The pandemic was reportedly first introduced to Europe during the siege of the Genoese trading port of Kaffa in Crimea by the Golden Horde army of Jani Beg in 1347. The immediate territorial origins of the Black Death and its outbreak remains unclear with some pointing towards Central Asia, China, the Middle East, and Europe. Genetic analysis points to the evolution of Yersinia pestis in the Tian Shan mountains on the border between Kyrgyzstan and China 2,600 years ago. The origin of the Black Death is disputed. The plague created religious, social and economic upheavals, with profound effects on the course of European history. The Black Death was the beginning of the second plague pandemic. Bubonic plague is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis spread by fleas, but during the Black Death it probably also took a secondary form, spread by person-to-person contact via aerosols, causing pneumonic plague. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causing the deaths of 75–200 million people, peaking in Europe from 1347 to 1351. dialysis centers have been vaccinated.The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. To date, only 35% of healthcare workers in U.S. Additionally, advanced stage chronic kidney disease disproportionately affects African Americans, Non-White Hispanics, and American Indians and Alaska Natives. People with chronic kidney disease on dialysis who contract COVID-19 are at higher risk of severe adverse health outcomes- half require hospitalization and 20% – 30% die. The Biden Administration announces a $1.75 billion investment in expanding genomic sequencing to identity and track new variants and $50 billion to expand the nation’s testing capabilities.ĬDC announces $300 million in funding for states, localities, territories, tribes, and tribal organizations for community health worker (CHW) services to address: 1) disparities in access to COVID-19 related services, such as testing, contact tracing, and immunization 2) factors that increase risk of severe COVID-19 illness, such as chronic diseases, smoking, and pregnancy and 3) community public health needs that have been exacerbated by COVID-19, such as health and mental health care access and food insecurity.ĬDC announces a plan to provide the patients and staff of dialysis clinics easy access to COVID-19 vaccinations on-site. The stimulus bill includes funding for expanded unemployment benefits, rental assistance, and COVID-19 vaccinations, as well as extending the child tax credit for one year and providing direct cash payments of up to $1,400 per person.

The Biden Administration signs the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan into law. They plan to make COVID-19 vaccines accessible by delivering vaccines to 700 community health centers in under-resourced communities, doubling the number of pharmacies providing COVID-19 vaccines and the number of federally run mass vaccination centers, deploying more than 4,000 active-duty troops to support these efforts, and by launching the “Find a Vaccination Website” and a 1-800 Number.

The Biden Administration announces plans for all adult Americans to be eligible and able to receive a COVID-19 vaccine by May 1, 2021. FDA issues an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the use of the antiviral drug Remdesivir for the treatment of suspected or confirmed COVID-19 in people who are hospitalized with severe disease.ĬDC develops the “PPE Burn Rate Calculator,” a spreadsheet-based model made to help healthcare facilities plan and optimize the use of personal protective equipment or PPE for the COVID-19 response and publishes it on the Apple and Android App stores.ĬDC launches the SARS-CoV-2 Sequencing for Public Health Emergency Response, Epidemiology and Surveillance (SPHERES), a national network to provide real-time genomic sequencing data to public health response teams investigating COVID-19 cases, allowing them to track the SARS-CoV-2 virus as it evolves.Īs some countries discuss re-opening, WHO convenes the International Health Regulation Emergency Committee for a third time and declares that the global COVID-19 pandemic remains a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).įirst anniversary of WHO declaring COVID-19 a global pandemic.

Major plague doctor