Pfizer officials are planning to show U.S. regulators findings on the effectiveness of their COVID-19 vaccine for children under 5 by early June.
The company is currently testing three extra-small doses of its vaccine for the youngest group of U.S. children after its two previous shots did not provide strong enough protection against the virus.
Meanwhile, several U.S. cities were recently propelled into COVID-19 high-risk categories meant to trigger mask mandates due to increases in reported infections.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is still urging people to mask up, but few jurisdictions have brought back mask mandates.
We’re updating this page with the latest news about the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on the Seattle area, the U.S. and the world. Click here to see the rest of our coronavirus coverage and here to see how we track the daily spread across Washington.
WA state and federal government websites still offer free COVID tests. Here’s how to order yours
If you’ve used up the rapid tests you ordered in January, there are still rapid tests available from both Washington state and the federal government.
The federal government launched its site, COVIDTests.gov, in January. Originally, each household was able to request one order of four tests. Now, White House officials say orders are limited to two per household, with each order containing four rapid antigen tests. The tests usually ship within 12 days, according to the White House.
Washington state also in January launched its website to order free tests, sayyescovidhometest.org.
Kits should arrive about one to two weeks after ordering, according to the site.
Passengers say COVID overwhelmed Carnival Cruise ship docked in Seattle
Passengers on a Carnival Cruise ship that docked Tuesday in Seattle say more than 100 people aboard the ship tested positive for COVID-19 and the ship was overwhelmed.
Multiple people say they’re in quarantine at Seattle-area hotels after testing positive or being exposed to someone with COVID-19. Carnival Cruise Line would not confirm how many people tested positive, but said there were a number of positive cases, KING5 reported.
Darren Sieferston, a passenger on the cruise from Miami to Seattle, is in quarantine after testing positive. He said the crew’s response was chaotic.
“They didn’t have enough staff to handle the emergency that was happening, period,” said Sieferston. “They were overwhelmed and they didn’t have a backup course in how to handle about 200 people affected with COVID. We all suffered.”
Passengers tell KING they waited hours for meals, weren’t properly isolated and couldn’t get ahold of medical staff.
“We couldn’t call anybody … Basically, we sat in the room, you call and it would ring, ring, ring and ring all day long,” said Sieferston.
Carnival said there were no serious health issues. The company’s website says guest are required to be fully vaccinated and tested before a trip. Some exemptions are accommodated with proper testing.
Handful of COVID cases emerge after the White House Correspondents’ Dinner
A handful of coronavirus cases have emerged among people who attended the White House Correspondents’ Dinner over the weekend, the president of the correspondents’ association said Tuesday.
Steven Portnoy of CBS News Radio, who leads the White House Correspondents’ Association, said the cases he knew of so far numbered in the “single digits.”
Among those who tested positive after the gala — an annual event that skipped two years because of the pandemic — was Steve Herman, a chief national correspondent for Voice of America. Jonathan Karl, ABC News’ chief Washington correspondent, also tested positive, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Official case counts in Washington have largely been decreasing since the winter omicron surge, but there has been a modest increase since mid-April. The true number of cases is uncertain, as home tests generally are not officially reported and asymptomatic people may not realize they are infected and capable of spreading the virus.
Many had wondered whether it was advisable to gather a crowd of 2,600 into the packed hotel ballroom of the Washington Hilton hotel. Their concerns were underscored after dozens of people, including several members of President Joe Biden’s Cabinet, recently tested positive after attending a smaller political gathering, the Gridiron Dinner.
