COVID cases in New York reach highest levels since January
NEW YORK -- COVID cases in New York are rising to the highest levels since winter just as the Food and Drug Administration reins in Johnson & Johnson's vaccine.
While the single-dose vaccine, once considered a pioneering tool in the fight against the pandemic, is under new restrictions, White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha told CBS Mornings there is nothing to fear.
"I still believe this is a very good vaccine," Jha said.
The FDA insists the shot should only be given to adults who cannot receive a different vaccine or specifically request it due to the risk of rare but serious blood clots, which Jha said would not have been picked up easily in a clinical trial.
"It happens about three in a million," Jha said. "Just to put this into context, a bad side effect from this vaccine is far rarer than the bad side effect from taking a daily aspirin."
Earlier in the week, New York City was put under a "medium" COVID alert level. A higher risk category would mean reinstating the vaccine mandate at indoor venues, CBS2's John Dias reported.
Mayor Eric Adams is encouraging more people to get vaccinated and boosted.
"We can't close down the city again. We make the right decisions, we're not going to have to worry about doing that," Adams said.
The amount of positive cases per day in the state is more than 10,000, the most since January. The city's seven-day average is 7.48 percent. With that, many hope the mayor keeps his word.
"People already got used to the COVID and I personally don't think that they will shut it down," said Stefan Perez, of Hell's Kitchen.
"We have just to live with it and we can't just shut down the city because it's all about the business at the same time," said Andrey Malinim, from New Dorp, Staten Island.
With Mother's Day on Sunday, health leaders said it's safe to get together if precautions, like COVID tests, are taken.
