State Update: States Pass Their Own Virus Aid, A New Coronavirus Variant is Spreading in New York, Texas to Deploy National deploy National Guard to Help Vaccinate Seniors

February 25, 2021

  • Not waiting for more federal help, states have been approving their own coronavirus aid packages, spending hundreds of millions of dollars to help residents and business owners devastated by the the pandemic’s economic fallout. Maryland and California recently moved forward with help for the poor, the jobless, small businesses and those needing child care. New Mexico and Pennsylvania are funneling grants directly to cash-starved businesses. 
  • A new form of the coronavirus is spreading rapidly in New York City, and it carries a worrisome mutation that may weaken the effectiveness of vaccines, two teams of researchers have found. The new variant, called B.1.526, first appeared in samples collected in the city in November. By the middle of this month, it accounted for about one in four viral sequences appearing in a database shared by scientists.
  • Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he’ll authorize the deployment of more than 1,100 National Guardsman as part of a statewide initiative to vaccinate homebound seniors against COVID-19.


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