Magnificent News: Coronavirus Updates: People are quitting jobs at record rates

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Important developments in the pandemic.

By Ben Guarino

The Post's coronavirus coverage linked in this newsletter is free to access from this email.

The latest

President Biden noted in a speech on Friday the United States has administered 300 million coronavirus vaccine shots in 150 days — but he acknowledged the country is still falling behind his goal of at least partially vaccinating 70 percent of adults by July 4. The president made a plea to the unvaccinated: "The best way to protect yourself against these variants are to get fully vaccinated. So please, please, if you have one shot, get the second shot as soon as you can."

Meanwhile, the pandemic continues to scramble the economy. April marked the highest level of U.S. resignations since in 2000, when the Bureau of Labor Statistics began tracking this number — in April alone, 4 million people quit their jobs. Six people explained their motivation behind quitting to The Post. Some retired. Others changed careers or launched their own companies. As Jeffrey Pfeffer, a professor of organizational behavior at Stanford University, told The Post, the pandemic has been a professional "wake-up call" for many Americans.

Republicans are attempting to limit those who qualify for food assistance, which had been expanded to help more Americans during the pandemic. The effort to reduce the federal safety net is underway in several states, including Arkansas, Missouri and Ohio; there, for instance, Republicans added criteria to the state budget that could prevent people who own a car worth more than $4,650 or who have $2,250 in a bank account from receiving SNAP benefits.

As the economy climbs out of last year's pandemic crater, the wealthiest are already off to the races: An avalanche of luxury spending has begun. Club memberships, hotel stays and amusement park trips are among the spending categories where the rise has accelerated the most. Just ask the travel agent who's booking $20,000 cruise trips to the Bahamas.

White evangelicals remain under-vaccinated compared with the greater American population, and pastors and health experts struggle to convince church congregations to get immunized. Appeals include faith-based approaches, such as pleas to get vaccinated that come from the pulpit.

In the Zip code that surrounds Langley Park, Md., about 12 percent of people have been infected with the coronavirus. Here's how one Catholic priest, the first Latin American man to be ordained from among Langley Park residents, spreads hope through his community.

Other important news

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said she expects the delta variant to become the dominant strain in the U.S. this summer. She emphasized full vaccination would protect against it.

Israel officials offered 1 million nearly expired doses of coronavirus vaccines to the Palestinian Authority, under the expectation Israel would be repaid an equivalent amount of fresh vaccine in the future. Palestinians canceled the deal because the doses were so close to expiration.

Fredericksburg in Northern Virginia and Schwetzingen in western Germany are sister cities. One woman in each city, both mothers, described to The Post what life in the pandemic has been like: different paths with universal worries, adaptations and resilience.

The European Union recommended that member countries begin lifting restrictions to permit nonessential travel from the U.S.

A man who promised to sell millions of masks to the Department of Veterans Affairs — but who had no ability to procure them — was sentenced to 21 months in prison.

The Netherlands is trying to entice people to get vaccinated with an offer of free pickled herring.

Guide to the pandemic

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Your questions, answered

"Flu vaccines are known to be less effective for older people. Is this also true for covid vaccines?" — Thomas in Tennessee

Generally, as people age, their immune systems don't remain as vigorous as they used to be — and this, in turn, means vaccines may not be as effective. You're on the right track, then, suspecting that protection from a coronavirus vaccine might wane with age too. Researchers, including those employed by the companies that make coronavirus vaccines, have spent a lot of effort trying to test this.

Clinical trials of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccine, for instance, included large numbers of people over 65. Those vaccines were shown to be around 95 percent effective at preventing severe illness. The Food and Drug Administration, reviewing Pfizer's trial data, noted efficacy was "uniformly high" across almost all subgroups, including those grouped by age.

Trial data from the Johnson & Johnson vaccine suggest somewhat diminished protection in certain older populations, finding the vaccine was 42 percent effective at preventing moderate or severe illness in older adults who have comorbidities, vs. 80 percent efficacy overall.

Additional studies show the vaccines work in older communities in the real world, although some scientists report reduced levels of effectiveness depending on the group studied. In a study of Danish long-term care facility residents — nearly 40,000 people around age 84, on average — vaccine efficacy was 64 percent seven days after a second Pfizer dose. But another study, in Israel, observed 94 percent efficacy among adults 85 and up.

Among the most encouraging real-world findings came from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study of two large U.S. hospital networks: Adults at least 65 years old and fully vaccinated with Pfizer or Moderna were 94 percent less likely to be hospitalized with covid compared with adults who weren't vaccinated.

Plummeting rates of covid cases and deaths in the U.S. should be reassuring, too, that these vaccines work. At some point, though, it's possible booster shots may be necessary, particularly for older adults or those otherwise vulnerable to more severe disease. Down the line, different immunization formulations or schedules can help make up for weaker responses to a vaccine. A high-dose flu vaccine designed for adults over 65, for instance, contains four times the amount of the ingredient that triggers the immune system. If you can imagine a vaccine as a rallying cry for your body's defenses, this is like an even louder alarm to help ensure those defenders awaken.