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Last week, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention relaxed its rules on face coverings, issuing new guidelines stating that vaccinated Americans can safely drop their masks when outdoors, except in certain crowded settings and venues. Shortly after, President Joe Biden, who has been vaccinated, wore a mask as he made his way to an open-air podium outside the White House to announce the CDC guidelines, a seemingly (but not actually, per the guidelines) contradictory move that did not go unnoticed by many media outlets. (Peggy Drexler, 5/5)

With the number of Americans receiving Covid-19 vaccines each week starting to decline, it’s time to pull out the stops to reach those who are willing to be vaccinated but haven’t yet been able to do so. Enlisting dollar stores as vaccination sites is one way to make vaccines more widely and equitably available. (Judith Chevalier and Jason L. Schwartz, 5/6)

To get vaccinated, my boyfriend and I had to fly 1,992 miles from our home in Quito, Ecuador, to Orlando, Florida. Before our trip, we gave up hope to get vaccinated any time soon as Ecuador—a country with 17 million people—has only administered at least one vaccine shot to 4.49 percent of the population. Meanwhile, over 100 million Americans, or 32 percent of the population, have been fully vaccinated with a record of 4.6 million vaccine doses administered in a single day. At the rate the U.S. is vaccinating, all Ecuadorians would have received at least one dose in 3.7 days. (Alegria Sanchis, 5/5)

As the number of COVID-19 cases in the United States falls and the economy recovers, India is experiencing a deadly resurgence of the coronavirus, with more than 370,000 new infections and 3,500 deaths every day. Hospitals in Delhi are running out of oxygen, and crematoria have used all of their firewood. Experts predict that the surge is nowhere near its peak. The Indian crisis is precipitating a global one. One-third of the world currently relies on vaccine exports from a single company in India. However, to meet the overwhelming domestic need, India banned vaccine exports, which means that countries in sub-Saharan Africa are now scrambling for vaccines—leaving their population more vulnerable to resurgences of the virus. Ayoade Alakija, a co-chair of the African Vaccine Delivery Alliance, told the Financial Times, “We’re at the point where we’re rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.” (Chelsea Clinton and Achal Prabhala, 5/5)

For a while, I was able to boast that I didn’t personally know anyone who refused to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Then, I saw an African American friend’s Facebook post. “So is there anyone else other than me NOT taking the shot(s) or not in a hurry to take the shot. Just asking,” she wrote. More than three dozen people raised their hand. Suddenly, I understood why African Americans are lagging behind other Chicagoans in getting the vaccine. In our city, only 21% of African Americans have received both doses of the vaccine, compared with 39% of whites, 25% of Latinos and 35% of Asians. Across the country, it’s even more dismal. In cases where race is known, only 8.5% of African Americans nationwide are fully vaccinated, compared with 67% of whites. (Dahleen Glanton, 5/6)

Last week, I received my second Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, three weeks after being administered the first. My first visit required me to wait in line for probably 30 minutes, despite having a specific appointment. On the day of my second dose at the same pharmacy just one person was ahead of me, perhaps reflecting news reports that millions of Americans are skipping the follow-up. On top of those who are forgoing the second shot, more than 100 million American adults haven’t been vaccinated at all, and well over half of them don’t plan to do so, according to a recent Post poll. Many Americans won’t get vaccinated because they don’t trust the vaccine — and they see little incentive to take the risk when they’re told that other restrictions will remain even if they get the shot. (Gary Abernathy, 5/5)

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a member of a diverse family of enveloped, nonsegmented RNA viruses. The coronavirus genomic RNA is unusually large, the RNA polymerase is error-prone, and mutations accumulate with increasing frequency during infections. With continued uncontrolled transmission and viral replication, mutations that give the virus a fitness advantage will emerge. A SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern has one or more mutations that confer worrisome epidemiologic, immunologic, or pathogenic properties. (Kathleen M. Neuzil, M.D., M.P.H., 5/5)