Coronavirus Today: Biden’s balancing act

Good evening. I’m Thuc Nhi Nguyen, and it’s Tuesday, April 27. Here’s what’s happening with the coronavirus in California and beyond.

Joe Biden entered the White House with two goals: ending the COVID-19 pandemic and uniting a politically divided country. Increasingly, they look more like two branches of the same tree.

Biden can’t cross one off his list without addressing the other, my colleague Chris Megerian reports, as political disagreements threaten to trip up his administration’s pandemic response just as the homestretch comes into view.

Vaccine supply is surging, but in many places, demand for the shots is dwindling. Republican-led states, particularly those in the South, generally have lower vaccination rates than the rest of the country. For example, California has administered 72,885 shots per 100,000 people compared with 51,093 in Mississippi and 50,404 in Alabama, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Republican governors like Texas’ Greg Abbott blew off the president’s encouragement to maintain mask mandates and other restrictions.

Now Democratic-led states like Michigan and New Jersey are seeing infections rise despite steady vaccination rates. New Jersey in particular ranks 10th among all states in doses administered per 100,000 people, but still has a high level of community transmission, according to the CDC.

Jennifer Nuzzo, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, is hopeful that caseloads will plummet now that younger people who are working, traveling and socializing — and thus most likely to transmit the virus — are getting vaccinated.

If not for the shots, the situation would be far more bleak.

“We would be in that fourth surge that we’re seeing in Europe right now,” Nuzzo said. “I have no doubt that we’d be heading back toward a lockdown.”

The three vaccines being administered in the U.S. now were developed under the Trump administration. The Biden team then ramped up efforts to put those shots into the arms of millions of Americans. But what could have been a successful political tag team has now turned into a harmful ego stalemate.

“Biden doesn’t want to thank Trump, just as Trump doesn’t want to thank Biden,” said Frank Luntz, a Republican pollster who has conducted focus groups to better understand vaccine hesitancy. “If they would just compliment each other, lives would be saved.”

Don’t count on that happening anytime soon.

By the numbers

California cases, deaths and vaccinations as of 5:42 p.m. Tuesday:

Track California’s coronavirus spread and vaccination efforts — including the latest numbers and how they break down — with our graphics.

Across California

It doesn’t seem that long ago that L.A. County was mired in the purple tier. Moving out of the most restrictive level in California’s reopening plan seemed like a herculean task even after the worst of the holiday surge had passed.

What a difference 6½ weeks can make. As of Tuesday, the yellow tier is in our sights.

The county’s adjusted daily coronavirus case rate has dropped to 1.9 new infections per 100,000 people, reaching the threshold to enter California’s most lenient category of reopening, my colleague Luke Money reports.

If the number holds — or improves — for the next week, L.A. will advance to the final reopening frontier.

It’s an exclusive club: Only four counties — Alpine, Sierra, Lassen and Mendocino — have made it as of this week. Their combined population of 123,000 pales in comparison to the 10 million in L.A.

San Francisco, Marin and Trinity could also advance to the yellow tier next week. In the yellow tier, most businesses are able to operate indoors with modifications.

Moving through the tiers got easier when California revised its reopening blueprint by reaching a self-set goal to administer 4 million doses of vaccine in the state’s most disadvantaged communities. Before that, a county needed an adjusted daily new case rate of less than 1 per 100,000 people.

Another thing that’s changed rapidly is the supply of COVID-19 vaccine in California. Doses and appointments — once rare commodities that sometimes required weeks of waiting — are now so plentiful that many counties are offering walk-in vaccinations.

That’s right: no appointment necessary.

This is the first full week that L.A. County has allowed walk-ins for vaccinations at its eight county-run sites, at least while supplies last. People should bring a photo identification and proof of living or working in L.A. County; and those ages 16 and 17 must bring a parent or guardian.

You can still book appointments through the state’s MyTurn registration system or one run by the city of Los Angeles. Some healthcare providers like Kaiser offer vaccines to members and nonmembers alike. Doses may also be available at pharmacies including CVS, Ralphs, Rite Aid, Walgreens, Costco and Albertsons/Vons/Safeway/Pavilions.

Vaccine supply is now outpacing demand in some places in the state, including Humboldt County, where health officials said they declined 1,000 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for next week after seeing a low turnout at vaccination clinics. It’s a troubling trend in the rural Northern California area that is experiencing a spike in coronavirus cases.

Last week officials recorded 130 cases in Humboldt County, up from 45 cases in the week of April 5.

Officials are linking the increase to superspreader events, including one involving a church.

An outbreak at the Eureka Pentecostal Church led health officials to set up a coronavirus testing site in the church’s parking lot, although it was unclear whether members were infected at a church service or another gathering.

“We had gone over an entire year with no outbreak at the church, but despite our best efforts, the virus was introduced to our congregation,” the church said in a statement on its website.

See the latest on California’s coronavirus closures and reopenings, and the metrics that inform them, with our tracker.

Around the nation and the world

Get ready to feel the sun on your face again, dear reader.

The CDC relaxed its mask advice Tuesday, allowing fully vaccinated people to ditch their masks for most outdoor activities and even allowing unvaccinated people to go without a face covering in some cases.

According to the new guidance, no one needs to wear a mask outdoors while walking, biking or running alone or with members of their household. Nor are masks necessary at small, outdoor gatherings with only fully vaccinated people in attendance.

For the vaccinated — those who are at least two weeks removed from the final dose of their vaccine regimen — the only outdoor situation that requires masks would be a crowded, outdoor event like a live performance, parade or sporting event.

“It’s the return of freedom,” said Dr. Michael Saag, an infectious disease expert at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. “It’s the return of us being able to do normal activities again. We’re not there yet, but we’re on the exit ramp. And that’s a beautiful thing.”

Masks are still recommended for everyone during indoor activities as we wait for more people to get vaccinated and scientists monitor the threat posed by different coronavirus variants.

The CDC says being vaccinated and wearing a mask is the safest way to enjoy indoor activities like going to a movie theater, where you might want to catch up on the winners of this year’s Academy Awards. That’s surely the hope of actress Frances McDormand.

With movie theaters struggling during the pandemic, the “Nomadland” star who won two Oscars Sunday night was the only winner to advocate for traditional moviegoing during an acceptance speech. She pleaded with viewers to watch the movie — along with every other film represented at the show — on the “largest screen possible.”

The telecast was supposed to be a love letter to film, but it snubbed struggling theaters in a time of need by not advocating for the big screen more strongly, my colleague Ryan Faughnder writes.

Movie theaters were among some of the last businesses to reopen during the pandemic. The yearlong break led ArcLight Cinemas and Pacific Theatres to close permanently.

The 150,000 theater workers in the U.S. have suffered “basically the longest intermission they could’ve ever imagined,” actor Matthew McConaughey said in a two-minute, pre-show public service announcement. The video showed clips of upcoming films like “Space Jam: A New Legacy,” “The Suicide Squad” and “Black Widow” with sound bites from theater workers.

“The movie theater is a treasure,” one worker said. “I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

If the rewards of a mask-free existence outdoors and feeling safe while helping save the movie industry aren’t enough to sway you to get vaccinated, maybe a star-studded concert will help.

Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and Vice President Kamala Harris are just a few of the celebrities expected to appear during the event, which is intended to increase confidence in COVID-19 vaccines and raise money for COVAX, which sends vaccines to poor countries. Artists like Jennifer Lopez, Foo Fighters and H.E.R. are set to perform.

“Vax Live: The Concert to Reunite the World” will be taped at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles and air on May 8.

Your questions answered

Today’s question comes from readers who want to know: I am fully vaccinated. What can I do with my unvaccinated friends?

Before reuniting with your friends who are not vaccinated, consider where you want to go and how many people you’ll be with. Whether you are indoors or outdoors and the number of households involved will be the main guides of what is safe.

Because risk of transmission is lowest outdoors, it’s best to keep gatherings outside. At a small, outdoor gathering with fully vaccinated and unvaccinated people, you can go mask-less, according to the CDC’s updated guidelines. Those who haven’t been inoculated should still wear masks in this situation unless there is just one unvaccinated person in the group. In that case, everyone can be mask-free.

If catching up over food and drinks is on the agenda, then you can sit outside without having to wear a mask. It will be less safe for your unvaccinated friends to dine at a restaurant outdoors, and they should keep their masks on as much as possible, the CDC says. Dining indoors increases the risk for everyone, though wearing a mask would make it safe for someone who’s been vaccinated. No mask will make indoor dining a safe option for your unvaccinated friends — just take your food to go and find a picnic spot instead.

When moving gatherings of vaccinated and unvaccinated people indoors, the CDC advises everyone to wear masks if members of more than two households are present. This would still be riskier for your unvaccinated friends than it will be for you.

An exception to the indoor rule would be if you’re meeting with people from just one other household. If none of the unvaccinated people are at increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19 or live with someone who is, then the CDC says you are free to meet indoors without masks and social distancing.

We want to hear from you. Email us your coronavirus questions, and we’ll do our best to answer them. Wondering if your question’s already been answered? Check out our archive here.