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And by Feb. 13, that number could reach 508,000, according to an ensemble forecast released by the CDC. The latest forecast, Jan.13, predicted up to 477,000 deaths by Feb.6.
In the meantime, vaccines have started to be distributed, but significant challenges remain with supply across the country, state officials say.
New CDC director Dr Rochelle Walensky described the pandemic’s toll on Wednesday as “truly heartbreaking” but “healthier days lie ahead” – though getting there would require a rapid acceleration in testing, surveillance and vaccination.
She said the agency will conduct a review of all its guidance regarding the pandemic, so that “people can make decisions and act on the basis of the best available evidence.”
“We still have a lot of the spread and a lot of the burden of this spread on our health care systems and a lot of disease deaths. We still have a lot of work to do,” Freeman said.
California deaths and case severity remain high
Most coronavirus indicators have improved in California, the epicenter of the virus in the United States. But the severity of the cases in the state and the death toll remain high.
California added 22,403 new cases on Wednesday, which is well below the state’s average daily count of 38,000.
But he also reported 694 new Covid-19-related deaths on Wednesday, the second highest toll in a day to date. The previous high of 708 was recorded almost two weeks ago.
In Los Angeles, the death rate among hospital patients from Covid-19 has nearly doubled in recent months.
As of November, patients hospitalized in Los Angeles County have about a 23% chance of dying from the disease, health officials said Wednesday. This rate marks a significant increase from the previous three months, when Covid-19 patients had about a 12% chance of dying, according to the county health services department.
Along with the death rate, the length of hospital stays for coronavirus in Los Angeles County fell from about seven days between September and November to about nine and a half days from November to January, suggesting that the severity disease in hospitalized people has increased, LADHS said. .
“This trend does not mean that the virus has become more virulent or that hospital care has worsened during the outbreak,” said Christina Ghaly, director of health services. “We believe these trends are more due to the fact that hospitals, facing capacity constraints in the context of the push, have become more selective in determining which patients to admit.
“In other words, hospitals are releasing more low acuity patients into their homes with oxygen. They only admit the most seriously ill patients.
But with a limited supply of the coronavirus vaccine, state epidemiologist Erica Pan said it might take four to five months for all Californians over 65 to be vaccinated.
“ A constant pattern of fundamental exhaustion ” of vaccine doses
Pressure to get people vaccinated has intensified as officials rush to distribute doses to meet their demand.
As of Wednesday, more than 16.5 million doses have been administered in the United States and nearly 2.2 million Americans are fully vaccinated, the CDC said.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the state is administering about 65,000 doses per day – a rate that will deplete its current supply in two or three days.
“What’s clear now is that we’ll be going week to week and you’ll see a constant tendency to miss, waiting for next week’s allocation and then restarting,” Cuomo said.
The state will receive 250,400 doses next week, but Cuomo urged Biden to immediately increase supplies to the states.
“At this current rate of supply, it takes seven and a half months to get enough vaccine for the currently eligible population,” Cuomo said.
In Missouri, Gov. Mike Parson said the state was keeping pace with its vaccination plan, but the National Guard would be activated to help administer it as the state expanded its eligibility to include early responders, emergency services and public health infrastructure.
A mass vaccination team will be set up in each of the state’s nine highway patrol regions, he said, and it will be able to administer up to 2,500 doses per day.
The first weeks of spring could see another boost in vaccinations, as the WHO is evaluating 15 vaccines it could list for emergency use, according to a new guidance document.
“I call on all countries to work together in solidarity to ensure that in the first 100 days of this year, vaccination of health workers and the elderly is underway in all countries,” said the director WHO General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Virginia Langmaid, Haley Brink, Ben Tinker, Matthew Hoye, Arlette Saenz, Cheri Mossburg, Sarah Moon, Julian Cummings, Deidre McPhillips, Jacqueline Howard and Kay Jones contributed to this report.
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