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And some local leaders warn that the worst is yet to come. “We are still going to live through our most difficult and darkest days,” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti told CNN.
In Georgia, Governor Brian Kemp said a convention center will begin accepting patients at the end of this week and will have 60 additional beds to “help ensure that our hospitals continue to have the capacity they need to. Covid and non-Covid patients. “
Arizona health officials say new cases remain high and there is an increase in hospitalizations and deaths.
And experts have warned that numbers across the country could rise further in the coming weeks – a surge resulting from the rallies and travel that took place over the holidays.
Despite repeated calls from local and state leaders for people to celebrate with only members of their household, millions of Americans have chosen to spend time away from home. The Transportation Security Administration announced its fourth busiest day in the pandemic on Wednesday, examining more than one million people for the fifth day in a row.
How the vaccine distributions are carried out
Vaccinations are underway across the country, but experts say it will be months before vaccines are widespread enough to turn the tide of the pandemic.
The initial supply, the governor’s office said, will be “extremely limited and people should contact a designated pharmacy to make an appointment before getting vaccinated.”
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Thursday that he hopes the city could administer a million doses by the end of January.
“Like any good New Year’s resolution, a million doses by the end of January is an ambitious goal, to say the least,” he said. “We’re doing everything we can to vaccinate as many New Yorkers as possible, but to really pick up the pace we need our federal and state partners on board – and fast. It will be difficult, but I think we can do it. he.”
As the distribution spreads to the general public, the mayor said the vaccine would first be available in hard-hit neighborhoods.
To date, more than 12.4 million doses of the vaccine have been distributed nationwide and over 2.7 million have been administered. The rollout has been slower than many officials expected, but if the United States is able to “catch up” in 2021, widespread vaccination may be possible from April, Dr Anthony Fauci said.
“Let’s say that in April it will be what I call the ‘open season’, which is that anyone who wants to get the shot can get the shot,” Fauci said. “If we then diligently vaccinate people in April, May, June and July, we will gradually and substantially achieve a level of protection close to herd immunity.”
By the time the start of fall arrives, Fauci said, “we’ll have good enough herd immunity to be able to really return to a strong semblance of normalcy.”
Florida has evidence of UK variant case
Meanwhile, more and more states are starting to report cases of the Covid-19 variant which was first detected in the UK.
“The Department is working with the CDC on this investigation. We all encourage everyone to continue practicing Covid-19 mitigation,” the state health department wrote on Twitter.
California health officials also said earlier this week that the variant was detected in a 30-year-old San Diego man, who is not hospitalized and has had very little social interaction during his period. potentially contagious.
But experts said they expected there to be likely many more cases across the country that just went undetected.
“An unknown travel history means this person picked them up in the community,” Dr Atul Gawande, a member of the Biden-Harris Covid-19 Transition Advisory Committee, told CNN.
“If this mutation, this mutated virus, which is more contagious, is not yet widespread and starts to spread, that means that it will be even more important to follow the approaches that we know to work,” he said. he declares.
CNN’s Sarah Moon, Jennifer Henderson and Kristina Sgueglia contributed to this report.
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