The latest on the coronavirus pandemic and vaccines

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed an executive order Friday extending the state mask mandate for the next 30 days.

“By continuing to wear our masks in public indoor settings around others, we can safely enjoy the activities we love and keep our economy open. Every community has been impacted differently by this pandemic, and we want to ensure this order is reflective of that. We’re almost there, Colorado, but we need to keep this up just a little bit longer," Polis said in a news release.

The updated executive order includes requiring masks in schools in all counties, during extracurricular activities, in childcare centers, and indoor children's camps.

Masks will also be required in all jails, prisons, congregate care facilities and public-facing state government facilities, according to the order.

“Here in Colorado, we are making incredible progress with getting vaccines into arms and protecting our most vulnerable, but until everyone can get the vaccine and our COVID cases are reduced, taking precautions to prevent a surge in cases and further spread of the disease is the smart thing to do and the right thing to do and helps keep everything open,” Polis said in the release. 

Indoor gatherings and private events will be allowed to resume with limitations in California starting April 15, state health officials announced in a teleconference Friday amid a falling number of new Covid-19 cases and mounting vaccination effort.

This includes private events like weddings and conferences as well as sports events and live concerts.

Venues can have fully vaccinated sections without social distancing but still will require the use of masks, the state's public health officer, Dr. Tomás J. Aragón, said. Other sections must continue to maintain the six-feet social distancing requirement.

Anyone planning to attend events will have to go through a self-verification process, Aragón said. This may include bringing their Covid-19 vaccination card or showing negative test results within 72 hours of the event.

For counties in the red tier, or the second lowest tier of the state’s four-tiered reopening system, indoor gatherings will be allowed up to 100 people as long as all guests are vaccinated or have tested negative. The capacity is increased to 150 people for counties in the next tier, the orange tier, and to 200 people for counties in the yellow tier, the highest tier.

Los Angeles and San Francisco are currently in the state’s orange tier, indicating a “moderate risk” of Covid-19.

“In terms of numbers in California right now, our numbers are looking very good,” Aragón said. Over 18 million California residents have been vaccinated so far.

“Today’s update to the Blueprint for a Safer Economy is a result of the progress we are making both in vaccinations and in controlling the spread of Covid-19,” the state's Health and Human Services secretary, Dr. Mark Ghaly, said in a statement. “By following public health guidelines such as wearing masks and getting vaccinated when eligible, we can resume additional activities as we take steps to reduce risk.”

At a press conference Friday, Oregon governor Kate Brown warned Oregonians not to let their guard down in preventing the spread of Covid-19.

“It's clear that in Oregon, and across the country, the fourth surge of this virus is at our doorstep,” Brown said. “While Oregon's case numbers, fortunately, haven't matched those of other states seeing large spikes, our numbers are rising.”

As of Friday, Oregon Health Authority reported 156,013 cases of Covid-19 in Oregon.

“We continue to see a general trend of increasing daily cases, along with virus related hospitalizations,” said Dr. Dean Sidelinger, Oregon's state health officer.

Brown said the state faces a race between the vaccines and the variants. She said Oregon plans to open eligibility to everyone age 16 and older no later than May 1.

“I know we’re all fed up with a pandemic, physical distancing and mask wearing, but we are in the last few miles of the marathon,” Brown said. “We have come so far, run so hard and we are close to the finish line. Don't let the vaccines and the sunny spring weather give us a false sense that we're in the clear, because we're not.”

All frontline workers as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will be eligible for the Covid-19 vaccine Monday, and Brown announced at the press conference that their adult family members would be eligible to get vaccinated at well.

Vermont officials addressed the rise in Covid-19 cases in the state, saying they are concerned these increases will lead to more Covid-19-related hospitalizations and deaths.

"My optimism is for the future, and the future is very near. But when it comes to the present, frankly, I am very concerned," Health Commissioner Dr. Mark Levine said.

Levine credited the rise in cases in part to Covid-19 variants being present in five counties in the state, saying that Vermonters should assume that variants are present in even more.

Michael Pieciak, commissioner for the Department of Financial Regulation, said there has been a constant increase in cases in Vermont over the past several days. The state's latest seven-day-case rate average reached an all-time high for the pandemic.

This follows a trend of northeast states seeing increases in cases over the past few weeks, with Massachusetts and Connecticut also seeing a rise in hospitalizations, Pieciak said.

Gov. Phil Scott said that nearly 40% of the population has received their first vaccine dose as of today. Over 85% of people 65 and older are vaccinated, he added.

"We can still stop this rise in cases if we act now," Health Commissioner Levine urged. "We really only have about three more weeks before that future I'm so optimistic for becomes the present. ... No one wants to go backwards."

West Virginia residents aged 16 and older are now eligible to receive the Covid-19 vaccine, Gov. Jim Justice said during a news briefing Friday.

The move comes due to rising numbers of the virus in the state. There have been 6,642 active cases detected throughout West Virginia, with 420 new positive cases reported within the last 24 hours, Justice said. 

The daily Covid-19 positivity rate is now 3.48%, and the cumulative positivity continues at 5.25%, the governor explained. 

Seven people have died from the coronavirus since Wednesday, bringing the total death toll to approximately 2,700, Justice stated. 

The governor reemphasized the importance of getting tested after noting three counties – Jefferson County, Berkeley County, and Raleigh County – are now in the red zone due to increasing Covid-19 cases.

West Virginia Coronavirus Czar Dr. Clay Marsh said health officials have seen a rise in the variant first identified in the United Kingdom within the positive cases, describing the variant as “about 50%” more lethal and infectious. Specific numbers for the variant first identified in the UK will be announced next week, Marsh stated.

500,000 West Virginians have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, marking a new milestone for the state, the governor stated.

He said 518,543 first doses and 342,851 second doses have been administered, bringing the total number of people who have been vaccinated to 861,394.

“We’re at 92.6% administration rate right now for our first and second doses. We want to absolutely be at 100%,” Justice said.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed an Executive Order Friday banning the mandated use of Covid-19 passports in the state.

“Individual Covid-19 vaccination records are private health information and should not be shared by a mandate,” the Order says. “So-called Covid-19 vaccine passports reduce individual freedom and will harm patient privacy.”

The Order says the implementation and enforcement of vaccine passports would “create two classes of citizens based on vaccinations.”

The order prohibits any government entity or business from requiring a vaccine passport.

DeSantis signaled earlier this week that he would not support vaccine passports.

"It's completely unacceptable for either the government or the private sector to impose upon you the requirement that you show proof of vaccine to just simply be able to participate in normal society," said DeSantis Monday during a news conference.

The Netherlands will pause administering the Oxford AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine in people under 60 years old as a “precautionary measure,” according to a government news release Friday.

It cited five cases of blood clots among women aged between 25 and 65 who had received the shot, reported by Lareb, the country's medicines watchdog.

The statement acknowledged the ongoing European Medicines Agency (EMA) investigation into whether a causal link exists between the vaccine and thrombotic events. 

“There can be no doubt whatsoever about the safety of vaccines. The crucial question is still whether this concerns complaints after vaccination, or due to vaccination,” Hugo de Jonge, Dutch Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport said.

He continued “we must err on the side of caution, which is why it is wise to press the pause button now, as a precaution. But only for people under the age of 60.”

The Netherlands has so far distributed around 400,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine, the government said. 

The move follows Germany’s decision to halt the vaccine for under 60s on Tuesday.

AstraZeneca said in a statement that investigations by both the UK's Medicines and Products regulatory agency (MRHA) and the EMA were not able to establish a causal relationship between the vaccine and clotting events, adding, "however, the EMA concluded that for very rare cases of serious cerebral thromboembolic events with thrombocytopenia a causal link with the vaccine is not proven but deserves further analysis."

The remaining two games of the Washington Nationals’ season-opening series with the New York Mets have been postponed due to ongoing Covid-19 issues within the Nationals team, Major League Baseball announced Friday.

Games scheduled for Saturday and Sunday at Nationals Park have been postponed, a day after the postponement of the two teams’ season opening game yesterday.

At least three Nationals’ players have tested positive for Covid-19, the team said Thursday. The team says a fourth player is considered a “likely” positive. None of the players were identified. On Wednesday, it was announced that one player on the Nationals had tested positive and that four other players were placed in quarantine.

No make-up dates for the postponed games was provided. Major League Baseball says it will provide scheduling updates as they become available

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said Friday that, beginning April 5, the state will allow individuals 16 and older to receive a Covid-19 vaccine.

“Truly, this vaccine is our ticket back to normal life. We are so close to getting COVID-19 in the rearview, and until then, we should all keep wearing our masks, get vaccinated and use the common sense the good Lord gave us,” the Republican governor said in a press release.

According to the release, this expansion means nearly 4 million residents will be eligible for vaccination. The state receives around 115,000 doses a month, the release said.

To date, Alabama has given at least 1,724,463 vaccine doses according to the release.