The Latest: Michigan healthcare workers to be vaccinated

The Pfizer logo is displayed at the company's headquarters, Friday, Feb. 5, 2021, in New York. Pfizer posted better than expected profits and revenues for the second quarter and raised its outlook for the year on the strong performance, including sales of its COVID-19 vaccine. Pfizer Inc. reported second-quarter net income of $5.56 billion Wednesday, July 28, 2021, or 98 cents per share, or $1.07 per share when one-time gains and losses are removed. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

A registered nurse gives James Mullen the second dose of the coronavirus vaccine at a COVID-19 vaccination site at NYC Health + Hospitals Metropolitan, Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021, in New York. After months of coaxing people to get vaccinated against COVID-19 with incentives like museum tickets and transit passes, New York City is sweetening the pot by offering $100 to any city resident who gets a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine at a city-run site, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday, July 28, 2021. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

In this Oct. 20, 2015 file photo, signage sits outside Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. Google is postponing a return to the office for most workers until mid-October and rolling out a policy that will eventually require everyone to be vaccinated once its sprawling campuses are fully reopened in an attempt to fight the spreading Delta variant. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson, right and Home Secretary Priti Patel, speak to cadets, during a visit to Surrey Police headquarters in Guildford, England, Tuesday July 27, 2021. (Yui Mok/Pool Photo via AP)

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, adjusts her face mask during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on the federal coronavirus response on Capitol Hill in Washington, in this Thursday, March 18, 2021, file photo. Walensky says new mask-wearing guidance, coupled with higher rates of vaccination against COVID-19, could halt the current escalation of infections in “a couple of weeks.” The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told “CBS This Morning” she hopes more stringent mask-wearing guidelines and other measures won’t be necessary as the country heads into the fall. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, Pool, File)

A nurse vaccinates Tanzaian President Samia Suluhu Hassan in Dodoma, Tanzania, Wednesday, July 28 2021. In a major breakthrough for one of the world's last countries to embrace COVID-19 vaccines, Tanzania's president has kicked off her nation's vaccination campaign by publicly receiving a dose and urging others to do the same. (AP Photo/Domasa Sylivester)

Dealers in masks wait for customers before the reopening of the D Las Vegas hotel and casino in Las Vegas, in this Wednesday, June 3, 2020, file photo. Governments and businesses are scrambling to change course following new federal guidance calling for the return of mask wearing in virus hot spots amid a dramatic spike in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations nationwide. Nevada and Kansas City were among the locations that moved swiftly to re-impose indoor mask mandates following Tuesday’s announcement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (AP Photo/John Locher, FIle)

Mourners prepare to bury coronavirus victim 27 year old Nancy Ndanu Musyoka, with her daughter Jaylla Musyoka, in Kakungu village, Kitui county, Kenya, Wednesday, July 28, 2021. Nancy, a high school teacher started feeling unwell and was taken to Kitui referral hospital with breathing complications. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Britain's Health Secretary Sajid Javid speaks to the media during a visit to a pop-up vaccination site at a sports centre in west London, Wednesday July 28, 2021. The British government has said that starting upcoming Monday Aug. 2, 2021, fully vaccinated travellers from the United States and much of Europe will be able to enter England without the need for quarantining.(Dominic Lipinski/PA via AP)

In this file photo dated Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021, people in the International Arrivals area at Heathrow Airport in London, during England's coronavirus lockdown. The British government has said that starting upcoming Monday Aug. 2, 2021, fully vaccinated travellers from the United States and much of Europe will be able to enter England without the need for quarantining. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, FILE)

People wearing face masks to protect against coronavirus walk on the pedestrian promenade along the beach in Biarritz, southwestern France, Wednesday, July 28, 2021. Local authorities in France are re-imposing mask mandates and other virus restrictions because of fast-growing infections with the delta variant, which is causing COVID-19 hospitalizations in France to rise again. (AP Photo/Bob Edme)

People wearing face masks to protect against coronavirus walk past a sign stating face coverings are required in the street, in Bayonne, southwestern France, Wednesday, July 28, 2021. Local authorities in France are re-imposing mask mandates and other virus restrictions because of fast-growing infections with the delta variant, which is causing COVID-19 hospitalizations in France to rise again. (AP Photo/Bob Edme)

A man smiles after getting his shot of Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine during a vaccination drive at University Stadium in Mexico City, Friday, July 23, 2021. So far, about 42.4 million people have been vaccinated, according to the health ministry. That is about 47% of the adult population, and about 30% of the total population. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

A young woman gets her shot of Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine during a vaccination drive at University Stadium in Mexico City, Friday, July 23, 2021. So far, about 42.4 million people have been vaccinated, according to the health ministry. That is about 47% of the adult population, and about 30% of the total population. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, gavels in a session as North Carolina legislators convene on the House floor to move forward a coronavirus relief package in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, April 30, 2020. North Carolina’s state health department is compelling workers, volunteers and others at 14 state-run facilities to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by the end of September. If they don't get the vaccine and do not qualify for an approved medical or religious exemption, they could be fired. House Speaker Moore criticized the new mandate state health officials established on Tuesday, July 27, 2021. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome, file)

CORRECTS LOCATION A health worker administers a dose of Janssen Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine at Dakar's Medina neighborhood, Senegal, Wednesday, July 28, 2021. In the midst of a third wave of the coronavirus pandemic, with many countries on the cusp, African health officials are racing to vaccinate populations that had before been reluctant or unable to access vaccines. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

LANSING, Mich. — Two of Michigan’s largest health systems are requiring all employees, volunteers and medical providers at their hospitals to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

Spectrum Health, a 14-hospital network in western Michigan, and eight-hospital Beaumont Health on the other side of the state announced the mandates Wednesday. At least four hospital systems in the state now have announced the requirement.

Grand Rapids-based Spectrum has 31,000 employees. Beaumont is headquartered in Royal Oak and has more than 33,000 employees. They join the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit and Livonia-based Trinity Health in requiring vaccinations.

A spokesperson says about 70% of Spectrum’s onsite staff are vaccinated.

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MORE ON THE PANDEMIC:

— U.S. states, businesses reconsider masks amid surge

— NY to require state employees to get vaccines or get tested

— Google delays return to office, mandates vaccines

— England, Scotland end quarantine for vaccinated from US, EU

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— Find more AP coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine

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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

ANKARA, Turkey — The number of new coronavirus cases in Turkey climbed above the 20,000 mark on Wednesday, reaching a level previously seen in early May.

The country reported 22,291 infections in the past 24 hours, according to Health Ministry figures. It also recorded 76 deaths — the highest number of daily fatalities since mid-June.

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said in a televised address that 87% of all active cases and 95% of hospitalized patients consisted of people who were not fully vaccinated, and renewed a call for people to get their shots.

The government has no immediate plans to reimpose restrictions, the minister said, but he did not rule out the possibility of re-introducing measures in the future.

Only about 30 percent of the country’s 84 million people have been fully vaccinated, using China’s Sinovac and the Pfizer vaccines.

The country had reached a record high of more than 63,000 cases in one day in mid-April.

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NEW ORLEANS — Lisa Beaudean of St. Louis, Missouri strolled the French Quarter holding a cup from Café du Monde. She was happy to not be wearing a mask and disappointed to hear that many states, including Louisiana, are again asking residents to mask up indoors, even if they’re vaccinated.

“I’m frustrated,” Beaudean said. “I’m very frustrated. You know, for the last 18 months, maybe even longer, I’ve done everything I’m supposed to do...And there are no repercussions for those who haven’t done what they’re supposed to do.”

She had a mask in a back pocket Wednesday in case she was asked to put it on at one of the restaurants or establishments while in town.

“Do I think it’s right? No.”

“I don’t know what the answer is. I really don’t. But, forcing everybody to wear a mask – again, for those who have been vaccinated – is not going to make those who have not been vaccinated, get vaccinated.”

She says she’s worried about the country entering another lockdown and “making me pay the price for the average citizen that doesn’t want to get vaccinated for whatever reason.”

Beaudean says said incentivizing the general population may help.

Misinformation and conspiracy theories have kept many from getting vaccination, and she’s concerned because only about 40% of her state has been vaccinated.

“If you’re not vaccinated, get vaccinated, for the love of Pete and all that is holy. Get vaccinated. Nobody is tracking you,” she said.

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CHICAGO — The hordes of people expected to descend on Chicago’s Grant Park for the Lollapalooza music festival this week will be required to show proof that they’ve been vaccinated for COVID-19 or tested negative for the disease within the last three days.

The four-day festival starts Thursday and is expected to be back at full capacity, with roughly 100,000 daily attendees. After missing last summer because of the threat of the coronavirus, it will easily be Chicago’s largest gathering since the pandemic started, and one of the country’s.

This year’s festival will look very different than in the past. To gain entry, attendees will have to present their vaccination cards or a printed copy of a negative COVID-19 test that is no more than 72 hours old. That means that anyone with a four-day pass who isn’t vaccinated will have to get tested twice. Furthermore, anyone who isn’t vaccinated will have to wear a mask.

Public health officials and others have raised concerns that such a large gathering, even outdoors, risks turning into a super-spreader event. Officials in the Netherlands were shocked after a much smaller music festival attended by 20,000 people over two days early this month led to nearly 1,000 cases of COVID-19, CNBC reported. That festival had similar safeguards to Lollapalooza’s.

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WASHINGTON – The State Department says Secretary of State Antony Blinken has met the head of the World Health Organization to press for additional studies into the origin of the coronavirus pandemic in China.

Blinken and WHO Director General Tedros Ghebreyesus met Wednesday in Kuwait City, Kuwait, where Blinken is wrapping up an overseas trip.

State Department spokesman Ned Price said Blinken told Tedros that any follow-up probe into the COVID-19 outbreak must be “be timely, evidence-based, transparent, expert-led, and free from interference.”

Blinken also stressed the importance of international unity in order to understand the pandemic and to prevent future ones, Price said in a statement. He added that Blinken and Tedros had both committed to work together with all members of the WHO to “make meaningful, concrete progress in strengthening global health security to prevent, detect, and respond to future pandemics and health threats.”

The meeting, which had not been previously announced, came after China rejected WHO calls for a second investigation into the virus.

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Puerto Rico’s governor announced Wednesday that all public employees must be vaccinated against the coronavirus starting next month as the U.S. territory reports a new rise in cases.

The executive order goes into effect Aug. 16 with few exceptions. Those who refuse to get inoculated will be required to submit a negative virus test weekly. If an employee refuses to get tested, they will be forced to use their vacation days and eventually may not be paid, Gov. Pedro Pierluisi said.

“To finish defeating the pandemic, this is the step to follow,” he said. “Vaccination is the solution.”

Some 27,000 government employees are affected by the order, which comes a day after Pierluisi ordered that masks once again be worn indoors.

The island of 3.3 million people has reported more than 124,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and more than 2,500 deaths related to COVID-19. More than 76% of the population has received at least a first vaccine dose.

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SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was defiant Wednesday as he criticized the new CDC guidance about mask-wearing indoors and in schools.

“I think it’s very important we say, unequivocally, ‘No to lockdowns, no to school closures, no to restrictions, no to mandates,’” he said in Salt Lake City during a gathering of the American Legislative Exchange Council, a group that pushes conservative policies in Republican-controlled state legislatures.

His address prompted enthusiastic applause from a mostly mask-less crowd of about 1,400.

Florida leads the nation in the rate of new COVID-19 cases and deaths over the past 14 days, driven by the delta variant and a full reopening of the state. Just 48 percent of the state’s population is fully vaccinated.

Health experts say masks are an important tool in reducing transmission of the virus, especially among children who are too young to be vaccinated.

DeSantis did acknowledge that some school districts and parents have taken a different approach on mask-wearing, and said he was OK with that.

He boasted that Florida had “tangled with the Biden administration” in court over cruise line shutdowns and so-called vaccination passports.

“In Florida, we’ll continue to stand firm,” he said. “We’ll be holding the line. We will not back down.”

Reported by Lindsay Whitehurst in Salt Lake City.

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TOPEKA, Kan. — A central Kansas school district is requiring masks in its buildings and public health officials in two of the state’s most populous counties are recommending that even vaccinated residents wear masks in at least some indoor public spaces.

The developments in the Salina school district and Shawnee and Douglas counties in northeast Kansas came quickly after a surge in new COVID-19 cases tied to the faster-spreading delta variant prompted the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to change its guidance on masks.

The Salina school district appears to be the first in Kansas outside the Kansas City area to impose a mask mandate. Douglas and Shawnee counties are only recommending masks and not requiring them.

State health data showed that Kansas averaged 743 new COVID-19 cases a day for the seven days ending Wednesday. The daily average dropped below 100 new cases a day just after top Republican lawmakers in the GOP-controlled Legislature ended a state of emergency for the pandemic in mid-June.

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Following the federal government’s lead, California is recommending that people wear masks indoors regardless of vaccination status.

Wednesday’s announcement comes a day after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised that fully vaccinated people mask up in public indoor settings in places where community spread is high or substantial.

California officials said more than 90% of the state’s nearly 40 million residents live in such areas of community spread.

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RALEIGH, N.C. -— North Carolina’s health department will require workers, volunteers and others at 14 state-run health care facilities to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 by Sept. 30 unless they qualify for a medical or religious exemption, according to a memo.

The Associated Press obtained a departmental FAQ about the vaccine mandate that says those who don’t get fully vaccinated or exempted by the deadline could face “disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal, for unacceptable personal conduct.”

Republican House Speaker Tim Moore first shed light on the development through a news release Tuesday evening. Although he is vaccinated and encourages others to get the shots, he believes residents should have the ability to make their own decisions without fear of reprisal.

The speaker also noted that none of the available COVID-19 vaccines the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved for emergency use have thus far received full FDA approval.

North Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services did not comment on Moore’s criticism, but confirmed it will require many within the Division of State Operated Health Facilities to get vaccinated.

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WASHINGTON — The effectiveness of the Pfizer vaccine wanes slightly over time but it remains strongly protective for at least six months after the second dose, according to company data released Wednesday.

The findings are one piece of evidence that U.S. health authorities will consider in deciding if and when booster doses might be needed. Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech have said they plan to seek authorization for boosters.

The new data comes from the 44,000-person study that initiated the widespread use of the vaccine, showing its highly effective in the first few months after immunization. Now the companies have tracked those study participants for six months and counting.

Most important, protection against severe COVID-19 remains very high, at nearly 97%, researchers found. Overall, protection against symptomatic COVID-19 was 91% over the six-month period, the study found.

But a closer look shows that efficacy against any symptomatic infection dropped gradually every two months, from a peak of 96% two months after study participants got their second dose. By month four, efficacy was 90% and by six months, it was about 84%.

The study results were posted online but haven’t undergone full scientific review. They don’t single out how the vaccine works against the highly contagious delta variant. However, the companies cite separate testing and real-world data showing the shots counter it.

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