant surge, a new study finds that giving a booster dose of the Johnson & Johnson shot six months after primary vaccination results in a nine-fold increase of a crucial antibody response, according to a company press release.
Meanwhile, a prior study found that people vaccinated with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine still had a durable immune response at least eight months later, even without a booster.
Collectively, the findings could help inform the U.S. government’s recommendations about booster shots for the 14 million people who received the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Boosting after six months “appears to be safe, and boosts immune responses substantially,” Dr. Dan Barouch, Ph.D., director of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, told ABC News.
The new data shows “a booster dose of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine further increases antibody responses among study participants who had previously received our vaccine,” said Dr. Mathai Mammen, Global Head, Janssen Research & Development, Johnson & Johnson, in prepared remarks.
“This data will likely be reviewed by federal health authorities in their discussions about recommending boosters,” Barouch said.
Scientists said emerging evidence suggests vaccine efficacy for all three vaccines wanes slowly over time. And in the face of the highly transmissible delta variant, more frequent mild breakthrough infections have been reported, but so far, evidence indicates that vaccines are still dramatically reducing the risk of hospitalization and death.
Still, this new phase of the pandemic means federal health officials are now likely to endorse booster doses.
“We are prepared to offer booster shots for all Americans beginning the week of Sept. 20 and starting eight months after an individual’s second dose,” said Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky, speaking at a press conference Wednesday.
But the Biden administration’s Wednesday announcement on booster doses only included people who received the Pfizer or Moderna shots, omitting a specific recommendation for those who received Johnson & Johnson. Walensky said data on Johnson & Johnson could be expected “in the next few weeks” and that “with those data in hand, we will keep the public informed with a timely plan for J&J booster shots as well.”
Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were authorized in December 2020, while Johnson & Johnson was authorized in February 2021. Because large clinical trials for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine began months later than the other two vaccines, data for this vaccine often takes a few weeks longer to be published.
The new data, which still has only been described in a press release and has not yet been peer-reviewed, will likely help inform recommendations about if, and when, booster doses will be needed for those who got the Johnson & Johnson shot.
“It’s some of the data people been asking for and waiting for and wanted to see,” Barouch said.
