Not Easy: Woman, 90, Walks 6 Miles In Blizzard To Get Vaccine - Patch.com

SEATTLE, WA — As much of the country continues to dig out of snowstorms and people put off coronavirus vaccine appointments for another day, a 90-year-old woman is relieved to have received her first dose.

Fran Goldman of Seattle had some trouble scheduling her appointment, finally getting a slot for early Sunday morning at a health center some 6 miles away. But a rare snowstorm blanketed the area, which is much more used to rain, in the hours before her appointment.

Her solution? Walk to the appointment.

"It was not easy going, it was challenging," Goldman told The Seattle Times.

Goldman layered up for the 6-mile journey through winter weather to get the vaccine, first putting on a short-sleeved shirt so the nurse administering the vaccine dose could get to her arm.

She took on the snowy streets and made it to her appointment just five minutes late.

Goldman's daughter Ruth Goldman, who lives in oft-snowy Buffalo, New York, wasn't surprised by what her mother did.

"We're outside people," she said. "We love being outside."

The Latest

The B.1.1.7 coronavirus variant that first originated in the United Kingdom is as prevalent as it has ever been in the United States.

At least 1,277 cases of the more contagious variant have been reported across 42 states, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Wednesday, according to The New York Times.

The increased concern over the spread of the variant — as well as the others, including the ones that originated in South Africa and Brazil — has led some federal lawmakers to push for billions of dollars to help track them.

Until then, the Biden administration said Wednesday they have pledged nearly $200 million in federal funding as a "down payment" to jumpstart the process.

Walensky said this will allow CDC labs to process up to 25,000 samples a week, up from the 7,000 or so that they are currently able to handle in a week.

On the vaccine front, Biden's pre-inauguration goal to have 100 million shots administered during the first 100 days of his presidency is looking like a "lowball" number, according to another report from the Times. About 35.6 million doses have been administered in the first four weeks of his presidency, an average of 1.72 million doses a day over the past week.

Biden said Tuesday night that vaccines should be available to anyone who wants one by the end of July, the Times reported.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, has a similar projection. He told CNN earlier this week he expects widespread vaccinations could begin in the spring, and that a large portion of the country will have the opportunity to be vaccinated by the end of the summer.

Mass coronavirus vaccination sites were opened by the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Tuesday as part of the Biden administration's effort to get more shots into arms in minority communities and areas hit hard by the pandemic. FEMA's vaccination sites have been set up in Los Angeles and Oakland.

Long lines were reported at both sites before they opened at 9 a.m. Eventually, the Biden administration hopes to open 100 sites like those in California across the country, according to the AP.

As health experts continue to urge Americans to continue wearing masks while in public, thousands of people may have already fallen victim to the distribution of phony masks that aren't vetted against the virus.

Federal agents have seized roughly 10 million fake 3M brand N95 masks in recent weeks, the result of an ongoing investigation into counterfeits sold in at least five states to hospitals, medical facilities and government agencies, according to a report from The Associated Press.

The most recent seizures occurred Wednesday when Homeland Security agents intercepted hundreds of thousands of counterfeit 3M masks in an East Coast warehouse that were set to be distributed, officials said.

Investigators also notified about 6,000 potential victims in at least 12 states including hospitals, medical facilities and others who may have unknowingly purchased knockoffs, urging them to stop using the medical-grade masks. Officials encouraged medical workers and companies to go to 3Ms website for tips on how to spot fakes.

Newest Numbers

As of Wednesday midday, the United States had reported more than 27.8 million cases and more than 489,700 deaths from COVID-19-related illnesses, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

At least 1,375 deaths and 57,121 new cases of coronavirus were reported in the United States on Tuesday, according to a Washington Post database. The Post's reporting shows that over the past week, new daily cases have fallen 23.7 percent, new daily deaths have fallen 7.6 percent and COVID-19-related hospitalizations have fallen 18.4 percent.

More than 71.6 million vaccine doses have been distributed and 55.2 million administered in the United States as of Tuesday, according to the CDC. More than 39.6 million people have received one dose, and more than 15 million have received two.

Currently, 64,533 people are hospitalized with a coronavirus-related illness in the United States, according to the Covid Tracking Project.

As of Wednesday, 25 states and U.S. territories remained above the positive testing rate recommended by the World Health Organization to safely reopen. To safely reopen, the WHO recommends states remain at 5 percent or lower for at least 14 days.

Stay up to date on the latest coronavirus news via The New York Times or The Washington Post.