Here are some significant developments:
- The Biden administration and private companies are working to develop a standard for “vaccine passports” that would allow Americans to prove they have received coronavirus vaccinations as businesses try to reopen. More than 48.5 million people have been fully vaccinated in the United States.
- Recent research suggests the full effect of the nearly 550,000 American deaths from the coronavirus will not be known for some time as it is a grief distinct from that brought on by other deaths from natural causes.
- Despite crushing U.S. sanctions and a small population, Cuba is set to become the world’s smallest country to develop multiple coronavirus vaccines.
- Texas ended mask mandates but they survive in Austin, the liberal enclave that doubles as the state capital.
- The number of new cases in the United States is continuing its two-week rise as daily deaths are now also steadily increasing with a 10.5 percent average increase over the last week. The increases have been attributed to people letting down their guard amid the spread of more virulent variants.