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Ida updates: Almost 50 dead in Northeast after flooding as death toll continues to rise

September 3, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The remnants of Hurricane Ida dumped flooding rain, spawned tornadoes across the Northeast and caused dozens of deaths in areas where the storm landed.

So far in the Northeast, at least 48 deaths have been attributed to the storm. Overall, there have been at least 61 deaths across eight U.S. states related to Ida.

President Joe Biden approved New York and New Jersey emergency declarations due to the storms and spoke on Ida’s damage in the Northeast Thursday afternoon, citing that New York recorded more rain Wednesday “than it usually sees the entire month of September.”

“People were trapped in the subways. But the heroic men and women of the New York Fire Department rescued all of them. They were trapped,” Biden said.

He said he’s made it clear to East Coast governors that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is “on the ground” and ready to provide assistance.

New York

A flash flood emergency was declared for the first time in New York City as subway stations were turned into waterfalls and Midtown streets became rivers. The state of New York and New York City each declared states of emergency.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday morning the death toll in the Big Apple was nine. That number rose to 13 by the evening.

“We saw a horrifying storm last night. Unlike anything we’ve seen before,” de Blasio said. “Unfortunately the price paid by some New Yorkers was horrible and tragic.”

New York Police Department Commissioner Dermot Shea said at least eight deaths took place in residential homes in basements.

Most of the city’s fatalities were in Queens.

Officers responding to a flooding condition at a partially collapsed building early Thursday in the borough found two people — a 43-year-old female and a 22-year-old male — unconscious and unresponsive inside, the NYPD said. The man was pronounced dead at the scene and the woman was taken to the local hospital, where she later died. “The investigation is ongoing and the Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death. The identification of the deceased is pending family notification,” the NYPD said.

At a second flooded location in Queens, the NYPD said they found a 50-year-old man, a 48-year-old woman and a 2-year-old boy unconscious and unresponsive within the residence. They were all pronounced dead at the scene.

Also in Queens, police responded to a 911 call of a flooding condition and discovered a 48-year-old female, unconscious and unresponsive, within the residence. “The aided female was removed by EMS to Forest Hills Hospital where she was pronounced deceased,” the NYPD said.

An 86-year-old woman also died in her Queens apartment due to flooding, police said.

On Thursday afternoon, the landlord at an apartment in Flushing called 911 to say there were three bodies submerged in a flooded basement, according to the FDNY.

“FDNY members rescued hundreds of people citywide during the storm, removing occupants from trapped vehicles on flooded roadways and removing New Yorkers from subway stations,” department spokesman Frank Dwyer told ABC News.

After responding to a flooding incident in Brooklyn, the NYPD said officers found “a 66-year-old male, unresponsive and unconscious, within the residence.” He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Meanwhile, in Westchester, County Executive George Latimer said Thursday that one person died after they were caught in a flash flood in their car. Two additional deaths in the county were later confirmed.

More than 100 people were rescued in Rockland and Westchester counties, officials said.

Gov. Kathy Hochul said during a Thursday morning briefing that her focus will be on flood prevention.

“Before we worried about coastal areas, now it’s about what’s happening in the streets, the drainage systems that need to be enhanced,” Hochul said. “Because of climate change, unfortunately, this is something we’re going to have to deal with with great regularity.”

The inundating rainfall Wednesday evening broke records. Central Park reported a record for rainfall in one hour with 3.15 inches from 8:51 p.m. to 9:51 p.m., the National Weather Service reported.

New York issued a citywide travel ban just before 1 a.m. ET Thursday until 5 a.m.

“All non-emergency vehicles must be off NYC streets and highways,” the city said.

Every subway line in the city was suspended, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, due to so many flooded stations. De Blasio told ABC station WABC that people were being evacuated from subway cars stuck underground.

During the flooding, 835 subway passengers were rescued, the NYPD said Thursday.

There were also 69 water rescues, including 18 at the U.S. Open in Queens, police said. The U.S. Open had to pause one tennis match as the court was flooded Wednesday night — despite there being a roof — due to rain coming in the side of the stadium.

Nearly 500 cars were abandoned, police said.

The governor declared a state of emergency Wednesday within 14 counties “in response to major flooding due to Tropical Depression Ida,” she said in a statement, while encouraging New Yorkers to “please pay attention to local weather reports, stay off the roads and avoid all unnecessary travel during this time.”

By Thursday morning, “Metro-North, LIRR and the New York City subway system are not fully functioning,” Hochul said.

Many New York communities are now grappling with water-logged apartments.

Ryan Bauer-Walsh, an artist who lives in Hamilton Heights, said his apartment on the fifth floor of one of New York City’s Housing Development Fund Corporation cooperatives was inundated with rain.

“This is the second time in two months that the roof has caved in and they’ve been doing asbestos removal. Unfortunately, asbestos-contaminated water, we think, has come into our apartments,” he told ABC News.

“My primary concern is with the infrastructure of the city,” he said. “It’s feeling a little hopeless … especially as we get more and more of these massive storms.”

As of Friday morning, there are at least 10,181 residents without power, according to PowerOutage.US.

New Jersey

In New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy quickly declared an emergency with 3 to 5 inches of rain falling per hour in some locations across the tri-state area.

“We will use every resource at our disposal to ensure the safety of New Jerseyans,” Murphy tweeted. “Stay off the roads, stay home, and stay safe.”

At least 25 people have died due to the storm in the state.

Four residents of the Oakwood Plaza apartment complex in Elizabeth were found dead in the aftermath of the flooding, Mayor Chris Bollwage said in a press conference Thursday morning.

The victims included a 72-year-old wife, a 71-year-old husband, a 38-year-old son and a 33-year-old woman who was their neighbor, officials said.

Rescuers were checking the rent roll and going door-to-door through the entire complex to make sure no other bodies were found, a spokesperson for the mayor told ABC News. The complex is across from the Elizabeth Fire Department headquarters, which was inundated with 8 feet of water.

At least one person also died due to the flooding in Passaic, Mayor Hector Carlos Lora confirmed on Facebook Thursday morning.

The person was trapped inside their car, which was “overtaken by water,” he said.

The mayor — who declared a state of emergency in the city — said that two other residents were reported to have been swept away by the water. The search continues for them.

“We have too many areas where the flooding has gotten so bad that cars are stuck and we have bodies underwater,” Lora said in a video posted to Facebook Wednesday night. “We are now retrieving bodies.”

Some 60 residents were receiving temporary shelter in City Hall, the mayor said Thursday.

Two people died from flooding in two separate incidents in Hillsborough and one person was found dead in a heavily damaged pick-up truck discovered in daylight in Milford, New York ABC station WABC reported.

Several homes were damaged in Mullica Hill, across from Philadelphia, due to a tornado that touched down. Three tornadoes were confirmed in New Jersey, most in the southern part of the state.

“Gloucester County has experienced devastating storm damage,” the county said in a statement. “It is likely that multiple tornadoes have touched down within our communities. Our Emergency Operations Center is fully activated with multiple local, county, state, and regional partners assessing damages and deploying resources.”

In Gloucester County, 20 to 25 homes were “completely devastated,” and roughly 100 more sustained some damage, when a tornado ripped through Harrison Township, Wednesday, the mayor told ABC News.

Mayor Lou Manzo said the community is “blessed” that no one died and only one person had to go to the hospital, but the damage to property across the township is “extensive.”

Fire and emergency personnel made “a few rescues” of people who became trapped after sheltering in their basement, according to the mayor.

There was also a “confirmed large and extremely dangerous tornado” located near Woodbury Heights, at about 6:30 p.m. and another “confirmed large and destructive tornado” over Beverly, near Trenton, at 7 p.m., according to the National Weather Service.

As the storm swept through the area Wednesday, a baggage area flooded and flights were grounded at Newark Liberty Airport.

“We’re experiencing severe flooding due to tonight’s storm,” the airport’s account tweeted. “All flight activity is currently suspended & travelers are strongly advised to contact their airline for the latest flight & service resumption information. Passengers are being diverted from ground-level flooded areas.”

Cancellations were still commonplace Thursday afternoon out of Newark.

Early Friday, a Manville banquet hall went up in flames. It is one of three fires currently burning and inaccessible to firefighters due to the flooded roads.

The Saffron Banquet Hall on South Main Street exploded in flames at around 2 a.m., with residents from surrounding towns reporting hearing a loud explosion, the fire department said, adding that direfighters are unable to access the fire — which appears gas fed — because it is surrounded by a flooded parking lot.

Two other homes, on Boesel Avenue and North Second Avenue, that caught fire Thursday afternoon continue to smolder Friday morning and are also inaccessible.

As of Friday morning, there are still 12,901 New Jersey residents without power.

Pennsylvania

At least five storm-related fatalities have been confirmed in Pennsylvania.

Montgomery County had at least three deaths, the commissioner, Dr. Val Arkoosh, said during a press briefing Thursday morning.

One of those was an unnamed woman who died when a tree fell onto a home in Upper Dublin Township, according to Philadelphia ABC station WPVI.

A fourth Pennsylvania fatality, 65-year-old Donald Allen Bauer, of Perkiomenville, drowned inside his vehicle after it went into the Unami Creek in Bucks County, state police said in a news release.

The Chester County Coroner’s Office announced a fifth storm-related death in the state — Michael Nastasi, 51, of Downingtown, who is believed to have drowned.

The Schuylkill River in Philadelphia had risen to a major flood stage early Thursday morning. It was forecast to rise a few additional feet before cresting around 9 a.m. The National Weather Service has increased its predicted water level for the river to 17.2 feet — surpassing the highest recorded total of 17 feet. The rain has stopped, but flood risk continues, the Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management said on Twitter.

Randy Padfield, Pennsylvania’s state emergency management agency director, estimated Thursday the number of water rescues to be in the “thousands” following catastrophic rain and flooding. In Montgomery County alone, officials responded to at least 500 calls, he said in a press briefing.

There were four confirmed tornadoes in Pennsylvania in Horsham Township, Bristol, Oxford and Buckingham Township, according to the NWS.

As of Friday morning, there are at least 25,211 residents without power.

Connecticut

A state trooper died after his vehicle was swept away in floodwaters in Woodbury, officials said in a press conference Thursday morning.

The trooper, identified as 26-year veteran Sgt. Brian Mohl, called for help around 4 a.m. and after a search was found and hospitalized with critical injuries. He died Thursday morning.

“Every line of duty death is heartbreaking and the loss of Sgt. Mohl is no different,” Col. Stavros Mellekas, commanding officer of the Connecticut State Police, said in a statement. “He was outside, in the middle of the night, in horrendous conditions, patrolling the Troop L area. He was doing a job he loved and he was taken much too soon.”

Maryland

A 19-year-old male was found dead due to flooding at the Rockville Apartments in Montgomery County, police said in a news release. Officials received multiple calls for flooding at the home at 3:50 a.m. and 150 residents were displaced by floodwaters.

There were two confirmed tornadoes in Maryland, in Annapolis and Edgemere, that damaged property and downed wires and trees. No deaths or injuries were reported.

Delta variant is example of evolution before our eyes

September 3, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — In a stunningly short period of time, the delta variant has changed the course of the COVID-19 pandemic by evolving to become more transmissible than previous versions of the virus.

Compared to the alpha variant, which is estimated to be 50% more transmissible than the original virus strain identified in Wuhan, China, scientists believe the delta variant, now dominant worldwide, is 40% to 60% more transmissible than alpha.

But how exactly did the delta variant evolve into the highly infectious strain that the world is now struggling to contain? Scientists have a few theories.

“This is a new virus for humans,” explained Adolfo Garcia-Sastre, director of the Global Health and Emerging Pathogens Institute of Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “You can think about like a baby. The virus came to humans for the first time. He has not learned still everything.”

The so-called variants of concern — alpha, beta, gamma and delta — show the virus is evolving. “What we are seeing is that there are mutations that are being selected that make the virus even better at transmission,” Garcia-Sastre said. For now, scientists don’t know whether the delta variant, the most transmissible of the four, has reached its full potential for transmissibility. But the more the variant circulates, the more chances it has to evolve and reach full potential to infect humans at maximum scale.

“That’s what makes a winner if you’re a virus — more replication,” he added.

How viruses evolve to be more transmissible

“Every time the virus replicates, or makes a copy of itself, it tries to make a copy that’s identical,” Garcia-Sastre said. But like human cell replication, which can sometimes result in cells with new mutations, viruses make mistakes when they copy themselves. In most cases, those mistakes make the virus weaker. But if a single mutation makes the virus stronger and also manages to infect a new host, “it will start to propagate and start to dominate,” he said. While stronger mutations are the exception to the rule, widespread transmission of the virus means more chances for mutations that could include less common, but stronger variants.

In general, there are a few pathways by which this could happen. High community transmission, as was seen in the United Kingdom and India before the alpha and delta variants were detected there, is one pathway. Another is in people with so-called chronic infections, meaning they are infectious for longer than the typical duration of COVID-19 (not to be confused with long-haul cases), which could occur if someone has a weakened immune system or is taking immunosuppressant drugs.

“Some individuals have a persistent or a prolonged or a chronic infection. Then you have accelerated evolution inside that individual,” said Dr. Richard Lessells, an infectious disease expert at Kwazulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform in Durban, South Africa, where he researches beta, the virus variant first identified in the country.

“If that virus is then transmitted and has some evolutionary advantage in the population, it can spread from there,” Lessells said.

Nevan Krogan, a molecular biologist at the University of California, San Francisco, has collaborated on papers with Garcia-Sastre during the pandemic.

“It’s like the mother of all selections in the world. It’s the biggest experiment that’s ever happened,” Krogan said. “We’re forcing the virus to mutate, which it loves to do.”

In addition to mutations, there is another way that viruses can acquire new changes that may make them more transmissible, according to Garcia-Sastre, although it’s a pathway that’s difficult to study and not well understood. Viral recombination happens when two different parent strains of the virus enter the same cell. They then can combine and make new mixtures when they replicate.

“Someone can get, for example, an alpha and a beta together,” Garcia-Sastre explained. That could explain why the delta variant has 20 mutations, a high number for a virus that has not evolved very quickly.

Still, Garcia-Sastre cautioned of the recombination theory — “it is very difficult to prove.”

While the vaccines are holding up well against the variants in terms of protecting against hospitalization and death, the delta variant is a bit more likely to infect fully vaccinated people — so-called breakthrough cases — than past variants.

“It shows the possible beginning of a trajectory and that’s what worries me,” Aris Katzourakis, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Oxford, told Science magazine in August.
Changes to the virus’s spike protein could make it more transmissible

All four variants of concern have mutations in the virus’s spike protein, the protein that protrudes from the surface and makes it look like it’s wearing a crown.

“The thing that is happening with all of these variants is that they bind better to the receptor,” Garcia-Sastre said. “It finds the cells faster because it binds better to the receptor. If the virus has acquired the ability to bind better, then it has a better chance to start infections.”

While alpha, beta, gamma and delta all have mutations on their spike proteins, they are all different mutations, Garcia-Sastre explained. “That’s what’s interesting. They gain a better ability to process the spike and then a better ability to enter and replicate.”

Beyond spike

“Everyone is focused on spike. Yes, spike is playing a role, no question about it, but there are other mutations that could be equally as important as spike,” said Krogan.

Krogan’s research, which has not yet been published in a scientific journal, suggests that once the alpha variant gets inside a cell, it suppresses the immune response compared to other variants. A suppressed immune response allows the virus to replicate more, resulting in increased transmissibility and ultimately increased mortality, he explained.

It could also explain why the alpha variant spreads so rapidly. Now Krogan’s team is doing tests on the delta variant to see if it has similar immune response suppression causing it to be even more transmissible than the alpha variant. “We are investigating if a similar mechanism exists with delta and other variants of concern.”

Importantly, as far as scientists can tell, the alpha variant did not evolve into the delta variant. Instead, the two variants developed independently of one another in countries where high community transmission was occurring.

“The alpha variant came from England and the delta variant came from India, it just kind of got to the same place,” Krogan said. “Different mutations could have the same results.”

A glimmer of hope

As vaccinations ramp up in wealthier and well-connected countries, it puts selection pressure on the virus to mutate so it’s able to continue to infect hosts. The only way out is to vaccinate faster or adapt vaccinations to beat out newer versions of the virus as they crop up.

“We’re in this battle with the virus,” Krogan said. “Are we going to use the tools we have right now? Or will those tools become obsolete very quickly?”

Garcia-Sastre struck a more optimistic note on the role of vaccines.

“If you can bring this virus from killing 5 million per year to 500,000 per year, this virus will have the same consequences as an influenza,” Garcia-Sastre said of the power of vaccinations. “If we can reduce the mortality of this virus 10 times by vaccination, the problem is still is there, but now it’s a different problem.”

While having dueling infectious disease threats of the flu and COVID-19 each year would certainly burden the health care system, it would be a significant improvement over the overwhelming crisis that many countries have faced over the past 18 months. “We are not going to be completely able to prevent death — that’s clear — but if we can reduce it at least 20 times, then I think we can say that the pandemic is over,” Garcia-Sastre said.

In his mind, the goal was never getting to COVID zero. “It was quite clear for me that it was going to be very difficult to eradicate this virus,” he said. “But we can make it manageable. Then it will be a nuisance. It’s unfortunate for the people who get severe disease — the same thing as with flu — but at least it is not impacting all the sectors of the society like it is right now.”

Biden’s job approval drops to 44% amid broad criticism on Afghanistan: POLL

September 3, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz

(NEW YORK) — President Joe Biden’s job approval rating has fallen underwater in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll amid broad disapproval of his handling of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, including a share of blame on Biden for conditions leading to last week’s devastating Kabul airport attack.

Overall, in a sad coda to the nearly 20-year, $2 trillion effort, just 36% of Americans say the war was worth fighting. There was 77% support for the United States withdrawing; the sticking point is how Biden handled it: 60% disapprove.

Slammed by the crisis, his overall job approval rating in this poll, produced for ABC by Langer Research Associates, is down to 44%, with 51% disapproving – down 6 percentage points in approval and up 9 in disapproval since late June. Intensity has moved decidedly negative: Many more now strongly disapprove, 42%, than strongly approve, 25%.

See PDF for full results, charts and tables.

A substantial 44% think the withdrawal left the United States less safe from terrorism, while only 8% think the country is safer as a result. (The rest see no difference.) One factor: nearly half, 46%, lack confidence that the United States can identify and keep out possible terrorists in the ranks of Afghan refugees.

Still, another result marks a humanitarian impulse despite that security concern: Sixty-eight percent support the United States taking in Afghan refugees after they’ve been screened for security, versus 27% opposed. That’s far more support than Americans expressed for accepting Syrian and other Mideast refugees in 2015, 43%.

Biden and blame

Just 26% of the public both favors the withdrawal of U.S. forces and approves of how Biden handled it. Sixty-nine percent instead express criticism: 52% who support withdrawing but disapprove of how Biden handled it and 17% who oppose having withdrawn.

Another measure simply asks if Americans approve or disapprove of how Biden has handled the situation in Afghanistan. On this, 30% approve, with, as noted, 60% disapproving.

Further, 53% say his handling of the withdrawal bears some blame for the suicide bombing attack that killed 13 U.S. service members and more than 170 Afghans last week — a great deal of blame, 38%, and a good amount, 15%.

Approval

Biden came into office with 67% approval for his handling of the transition, but that quickly subsided to 52% job approval in April, held roughly steady at 50% in June and is down to 44% now.

In polling data since the Harry Truman administration, only two presidents have had a lower approval rating at this point in their terms: Donald Trump, at 37% in August 2017, and Gerald Ford, also 37%, in March 1975.

There are some dramatic gaps in Biden’s overall approval — 18 points higher among women than men (53% to 35%), 23 points higher among members of racial and ethnic minority groups than whites (59% versus 36%), 24 points higher among adults with a post-graduate degree versus those without a college degree (63% versus 39%) and 28 points higher among urban residents versus those in rural areas (52% versus 24%; it’s 43% in the suburbs).

In shifts since June, Biden’s approval is down especially among men (down 10 points), urban residents (down 10), independents (down 9), Democrats (down 8) and slightly among whites (down 6). It’s essentially unchanged among women, suburban residents, Republicans and racial or ethnic minorities.

The drop among men reflects their much higher likelihood of placing some blame for the Aug. 26 airport bombing on Biden’s handling of the withdrawal: Sixty-two percent of men hold this view, compared with 45% of women.

Partisans

Political differences are very sharp. Biden has just 8% overall approval from Republicans, and 36% from independents, compared with 86% among Democrats. It’s 13% among conservatives, 53% from moderates and 69% among liberals.

The president’s rating drops especially steeply among Democrats when it comes specifically to his handling of the situation in Afghanistan. Here, he gets 56% approval within his own party, 30 points lower than for his job performance overall.

Partisan differences subside on another measure: Majorities across the political spectrum support accepting screened Afghan refugees — 79% of Democrats, 71% of independents and, fewer, but still 56% of Republicans. Results are similar by ideology, with accepting refugees backed by 80% of liberals, 77% of moderates and 58% of conservatives. Support is lowest, albeit still a majority, among the least-educated adults — 54% among those who haven’t gone beyond high school.

Methodology

This ABC News/Washington Post poll was conducted by landline and cellular telephone Aug. 29-Sept. 1, 2021, in English and Spanish, among a random national sample of 1,006 adults. Results have a margin of sampling error of 3.5 percentage points, including the design effect. Partisan divisions are 30-24-36%, Democrats-Republicans-independents.

The survey was produced for ABC News by Langer Research Associates of New York with sampling and data collection by Abt Associates of Rockville, Maryland. See details on the survey’s methodology here.

COVID-19 live updates: Two-dose vaccine ‘appears to be enough,’ FDA adviser says

September 3, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The United States is facing a COVID-19 surge this summer as the more contagious delta variant spreads.

More than 643,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.5 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 61.7% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Here’s how the news is developing Friday. All times Eastern:

Sep 03, 8:46 am
EU to return millions of J&J doses it imported from Africa

The European Union will be returning some 20 million doses of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine that were imported from a plant in South Africa, and the shots filled and finished there will no longer leave the African continent.

African Union special envoy Strive Masiyiwa, who heads the regional bloc’s COVID-19 Vaccine Acquisition Task Team, told reporters Thursday that the decision was made at a meeting last week between South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Johnson & Johnson’s South African partner, Aspen Pharmacare, has a contract to import the drug substance for the one-dose vaccine from the American pharmaceutical giant and then package them — the so-called fill-and-finish process — at its facility in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

“All the vaccines produced at Aspen will stay in Africa and will be distributed to Africa,” Masiyiwa said at a press conference Thursday.

The decision came amid criticism of the arrangement, with the World Health Organisation’s director-general, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who is Ethiopian, saying last month that he was “stunned” that vaccines will be shipped from Africa to Europe. Just 3% of people in Africa, the world’s second-largest, second-most populous continent, are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. In comparison, 57% of people are fully vaccinated in the European Union and 52% in the United States, according to the WHO.

Sep 03, 3:33 am
Nearly 300 children currently hospitalized with COVID-19 in Texas

Nearly 300 children are currently hospitalized with COVID-19 in Texas, state data shows.

According to the Texas Department of State Health Services’ online COVID-19 dashboard, which was last updated on Thursday afternoon, there are 282 pediatric patients in hospitals across the Lone Star State.

The data also shows there are 81 staffed pediatric intensive care unit beds available in all of Texas.

Sep 03, 3:19 am
2-dose vaccine ‘appears to be enough,’ FDA adviser says

Dr. Paul Offit, a member of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine advisory committee, said a two-dose COVID-19 vaccine “appears to be enough” to curb infection, rather than adding a booster shot.

“You look at states in the United States that have high immunization rates with a two-dose vaccine, it appears the two doses appears to be enough to be able to control this infection,” Offit, who is also the director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, told ABC News on Thursday night. “I think the critical issue here is not going to be boosting the vaccinated. I think if we really want to get on top of this pandemic, it’s going to be about vaccinating the unvaccinated.”

The FDA’s vaccine advisory committee is set to hold a key meeting on COVID-19 vaccine booster shots on Sept. 17, just three days before the Biden administration plans to begin offering the shots to Americans.

“If the companies or the FDA can make a case that there has been an erosion in protection against severe critical disease and that that erosion in protection against severe disease would be mediated or eliminated by a third dose, then we could move forward,” Offit said. “But to date, we really need to see those data to be able to make that decision.”

Sep 02, 7:02 pm
Pediatric hospitalizations nearly 4 times higher in states with low vaccination: CDC

Two studies to be published Friday found fewer pediatric hospitalizations among children and communities with higher vaccination rates, the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

In one study, national data from August showed that children were nearly four times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 in the states with the lowest vaccination rates when compared to states with the highest rates — proof that “cocooning” children with vaccinated people keeps them safe, Dr. Rochelle Walensky said at a White House briefing Thursday.

The second study, which looked at hospitalizations rates in 12- to 17-year-olds across 14 states during July, found that adolescents who were unvaccinated were 10 times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 than their fully vaccinated peers, Walensky said.

“Both studies, one thing is clear: cases, emergency room visits and hospitalizations are much lower among children and communities with higher vaccination rates,” Walensky said. “We must come together to ensure that our children, indeed, our future, remain safe and healthy during this time.”

Sep 02, 4:11 pm
8 Florida school districts refuse to reverse mask mandates

Eight school districts in Florida told the state’s education commissioner that they would not reverse their mask requirements for students, clearing the way for the state to retaliate by withholding the salaries of school board members.

The eight districts — Duval, Hillsborough, Indian River, Leon, Miami-Dade, Orange, Palm Beach and Sarasota — each wrote a letter to Commissioner Richard Corcoran Wednesday saying they believed they were following state law and had no plans to stop requiring face coverings for students.

Corcoran had given each district until 5 p.m. Wednesday to reverse their mandates, threatening to recommend to the state education board that it withhold the salaries of board members if they did not change course.

The state education department announced Monday it would take such action against board members in Alachua and Broward counties over their school mask mandates.

On Friday, a Florida judge ruled that school boards can enact student mask mandates and ordered the state education department to stop enforcing a state rule requiring districts to allow parents to opt-out.

Hotdogs, clown heads, and how Kenny Chesney got Tim McGraw fired

September 3, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Sure, Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney are superstars with millions in the bank now. But once, they were just working musicians struggling to make a living.

Today, the entrance to Music Row features a roundabout showcasing the statue known as Musica. But back then, there was a stoplight next to a row of country-star-themed souvenir shops and a place to get a bite to eat.

“There was a place called Houndogs Hot Dogs that was right on the corner of where the circle is now in Nashville, where the statues are,” Tim remembers. “And Kenny Chesney, Tracy Lawrence and I sat with guitars on stools just playing music for people that would come up and buy hot dogs. And we lived off those hot dogs.”

According to Tim, that all came to an abrupt halt, thanks to Kenny.

“I think Kenny got us fired because there were clown heads on the trash cans, and our job at the end of the night when we finished singing, we were supposed to take the clown heads, run a chain through ‘em and lock ‘em up,” Tim says.

“And I think Kenny didn’t do it one night and they got stolen, and we got fired,” he laughs.

All is well now, of course, between the two country legends, as Kenny’s “Knowing You” approaches the top ten, and Tim’s new single, “7500 OBO,” has just started its climb. They join the rest of America in celebrating Labor Day on Monday.

Scoreboard roundup — 09/02/21

September 3, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Thursday’s sports events:

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Oakland 8, Detroit 6
Boston 4, Tampa Bay 0
Cleveland 4, Kansas City 2

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Philadelphia 7, Washington 6
San Francisco 5, Milwaukee 1
N.Y. Mets 4, Miami 3
Atlanta 6, Colorado 5
Chicago Cubs 6, Pittsburgh 5

TOP-25 COLLEGE FOOTBALL
(22)Coastal Carolina 52, The Citadel 14
(24)Utah 40, Weber St. 17
(4)Ohio St. 45, Minnesota 31
(25)Arizona St. 41, S. Utah 14

WOMEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Minnesota 66, Los Angeles 57
Dallas 72, Atlanta 68
Seattle 85, New York 75
Las Vegas 90, Chicago 83

The Lumineers announce Southern California comeback show

September 3, 2021 by WDNY Radio

The Lumineers are returning to the stage for their first full in-person concert since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The “Ho Hey” outfit will perform at the Santa Barbara Bowl in Santa Barbara, California, on September 22. Tickets go on sale next Friday, September 10, at 10 a.m. local time, with an artist pre-sale beginning September 8.

All attendees must show proof of being fully vaccinated, or provide a negative test obtained within 72 hours of entering the venue.

The Santa Barbara show is currently the only U.S. concert on The Lumineers’ schedule. The band is planning a tour of Europe launching February 2022.

The Lumineers’ most recent album is 2019’s III.

Jackson Browne to appear on new episode of PBS’ ‘Austin City Limits’ in November

September 3, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Jackson Browne is among the artists who will be featured on the upcoming 47th season of PBS’ popular live performance series Austin City Limits. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer’s episode will premiere on November 13.

Browne’s ACL performance will be the lauded singer/songwriter’s first on the program in almost 20 years. He’ll be featured playing songs from his recently released studio album, Downhill from Everywhere, as well as select tunes from his extensive back catalog.

Austin City Limits‘ new season premieres on October 2 with a show featuring country star Miranda Lambert and country songwriters Jack Ingram and Jon Randall, who will play tunes from their 2021 collaborative album The Marfa Tapes. Other artists slated to appear on upcoming ACL episodes include Alabama Shakes frontwoman Brittany Howard, Jon Batiste, Grammy-winning Americana artist Sarah Jarosz and young R&B singer Leon Bridges.

This season of Austin City Limits was recorded at the show’s Austin, Texas, studio this year in front of limited live audience.

“The world is still fighting its way out of this pandemic, but Austin City Limits is back — without missing a beat,” says the show’s executive producer Terry Lickona. “As always, we love to mix things up with some remarkable new talent as well as fan favorites, along with a few surprises. ACL celebrates the return of live music!”

Browne currently is playing a series of headlining concerts that run through a September 18 show in Phoenix, Arizona. On October 16 in New Orleans, Jackson kicks off his second leg of joint dates with James Taylor, which is mapped out through a December 13 performance in Buffalo, New York. Check out Browne’s full schedule at JacksonBrowne.com.

Here’s the list of newly confirmed Austin City Limits episodes and guests; more will be announced soon:

10/2 — Miranda Lambert, Jack Ingram & Jon Randall: The Marfa Tapes
10/9 — Jade Bird, Dayglow
10/16 — Jon Batiste
10/23 — Sarah Jarosz, Billy Strings
10/30 — Brandy Clark, Charley Crockett
11/6 — Leon Bridges, Khruangbin
11/13 — Jackson Browne
11/20 — Brittany Howard

Simu Liu admits he wasn’t sure he’d land the starring role in ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’

September 3, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Simu Liu stars in the new Marvel movie Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings — out this weekend — but there was a time when he wasn’t so sure he would be chosen for the gig.

Although he had martial arts experience and campaigned heavily to get the part, he tells ABC News he was nervous about whether or not Marvel would think he was the right guy, admitting that he had “assumptions” — including that Marvel was looking for a “literal kung fu master.” However, the actor soon realized that it was about so much more.

“From the moment I met [director Destin Daniel Cretton], I kind of clued into what he was looking for, which was something, I think, deeper and something that more spoke to a human experience and to vulnerability and intimacy rather than just playing into the action sequences,” he explains.

Needless to say, Liu landed the role of a lifetime, which also happens to be his first movie role — something he’s ridiculously grateful for and says has “changed [his] life.”

In the film, when we meet Liu, he plays an unassuming guy named Sean who loves his job parking cars in San Francisco and just wants to hang with his best friend, played by Awkwafina. But we soon learn Sean is actually Shang-Chi, son of two ancient mystical warriors, trained in high level combat.

So does Liu feel more like Sean or Shang-Chi?

“I think like Sean, though, I think I’m somebody who feels very much caught between two worlds a lot of the time,” he shares. “And, like Sean, I am also partial to going to karaoke with my buddies on a Saturday night and belting out the lyrics to ‘Hotel California’ or ‘A Whole New World’ or ‘Old Town Road.'”

Texas abortion providers say they’ve been forced to turn away patients under new law

September 2, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(HOUSTON) — A day after the nation’s most restrictive anti-abortion law went into effect, doctors and advocates reported a steep decline in abortions across Texas.

Houston provider Dr. Bhavik Kumar said he normally performs between 20 to 30 abortions a day. Since the new law, he said he’s only seen six patients — and was forced to turn half of them away.

“Just yesterday I saw somebody who thought she was earlier in the pregnancy, but once she got here and had her ultrasound, found out she was much further along,” said Kumar, who works out of a Planned Parenthood. “She was crying and we began to explore options and think through the logistics of if she would be able to go out of state for the care that she needed.”

The new law bans physicians from providing abortions “if the physician detects a fetal heartbeat” including embryonic cardiac activity, which can be as early as six weeks into a pregnancy, and stipulates that any private citizen can sue a person who they believe is providing an abortion or assisting someone in getting an abortion in Texas after six weeks. A plaintiff could collect at least $10,000.

A 2018 study done by the National Institute of Health found that on average, women reported pregnancy awareness around five and a half weeks. As it applies to the study, this means an average pregnant woman would have a very slim margin to make a decision and appointment under the new Texas law.

Nearly 90% of women who are seeking abortions in the state are past their sixth week, abortion rights advocates in Texas told ABC News Thursday.

The Supreme Court formally refused to block the Texas abortion law Wednesday night, citing technical and procedural reasons.

In a 5-4 decision, five conservative-leaning justices voted to let the law remain in effect, without determining if it is constitutional.

For now, most women seeking abortions in Texas have been forced to do so in other states.

Rebecca Tong, who operates an abortion clinic in neighboring Oklahoma, said she’s become inundated with out-of-state calls.

“The phones have just been ridiculous,” said Tong, co-executive director of Trust Women. “About two-thirds of our call volume right now is Texas people.”

Tong said her average schedule consists of appointments for about 15 women a day. Since the law in Texas, the number has more than doubled.

“For a five to 10 minute procedure, to drive 600 miles in the middle of a pandemic,” she said. “It’s cruel.”

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