E72: COVID-19 Roundtable Update -4/26/21

Two weeks ago we asked you to tell us if the Roundtable is still helpful. You responded with resoundingly positive feedback, and thank goodness because our experts really wanted to keep going – and boy are we going to get into it today. New executive orders, the ins and outs of getting shots in arms, needed policy changes and more. The big and small shocks, the bouts of exhaustion, and the aggrievements of this pandemic continue to reverberate, which means we have more to explore, reflect upon, make sense of, and grow from.

While we’re at it, let’s not lose sight of COVID’s worldwide context either. On April 26 New Zealand detailed 3 new cases, the U.S. recorded 34,641, and India reported more than 350,000 new confirmed cases - for the fifth straight day. Here in Arizona, meanwhile, the new case counts are stubbornly not declining, while the daily count of vaccinations is.

All of which is to say that there is much to discuss with our roundtable guests, so let’s get to it. It’s time to talk B.1.1.7’s ascendance, what’s going on with hospitals and health care professionals, how COVID is becoming a young person’s disease, how to make vaccines more convenient, and where we might go next as of April 26, 2021.