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Here is what is happening on Monday with the coronavirus pandemic in the United States:
THREE THINGS TO KNOW TODAY
—Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca said late-stage trials have shown its coronavirus vaccine to be up to 90% effective, giving public health officials hope that they will soon be able to access a vaccine that is cheaper and easier to distribute than some of its competitors. AstraZeneca is the third major pharmaceutical company to report encouraging news in recent weeks as the world anxiously awaits breakthroughs in science that will end a pandemic that has devastated the economy and resulted in nearly 1.4 million confirmed deaths.
—Americans are still heading to airports in large numbers traveling for the Thanksgiving holiday, despite the pandemic and advice from health officials to limit gatherings as the virus grips the country. More than a million people were screened by the Transportation Safety Administration on Sunday – the highest number since March. The number of trips is much lower than the previous Thanksgiving holiday.
—The shift to distance learning in rural New Mexico has left some students deeply isolated – cut off from others and from the grid by sheer distance. In the village of Cuba, New Mexico, with a population of 800, the school system sends school buses to students more than an hour away to provide homework, meals and a little contact. human. On the fringes of the Navajo Nation, many families do not have electricity, let alone the Internet. It’s yet another way the pandemic has exposed the divide between the haves and have-nots in the United States.
THE FIGURES: The United States currently averages more than 1,500 new deaths a day, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The seven-day moving average of deaths was below 1,000 two weeks ago and is now 1,510. Almost 1.4 million deaths have been confirmed worldwide, and the United States has recorded them by far the most: nearly 257,000.
QUOTE: “Our goal… to make sure we have a vaccine available everywhere, I think we’ve been successful in doing that.” – Dr Andrew Pollard, chief investigator of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine trial, on the news that the vaccine should not be stored at ultra-cold temperatures, which makes it easier to distribute, especially in developing countries. development.
ICYMI: A slowdown in industrial activity linked to the coronavirus pandemic reduced pollutant emissions and heat-trapping greenhouse gases, but did not reduce their record levels in the atmosphere, the United Nations meteorological agency said on Monday.
ON THE HORIZON: Before a vaccine is allowed in the United States, it must be reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration, which requires a study of thousands of people. Normally, the approval process for a new vaccine can take about a decade. But the federal government uses various methods to dramatically speed up the process.
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Find full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic by AP at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic
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