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USA TODAY follows the news regarding COVID-19 as a pair of vaccines join the US fight against a virus that has killed more than 392,000 Americans since the first reported death in February. Continue to refresh this page for the latest updates on the coronavirus, including who gets vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, as well as other news from the USA TODAY Network. Subscribe to our Coronavirus Watch newsletter for updates directly to your inbox, join our facebook group or scroll through our detailed answers to reader questions for everything you need to know about the coronavirus.
In the headlines:
► Deaths from COVID-19 around the world have reached the horrific threshold of 2 million, which roughly equates to the entire population of Nebraska. Of these deaths, more than 390,000 have occurred in the United States.
► President-elect Joe Biden said on Friday his administration would add clinics, beef up public health staff and invoke a wartime production law to ensure adequate vaccine supplies so Americans can receive 100 million COVID-19 vaccines within the first 100 days of its administration. .
► From Monday, the UK will require all incoming travelers to show a negative COVID-19 test and quarantine. Children under 11, essential workers and people traveling for urgent medical care are exempt.
► The coronavirus pandemic is expected to reduce the life expectancy at birth of Americans by more than a year, according to a study by the University of Southern California and Princeton University. The life expectancy of black and Latin populations is expected to decrease by 30 to 40% more than white populations.
📈 Today’s numbers: The United States has more than 23.5 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus and more than 392,000 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Global totals are approaching 94 million cases and 2 million deaths have been recorded.
📘 What we read: Scientists are convinced COVID-19 originated from a thumb-sized bat nestled in a remote Chinese cave a year ago. But where does this virus really come from? Learn more about its mysterious origin.
Biden promises swift action on vaccine rollout, contemplates defense production law
In his first detailed discussion of his vaccination plans a day after the unveiling of his $ 1.9 trillion economic bailout, President-elect Joe Biden said swift action was essential to reverse the “dismal failure” the rollout of vaccines in the country, which left millions of doses in stock during the deadliest part of the coronavirus pandemic.
Biden’s team identified suppliers that could be exploited under the Federal Defense Production Act to avoid potential shortages of glass vials, caps, syringes and needles that could delay obtaining gunshots.
He reiterated a previous pledge to open up vaccines beyond health workers and nursing home residents to adults over 65 and frontline workers such as teachers, first responders and clerks. grocery store.
Biden will ask the Federal Emergency Management Agency to start setting up mass vaccination sites in places such as school gyms, community centers and sports stadiums. He pledged that these new clinics, along with temporary mobile clinics, will be available in underserved communities hit hard by the coronavirus.
– Ken Alltucker
Should you wear a mask after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine? Absolutely.
“Masks and social distancing will have to continue for the foreseeable future – until we have some level of herd immunity,” said Dr. Preeti Malani, director of health at the University of Michigan. “The masks and the distancing are here to stay.”
Malani and other health experts have explained several reasons why Americans should keep their masks: No vaccine is 100% effective; it takes some time for the protection to be activated; and being vaccinated will not stop you from spreading the virus. Learn more here.
– Liz Szabo, Kaiser Health News
UK variant could become predominant strain in US by March, CDC warns
The highly transmissible variant of the coronavirus which is wreaking havoc in the UK could become predominant in the US by March, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has warned.
A model published in the agency’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report on Friday showed that variant B.1.1.7 was spreading rapidly, threatening to strain health care resources and increase the rate. immunity of the population necessary to control the pandemic.
About 76 cases of the new variant had been detected in 10 states as of Jan. 13, the CDC said, with Illinois announcing its first case in Chicago on Friday.
The CDC said it was working with other federal agencies to coordinate and improve genomic surveillance to better understand the local epidemiology facing this new variant. The agency also stressed the importance of public health strategies to reduce transmission, which will save “critical time to increase immunization coverage.”
The world reaches 2 million dead from the coronavirus
The global death toll from COVID-19 surpassed 2 million on Friday, as vaccines developed at breakneck speed are deployed around the world as part of an all-out campaign to defeat the threat.
The milestone was reached just over a year after the coronavirus was first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan. It took eight months to kill a million people. It took less than four months after that to reach the next million.
Although the tally is based on figures provided by government agencies around the world, the actual toll is said to be considerably higher, in part due to inadequate testing and the many deaths that have been blamed on other causes, especially the start of the epidemic.
“Behind this terrible number hide names and faces – the smile that will be nothing but a memory, the forever empty seat at the dinner table, the room that resonates with the silence of a loved one,” said said UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. He said the toll “has been made worse by the lack of a coordinated global effort.”
“Science has succeeded, but solidarity has failed,” he said.
Contributor: Adrianna Rodriguez, USA TODAY; Associated press
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: COVID News, Updates: Joe Biden’s Coronavirus Plan; new strain a concern
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