May 7 coronavirus news

By Joshua Berlinger, Brad Lendon, Aditi Sangal and Angela Dewan, CNN

Updated 2:04 AM ET, Mon May 10, 2021
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3:54 p.m. ET, May 7, 2021

More than a third of people in the US are fully vaccinated, CDC data shows

From CNN's Deidre McPhillips

A man holds his emotional support dog, named 'Rhea,' as he receives a dose of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine during a walk-up clinic at the Kennedy Center's outdoor Reach area on May 6 in Washington, DC.
A man holds his emotional support dog, named 'Rhea,' as he receives a dose of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine during a walk-up clinic at the Kennedy Center's outdoor Reach area on May 6 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

More than a third of the US population is fully vaccinated against Covid-19, according to data published Friday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Nearly 111 million people are fully vaccinated – accounting for 33.4% of the total US population – and more than 150 million people – about 45% of the population – has received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine. 

Overall, 254,779,333 total doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered, about 78% of the 327,124,625 total doses delivered. 

About 2.8 million more doses have been reported administered since Thursday, for a seven-day average of about 2.1 million doses per day. 

Note: Data published by the CDC may be delayed, and doses may not have been given on the day reported. 

3:04 p.m. ET, May 7, 2021

CDC will look carefully at differences between Covid-19 death toll estimates, director says

From CNN's Virginia Langmaid and Deidre McPhillips

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will examine the differences between its own Covid-19 death estimates and estimates from the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluations, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in a briefing Friday. 

The IHME at the University of Washington released an analysis on Thursday that found Covid-19 had caused about 6.9 million deaths around the world, more than double the number officially reported. The institute’s analysis compared countries’ excess death rate against expected death rates, and said most of the underreporting is unintentional.

The United States has reported more deaths than any other country, and the updated IHME analysis estimates the actual number of Covid-19 deaths in the US to be more than 905,000 — about 58% higher than the reported count of about 574,000, and about 30% more than the CDC’s current excess death estimate.

Compared to other countries, underreporting in the United States was said to be “not bad.”

“We will look at this carefully and then we will work within the CDC to make decisions as to whether to count them as excess or to count them as Covid-specific,” Walensky said. 

“Regardless, I think we need to understand that the death toll of this disease has been attributable directly from Covid as well as the collateral damage I would say, what has happened from Covid-19.”

2:05 p.m. ET, May 7, 2021

France adds 7 countries to mandatory quarantine list

From CNN’s Barbara Wojazer

France will impose a compulsory 10-day quarantine restriction on travelers from Turkey, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, United Arab Emirates, and Qatar, according to an update on the French Interior Ministry website on Friday.

This brings the number of countries subject to a travel quarantine in France to 12.

France now imposes a mandatory 10-day quarantine to travelers coming from: Brazil, Argentina, Chile, South Africa, India, Bangladesh, United Arab Emirates, Nepal, Pakistan, Qatar, Sri Lanka and Turkey.

Travelers coming from the French department of Guiana are also subject to a mandatory 10-day quarantine.

French government spokesperson Gabriel Attal on Wednesday announced that new countries would soon be added to the quarantine list because France “cannot take the risk of new variants lightly.”

1:09 p.m. ET, May 7, 2021

Go There: CNN reports from Bogota on protests fueled by Covid-19's crushing economic impact

At least 25 people have been killed in Colombia following protests fueled by frustration over Covid-19's crushing economic pain and exacerbated by a heavy-handed police response.

The upheaval has reached 247 cities and towns, according to Colombia Interior Minister Daniel Palacios.

CNN correspondent Polo Sandoval reports on the latest from Bogota and answers viewers' questions. Watch:

1:16 p.m. ET, May 7, 2021

Biden says jobs report is a rebuttal to notion that Americans "just don't want to work"

From CNN's Adrienne Vogt

Patrick Semansky/AP
Patrick Semansky/AP

President Biden said the economy will "continue to improve" after the release of April's jobs report, which showed the US added way fewer jobs than expected.

"Today's report is a rebuttal [of] the loose talk that Americans just don't want to work. I know some employers are having trouble filling jobs, but what this report shows is that there's a much bigger problem — notwithstanding the commentary you might have heard this morning. It is that our economy still has 8 million fewer jobs than when this pandemic started. The data shows that more workers ... are looking for jobs, and many can't find them. While jobs are coming back, there's still millions of people out there looking for work," Biden said.

The US economy added only 266,000 jobs in April, while economists predicted America would add 1 million jobs. It was the slowest improvement for jobs since January.

Biden said that his American Rescue Plan will play out for a whole year, and the US is on the right track.

"We can't let up. This jobs report makes that clear. We've got too much work to do," he said.  

"We're still digging our way out of a very deep hole we were put in" from the pandemic, Biden added.

12:20 p.m. ET, May 7, 2021

Biden says US economy is moving in the right direction after pandemic but there's a "long way to go"

From CNN's Allie Malloy

President Biden claimed Friday’s disappointing jobs report shows the economy is moving in the right direction, but that it’s also “clear we have a long way to go.”

In his first remarks since Friday’s Job report, Biden said he wanted to put the report in “perspective” and said that his American Rescue Plan was designed to help the country in a year, “not 60 days.”

“I want to put today’s job report in perspective. Look, we came to office we knew we were facing a once in a century pandemic and a once in a generation economic crisis. We knew this wouldn’t be a sprint. It’d be a marathon,” Biden said Friday.

“We never thought after the first 60 days that everything would be fine. Today there’s more evidence that our economy is moving in the right direction. But it’s clear we have a long way to go.”

Biden added, “to state the obvious we have work to do.”

The President did say that today’s report is a “rebuttal” to the argument that Americans don’t want to return to work adding, “I know some employers are having trouble filling jobs, but this report shows there’s a much bigger problem.”

Biden took the opportunity to tout his American Rescue Plan saying that the report “underscores” that “we’re still digging out of an economic collapse.”

1:14 p.m. ET, May 7, 2021

WHO authorizes China's Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use

From CNN’s Naomi Thomas

Syringes filled with doses of the Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine during a mass vaccination campaign in Skopje, Macedonia on May 6.
Syringes filled with doses of the Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine during a mass vaccination campaign in Skopje, Macedonia on May 6. Robert Atanasovski/AFP/Getty Images

The World Health Organization on Friday authorized China’s Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use.

“This afternoon, WHO gave emergency use listing to Sinopharm Beijing’s Covid-19 vaccine, making it the sixth vaccine to receive WHO validation for safety, efficacy and quality,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a news briefing in Geneva Friday. 

Tedros said this is another vaccine that can be purchased by COVAX, the initiative to provide equitable global access to Covid-19 vaccines, and gives countries confidence to expedite their own regulatory approvals and imports.

WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) reviewed the available data and recommended the vaccine for adults age 18 and older with a two-dose schedule, Tedros said. 

WHO has also given emergency use authorization to vaccines made by Pfizer/BioNTech, Astrazeneca-SK Bio, Serum Institute of India, Janssen and Moderna.

12:45 p.m. ET, May 7, 2021

NOW: Biden delivers remarks on US economy and pandemic recovery after disappointing jobs report

From CNN's Anneken Tappe

US President Joe Biden pauses as he speaks about the April jobs report in the East Room of the White House on May 7.
US President Joe Biden pauses as he speaks about the April jobs report in the East Room of the White House on May 7. Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

President Biden is delivering remarks on the US economy and pandemic recovery following the release of this morning's April jobs report which showed far less jobs were added last month than expected.

"I want to put today's jobs report in perspective, and, look, we came to office, we knew we were facing a once in a century pandemic and a once in a generation economic crisis, and we knew this wouldn't be a sprint, it would be a marathon," Biden said from the White House. "Quite frankly we're moving more rapidly than I thought we would."

"Today, there's more evidence that our economy is moving in the right direction but it's clear we have a long way to go," Biden continued.

The President said the jobs report "underscores" how important the American Rescue Plan that passed in March is to the country's recovery.

The US economy added only 266,000 jobs in April on the anniversary of the worst job loss for any month on record. That was way less than forecasts of economists, who had predicted America would add 1 million jobs last month.

The unemployment rate rose to 6.1% in April, up from 6% a month earlier, as more people returned to the labor force to look actively for work, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday. The March jobs numbers were also revised down to 770,000 from 916,000 reported initially.

It was the slowest improvement for jobs since January. Experts predicted that the vaccine rollout and the reopening of the economy would jolt hiring.

11:26 a.m. ET, May 7, 2021

New pandemic US air travel record suggests summer travel boom

From CNN's Pete Muntean and Greg Wallace 

The number of people traveling by air just hit a new peak of the pandemic, suggesting an early start to a summer travel rebound.

The Transportation Security Administration says it screened 1.64 million people at airport security checkpoints on Thursday, ousting the previous pandemic record set on Sunday.

The new number is a more than 7% jump over the previous Thursday and more than seven times greater than the same day a year ago, TSA data show.

This weekend could see even larger numbers: TSA typically records its busiest day of the week on Sundays.  

The US Travel Association says 72% of Americans will make at least one trip this summer, a number close to projections from before the pandemic struck.

“We find going into summer, 75% to 80% of Americans say they’re planning on taking a trip away from home,” Roger Dow of the US Travel Association, told CNN. “This summer is going be the comeback for travel.”