ToplineThe 40% increase in coronavirus hospitalizations has been attributed to Florida and Texas, according to the Biden administration. This was amid a dispute between the White House with the Republican governors of the affected states over how to best combat the virus.Jeff Zients is the White House's Covid-19 Response czar. He speaks at a White... [+] House press briefing. They discussed a pause in issuing Johnson & Johnson Janssen Covid-19 vaccination on April 13, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo: Brendan Smialowski / AFP). (Photo taken by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP through Getty Images) AFP via Getty ImagesThe Key FactsThe White House's coordinator for coronavirus response Jeff Zients stated that Florida had more coronavirus cases over the past week than all 30 states. Florida and Texas are responsible for 40% of all new hospitalizations in America, despite having 6.4% and 8.6% respectively of the nation's population. This news comes amid an increasing war of words between Texas Gov. and the White House. Greg Abbott and Florida Governor. Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott have signed orders banning vaccine mandates and vaccine passports. Biden stated Tuesday that his administration was examining whether he is able to block the orders. However, he said, "I don't believe so." Zients also indicated that coronavirus vaccinations have been increasing in several states with low rates of vaccines, including an increase of 200% in Arkansas, and a 30% increase in Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi over the past month.Important BackgroundFlorida has been hit with one of the worst coronavirus epidemics in recent weeks due to the spread of the highly infectious Delta variant. According to the New York Times data, hospitalizations have increased by 89% and deaths have increased 137% in the last two weeks.Important Quote"Our war on DeSantis is not over, it's about the virus, which are we trying to kneecap. He doesn't seem to want to join that effort to kneecap virus, which is why we are concerned, Jen Psaki, White House press secretary, said at a briefing Wednesday.Big Number500,000. This is roughly the average American getting vaccinated every day. It's the highest rate since June, Zients stated. Zients also said that 3.3 million people were vaccinated within the past week.TangentZients stated that there will not be a federal coronavirus vaccination registry, but that the information is kept at both the state and the local levels. Zients also stated that the Department of Health and Human Services inspector is looking into fraudulent vaccination cards and that it is not widespread.
