'Appreciate What You Have': Dad Of 9-Year-Old Who Died Of Virus

VERNON, TX — J.J. Boatman was celebrating his ninth birthday, complete with a "Star Wars" cake and tacos, just a few weeks ago. Now, his family is grief-stricken as the young Vernon, Texas, boy became among the youngest fatal victims of the coronavirus.

J.J. died of complications from the virus shortly after he was taken to Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth last week, his uncle, Gabriel Ayala, told CBS Dallas-Fort Worth.

“He was a loving, caring little boy,” Ayala told the news station. “Like, every time he would see you or any family member, he’d run up and hug you.”

J.J. had already battled difficulties in his life. He was active and playful despite suffering from asthma, autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, according to the CBS report.

He wasn't able to withstand the virus.

“He was just running around and playing earlier that day, and by the nighttime he was yelling and crying to his mom that he couldn’t breathe,” Ayala said. “His mom went over, and his face was blue already and his lips were blue.”

By the time he was airlifted to the hospital, his lungs were filled with fluid.

“We’re going to miss his whole life,” Ayala said. “He’s going to miss his whole life. His life hadn’t even started.”

J.J. father, Jason Boatman, described to CBS the heartache felt when losing a child so abruptly.

“The hardest part was coming home and putting the key in the door, and you open the front door, you’re reminded of him everywhere,” he said. “Try to really appreciate what you have. I mean, I know everybody does, but really take it to heart because it can be taken away within seven to eight hours like mine was.”

Read more from CBS Dallas-Fort Worth

The Latest

Coronavirus vaccines will soon be delivered directly from the federal government to pharmacies. The Biden administration plans to begin sending 1 million vaccine doses to some 6,500 pharmacies every week, Jeff Zients, White House coronavirus coordinator, said Tuesday.

CVS Health has already said it will begin receiving these vaccines beginning Feb. 11, the first day of the program. Walgreens will begin a day later, according to a report from Politico.

“This will provide more sites for people to get vaccinated in their communities,” Zients said, according to The Associated Press. “This is a critical step to provide the public with convenient trusted places to get vaccinated in their communities."

In addition, the federal government has committed to giving at least 10.5 million vaccine doses to states over the next three weeks. That's 500,000 more than have been shipped in recent weeks, the AP reported.

Vaccine makers themselves are also thinking of ways to expand the inoculation effort in the United States, which distributed its 50 millionth dose just this week.

Moderna, the drugmaker that produced one of the two coronavirus vaccines approved so far for use in the United States, is asking officials to allow it to put more vaccine into its vials. The company has said it can raise the number of doses per vial from 10 to 15, according to a report from The New York Times.

The Food and Drug Administration's limit on doses per vial has inhibited the potential vaccine rollout, Moderna spokesman Ray Jordan said Monday, the NYT reported.

States have differed in which workers should be at the front of the vaccine lines. Teachers are on the eligibility list in almost half the states, the New York Times found this week. A chart shows teachers are eligible for the vaccine in 24 states and the District of Columbia, although in some states teachers are eligible in certain counties.

A chart shared results of The New York Times survey. It shows health care and long-term care workers eligible in all states, with adults 80 and older eligible in all states but Rhode Island.

The Ocean State is the only one still in the first phase of its vaccination rollout, the Times reported. All others have age thresholds, between 65 and 80, allowing their oldest residents to get the vaccine now.

Rhode Island Health Director Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott told the Times their expanded vaccine eligibility is moving slowly because officials want to make sure the most at-risk people get the vaccine first.

When the country's vaccine rollout began, concerns were raised over how people in rural areas might struggle to get access to it. Places such as the mostly rural West Virginia were considered likely to have that difficulty.

But the Mountaineer State, to some surprise, has been near the top of the states boasting the strongest vaccine administration rates. As of Sunday, 85 percent of the doses the state has received had been administered, NBC News reports, citing CDC numbers.

The state's success on the vaccine front can be attributed, in some part, to its decision not to enter into a federal partnership with giants such as Walgreens and CVS, and instead rely on local drugstores, according to the NBC News report.

West Virginia is one of the 24 states allowing teachers to get vaccines, although the only teachers eligible there are 50 and older.

As President Joe Biden looks to see his proposed $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package move forward, he met this week with 10 Senate Republicans who sent him a letter a day earlier seeking to negotiate the proposal.

The Republicans' smaller counterproposal calls for $160 billion for vaccines, testing, treatment and personal protective equipment and more-targeted relief than the president's plan to issue $1,400 stimulus checks for most Americans.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told Senate Democrats that the GOP proposal is "way too small," according to a CNN report. He said Biden wants a "big, bold package," an idea echoed by White House press secretary Jen Psaki later in the day.

"His view is that at this point in our country, when 1 in 7 American families don't have enough food to eat, we need to make sure people get the relief they need and are not left behind," Psaki said, according to CNN.

Health experts are again warning against holding large gatherings, with perhaps the year's biggest sporting event, Super Bowl LV, set for Sunday at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, said that when it comes to Super Bowl parties during the pandemic, people should “just lay low and cool it,” according to an Associated Press report.

He said during TV interviews Wednesday that now isn’t the time to invite people over for watch parties, because of the possibility that they’re infected with the coronavirus and could sicken others.

“You don't want parties with people that you haven’t had much contact with,” he told NBC's “Today” show. "You just don’t know if they’re infected; so as difficult as that is, at least this time around, just lay low and cool it.”

The NFL has capped game attendance at 22,000 people because of the pandemic and citywide coronavirus mandates.

Newest Numbers

More than 55.9 million vaccine doses have been distributed and 33.8 million administered in the United States as of Wednesday afternoon, according to the CDC. More than 27.1 million people have received one dose, and more than 6.4 million have received two.

At least 3,509 deaths and 118,595 new cases of coronavirus were reported in the United States on Tuesday, according to a Washington Post database. The Post's reporting shows that over the past week, new daily cases have fallen 15.7percent, new daily deaths have fallen 6.1 percent and COVID-19-related hospitalizations have fallen 14.4 percent.

Currently, 92,880 people are hospitalized with a coronavirus-related illness in the United States, according to the Covid Tracking Project.

As of Wednesday, 34 states and U.S. territories remained above the positive testing rate recommended by the World Health Organization to safely reopen. To safely reopen, the WHO recommends states remain at 5 percent or lower for at least 14 days.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the United States had reported more than 26.4 million cases and more than 448,300 deaths from COVID-19-related illnesses, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Stay up to date on the latest coronavirus news via The New York Times or The Washington Post.

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