An American living treasure – Investigation in January 6th riot – Authorization of Pfizer booster – Hospitalization rates in various states – Evening statistics
Yesterday was the 100th birthday of Betty Reid Soskin, the oldest ranger currently employed by the Park Service. She is a park guide at the Rosie the Riveter historical park in Richmond, CA, and has been working there since 2000, the year that the park was created, which means that she began her career there at the relatively youthful age of 79. Actually, that is not quite correct: while she was instrumental in planning the park and bringing it to fruition, she did not officially become a ranger until 2004. Her tours quickly became among the most popular among park visitors, since she was able to relate her own experiences during World War II and afterwards, which include working at a segregated union hall as a file clerk during the war and later becoming a political and community activist and songwriter during the civil rights movement. One wishes that the U.S. could import the Japanese institution of “Living National Treasure”; if it did, she assuredly would be one of the first to receive such a certification.
There is some progress being made concerning the investigation into the January 6th riot. Four top advisors of the previous administration have been subpoenaed: former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, former White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications Dan Scavino, former Defense Department official Kashyap Patel and former Trump adviser Steve Bannon. One mustn’t expect too much from this development, but at any rate it holds out a faint hope that a measure of accountability will be meted out to the inciters who put the match to the gunpowder.
The FDA has authorized the Pfizer booster for people over 65 and those with compromised immune systems. It is an EUA only, but at any rate it means that it will be possible to obtain it in the course of the next few months. Moderna has submitted data about its booster dose to the FDA, and Johnson & Johnson is working on doing the same.
At this point seven states have less than 10% ICU availability: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Texas. In Iowa, the number of hospitalizations has reached the highest it has been all year, although it is not quite as high as it had been during November, 2020. However, hospital admissions as a whole are down by about 12.5% in the last week, with improvements in Florida, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 231,349,762; # of deaths worldwide: 4,741,566; # of cases U.S.: 43,527,676; # of deaths; U.S.: 702,948.