The US witnessed another grim milestone amid the chaos at the Capitol, with its daily Covid cases, deaths as well as total hospitalisations all setting new world records over the course of the pandemic.

The country counted a record number of daily coronavirus deaths Thursday at nearly 4,000. And a total of 2,99,904 new cases were reported across the nation.

The 3,998 deaths were recorded over the 24 hour period ending at 8:30 pm local time (0130 GMT Friday), during which the US notched 265,246 new infections.

Both figures are the highest daily counts since the onset of the pandemic in the country.

The country reported Covid-19 hospitalisations at over 1,32,400 cases as of Wednesday, which also set a new record, according to The Covid Tracking Project.

Hospitalisations in the South and West are now worse than the Midwest's peak, with four states in the South seeing record Covid-19 hospitalisations this week, according to the project.

CDC's national ensemble now predicts that a total of 405,000 to 4,38,000 Covid deaths will be reported by January 30.

Public health experts have predicted another potential catastrophic Covid-19 surge after the new year's break as lots of Americans were heading home or travelling for holidays.

The US has recorded over 21.4 million cases with over 3,64,000 related deaths as of Thursday afternoon, according to the real-time count kept by Johns Hopkins University.

The US witnessed another grim milestone amid the chaos at the Capitol, with its daily Covid cases, deaths as well as total hospitalisations all setting new world records over the course of the pandemic.

The US witnessed another grim milestone amid the chaos at the Capitol, with its daily Covid cases, deaths as well as total hospitalisations all setting new world records over the course of the pandemic. The country counted a record number of daily coronavirus deaths Thursday at nearly 4,000. And a total of 2,99,904 new cases were reported across the nation. The 3,998 deaths were recorded over the 24 hour period ending at 8:30 pm local time (0130 GMT Friday), during which the US notched 265,246 new infections. Both figures are the highest daily counts since the onset of the pandemic in the country. The country reported Covid-19 hospitalisations at over 1,32,400 cases as of Wednesday, which also set a new record, according to The Covid Tracking Project. Hospitalisations in the South and West are now worse than the Midwest's peak, with four states in the South seeing record Covid-19 hospitalisations this week, according to the project. CDC's national ensemble now predicts that a total of 405,000 to 4,38,000 Covid deaths will be reported by January 30. Public health experts have predicted another potential catastrophic Covid-19 surge after the new year's break as lots of Americans were heading home or travelling for holidays. The US has recorded over 21.4 million cases with over 3,64,000 related deaths as of Thursday afternoon, according to the real-time count kept by Johns Hopkins University.

US sets new record with nearly 4,000 Covid deaths in one day

The United States on Saturday saw its highest number yet of coronavirus cases recorded in one day, with more than 277,000 infections.

The US is the hardest-hit country in the world by the pandemic with 20.4 million cases overall and just under 350,000 deaths.

Notably, the country has floundered in its efforts to quell Covid-19, with its vaccination programme beset by logistical problems and overstretched hospitals.

More than 4.2 million people in the US have already received their first jabs, with 13 million doses distributed, but that falls well behind the 20 million inoculations that President Donald Trump's administration promised by the end of 2020.

Infections have been surging in recent months, with top US government scientist Anthony Fauci warning just days after Christmas that the worst of the pandemic may be yet to come, driving the country to a "critical point" as holiday travel spreads the virus.

(with inputs)

The United States on Saturday saw its highest number yet of coronavirus cases recorded in one day, with more than 277,000 infections. The US is the hardest-hit country in the world by the pandemic with 20.

The United States on Saturday saw its highest number yet of coronavirus cases recorded in one day, with more than 277,000 infections. The US is the hardest-hit country in the world by the pandemic with 20.4 million cases overall and just under 350,000 deaths. Notably, the country has floundered in its efforts to quell Covid-19, with its vaccination programme beset by logistical problems and overstretched hospitals. More than 4.2 million people in the US have already received their first jabs, with 13 million doses distributed, but that falls well behind the 20 million inoculations that President Donald Trump's administration promised by the end of 2020. Infections have been surging in recent months, with top US government scientist Anthony Fauci warning just days after Christmas that the worst of the pandemic may be yet to come, driving the country to a "critical point" as holiday travel spreads the virus. (with inputs)

US sets a new record, marks 277,000 Covid cases in 24 hours

The central, befuddling economic reality of the United States at the close of 2020 is that everything is terrible in the world, while everything is wonderful in the financial markets.

It’s a macabre spectacle. Asset prices keep reaching new, extraordinary highs, when around 3,000 people a day are dying of the coronavirus and 800,000 people a week are filing new unemployment claims. Even an enthusiast of modern capitalism might wonder if something is deeply broken in how the economy works.

To better understand this strange mix of buoyant markets and economic despair, it is worth turning to the data. As it happens, the numbers offer a coherent narrative about how the United States arrived at this point — one with lessons about how policy, markets and the economy intersect — and reveal the sharp disparity between the pandemic year’s haves and have-nots.

Income

It starts, as so many epic tales do, with a table of data from the National Income and Product Accounts — namely, “Personal Income and Its Disposition, Monthly.”

This report captures how Americans are earning and spending, two activities that the coronavirus drastically altered in 2020. By combining the numbers from March through November (the latest available) and comparing them with the same period in 2019, we can see more clearly the pandemic’s whipsaw effects.

The first important observation: Salaries and wages fell less, in the aggregate, than even a careful observer of the economy might think. Total employee compensation was down only 0.5% for those nine months, more akin to a mild recession than an economic catastrophe.

That might seem impossible. Large swaths of the economy have been shut down; millions are out of work. The number of jobs employers reported having on their payrolls was down 6.1% in November compared with a year earlier, according to separate Labor Department data.

So how can the number of jobs be down 6% but employee compensation be down only 0.5%? It has to do with which jobs have been lost. The millions of people no longer working because of the pandemic were disproportionately in lower-paying service jobs. Higher-paying professional jobs were more likely to be unaffected, and a handful of other sectors have been booming, such as warehousing and grocery stores, leading to higher incomes for those workers.

The arithmetic is as simple as it is disorienting. If a corporate executive gets a $100,000 bonus for steering a company through a difficult year, while four $25,000-per-year restaurant workers lose their jobs entirely, the net effect on total compensation is zero — even though in human terms a great deal of pain has been incurred.

So wages, salaries and other forms of workers’ compensation dropped only a little — $43 billion over the nine months — despite mass unemployment. But there is more to the story.

For all the attacks on the coronavirus relief bill that Congress passed in late March, the degree to which it served to support the incomes of Americans, especially those who lost jobs, is extraordinary.

Americans’ income from unemployment insurance benefits was 25 times higher from March through November 2020 than in the same period of 2019. That partly reflects that millions more jobless people were seeking benefits, of course. But it also reflects a $600 weekly supplement to jobless benefits that the act included through late July — along with a program to support freelance and contract workers who lost jobs and who otherwise would have been ineligible for benefits.

In total, unemployment insurance programs pumped $499 billion more into Americans’ pockets from March to November than the previous year; $365 billion of it was a result of the expansion in the coronavirus relief bill.

The $1,200 checks to most U.S. households that were included in that legislation contributed a further $276 billion to personal income — much of which accrued to families that did not experience a drop in earnings.

And the law’s signature program to encourage businesses to keep people on their payrolls, the Paycheck Protection Program, prevented a collapse in “proprietor’s income” — profits that accrued to owners of businesses and farms. This income rose narrowly, by $29 billion, but would have fallen by $143 billion if not for the PPP and a coronavirus food assistance program.

These are remarkable numbers. When it’s all tallied up, Americans’ cumulative after-tax personal income was $1.03 trillion higher from March to November of 2020 than in 2019, an increase of more than 8%. Some of the pessimism among economic forecasters (and journalists) in the spring reflected a failure to understand just how large and influential those stimulus payments would turn out to be.

But income also is only part of the story. Big changes in 2020 also took place on the other side of the ledger: spending.

Spending

By turning to another riveting story, “Personal Consumption Expenditures by Major Type of Product, Monthly,” we see a pattern that may seem obvious with hindsight but was not as easy to predict while the economy was collapsing during the spring.

The obvious part was a decline in spending on services. All those restaurant reservations never made, flights not taken, and sports and concert tickets not bought added up to serious money. Services spending fell by $575 billion, or nearly 8%.

Less obvious were some of the other patterns affecting consumer spending in a pandemic. Americans spent meaningful dollars — those they would not or could not spend on services — on stuff. Durable goods spending was up by $60 billion (a better chair for working from home, or maybe a new bicycle), while nondurable goods spending rose by $39 billion (think of the bourbon purchased for consumption at home that in an alternate universe would have been logged as “services” consumption in a bar).

But the extra spending on stuff did not exceed the drop in spending on services. And thanks to lower rates, households’ personal interest payments and other miscellaneous outlays dropped by $59 billion.

Not only were U.S. households, in the aggregate, taking in more money, but they were also spending less of it. Total outlays fell by $535 billion.

Saving

This combination of soaring personal income and falling spending pushed Americans’ savings rate through the roof. From March through November, personal savings was $1.56 trillion higher than in 2019, a rise of 173%. Normally the savings rate bounces around in a narrow range, around 7% just before the pandemic. It spiked to 33.7% in April, its highest level on record dating to 1959.

Even as millions of individuals faced great financial hardship this year, Americans in the aggregate were building savings at a startling rate. It had to go somewhere. But where? Holding on to extra cash was one option — and sure enough, currency in circulation has spiked by $260 billion since February, a 14% increase. Deposits in commercial banks are way up — by 19% since the first week of March.

Or, for those a little more comfortable with risk, there was investing in stocks, which helps explain the 16% rise in the S&amp;amp;P 500 for 2020. For those comfortable with a lot of risk — and with taking advantage of the market’s momentum — there was buying a market darling stock like Tesla or trading options.

Or you could have used the occasion of the pandemic to buy a new house. Home sales surged, and the S&amp;amp;P CoreLogic national home price index was up 8.4% in October from a year earlier.

Essentially, the rise in savings among the people who have avoided major economic damage from the pandemic is creating a tide lifting the values of nearly all financial assets.

Certainly the Federal Reserve plays a role. The central bank has lowered interest rates to nearly zero, promised to keep them there for years, bought government debt and supported corporate bond markets. But the surge in asset prices has made its way into many sectors far from any form of Fed support, like stocks and Bitcoin. And the surge had, if anything, accelerated this fall despite a lack of additional stimulative action from the Fed.

The Fed played a big part in engineering the stabilization of the markets in March and April, but the rally since then probably reflects these broader dynamics around savings.

Just because you can explain these market gains does not mean that high asset prices will hold. You could tell a story in which the economy roars back as people are vaccinated, and the entire pattern reverses itself, with the savings rate turning negative as Americans spend down their stockpiled wealth on trips and other luxuries that were off-limits in 2020. It could spur inflation, which, if severe enough, could cause the Fed to back off its easy money approach sooner than people now think.

But the 2021 economic narrative has yet to be written — and if 2020 teaches one thing, it is that the story arc is more unpredictable than you might think.

The central, befuddling economic reality of the United States at the close of 2020 is that everything is terrible in the world, while everything is wonderful in the financial markets.

The central, befuddling economic reality of the United States at the close of 2020 is that everything is terrible in the world, while everything is wonderful in the financial markets. It’s a macabre spectacle. Asset prices keep reaching new, extraordinary highs, when around 3,000 people a day are dying of the coronavirus and 800,000 people a week are filing new unemployment claims. Even an enthusiast of modern capitalism might wonder if something is deeply broken in how the economy works. To better understand this strange mix of buoyant markets and economic despair, it is worth turning to the data. As it happens, the numbers offer a coherent narrative about how the United States arrived at this point — one with lessons about how policy, markets and the economy intersect — and reveal the sharp disparity between the pandemic year’s haves and have-nots. Income It starts, as so many epic tales do, with a table of data from the National Income and Product Accounts — namely, “Personal Income and Its Disposition, Monthly.” This report captures how Americans are earning and spending, two activities that the coronavirus drastically altered in 2020. By combining the numbers from March through November (the latest available) and comparing them with the same period in 2019, we can see more clearly the pandemic’s whipsaw effects. The first important observation: Salaries and wages fell less, in the aggregate, than even a careful observer of the economy might think. Total employee compensation was down only 0.5% for those nine months, more akin to a mild recession than an economic catastrophe. That might seem impossible. Large swaths of the economy have been shut down; millions are out of work. The number of jobs employers reported having on their payrolls was down 6.1% in November compared with a year earlier, according to separate Labor Department data. So how can the number of jobs be down 6% but employee compensation be down only 0.5%? It has to do with which jobs have been lost. The millions of people no longer working because of the pandemic were disproportionately in lower-paying service jobs. Higher-paying professional jobs were more likely to be unaffected, and a handful of other sectors have been booming, such as warehousing and grocery stores, leading to higher incomes for those workers. The arithmetic is as simple as it is disorienting. If a corporate executive gets a $100,000 bonus for steering a company through a difficult year, while four $25,000-per-year restaurant workers lose their jobs entirely, the net effect on total compensation is zero — even though in human terms a great deal of pain has been incurred. So wages, salaries and other forms of workers’ compensation dropped only a little — $43 billion over the nine months — despite mass unemployment. But there is more to the story. For all the attacks on the coronavirus relief bill that Congress passed in late March, the degree to which it served to support the incomes of Americans, especially those who lost jobs, is extraordinary. Americans’ income from unemployment insurance benefits was 25 times higher from March through November 2020 than in the same period of 2019. That partly reflects that millions more jobless people were seeking benefits, of course. But it also reflects a $600 weekly supplement to jobless benefits that the act included through late July — along with a program to support freelance and contract workers who lost jobs and who otherwise would have been ineligible for benefits. In total, unemployment insurance programs pumped $499 billion more into Americans’ pockets from March to November than the previous year; $365 billion of it was a result of the expansion in the coronavirus relief bill. The $1,200 checks to most U.S. households that were included in that legislation contributed a further $276 billion to personal income — much of which accrued to families that did not experience a drop in earnings. And the law’s signature program to encourage businesses to keep people on their payrolls, the Paycheck Protection Program, prevented a collapse in “proprietor’s income” — profits that accrued to owners of businesses and farms. This income rose narrowly, by $29 billion, but would have fallen by $143 billion if not for the PPP and a coronavirus food assistance program. These are remarkable numbers. When it’s all tallied up, Americans’ cumulative after-tax personal income was $1.03 trillion higher from March to November of 2020 than in 2019, an increase of more than 8%. Some of the pessimism among economic forecasters (and journalists) in the spring reflected a failure to understand just how large and influential those stimulus payments would turn out to be. But income also is only part of the story. Big changes in 2020 also took place on the other side of the ledger: spending. Spending By turning to another riveting story, “Personal Consumption Expenditures by Major Type of Product, Monthly,” we see a pattern that may seem obvious with hindsight but was not as easy to predict while the economy was collapsing during the spring. The obvious part was a decline in spending on services. All those restaurant reservations never made, flights not taken, and sports and concert tickets not bought added up to serious money. Services spending fell by $575 billion, or nearly 8%. Less obvious were some of the other patterns affecting consumer spending in a pandemic. Americans spent meaningful dollars — those they would not or could not spend on services — on stuff. Durable goods spending was up by $60 billion (a better chair for working from home, or maybe a new bicycle), while nondurable goods spending rose by $39 billion (think of the bourbon purchased for consumption at home that in an alternate universe would have been logged as “services” consumption in a bar). But the extra spending on stuff did not exceed the drop in spending on services. And thanks to lower rates, households’ personal interest payments and other miscellaneous outlays dropped by $59 billion. Not only were U.S. households, in the aggregate, taking in more money, but they were also spending less of it. Total outlays fell by $535 billion. Saving This combination of soaring personal income and falling spending pushed Americans’ savings rate through the roof. From March through November, personal savings was $1.56 trillion higher than in 2019, a rise of 173%. Normally the savings rate bounces around in a narrow range, around 7% just before the pandemic. It spiked to 33.7% in April, its highest level on record dating to 1959. Even as millions of individuals faced great financial hardship this year, Americans in the aggregate were building savings at a startling rate. It had to go somewhere. But where? Holding on to extra cash was one option — and sure enough, currency in circulation has spiked by $260 billion since February, a 14% increase. Deposits in commercial banks are way up — by 19% since the first week of March. Or, for those a little more comfortable with risk, there was investing in stocks, which helps explain the 16% rise in the S&amp;P 500 for 2020. For those comfortable with a lot of risk — and with taking advantage of the market’s momentum — there was buying a market darling stock like Tesla or trading options. Or you could have used the occasion of the pandemic to buy a new house. Home sales surged, and the S&amp;P CoreLogic national home price index was up 8.4% in October from a year earlier. Essentially, the rise in savings among the people who have avoided major economic damage from the pandemic is creating a tide lifting the values of nearly all financial assets. Certainly the Federal Reserve plays a role. The central bank has lowered interest rates to nearly zero, promised to keep them there for years, bought government debt and supported corporate bond markets. But the surge in asset prices has made its way into many sectors far from any form of Fed support, like stocks and Bitcoin. And the surge had, if anything, accelerated this fall despite a lack of additional stimulative action from the Fed. The Fed played a big part in engineering the stabilization of the markets in March and April, but the rally since then probably reflects these broader dynamics around savings. Just because you can explain these market gains does not mean that high asset prices will hold. You could tell a story in which the economy roars back as people are vaccinated, and the entire pattern reverses itself, with the savings rate turning negative as Americans spend down their stockpiled wealth on trips and other luxuries that were off-limits in 2020. It could spur inflation, which, if severe enough, could cause the Fed to back off its easy money approach sooner than people now think. But the 2021 economic narrative has yet to be written — and if 2020 teaches one thing, it is that the story arc is more unpredictable than you might think.

Why markets boomed in a year of human misery

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Morning news brief: Coronavirus in USA, and across the world

The leading US infectious disease specialist, Dr Anthony Fauci, has said he foresees America achieving enough collective COVID-19 immunity through vaccinations to regain "some semblance of normality" by fall 2021.

Fauci's remarks came during an online discussion of the pandemic with California Governor Gavin Newsom, who announced at the outset that a highly infectious coronavirus variant originally found in Britain has been detected in his state, a day after the first known US case was documented in Colorado.

The coronavirus variant B.1.1.7 had been confirmed earlier in the day in a Southern California patient.

To this end, a not-so surprised Fauci, by his own admission, said the additional cases of the variant would likely surface around the nation and that the mutating nature of such viruses is normal.

"They make a living out of mutating. The more you mutate, the more you replicate," he said, saying that the overwhelming majority of mutations are "irrelevant." But, he added, "It appears that this particular mutation does make the virus better at transmitting from one person to another."

However, individuals infected with earlier forms of SAR-CoV-2 "don't seem to get re-infected by this," Fauci said, meaning that any immunity acquired from the coronavirus "is protective against this particular strain."

He also stressed that the so-called UK variant is believed to be no more severe in the symptoms it causes and possesses no special ability to evade the antibodies induced by the newly approved COVID-19 vaccines now in distribution.

Medical experts attribute the heightened contagion to the arrival of colder weather and the failure of many Americans to abide by public health warnings to avoid social gatherings and unnecessary travel over the year-end holiday season.

In his comments on Wednesday, Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and an advisor to Biden, said he was confident that early glitches in the vaccine campaign will be overcome.

"As we get into January, the feeling is that we're going to gain momentum to be able to catch up," he told Newsom, saying he expected to reach vaccine "open season," with immunizations becoming widely available to the general public on demand, by April.

Assuming that the broad vaccination campaign progresses as it should through May, June and July, "By the time we get to the early fall, we will have enough good herd immunity to be able to really get back to some strong semblance of normality - schools, theaters, sports events, restaurants," Fauci said.

The new variant has been detected in several European countries, as well as in Canada, Australia, India, South Korea and Japan, among others.

The US government on Monday began requiring all airline passengers arriving from Britain - including US citizens - to test negative for COVID-19 within 72 hours of departure.

The US government may expand coronavirus testing requirements for international air travellers beyond Britain as early as next week.

The US has so far lost 338,000 to Covid-19. In addition to upending daily social life in America, the pandemic has stifled the economy, idling millions of workers at numbers not seen since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

On Tuesday, President-elect Joe Biden warned that it could take years to inoculate most Americans given an initial vaccine distribution rate that has lagged far behind the promises of the Trump administration. He called on Congress to approve greater funding for the endeavour.

The leading US infectious disease specialist, Dr Anthony Fauci, has said he foresees America achieving enough collective COVID-19 immunity through vaccinations to regain "some semblance of normality" by fall 2021.

The leading US infectious disease specialist, Dr Anthony Fauci, has said he foresees America achieving enough collective COVID-19 immunity through vaccinations to regain "some semblance of normality" by fall 2021. Fauci's remarks came during an online discussion of the pandemic with California Governor Gavin Newsom, who announced at the outset that a highly infectious coronavirus variant originally found in Britain has been detected in his state, a day after the first known US case was documented in Colorado. The coronavirus variant B.1.1.7 had been confirmed earlier in the day in a Southern California patient. To this end, a not-so surprised Fauci, by his own admission, said the additional cases of the variant would likely surface around the nation and that the mutating nature of such viruses is normal. "They make a living out of mutating. The more you mutate, the more you replicate," he said, saying that the overwhelming majority of mutations are "irrelevant." But, he added, "It appears that this particular mutation does make the virus better at transmitting from one person to another." However, individuals infected with earlier forms of SAR-CoV-2 "don't seem to get re-infected by this," Fauci said, meaning that any immunity acquired from the coronavirus "is protective against this particular strain." He also stressed that the so-called UK variant is believed to be no more severe in the symptoms it causes and possesses no special ability to evade the antibodies induced by the newly approved COVID-19 vaccines now in distribution. Medical experts attribute the heightened contagion to the arrival of colder weather and the failure of many Americans to abide by public health warnings to avoid social gatherings and unnecessary travel over the year-end holiday season. In his comments on Wednesday, Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and an advisor to Biden, said he was confident that early glitches in the vaccine campaign will be overcome. "As we get into January, the feeling is that we're going to gain momentum to be able to catch up," he told Newsom, saying he expected to reach vaccine "open season," with immunizations becoming widely available to the general public on demand, by April. Assuming that the broad vaccination campaign progresses as it should through May, June and July, "By the time we get to the early fall, we will have enough good herd immunity to be able to really get back to some strong semblance of normality - schools, theaters, sports events, restaurants," Fauci said. The new variant has been detected in several European countries, as well as in Canada, Australia, India, South Korea and Japan, among others. The US government on Monday began requiring all airline passengers arriving from Britain - including US citizens - to test negative for COVID-19 within 72 hours of departure. The US government may expand coronavirus testing requirements for international air travellers beyond Britain as early as next week. The US has so far lost 338,000 to Covid-19. In addition to upending daily social life in America, the pandemic has stifled the economy, idling millions of workers at numbers not seen since the Great Depression of the 1930s. On Tuesday, President-elect Joe Biden warned that it could take years to inoculate most Americans given an initial vaccine distribution rate that has lagged far behind the promises of the Trump administration. He called on Congress to approve greater funding for the endeavour.

Fauci sees US gaining control over pandemic by fall of 2021

The first known US case of a highly infectious coronavirus variant has been detected in Colorado.

The Rocky Mountain state of Colorado recorded what is believed to be the first case in the United States -- which has suffered the highest death toll of the year-old pandemic that has claimed more than 1.78 million lives globally. Nearly 338,000 people have died of Covid-19 in the US.

Governor Jared Polis Tuesday said his state had discovered a case of the highly infectious coronavirus variant B.1.1.7 first detected in Britain. Scientists there believe the variant is more contagious than other previously identified strains of the SAR-CoV-2 variant.

The new strain, which first emerged in the UK, pushed Britain to a new daily record of infections and led South Africa to impose a raft of new measures, amid fears around the world that holiday revelers are aggravating the spike in infections.&nbsp;It has been detected in a number of European countries, as well as in Canada, Australia, India, South Korea and Japan, among others.

The EU health agency warned the strain carried a high risk for more hospitalizations and deaths -- not because the infections are more severe but because it spreads more easily.

Polis said in a statement the infected patient was a man in his 20s with no recent travel history who is currently in isolation in Denver.

"Public health officials are doing a thorough investigation" and the individual has "no close contacts identified so far," he said, adding that the state has notified the federal government.

Meanwhile, President-elect Joe Biden has warned it could take years for most Americans to be vaccinated for the virus at current distribution rates.

Biden's prediction of a grim winter appeared aimed at lowering public expectations that the pandemic will be over soon after he takes office on January 20, while also sending a message to Congress that his administration will want to significantly increase spending to expedite vaccine distribution, expand testing and provide funding to states to help reopen schools.

Biden, a Democrat, said about 2 million people have been vaccinated, well short of the 20 million that outgoing Republican President Donald Trump had promised by the end of the year. Biden defeated Trump in a November election.

"The effort to distribute and administer the vaccine is not progressing as it should," Biden said in Wilmington, Delaware. At the current rate, "it's going to take years, not months, to vaccinate the American people."

Biden's goal of ensuring that 100 million vaccinations are administered by the end of his 100th day in office would mean "ramping up five to six times the current pace to 1 million shots a day," he&nbsp;said, noting that it would require Congress to approve additional funding.

"We're planning a whole-of-government effort and we're going to work to set up vaccination sites and send mobile units to hard-to-reach communities," Biden said.

Even at such an ambitious rate, it would still take months for the majority of Americans to be vaccinated, he said, adding that the situation may not improve until "well into March."

Biden also said he plans to invoke the Defence Production Act, which grants the president the power to expand industrial production of key materials or products for national security or other reasons, to accelerate production of vaccine materials.

Trump himself has invoked the law during the pandemic.

To reopen schools safely, Biden said Congress would need to provide funding for such things as additional transportation, so students can maintain social distancing, and improved ventilation in school buildings.

Earlier in the day, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris received a COVID-19 vaccination live on television in a bid to boost confidence in the inoculation.

Harris, who is Black and Asian American, received the Moderna Inc vaccine at a medical center in predominantly Black southeast Washington. The Biden team has emphasised the importance of inoculation in non-white groups especially hard hit by the coronavirus.

Biden has vowed to make a top priority of fighting the coronavirus, which has infected more than 19 million people in the United States and killed over 334,000. He received his first injected dose last week. Two doses are required for full protection.

(with inputs from agencies) 
&nbsp;

The first known US case of a highly infectious coronavirus variant has been detected in Colorado. The Rocky Mountain state of Colorado recorded what is believed to be the first case in the United States -- which has suffered the highest death toll of the year-old pandemic that has claimed more than 1.

The first known US case of a highly infectious coronavirus variant has been detected in Colorado. The Rocky Mountain state of Colorado recorded what is believed to be the first case in the United States -- which has suffered the highest death toll of the year-old pandemic that has claimed more than 1.78 million lives globally. Nearly 338,000 people have died of Covid-19 in the US. Governor Jared Polis Tuesday said his state had discovered a case of the highly infectious coronavirus variant B.1.1.7 first detected in Britain. Scientists there believe the variant is more contagious than other previously identified strains of the SAR-CoV-2 variant. The new strain, which first emerged in the UK, pushed Britain to a new daily record of infections and led South Africa to impose a raft of new measures, amid fears around the world that holiday revelers are aggravating the spike in infections. It has been detected in a number of European countries, as well as in Canada, Australia, India, South Korea and Japan, among others. The EU health agency warned the strain carried a high risk for more hospitalizations and deaths -- not because the infections are more severe but because it spreads more easily. Polis said in a statement the infected patient was a man in his 20s with no recent travel history who is currently in isolation in Denver. "Public health officials are doing a thorough investigation" and the individual has "no close contacts identified so far," he said, adding that the state has notified the federal government. Meanwhile, President-elect Joe Biden has warned it could take years for most Americans to be vaccinated for the virus at current distribution rates. Biden's prediction of a grim winter appeared aimed at lowering public expectations that the pandemic will be over soon after he takes office on January 20, while also sending a message to Congress that his administration will want to significantly increase spending to expedite vaccine distribution, expand testing and provide funding to states to help reopen schools. Biden, a Democrat, said about 2 million people have been vaccinated, well short of the 20 million that outgoing Republican President Donald Trump had promised by the end of the year. Biden defeated Trump in a November election. "The effort to distribute and administer the vaccine is not progressing as it should," Biden said in Wilmington, Delaware. At the current rate, "it's going to take years, not months, to vaccinate the American people." Biden's goal of ensuring that 100 million vaccinations are administered by the end of his 100th day in office would mean "ramping up five to six times the current pace to 1 million shots a day," he said, noting that it would require Congress to approve additional funding. "We're planning a whole-of-government effort and we're going to work to set up vaccination sites and send mobile units to hard-to-reach communities," Biden said. Even at such an ambitious rate, it would still take months for the majority of Americans to be vaccinated, he said, adding that the situation may not improve until "well into March." Biden also said he plans to invoke the Defence Production Act, which grants the president the power to expand industrial production of key materials or products for national security or other reasons, to accelerate production of vaccine materials. Trump himself has invoked the law during the pandemic. To reopen schools safely, Biden said Congress would need to provide funding for such things as additional transportation, so students can maintain social distancing, and improved ventilation in school buildings. Earlier in the day, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris received a COVID-19 vaccination live on television in a bid to boost confidence in the inoculation. Harris, who is Black and Asian American, received the Moderna Inc vaccine at a medical center in predominantly Black southeast Washington. The Biden team has emphasised the importance of inoculation in non-white groups especially hard hit by the coronavirus. Biden has vowed to make a top priority of fighting the coronavirus, which has infected more than 19 million people in the United States and killed over 334,000. He received his first injected dose last week. Two doses are required for full protection. (with inputs from agencies)

New coronavirus variant hits US as Biden vows all-out effort

The Transportation Security Administration in the United States screened 616,469 people at airport security checkpoints across the country on Christmas Day -- this despite the fast spreading the new variant of the novel coronavirus.

The holiday travel rush comes even after the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged Americans to stay home to avoid spreading coronavirus.

That's, however, just 23 per cent of the number of travellers who flew the same day a year ago, before the pandemic.&nbsp;

On Thursday, Christmas Eve, 846,520 people passed through TSA checkpoints.

Sunday is expected to be another big day for air travel, travel experts say. TSA numbers show that in the last week, nearly 7 million people were screened at airport security checkpoints.

Meanwhile, the US government has signed a deal with Pfizer Inc according to which it will pay nearly $2 billion for 100 million additional doses of its COVID-19 vaccine to bolster its supply.

Under the new agreement, Pfizer will deliver at least 70 million doses by June 30 and the rest no later than July 31, the company said on Wednesday.

The Transportation Security Administration in the United States screened 616,469 people at airport security checkpoints across the country on Christmas Day -- this despite the fast spreading the new variant of the novel coronavirus.

The Transportation Security Administration in the United States screened 616,469 people at airport security checkpoints across the country on Christmas Day -- this despite the fast spreading the new variant of the novel coronavirus. The holiday travel rush comes even after the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged Americans to stay home to avoid spreading coronavirus. That's, however, just 23 per cent of the number of travellers who flew the same day a year ago, before the pandemic. On Thursday, Christmas Eve, 846,520 people passed through TSA checkpoints. Sunday is expected to be another big day for air travel, travel experts say. TSA numbers show that in the last week, nearly 7 million people were screened at airport security checkpoints. Meanwhile, the US government has signed a deal with Pfizer Inc according to which it will pay nearly $2 billion for 100 million additional doses of its COVID-19 vaccine to bolster its supply. Under the new agreement, Pfizer will deliver at least 70 million doses by June 30 and the rest no later than July 31, the company said on Wednesday.

US registers more than half a million check-ins on Christmas Day

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Morning news brief: New coronavirus variant, aid package in US, and more

The US government will require all airline passengers arriving from the United Kingdom to test negative for COVID-19 within 72 hours of departure starting Monday amid concerns about a new coronavirus variant that may be more transmissible.

The decision was a turnaround after the Trump administration told US airlines on Tuesday it was not planning to require any testing for arriving UK passengers.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a statement Thursday that all airline passengers arriving from the UK must test negative in order to fly to the United States.&nbsp;

The US government had earlier said it did not intend to impose screenings for the passengers.

White House coronavirus task force members backed requiring negative pre-flight tests after a meeting on Monday, but the Trump administration decided not to take any action for the time being.

Much of the world shut their borders to Britain after the discovery of a mutated variant of the novel coronavirus, though the European Union recommended on Tuesday that members roll back sweeping closures to allow some travel.

The three airlines that operate flights from London to John F. Kennedy International Airport - British Airways, Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic - voluntarily agreed to a request from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo that they only allow passengers who test negative to fly.

The Trump administration has repeatedly refused to issue mandates for many federal COVID-19 safety policies for air travel, making only strong recommendations on issues such as mask wearing.&nbsp;

The White House in August scuttled an effort to require airlines to collect contact tracing information from US-bound international passengers. It then in July rejected a proposal to require facial coverings at US airports, train and transit stations and onboard airplanes, trains and transit services and earlier dismissed proposals to require temperature checks of airline passengers.

President-elect Joe Biden has, however, vowed to mandate masks in interstate air, bus and train travel after taking office on January 20.

The US government will require all airline passengers arriving from the United Kingdom to test negative for COVID-19 within 72 hours of departure starting Monday amid concerns about a new coronavirus variant that may be more transmissible.

The US government will require all airline passengers arriving from the United Kingdom to test negative for COVID-19 within 72 hours of departure starting Monday amid concerns about a new coronavirus variant that may be more transmissible. The decision was a turnaround after the Trump administration told US airlines on Tuesday it was not planning to require any testing for arriving UK passengers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a statement Thursday that all airline passengers arriving from the UK must test negative in order to fly to the United States. The US government had earlier said it did not intend to impose screenings for the passengers. White House coronavirus task force members backed requiring negative pre-flight tests after a meeting on Monday, but the Trump administration decided not to take any action for the time being. Much of the world shut their borders to Britain after the discovery of a mutated variant of the novel coronavirus, though the European Union recommended on Tuesday that members roll back sweeping closures to allow some travel. The three airlines that operate flights from London to John F. Kennedy International Airport - British Airways, Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic - voluntarily agreed to a request from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo that they only allow passengers who test negative to fly. The Trump administration has repeatedly refused to issue mandates for many federal COVID-19 safety policies for air travel, making only strong recommendations on issues such as mask wearing. The White House in August scuttled an effort to require airlines to collect contact tracing information from US-bound international passengers. It then in July rejected a proposal to require facial coverings at US airports, train and transit stations and onboard airplanes, trains and transit services and earlier dismissed proposals to require temperature checks of airline passengers. President-elect Joe Biden has, however, vowed to mandate masks in interstate air, bus and train travel after taking office on January 20.

US to impose COVID-19 screening requirement for UK flights

US lawmakers have rejected President Donald Trump's demand for extensive changes and leaving benefits for millions of Americans at risk in the $2.3 trillion coronavirus aid and government spending package.

The 5,500-page bill took months to negotiate and the White House had said earlier that Trump would sign it into law. There was a flurry of acitivity on the floor of the House, impeding the passage of the bill and bringing it to a stalemate.

Democrats in the House of Representatives sought to increase direct payments to Americans included in the bill from $600 to $2,000 per person as part of a coronavirus economic relief initiative, acting on one of Trump's requests. Trump's fellow Republicans, who oppose the higher amount, blocked that effort.

Republicans sought to change the amount of foreign aid included in the package, seeking to address another one of Trump's complaints. Democrats blocked that request.

Trump in a surprise move on Tuesday pressed Congress to dramatically alter the coronavirus and government-spending package, which passed by wide, bipartisan margins on Monday.

In response, a bipartisan group of Senate and House members on Thursday urged Trump to back down and sign the legislation. The lawmakers were instrumental in getting negotiations moving forward a few weeks ago when they proposed $908 billion in coronavirus aid, slightly above the level Congress finally settled upon.

Eleven senators, including Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Republican Mitt Romney of Utah, signed the statement, along with two House members, the Republican and Democratic co-chairs of the "Problem Solvers Caucus."&nbsp;

West Virginia and Utah were among states that voted overwhelmingly for Trump in the November election.

US President-elect Joe Biden has said a larger coronavirus aid package would be necessary to help fight the pandemic and assist those whose lives have been upended by it. His transition team declined to comment on Thursday's developments.

Trump had earlier sparked a record 35-day government shutdown two years ago when he rejected a federal spending bill over what he said was insufficient funding for building a US-Mexico border wall.

The current standoff comes as the US economy is cooling in the face of the raging pandemic.

(with inputs from agencies)

US lawmakers have rejected President Donald Trump's demand for extensive changes and leaving benefits for millions of Americans at risk in the $2.3 trillion coronavirus aid and government spending package.

US lawmakers have rejected President Donald Trump's demand for extensive changes and leaving benefits for millions of Americans at risk in the $2.3 trillion coronavirus aid and government spending package. The 5,500-page bill took months to negotiate and the White House had said earlier that Trump would sign it into law. There was a flurry of acitivity on the floor of the House, impeding the passage of the bill and bringing it to a stalemate. Democrats in the House of Representatives sought to increase direct payments to Americans included in the bill from $600 to $2,000 per person as part of a coronavirus economic relief initiative, acting on one of Trump's requests. Trump's fellow Republicans, who oppose the higher amount, blocked that effort. Republicans sought to change the amount of foreign aid included in the package, seeking to address another one of Trump's complaints. Democrats blocked that request. Trump in a surprise move on Tuesday pressed Congress to dramatically alter the coronavirus and government-spending package, which passed by wide, bipartisan margins on Monday. In response, a bipartisan group of Senate and House members on Thursday urged Trump to back down and sign the legislation. The lawmakers were instrumental in getting negotiations moving forward a few weeks ago when they proposed $908 billion in coronavirus aid, slightly above the level Congress finally settled upon. Eleven senators, including Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Republican Mitt Romney of Utah, signed the statement, along with two House members, the Republican and Democratic co-chairs of the "Problem Solvers Caucus." West Virginia and Utah were among states that voted overwhelmingly for Trump in the November election. US President-elect Joe Biden has said a larger coronavirus aid package would be necessary to help fight the pandemic and assist those whose lives have been upended by it. His transition team declined to comment on Thursday's developments. Trump had earlier sparked a record 35-day government shutdown two years ago when he rejected a federal spending bill over what he said was insufficient funding for building a US-Mexico border wall. The current standoff comes as the US economy is cooling in the face of the raging pandemic. (with inputs from agencies)

US lawmakers block Trump's changes to coronavirus aid package

U.S. lawmakers struggled on Saturday to clear final hurdles to a $900 billion coronavirus aid bill, including a dispute over Federal Reserve emergency lending authorities, pushing any deal closer to a Sunday night government funding deadline.

The U.S. Senate adjourned a rare Saturday session with a call from Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell to avoid last minute disagreements that could delay new funding for Americans and small businesses struggling with the steep economic and health costs of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The American people cannot feed their families with, or pay their bills with, Congress` good-faith discussions. They need us to act," McConnell said on the Senate floor. "We need to conclude our talks, draft legislation and land this plan."

Both Republicans and Democrats said the last major sticking point was a Republican push, led by Senator Patrick Toomey of Pennsylvania, for language to prevent expiring Fed coronavirus lending programs from being revived, including credit facilities for mid-size companies and municipal borrowers.

The dispute threatened to cause a breakdown in the negotiations as Toomey was seen having a heated discussion with a small group of colleagues on the Senate floor.

But after a meeting with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, Toomey said he did not have a time frame, but "I think that we should be able to get a deal done."

Senator Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican, told reporters that a possible compromise may be emerging to narrow the focus of Fed language, although he did not provide details.

Republican opponents said Fed lending facilities created under coronavirus aid legislation passed in March are unnecessary government interference in private business and politicizes the Fed. They accused Democrats of wanting to extend them into 2021 as a backdoor way to provide unchecked funds for state and local governments controlled by members of their party.

Democrats in turn accused the Republicans of trying to tie the Fed`s hands in order to limit Democratic President-elect Joe Biden`s options for boosting the flagging economy after he takes office on Jan. 20.

The administration of Republican President Donald Trump, who insists Biden did not win the Nov. 3 election and talks of running again in 2024, said it supports the Toomey initiative.

`RIGHT WITHIN REACH`

Other lawmakers said that most major issues appeared to have been resolved. The legislation is expected to include one-off $600 checks for most Americans, enhanced unemployment benefits of $300 per week, help for states distributing coronavirus vaccines and more assistance for small businesses.

"We`re right within reach," Democratic House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi told members of her party on a call discussing the negotiations, according to a person who was on the call.

Lawmakers are under intense pressure to finish the relief package before a midnight Sunday (0500 GMT Monday) expiration of federal spending authority after a 48-hour reprieve was passed on Friday to buy more negotiating time.

Congressional leaders plan to attach the package to a $1.4 trillion spending bill funding the government through September 2021.

Congress in the spring approved more than $4 trillion in aid, but many of the funds for unemployed workers and small businesses have run out, pushing unemployment higher as COVID-19 has killed 311,000 Americans, by far the most in the world. Economists say growth will likely remain sluggish until vaccines are widely available in mid-2021.

Lawmakers were not sure when a deal would be announced, but no vote was expected before Sunday afternoon. John Thune, the Senate`s No. 2 Republican, said the vote could slip to Monday.

"We`re on the home stretch, we`re on the glide path and I think we`re going to get this done, and help out the American people," Thune said.

Some other lingering issues on Saturday were disagreements over funding for arts venues closed by COVID-19 restrictions, and the level of emergency money for local governments for supplies like personal protective equipment for schools.

The deal does not include liability protections for businesses from coronavirus-related lawsuits, a provision pushed by Republicans that has long been unacceptable to Democrats. Nor does it include the extensive aid to state and local governments Democrats wanted.

U.S. lawmakers struggled on Saturday to clear final hurdles to a $900 billion coronavirus aid bill, including a dispute over Federal Reserve emergency lending authorities, pushing any deal closer to a Sunday night government funding deadline.

U.S. lawmakers struggled on Saturday to clear final hurdles to a $900 billion coronavirus aid bill, including a dispute over Federal Reserve emergency lending authorities, pushing any deal closer to a Sunday night government funding deadline. The U.S. Senate adjourned a rare Saturday session with a call from Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell to avoid last minute disagreements that could delay new funding for Americans and small businesses struggling with the steep economic and health costs of the COVID-19 pandemic. "The American people cannot feed their families with, or pay their bills with, Congress` good-faith discussions. They need us to act," McConnell said on the Senate floor. "We need to conclude our talks, draft legislation and land this plan." Both Republicans and Democrats said the last major sticking point was a Republican push, led by Senator Patrick Toomey of Pennsylvania, for language to prevent expiring Fed coronavirus lending programs from being revived, including credit facilities for mid-size companies and municipal borrowers. The dispute threatened to cause a breakdown in the negotiations as Toomey was seen having a heated discussion with a small group of colleagues on the Senate floor. But after a meeting with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, Toomey said he did not have a time frame, but "I think that we should be able to get a deal done." Senator Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican, told reporters that a possible compromise may be emerging to narrow the focus of Fed language, although he did not provide details. Republican opponents said Fed lending facilities created under coronavirus aid legislation passed in March are unnecessary government interference in private business and politicizes the Fed. They accused Democrats of wanting to extend them into 2021 as a backdoor way to provide unchecked funds for state and local governments controlled by members of their party. Democrats in turn accused the Republicans of trying to tie the Fed`s hands in order to limit Democratic President-elect Joe Biden`s options for boosting the flagging economy after he takes office on Jan. 20. The administration of Republican President Donald Trump, who insists Biden did not win the Nov. 3 election and talks of running again in 2024, said it supports the Toomey initiative. `RIGHT WITHIN REACH` Other lawmakers said that most major issues appeared to have been resolved. The legislation is expected to include one-off $600 checks for most Americans, enhanced unemployment benefits of $300 per week, help for states distributing coronavirus vaccines and more assistance for small businesses. "We`re right within reach," Democratic House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi told members of her party on a call discussing the negotiations, according to a person who was on the call. Lawmakers are under intense pressure to finish the relief package before a midnight Sunday (0500 GMT Monday) expiration of federal spending authority after a 48-hour reprieve was passed on Friday to buy more negotiating time. Congressional leaders plan to attach the package to a $1.4 trillion spending bill funding the government through September 2021. Congress in the spring approved more than $4 trillion in aid, but many of the funds for unemployed workers and small businesses have run out, pushing unemployment higher as COVID-19 has killed 311,000 Americans, by far the most in the world. Economists say growth will likely remain sluggish until vaccines are widely available in mid-2021. Lawmakers were not sure when a deal would be announced, but no vote was expected before Sunday afternoon. John Thune, the Senate`s No. 2 Republican, said the vote could slip to Monday. "We`re on the home stretch, we`re on the glide path and I think we`re going to get this done, and help out the American people," Thune said. Some other lingering issues on Saturday were disagreements over funding for arts venues closed by COVID-19 restrictions, and the level of emergency money for local governments for supplies like personal protective equipment for schools. The deal does not include liability protections for businesses from coronavirus-related lawsuits, a provision pushed by Republicans that has long been unacceptable to Democrats. Nor does it include the extensive aid to state and local governments Democrats wanted.

Coronavirus relief deal in Congress slips to Sunday as new funding deadline looms

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said it is monitoring reports of allergic reactions to the COVID-19 vaccination and made recommendations on how people with histories of allergies should proceed.

The agency defined severe as needing the medication epinephrine or treatment in a hospital, adding that anyone who had a severe reaction to a COVID-19 vaccine should not get the second dose.

People who have had a severe allergic reaction to any ingredient in a COVID-19 vaccine should avoid the vaccine formulation containing the ingredient, CDC said. Two vaccines have been approved in the United States under emergency use authorisations.

Individuals with histories of severe allergic reaction to vaccines should consult their doctors about the COVID-19 shot. The CDC said people with severe allergies to food, pets, latex or environmental conditions as well as people with allergies to oral medication or a family history of severe allergic reactions could still get vaccinated.

Britain's medical regulator has said that anyone with a history of anaphylaxis, or severe allergic reactions to a medicine or food, should not be given the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

It was earlier reported that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is investigating around five allergic reactions that happened after people were administered Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE's COVID-19 vaccine in the United States this week.

On Friday, the FDA said that the Moderna Inc vaccine, which received emergency use authorization, should not be given to individuals with a known history of a severe allergic reaction to any components of the shot.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said it is monitoring reports of allergic reactions to the COVID-19 vaccination and made recommendations on how people with histories of allergies should proceed.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said it is monitoring reports of allergic reactions to the COVID-19 vaccination and made recommendations on how people with histories of allergies should proceed. The agency defined severe as needing the medication epinephrine or treatment in a hospital, adding that anyone who had a severe reaction to a COVID-19 vaccine should not get the second dose. People who have had a severe allergic reaction to any ingredient in a COVID-19 vaccine should avoid the vaccine formulation containing the ingredient, CDC said. Two vaccines have been approved in the United States under emergency use authorisations. Individuals with histories of severe allergic reaction to vaccines should consult their doctors about the COVID-19 shot. The CDC said people with severe allergies to food, pets, latex or environmental conditions as well as people with allergies to oral medication or a family history of severe allergic reactions could still get vaccinated. Britain's medical regulator has said that anyone with a history of anaphylaxis, or severe allergic reactions to a medicine or food, should not be given the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. It was earlier reported that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is investigating around five allergic reactions that happened after people were administered Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE's COVID-19 vaccine in the United States this week. On Friday, the FDA said that the Moderna Inc vaccine, which received emergency use authorization, should not be given to individuals with a known history of a severe allergic reaction to any components of the shot.

US CDC issues guidelines on Covid vaccination after allergic reactions

Apple Inc has temporarily shut all of its 53 stores in California because of a coronavirus outbreak and 16 stores in the United Kingdom following restrictions introduced by the government in London, a spokesman said on Saturday.

The company said on Friday it was temporarily shutting some stores in California following a surge in COVID-19 cases, sending the iPhone maker`s shares down in trading after the bell. That announcement covered at least 12 stores.

"Due to current COVID-19 conditions in some of the communities we serve, we are temporarily closing stores in these areas. We take this step with an abundance of caution as we closely monitor the situation and we look forward to having our teams and customers back as soon as possible," the spokesman said in an emailed statement.

Customers would still be able to pick up existing orders for the next few days, the spokesman said. The statement did not mention when Apple expects the stores to reopen.

Coronavirus cases are increasing in the United States and the United Kingdom, with the U.S. having had over 17.4 million infections and about 314,000 deaths.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday imposed an effective lockdown on over 16 million people in England and reversed plans to ease curbs over Christmas. The UK`s other nations, whose response to the pandemic differs from that of England at times, also took action.

Johnson said London and southeast England would now be placed in a new Tier 4 level of lockdown and people in those areas will be required to stay at home except for essential reasons such as work. Non-essential retail will close, as will indoor leisure and entertainment.

Apple Inc has temporarily shut all of its 53 stores in California because of a coronavirus outbreak and 16 stores in the United Kingdom following restrictions introduced by the government in London, a spokesman said on Saturday.

Apple Inc has temporarily shut all of its 53 stores in California because of a coronavirus outbreak and 16 stores in the United Kingdom following restrictions introduced by the government in London, a spokesman said on Saturday. The company said on Friday it was temporarily shutting some stores in California following a surge in COVID-19 cases, sending the iPhone maker`s shares down in trading after the bell. That announcement covered at least 12 stores. "Due to current COVID-19 conditions in some of the communities we serve, we are temporarily closing stores in these areas. We take this step with an abundance of caution as we closely monitor the situation and we look forward to having our teams and customers back as soon as possible," the spokesman said in an emailed statement. Customers would still be able to pick up existing orders for the next few days, the spokesman said. The statement did not mention when Apple expects the stores to reopen. Coronavirus cases are increasing in the United States and the United Kingdom, with the U.S. having had over 17.4 million infections and about 314,000 deaths. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday imposed an effective lockdown on over 16 million people in England and reversed plans to ease curbs over Christmas. The UK`s other nations, whose response to the pandemic differs from that of England at times, also took action. Johnson said London and southeast England would now be placed in a new Tier 4 level of lockdown and people in those areas will be required to stay at home except for essential reasons such as work. Non-essential retail will close, as will indoor leisure and entertainment.

Apple temporarily shuts California stores in virus surge, some in UK after new curbs

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has approved the use of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine by pilots and air traffic controllers.

The Saturday announcement follows the FAA's December 12 approval for pilots and controllers to use the vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech.

The US aviation regulator said pilots and controllers must not fly or conduct safety-related duties for 48 hours after receiving doses.&nbsp;

It said it "will monitor the patient response to each vaccine dose and may adjust this policy as necessary to ensure aviation safety."

On Thursday, groups representing aviation unions and American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and other airlines, wrote to all US governors asking them to "prioritise aviation frontline workers for allocation of the vaccine in your upcoming implementation plan."

The groups noted that "aviation workers are frontline workers who either encounter the traveling public frequently or are required to perform our work in close proximity to our colleagues and perform our jobs onsite."

Earlier this month, the FAA sent guidance to airports to prepare for vaccine distribution, including other facilities that may serve as alternate or diversion airports.

The FAA said that some aircraft used for vaccine shipments may be larger than the aircraft used for passenger-carrying flights that typically serve that airport and operators may opt to have extra aircraft rescue and firefighting services.

(with inputs)

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has approved the use of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine by pilots and air traffic controllers. The Saturday announcement follows the FAA's December 12 approval for pilots and controllers to use the vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has approved the use of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine by pilots and air traffic controllers. The Saturday announcement follows the FAA's December 12 approval for pilots and controllers to use the vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech. The US aviation regulator said pilots and controllers must not fly or conduct safety-related duties for 48 hours after receiving doses. It said it "will monitor the patient response to each vaccine dose and may adjust this policy as necessary to ensure aviation safety." On Thursday, groups representing aviation unions and American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and other airlines, wrote to all US governors asking them to "prioritise aviation frontline workers for allocation of the vaccine in your upcoming implementation plan." The groups noted that "aviation workers are frontline workers who either encounter the traveling public frequently or are required to perform our work in close proximity to our colleagues and perform our jobs onsite." Earlier this month, the FAA sent guidance to airports to prepare for vaccine distribution, including other facilities that may serve as alternate or diversion airports. The FAA said that some aircraft used for vaccine shipments may be larger than the aircraft used for passenger-carrying flights that typically serve that airport and operators may opt to have extra aircraft rescue and firefighting services. (with inputs)

US FAA approves use of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine by pilots

Democrats and Republicans in the United States Senate have struck a late-night compromise to clear one of the final hurdles, a dispute over Federal Reserve pandemic lending authorities.

According to the Wall Street Journal, a vote on the $900 billion package is now expected on Sunday.

Congressional leaders plan to attach the coronavirus aid package, which includes $600 direct payments to individuals and a $300 per week unemployment compensation supplement, to a $1.4 trillion spending bill funding government programmes through September 2021. A 48-hour funding extension expires at midnight on Sunday (0500 GMT Monday), after which the government would shut down.

Republicans had said the programmes are an unnecessary government interference in private business that politicises the Fed. They accused Democrats of seeking to extend them into 2021 as a backdoor way to provide unchecked funds for state and local governments controlled by members of their party.

Democrats in turn accused the Republicans of trying to tie the Fed's hands in order to limit Democratic President-elect Joe Biden's options for boosting the flagging economy after he takes office on January 20.

The Senate had adjourned a rare Saturday session with a call from Republican leader Mitch McConnell to avoid last-minute disagreements that could delay new funding for Americans and small businesses.

In the 11 months since the first cases of the new coronavirus were documented in the United States, COVID-19 has killed 311,000 Americans, by far the most in the world.

(with inputs)

Democrats and Republicans in the United States Senate have struck a late-night compromise to clear one of the final hurdles, a dispute over Federal Reserve pandemic lending authorities.

Democrats and Republicans in the United States Senate have struck a late-night compromise to clear one of the final hurdles, a dispute over Federal Reserve pandemic lending authorities. According to the Wall Street Journal, a vote on the $900 billion package is now expected on Sunday. Congressional leaders plan to attach the coronavirus aid package, which includes $600 direct payments to individuals and a $300 per week unemployment compensation supplement, to a $1.4 trillion spending bill funding government programmes through September 2021. A 48-hour funding extension expires at midnight on Sunday (0500 GMT Monday), after which the government would shut down. Republicans had said the programmes are an unnecessary government interference in private business that politicises the Fed. They accused Democrats of seeking to extend them into 2021 as a backdoor way to provide unchecked funds for state and local governments controlled by members of their party. Democrats in turn accused the Republicans of trying to tie the Fed's hands in order to limit Democratic President-elect Joe Biden's options for boosting the flagging economy after he takes office on January 20. The Senate had adjourned a rare Saturday session with a call from Republican leader Mitch McConnell to avoid last-minute disagreements that could delay new funding for Americans and small businesses. In the 11 months since the first cases of the new coronavirus were documented in the United States, COVID-19 has killed 311,000 Americans, by far the most in the world. (with inputs)

US Congress to vote on virus stimulus deal after lawmakers reach agreement

US lawmakers struggling to reach a critical pandemic relief and federal spending deal have struck a last-minute agreement to avert a midnight shutdown of the government.

The impasse over a $900 billion coronavirus aid bill and a $1.4 trillion government-wide spending bill through September 2021 threatened to temporarily shut down the government -- a scenario not unheard of in politically-divided Washington, but disastrous given the worsening economy and record death tolls from Covid-19.

To avert this, the House of Representatives voted 320 to 60 late Friday to extend funding for federal agencies through Sunday to allow negotiators to finish their stimulus package.

The Senate passed the measure minutes later by voice vote, and it now goes to President Donald Trump to sign by the midnight deadline.

A package to aid struggling businesses and jobless workers is seen as critical to getting the world's largest economy back on its feet amid a resurgence of Covid-19 infections, even as new vaccines offer hope that an end to the pandemic may be in sight.

Without an agreement, millions of unemployed workers will lose their special pandemic benefits before the end of the year, and a moratorium on evictions is set to lapse within days.

After months of partisan finger-pointing and inaction, Republicans and Democrats have been negotiating intensely on what is expected to be the biggest package since spring to provide relief to a country struggling with a pandemic killing over 3,000 people a day.

With some support from Republican President Donald Trump, who leaves office on January 20, and Democratic President-elect Joe Biden, they have reported progress.

But enough differences remained that talks looked likely to stretch into the weekend.

Democrats warn that if the Fed's ability to extend lifelines is restricted, the fiscal crisis could be compounded in US states, particularly if Congress fails to pass assistance to state and local governments.

President-elect Joe Biden has pushed back fiercely against the Fed proposal, which reportedly would prevent the central bank from restarting emergency lending programmes that expire this year and could limit its response in future crises.

Lawmakers have yet to even see final language on the stimulus deal or the government funding package, and some warn that both need more time.

The pandemic package is expected to include aid for vaccine distribution and logistics, extra jobless benefits of $300 per week, and a new round of $600 stimulus checks -- half the amount provided in checks distributed last March.

(with inputs from agencies)

US lawmakers struggling to reach a critical pandemic relief and federal spending deal have struck a last-minute agreement to avert a midnight shutdown of the government.

US lawmakers struggling to reach a critical pandemic relief and federal spending deal have struck a last-minute agreement to avert a midnight shutdown of the government. The impasse over a $900 billion coronavirus aid bill and a $1.4 trillion government-wide spending bill through September 2021 threatened to temporarily shut down the government -- a scenario not unheard of in politically-divided Washington, but disastrous given the worsening economy and record death tolls from Covid-19. To avert this, the House of Representatives voted 320 to 60 late Friday to extend funding for federal agencies through Sunday to allow negotiators to finish their stimulus package. The Senate passed the measure minutes later by voice vote, and it now goes to President Donald Trump to sign by the midnight deadline. A package to aid struggling businesses and jobless workers is seen as critical to getting the world's largest economy back on its feet amid a resurgence of Covid-19 infections, even as new vaccines offer hope that an end to the pandemic may be in sight. Without an agreement, millions of unemployed workers will lose their special pandemic benefits before the end of the year, and a moratorium on evictions is set to lapse within days. After months of partisan finger-pointing and inaction, Republicans and Democrats have been negotiating intensely on what is expected to be the biggest package since spring to provide relief to a country struggling with a pandemic killing over 3,000 people a day. With some support from Republican President Donald Trump, who leaves office on January 20, and Democratic President-elect Joe Biden, they have reported progress. But enough differences remained that talks looked likely to stretch into the weekend. Democrats warn that if the Fed's ability to extend lifelines is restricted, the fiscal crisis could be compounded in US states, particularly if Congress fails to pass assistance to state and local governments. President-elect Joe Biden has pushed back fiercely against the Fed proposal, which reportedly would prevent the central bank from restarting emergency lending programmes that expire this year and could limit its response in future crises. Lawmakers have yet to even see final language on the stimulus deal or the government funding package, and some warn that both need more time. The pandemic package is expected to include aid for vaccine distribution and logistics, extra jobless benefits of $300 per week, and a new round of $600 stimulus checks -- half the amount provided in checks distributed last March. (with inputs from agencies)

US Congress seeks stopgap funding measure to avert govt shutdown

It was the kind of live television event that the reality show star president has often staged himself. Vice President Mike Pence stepped in front of a bank of cameras on the White House campus on Friday to receive the new coronavirus vaccine, hailing it as “safe and effective” no fewer than eight times. He urged people to wear masks, wash their hands and do whatever they can to help defeat a disease that has killed more than 300,000 Americans.

Intended as a public service announcement as the country reaches a milestone in fighting the pandemic, these 10 minutes of morning television also distilled the various ways that President Donald Trump and his political allies have repeatedly undermined confidence in the science about the virus and fed suspicion and misinformation.

No sooner had the vice president congratulated a health care worker who stuck him in the arm — “Great job, great job. I didn’t feel a thing,” Pence said, his voice muffled by the mask covering his face — than Trump logged into Twitter and undercut him. Trump posted a message from a right-wing radio host who questioned the effectiveness of masks, writing: “‘Masks work’ is the mantra. Not allowed to say anything else.”

On Fox News, which carried the vice president’s vaccination live and aired his plea urging “every American to continue to do your part,” a spat erupted among the hosts of “Fox &amp;amp; Friends” over whether the public health orders that have shuttered businesses in some states were doing more harm than good.

Geraldo Rivera, a Fox News correspondent, gently questioned whether his own network had spent too much time focusing on the plight of business owners suffering from the economic pain rather than highlighting the loss of life when Brian Kilmeade, a co-host, tersely dismissed the suggestion. “You can have a balance,” Kilmeade said, describing long lines of people waiting at food banks.

This seemed to go too far for one of the other hosts, Steve Doocy, who interjected, “But 3,700 people died yesterday.”

Inconsistent and contradictory messages like these have stymied the nation’s response to the coronavirus for the nine months that it has been spreading. Often the confusion is compounded by the most visible allies of the president — including Pence, the leader of the task force overseeing the government’s coronavirus effort, and the president’s defenders in the media.

Reluctant to get on the wrong side of the president or Americans who believe concern about the virus is overblown, they have toggled back and forth from denial to cautiousness to defiance.

For months, Pence was seen in public flouting the guidance from public health officials to wear a mask when in proximity to others. He refused to put one on when he visited the Mayo Clinic at the height of the first wave of infections in April, even as other members of the administration traveling with him did.

A few weeks later he wrote an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal titled “There Isn’t a Coronavirus ‘Second Wave.’” Even after members of his own staff caught the virus, including his chief of staff, Pence continued to attend and host official social gatherings, including a holiday party at the vice president’s residence this week where guests mingled in an outdoor tent and posed for pictures without masks, according to attendees.

Like most other Republicans, Pence has never second-guessed Trump’s leadership during the pandemic. He insisted in August in an interview with “Good Morning America” that he “couldn’t be more proud of the leadership Trump has provided from the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.”

In the conservative media, there has rarely been daylight between the president and his most supportive hosts, who echoed his insistence at first that the virus was not what the media were making of it, then later shifted course and defended his response while denying that he — and they — had ever minimized the risks.

Throughout February, Fox personalities like Laura Ingraham and Sean Hannity helped amplify the president’s claims that his critics were exaggerating the possible dangers of the virus to harm him politically.

Ingraham called it “a new pathway for hitting President Trump.” Hannity mocked the “media mob” for running stories that said Trump wasn’t taking it seriously enough. “The apocalypse is imminent and you’re going to all die, all of you in the next 48 hours. And it’s all President Trump’s fault,” he seethed on Feb. 27.

Later, as Trump started to acknowledge the severity and congratulate himself for leading a historic and effective response, his media allies also pivoted to praising the president for putting the “greatest” and “best” health officials the government has to offer on the case, as Hannity put it. He also compared Trump’s stewardship of the country during the pandemic to FDR and Churchill.

Trump, who caught the coronavirus in October and required hospitalization after falling seriously ill, has not committed to taking the vaccine — a step that could put at ease those who are skeptical and reassure them of its safety. Other high-profile public figures and political leaders either have taken it or said they soon would. Surgeon General Jerome Adams was vaccinated Friday, as were congressional leaders Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, and Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader. President-elect Joe Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, are to be vaccinated Monday.

And there were signs that some in the media were providing Trump cover. Tucker Carlson of Fox News spent his opening monologue on Thursday night questioning whether the vaccine could be trusted and suggested that a “slick” government marketing campaign to promote its safety was a reason to be suspicious. “It all seems a bit much, it feels false because it is, it’s too slick,” he said.

Twelve hours later, Fox viewers saw Pence and his wife, Karen Pence, inoculated by a team from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, the facility where Trump was treated for complications from the virus. In a short speech afterward, the vice president mentioned the president by name several times and credited his leadership with helping produce a vaccine in just a few months.

Pence did not dwell too long on the virus’s death toll or on his admonition that Americans should do more to protect themselves and others before returning to the kind of optimistic message that Trump prefers. “As President Trump often says, we are rounding the corner. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Pence said.

It was the kind of live television event that the reality show star president has often staged himself. Vice President Mike Pence stepped in front of a bank of cameras on the White House campus on Friday to receive the new coronavirus vaccine, hailing it as “safe and effective” no fewer than eight times.

It was the kind of live television event that the reality show star president has often staged himself. Vice President Mike Pence stepped in front of a bank of cameras on the White House campus on Friday to receive the new coronavirus vaccine, hailing it as “safe and effective” no fewer than eight times. He urged people to wear masks, wash their hands and do whatever they can to help defeat a disease that has killed more than 300,000 Americans. Intended as a public service announcement as the country reaches a milestone in fighting the pandemic, these 10 minutes of morning television also distilled the various ways that President Donald Trump and his political allies have repeatedly undermined confidence in the science about the virus and fed suspicion and misinformation. No sooner had the vice president congratulated a health care worker who stuck him in the arm — “Great job, great job. I didn’t feel a thing,” Pence said, his voice muffled by the mask covering his face — than Trump logged into Twitter and undercut him. Trump posted a message from a right-wing radio host who questioned the effectiveness of masks, writing: “‘Masks work’ is the mantra. Not allowed to say anything else.” On Fox News, which carried the vice president’s vaccination live and aired his plea urging “every American to continue to do your part,” a spat erupted among the hosts of “Fox &amp; Friends” over whether the public health orders that have shuttered businesses in some states were doing more harm than good. Geraldo Rivera, a Fox News correspondent, gently questioned whether his own network had spent too much time focusing on the plight of business owners suffering from the economic pain rather than highlighting the loss of life when Brian Kilmeade, a co-host, tersely dismissed the suggestion. “You can have a balance,” Kilmeade said, describing long lines of people waiting at food banks. This seemed to go too far for one of the other hosts, Steve Doocy, who interjected, “But 3,700 people died yesterday.” Inconsistent and contradictory messages like these have stymied the nation’s response to the coronavirus for the nine months that it has been spreading. Often the confusion is compounded by the most visible allies of the president — including Pence, the leader of the task force overseeing the government’s coronavirus effort, and the president’s defenders in the media. Reluctant to get on the wrong side of the president or Americans who believe concern about the virus is overblown, they have toggled back and forth from denial to cautiousness to defiance. For months, Pence was seen in public flouting the guidance from public health officials to wear a mask when in proximity to others. He refused to put one on when he visited the Mayo Clinic at the height of the first wave of infections in April, even as other members of the administration traveling with him did. A few weeks later he wrote an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal titled “There Isn’t a Coronavirus ‘Second Wave.’” Even after members of his own staff caught the virus, including his chief of staff, Pence continued to attend and host official social gatherings, including a holiday party at the vice president’s residence this week where guests mingled in an outdoor tent and posed for pictures without masks, according to attendees. Like most other Republicans, Pence has never second-guessed Trump’s leadership during the pandemic. He insisted in August in an interview with “Good Morning America” that he “couldn’t be more proud of the leadership Trump has provided from the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.” In the conservative media, there has rarely been daylight between the president and his most supportive hosts, who echoed his insistence at first that the virus was not what the media were making of it, then later shifted course and defended his response while denying that he — and they — had ever minimized the risks. Throughout February, Fox personalities like Laura Ingraham and Sean Hannity helped amplify the president’s claims that his critics were exaggerating the possible dangers of the virus to harm him politically. Ingraham called it “a new pathway for hitting President Trump.” Hannity mocked the “media mob” for running stories that said Trump wasn’t taking it seriously enough. “The apocalypse is imminent and you’re going to all die, all of you in the next 48 hours. And it’s all President Trump’s fault,” he seethed on Feb. 27. Later, as Trump started to acknowledge the severity and congratulate himself for leading a historic and effective response, his media allies also pivoted to praising the president for putting the “greatest” and “best” health officials the government has to offer on the case, as Hannity put it. He also compared Trump’s stewardship of the country during the pandemic to FDR and Churchill. Trump, who caught the coronavirus in October and required hospitalization after falling seriously ill, has not committed to taking the vaccine — a step that could put at ease those who are skeptical and reassure them of its safety. Other high-profile public figures and political leaders either have taken it or said they soon would. Surgeon General Jerome Adams was vaccinated Friday, as were congressional leaders Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, and Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader. President-elect Joe Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, are to be vaccinated Monday. And there were signs that some in the media were providing Trump cover. Tucker Carlson of Fox News spent his opening monologue on Thursday night questioning whether the vaccine could be trusted and suggested that a “slick” government marketing campaign to promote its safety was a reason to be suspicious. “It all seems a bit much, it feels false because it is, it’s too slick,” he said. Twelve hours later, Fox viewers saw Pence and his wife, Karen Pence, inoculated by a team from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, the facility where Trump was treated for complications from the virus. In a short speech afterward, the vice president mentioned the president by name several times and credited his leadership with helping produce a vaccine in just a few months. Pence did not dwell too long on the virus’s death toll or on his admonition that Americans should do more to protect themselves and others before returning to the kind of optimistic message that Trump prefers. “As President Trump often says, we are rounding the corner. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Pence said.

Can a televised vaccination undo months of skepticism?

WASHINGTON — Elizabeth Graves, an ardent supporter of President Donald Trump, is not opposed to vaccines. She said she had taken flu shots and pneumonia shots and, having just turned 50, was interested in being vaccinated against shingles.

But Graves, a legal transcriptionist in Starkville, Mississippi, said she would not be taking a coronavirus vaccine — and the sight of Vice President Mike Pence rolling up his sleeve to get vaccinated on live television Friday, she added, would not change her mind.

Lawrence Palmer, 51, a field service engineer in Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania, and Brandon Lofgren, 25, who works in his family’s trucking and construction business in rural Wisconsin, said they felt the same way. Both are fans of Trump, and they echoed Graves, who said that she was “suspicious” of government and that Pence’s vaccination “doesn’t mean a thing to me.”

It is a paradox of the pandemic: Helping speed the development of a coronavirus vaccine may be one of Trump’s proudest accomplishments, but at least in the early stages of the vaccine rollout, there is evidence that a substantial number of his supporters say they do not want to get it.

Until the past week, their objections were largely hypothetical. But with a second vaccine about to become available in the United States — the Food and Drug Administration on Friday authorized emergency use of the vaccine developed by Moderna, a week after the version developed by Pfizer and BioNTech won the same approval — more people will confront the choice of getting inoculated or not. The authorization will clear the way for the shipment of 5.9 million doses over the weekend and tens of millions more in coming months, greatly expanding the reach of the vaccination campaign as the nation grapples with the uncontrolled spread of the disease.

For the most part, public opinion has been swinging in favor of vaccination. Seventy-one percent of Americans are willing to be vaccinated, up from 63 % in September, according to a survey released this week by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Still, the survey found that Republicans were the most likely to be hesitant, with 42% saying they would probably not or definitely not be vaccinated, compared with 12% of Democrats.

Experts say that vaccine hesitancy may diminish over time if people see friends and relatives getting vaccinated without incident. Sheri Simms, 62, a retired businessperson in Northeast Texas who describes herself as a “moderate conservative” supporter of the president, said that while she did not intend to get vaccinated now, that could change.

“As more information comes out, and things appear to work better, then I will weigh the risks of the vaccine against the risk of the coronavirus and make a judgment,” she said.

The “anti-vaxxer movement” is not new, and it typically cuts across political parties. But the coronavirus vaccine, developed against the backdrop of a bitterly fought presidential election and championed by an especially polarizing figure in Trump, has become especially associated with partisanship.

During the campaign, while Trump was promising a vaccine by Election Day, some Democrats expressed concern about whether safety would be sacrificed in the rush to deliver a vaccine in time to help the president at the polls.

Political leaders in both parties worked on Friday to dispel concerns about the vaccine.

Pence, who took the Pfizer vaccine on Friday in a ceremony at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, was not the only prominent public official to get vaccinated. On Capitol Hill, congressional leaders including Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, and Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, were also inoculated against COVID-19. President-elect Joe Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, are to be vaccinated Monday.

In any other era, Pence’s vaccination, administered by a technician from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, in images beamed across the country, would have been a moment to bring the nation together. He took the shot in front of a giant blue poster declaring in white block letters: “SAFE and EFFECTIVE.”

His wife, Karen Pence, and Surgeon General Jerome Adams were also vaccinated.

“I didn’t feel a thing — well done,” the vice president said afterward, adding that he wanted to “assure the American people that while we cut red tape, we cut no corners.”

But Trump was notably absent. One reason for the partisan divide over vaccination, experts said, is the president himself. His repeated denigration of scientists and insistence that the pandemic is not a threat, they said, have contributed to a sense among his followers that the vaccine is either not safe or not worth taking.

(BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM.)

“I just don’t feel there’s been enough research on it. I think it was sped up too fast,” said Mark Davis, 42, a disabled worker in Michigan. “You don’t even really know the side effects, what’s in it.”

Lofgren agreed. “The jury’s out on whether it’s going to work,” he said, despite studies showing that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were more than 94% effective.

(END OPTIONAL TRIM.)

Experts say that “herd immunity” — the point at which so many people are immune that the spread of a virus is diminished — can be achieved when roughly 75% of the population is vaccinated. While the Trump administration is rolling out a public relations campaign to encourage people to get vaccinated, the reluctance among even a minority of Republicans is deeply troubling to public health experts.

Trump has been quick to claim credit for the manufacturing and distribution of the vaccine. “Distribution to start immediately,” he said Friday on Twitter, a day after an FDA expert advisory panel recommended approval of Moderna’s vaccine.

Although the president has recovered from COVID-19, he remains vulnerable to reinfection. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease scientist, has recommended that Trump be vaccinated. But he has given no indication that he will actually do so, and he has said little, if anything, to encourage Americans to get vaccinated.

“We need him taking a proactive role,” said Matthew Motta, a political scientist at Oklahoma State University who studies politics and vaccine views, adding, “The single best person to convince you to change your mind about something is somebody who agrees with you, somebody who you trust on other issues.”

(STORY CAN END HERE. OPTIONAL MATERIAL FOLLOWS.)

Trump’s flirtations with vaccine skepticism are well known. He repeated the debunked theory that vaccines cause autism as far back as 2007, when he said he had slowed his son Barron’s vaccination schedule, and as recently as 2015 while first running for president.

“Trump helped reenergize the anti-vaccine movement,” said Dr. Peter Hotez, an expert on vaccines, “and now he wants to pivot and make this his greatest accomplishment.”

Some conservative news media outlets are reinforcing the skepticism, tapping into suspicion of government by raising questions about whether officials are leveling with the public about the risks of the vaccines.

Tucker Carlson, a Fox News commentator, railed Thursday against the “corporate image campaign” promoting vaccination, suggesting incorrectly that isolated instances of allergic reactions to the vaccine were being censored.

In interviews, Trump supporters said they felt the pandemic had been blown out of proportion. Lofgren said several of his co-workers had recovered from COVID-19, “with really no more than just cold symptoms.” Palmer said that if he “had an issue with breathing or a heart issue or a lung issue,” he might consider it, but does not want to take a chance.

Conspiracy theories — including the notion that the virus was created by the Chinese and Democrats to hurt Trump politically, or the vaccine contains a microchip allowing the government to track people — cropped up in several conversations. Graves, who has diabetes, a risk factor for COVID-19, and has a master’s degree in library science, said such thoughts were creating doubts in the back of her mind.

“There’s no, quote, evidence that there’s a microchip or that there’s something nefarious about the whole thing,” she said. “But I have a gut check about all of it, and the government pushing it, and they’re finding all these popular people to take the vaccine. And it’s weird, like why are we pushing it so hard?”

WASHINGTON — Elizabeth Graves, an ardent supporter of President Donald Trump, is not opposed to vaccines. She said she had taken flu shots and pneumonia shots and, having just turned 50, was interested in being vaccinated against shingles.

WASHINGTON — Elizabeth Graves, an ardent supporter of President Donald Trump, is not opposed to vaccines. She said she had taken flu shots and pneumonia shots and, having just turned 50, was interested in being vaccinated against shingles. But Graves, a legal transcriptionist in Starkville, Mississippi, said she would not be taking a coronavirus vaccine — and the sight of Vice President Mike Pence rolling up his sleeve to get vaccinated on live television Friday, she added, would not change her mind. Lawrence Palmer, 51, a field service engineer in Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania, and Brandon Lofgren, 25, who works in his family’s trucking and construction business in rural Wisconsin, said they felt the same way. Both are fans of Trump, and they echoed Graves, who said that she was “suspicious” of government and that Pence’s vaccination “doesn’t mean a thing to me.” It is a paradox of the pandemic: Helping speed the development of a coronavirus vaccine may be one of Trump’s proudest accomplishments, but at least in the early stages of the vaccine rollout, there is evidence that a substantial number of his supporters say they do not want to get it. Until the past week, their objections were largely hypothetical. But with a second vaccine about to become available in the United States — the Food and Drug Administration on Friday authorized emergency use of the vaccine developed by Moderna, a week after the version developed by Pfizer and BioNTech won the same approval — more people will confront the choice of getting inoculated or not. The authorization will clear the way for the shipment of 5.9 million doses over the weekend and tens of millions more in coming months, greatly expanding the reach of the vaccination campaign as the nation grapples with the uncontrolled spread of the disease. For the most part, public opinion has been swinging in favor of vaccination. Seventy-one percent of Americans are willing to be vaccinated, up from 63 % in September, according to a survey released this week by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Still, the survey found that Republicans were the most likely to be hesitant, with 42% saying they would probably not or definitely not be vaccinated, compared with 12% of Democrats. Experts say that vaccine hesitancy may diminish over time if people see friends and relatives getting vaccinated without incident. Sheri Simms, 62, a retired businessperson in Northeast Texas who describes herself as a “moderate conservative” supporter of the president, said that while she did not intend to get vaccinated now, that could change. “As more information comes out, and things appear to work better, then I will weigh the risks of the vaccine against the risk of the coronavirus and make a judgment,” she said. The “anti-vaxxer movement” is not new, and it typically cuts across political parties. But the coronavirus vaccine, developed against the backdrop of a bitterly fought presidential election and championed by an especially polarizing figure in Trump, has become especially associated with partisanship. During the campaign, while Trump was promising a vaccine by Election Day, some Democrats expressed concern about whether safety would be sacrificed in the rush to deliver a vaccine in time to help the president at the polls. Political leaders in both parties worked on Friday to dispel concerns about the vaccine. Pence, who took the Pfizer vaccine on Friday in a ceremony at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, was not the only prominent public official to get vaccinated. On Capitol Hill, congressional leaders including Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, and Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, were also inoculated against COVID-19. President-elect Joe Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, are to be vaccinated Monday. In any other era, Pence’s vaccination, administered by a technician from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, in images beamed across the country, would have been a moment to bring the nation together. He took the shot in front of a giant blue poster declaring in white block letters: “SAFE and EFFECTIVE.” His wife, Karen Pence, and Surgeon General Jerome Adams were also vaccinated. “I didn’t feel a thing — well done,” the vice president said afterward, adding that he wanted to “assure the American people that while we cut red tape, we cut no corners.” But Trump was notably absent. One reason for the partisan divide over vaccination, experts said, is the president himself. His repeated denigration of scientists and insistence that the pandemic is not a threat, they said, have contributed to a sense among his followers that the vaccine is either not safe or not worth taking. (BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM.) “I just don’t feel there’s been enough research on it. I think it was sped up too fast,” said Mark Davis, 42, a disabled worker in Michigan. “You don’t even really know the side effects, what’s in it.” Lofgren agreed. “The jury’s out on whether it’s going to work,” he said, despite studies showing that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were more than 94% effective. (END OPTIONAL TRIM.) Experts say that “herd immunity” — the point at which so many people are immune that the spread of a virus is diminished — can be achieved when roughly 75% of the population is vaccinated. While the Trump administration is rolling out a public relations campaign to encourage people to get vaccinated, the reluctance among even a minority of Republicans is deeply troubling to public health experts. Trump has been quick to claim credit for the manufacturing and distribution of the vaccine. “Distribution to start immediately,” he said Friday on Twitter, a day after an FDA expert advisory panel recommended approval of Moderna’s vaccine. Although the president has recovered from COVID-19, he remains vulnerable to reinfection. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease scientist, has recommended that Trump be vaccinated. But he has given no indication that he will actually do so, and he has said little, if anything, to encourage Americans to get vaccinated. “We need him taking a proactive role,” said Matthew Motta, a political scientist at Oklahoma State University who studies politics and vaccine views, adding, “The single best person to convince you to change your mind about something is somebody who agrees with you, somebody who you trust on other issues.” (STORY CAN END HERE. OPTIONAL MATERIAL FOLLOWS.) Trump’s flirtations with vaccine skepticism are well known. He repeated the debunked theory that vaccines cause autism as far back as 2007, when he said he had slowed his son Barron’s vaccination schedule, and as recently as 2015 while first running for president. “Trump helped reenergize the anti-vaccine movement,” said Dr. Peter Hotez, an expert on vaccines, “and now he wants to pivot and make this his greatest accomplishment.” Some conservative news media outlets are reinforcing the skepticism, tapping into suspicion of government by raising questions about whether officials are leveling with the public about the risks of the vaccines. Tucker Carlson, a Fox News commentator, railed Thursday against the “corporate image campaign” promoting vaccination, suggesting incorrectly that isolated instances of allergic reactions to the vaccine were being censored. In interviews, Trump supporters said they felt the pandemic had been blown out of proportion. Lofgren said several of his co-workers had recovered from COVID-19, “with really no more than just cold symptoms.” Palmer said that if he “had an issue with breathing or a heart issue or a lung issue,” he might consider it, but does not want to take a chance. Conspiracy theories — including the notion that the virus was created by the Chinese and Democrats to hurt Trump politically, or the vaccine contains a microchip allowing the government to track people — cropped up in several conversations. Graves, who has diabetes, a risk factor for COVID-19, and has a master’s degree in library science, said such thoughts were creating doubts in the back of her mind. “There’s no, quote, evidence that there’s a microchip or that there’s something nefarious about the whole thing,” she said. “But I have a gut check about all of it, and the government pushing it, and they’re finding all these popular people to take the vaccine. And it’s weird, like why are we pushing it so hard?”

Trump claims credit for vaccines. Some of his backers don’t want to take them

A panel of outside advisors to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has overwhelmingly endorsed emergency use of Moderna Inc's coronavirus vaccine.

In the US, where 3,249 new deaths were recorded in the last 24 hours alone, emergency approval of the Moderna jab -- the second vaccine allowed in a Western country -- would pave the way for six million doses to potentially start shipping as soon as this weekend.

The US began rolling out the Pfizer jabs on Monday, hoping to have 20 million people immunised in December.

The committee voted 20-0 with one abstention that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh its risks in people aged 18 and older, one week after the same panel backed a similar vaccine from Pfizer Inc and German partner BioNTech SE, leading to an FDA emergency use authorization (EUA) a day later.

The FDA is expected to grant the EUA as early as late Thursday or Friday, providing another ray of hope to a nation that has lost more than 300,000 lives to COVID-19 - including a one-day high of 3,580 deaths on Wednesday - while record numbers of patients threaten to overwhelm US hospitals and healthcare workers.

The one abstention came from Dr Michael Kurilla, who works at the National Institutes of Health and felt blanket authorization for those 18 and older was too broad.

The Moderna vaccine is set to begin distribution as soon as the FDA gives the green light.&nbsp;

Unlike Pfizer's vaccine, which comes with complex distribution challenges due to its need to be shipped and stored at -70 Celsius (-94 F), Moderna's vaccine does not require specialised ultra-cold freezers or vast quantities of dry ice, making it easier to supply rural and remote areas.

The company said on Thursday it has expanded the handling guidance for the vaccine to allow it to be moved locally in a liquid state at standard refrigerated temperatures. In some cases, Moderna said, this could be the only practical way to move it to clinics or remote locations.

The first wave of doses are expected to be earmarked for healthcare workers who treat COVID-19 patients and vulnerable residents and staff of nursing homes.

Documents prepared by FDA scientists and released ahead of the meeting, said a two-dose regimen of the Moderna vaccine was highly effective in preventing COVID-19 and did not raise any specific safety issues.

The vaccine, based on the new technology of synthetic messenger RNA (mRNA), is administered in two shots about 28 days apart. The Pfizer/BioNTech shot is also an mRNA vaccine.

About 20 million doses are expected to be delivered this month, with the rest of the initial purchase coming in the first quarter of next year.

The United States in August entered a $1.5 billion pact with Moderna to acquire 100 million doses of its vaccine.

(with inputs)

A panel of outside advisors to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has overwhelmingly endorsed emergency use of Moderna Inc's coronavirus vaccine. In the US, where 3,249 new deaths were recorded in the last 24 hours alone, emergency approval of the Moderna jab -- the second vaccine allowed in a Western country -- would pave the way for six million doses to potentially start shipping as soon as this weekend.

A panel of outside advisors to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has overwhelmingly endorsed emergency use of Moderna Inc's coronavirus vaccine. In the US, where 3,249 new deaths were recorded in the last 24 hours alone, emergency approval of the Moderna jab -- the second vaccine allowed in a Western country -- would pave the way for six million doses to potentially start shipping as soon as this weekend. The US began rolling out the Pfizer jabs on Monday, hoping to have 20 million people immunised in December. The committee voted 20-0 with one abstention that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh its risks in people aged 18 and older, one week after the same panel backed a similar vaccine from Pfizer Inc and German partner BioNTech SE, leading to an FDA emergency use authorization (EUA) a day later. The FDA is expected to grant the EUA as early as late Thursday or Friday, providing another ray of hope to a nation that has lost more than 300,000 lives to COVID-19 - including a one-day high of 3,580 deaths on Wednesday - while record numbers of patients threaten to overwhelm US hospitals and healthcare workers. The one abstention came from Dr Michael Kurilla, who works at the National Institutes of Health and felt blanket authorization for those 18 and older was too broad. The Moderna vaccine is set to begin distribution as soon as the FDA gives the green light. Unlike Pfizer's vaccine, which comes with complex distribution challenges due to its need to be shipped and stored at -70 Celsius (-94 F), Moderna's vaccine does not require specialised ultra-cold freezers or vast quantities of dry ice, making it easier to supply rural and remote areas. The company said on Thursday it has expanded the handling guidance for the vaccine to allow it to be moved locally in a liquid state at standard refrigerated temperatures. In some cases, Moderna said, this could be the only practical way to move it to clinics or remote locations. The first wave of doses are expected to be earmarked for healthcare workers who treat COVID-19 patients and vulnerable residents and staff of nursing homes. Documents prepared by FDA scientists and released ahead of the meeting, said a two-dose regimen of the Moderna vaccine was highly effective in preventing COVID-19 and did not raise any specific safety issues. The vaccine, based on the new technology of synthetic messenger RNA (mRNA), is administered in two shots about 28 days apart. The Pfizer/BioNTech shot is also an mRNA vaccine. About 20 million doses are expected to be delivered this month, with the rest of the initial purchase coming in the first quarter of next year. The United States in August entered a $1.5 billion pact with Moderna to acquire 100 million doses of its vaccine. (with inputs)

US FDA advisory panel endorses Moderna coronavirus vaccine

It’s about as near as science gets to a miracle: A coronavirus vaccine has arrived — and the main reason is that mRNA vaccines, a previously untested technology, appears to work better than almost anyone had hoped.

As recently as this summer, many analysts were pushing their predictions for a vaccine into the fall of 2021, in line with the timeline of traditional treatments. If these new vaccines perform as well in the wild as they have in clinical trials, the world will remember it as a victory perhaps greater than Salk and Sabin against polio. If this new type of vaccine also goes on to work against other viruses, it will mark an epochal advance in vaccinology, closer to the discoveries of Pasteur and Jenner.

But a strange thing has happened in our celebration of this scientific triumph. While we remember those historic advances as the work of individual scientists or laboratories, the vaccines against Covid-19 are being written instead as a victory for pharmaceutical companies.

The rule in press coverage seems to be that the biggest brand involved gets top credit. And so, every day now there are stories about the Pfizer vaccine (a collaboration between Pfizer and the German biotech company BioNTech); the Moderna vaccine (a partnership between the National Institutes of Health and Moderna); and the AstraZeneca vaccine (a front-running non-mRNA candidate, in fact created by scientists at the University of Oxford and developed and distributed by AstraZeneca).

It’s an incredible public relations coup for an industry desperate to rescue its image. Just last month, Purdue Pharma pleaded guilty and has agreed to penalties of more than $8 billion after being prosecuted for its role in America’s horrific opioid crisis. Pfizer set an earlier record for a drug industry fraud settlement in 2009 at $2.3 billion, in a case over its fraudulent marketing of a painkiller, an antipsychotic and other drugs for conditions for which it hadn’t received approval.

The turpitude of the pharmaceutical industry is so commonplace that it has become part of the cultural wallpaper. The screenwriters of the 1993 movie “The Fugitive” knew they could find a perfectly plausible villain to menace Harrison Ford in a faceless drug company out to cover up its malfeasance. (The film was a hit.) In John le Carré’s 2001 novel “The Constant Gardner,” a British diplomat uncovering a pharma giant testing dangerous drugs on poor Africans is similarly easily to swallow: Its plotline echoes a real case involving Pfizer in Nigeria. (The company has denied any wrongdoing and settled out of court the suit brought by the families of children who died during the testing.)

And yet, since the pharmaceutical industry stepped in with the vaccines, generations worth of ill will appears to be melting away. Last year, Gallup polling had the pharmaceutical industry ranked the most disliked in America, below both big oil and big government. By this September — even before the vaccines arrived — the industry’s approval rating was already improving.

This isn’t lost on the industry itself. A financial analyst recently told this paper that Pfizer’s involvement in the coronavirus pandemic was about “as much public relations as it is a financial return.” In April, the chief executive of Eli Lilly, the company that put out an antibody therapy for Covid-19, told investors that the pandemic offered “a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reset the reputation of the industry.”

We’ve all been hoping for a vaccine for so long, the moment the medicine is finally being delivered, it seems almost perverse to question the name on the vial. But the industry isn’t our savior. Each of these vaccine candidates is a complex scientific project with many collaborators — and a substantial level of state support. Giving the industry not just plaudits, but control over the vaccines themselves would be a mistake.

Even amid this public relations coup, pharmaceutical corporations can’t help but revert to type. They will profit handsomely from these vaccines, even when they claim to be acting selflessly. And they largely are monopolizing access, which means that millions in the global south may not get the lifesaving vaccines for months.

The mRNA vaccines in which people are now staking so much hope wouldn’t exist without public support through every step of their development. Moderna is not a pharma giant. In fact, it is, in a way, a homegrown success story. The company, founded in 2010 after a group of American university professors acquired support from a venture capitalist, has been working on this technology for years. But Moderna’s original work rests on earlier discoveries by scientists at the University of Pennsylvania who have received funding for their research from the National Institutes for Health.

Once the race for a vaccine began, governments supercharged their efforts. Moderna has received about $2.5 billion in federal research and supply funding over the past year from the government’s Operation Warp Speed program, as well as shared technology the N.I.H. had developed for previous coronavirus vaccines. The N.I.H. also provided extensive logistical support, overseeing clinical trials for tens of thousands of patients.

Pfizer, meanwhile, likes to say that it eschews federal money to maintain independence. But it is co-producing and distributing a vaccine from BioNTech, a company that received more than $440 million in funding from the German federal government. The vaccine is based on BioNTech’s technology, with Pfizer stepping in to speed up development and manufacturing.

Pfizer had never produced an mRNA vaccine, but it retrofitted several factories to do so. In effect, it traded its immense capital and logistics network for branding rights. Moreover, the U.S. government claims that by placing a nearly $2 billion order before the vaccine’s final clinical trials started, it removed significant financial risks for Pfizer.

The development of these vaccines involves a patchwork of academic research, biotech firms, public institutions, public money and Big Pharma. This has always been the case, but in the past, governments and academic scientists were able to have far more control over their contributions. Both Salk and Sabin made their polio vaccine discoveries patent-free. At the time, Pfizer was among the main manufacturers and distributors of the Sabin vaccine — making a tidy profit for providing this service, but rightly acknowledged as a small part of a larger whole.

What do these kinds of partnerships get us today? The United States government negotiated bulk pricing for both the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines, $15.25 to $19.50 per dose over several different contracts. This is significantly less than the $25 to $37 Moderna says it will charge governments in the rest of the world, but analysts suggest that even $19.50 could yield Pfizer a 60 percent to 80 percent profit margin. Moderna has announced it won’t enforce its patents, but the company hasn’t forgotten about the profit opportunities.

Whenever it looks as if we’re getting a good deal, it turns out to be an even better one for the drug companies. Even ostensibly selfless actions might very well turn out to work to the industry’s benefit.

True, Oxford’s deal with AstraZeneca included a commitment to at-cost pricing for developing countries for now. But The Financial Times has reported that an agreement the company has signed with at least one manufacturer indicated that this particular deal could end as soon as July. (The company has said that it will seek expert guidance as to when it can declare an end to the pandemic.) And AstraZeneca’s deal with Oxford, according to The Financial Times, still allows for a healthy profit margin of up to 20 percent.

This isn’t surprising. The ship has long sailed on the idea that the giants of American capitalism would help anyone without extracting a fee. Even in this disaster, even after the untold sacrifices that millions of ordinary people have made. The real issue is not the price — we’ll pay, obviously — it is about access.

With control over the production of these vaccines, these companies will largely provide them on their own schedule, using their own factories or licensed producers — while other facilities around the world sit idle. Governments will almost certainly order more of the approved vaccines in the weeks and months to come, but the production capacity for each company is limited. Companies should not only pledge to waive their patents but to also share all their technical knowledge so that other manufacturers can help produce the much-needed vaccines.

As it stands most people outside high-risk categories likely won’t get vaccinated until “later in 2021,” according to the Centers for Disease Control. Many countries in the global south are expected to be able to vaccinate at most 20 percent of their populations by the end of next year. Project the current daily death toll onto that timeline and despair.

It doesn’t have to be this way. The especially galling thing is that mRNA vaccines were supposed to be a disruptive, liberatory technology. They can be produced faster and more simply, in smaller and cheaper facilities — basic laboratories, even — compared to traditional vaccines. Scientists envisioned a world where vaccines could be produced quickly, anywhere, for a small fraction of the traditional vaccines’ cost.

That was before the industry stepped in. Nations across the global south are demanding a suspension of patent rights for coronavirus vaccines, and last month, American academics and activists — including Chelsea Clinton on behalf of the Clinton Foundation, hardly a revolutionary outfit — called for a similar plan, including sharing patents on vaccines and allowing worldwide manufacturing to begin. This would probably mean not just poorer nations but you — the person reading this — would get vaccinated faster because more vaccine doses would be produced. None of this is likely to happen.

At the start of this pandemic, I recall feeling both horror at the unfolding calamity, and also a small sense of hope that as in other times of hardship, people would find ways to change the world for the better. There was talk of community support, mutual aid and the rediscovery of the positive powers of the state to protect its citizens. Much of that has dimmed now, and it often seems that we simply want relief — to go back to the way the world was before, and as soon as possible.

We have to get back to that place. Yet this may be the best chance in our lifetimes to break the hold of an industry that, until recently, was rightly vilified. The public is following these developments closely, and the state support that underwrites pharmaceutical profits couldn’t be more obvious: Operation Warp Speed alone has dispensed over $10 billion to the industry.

Pay it to make the vaccine, sure. That’s a service. But we shouldn’t be afraid to demand more: Public support should mean a public vaccine, one that reaches people as quickly as possible — profitable or not. The pharmaceutical industry wouldn’t be able to rake in its profits and restore its reputation without funding that comes from our tax dollars. We shouldn’t let Big Pharma forget it.

(Stephen Buranyi is a science journalist in London and a visiting lecturer at the European Business School.)

It’s about as near as science gets to a miracle: A coronavirus vaccine has arrived — and the main reason is that mRNA vaccines, a previously untested technology, appears to work better than almost anyone had hoped.

It’s about as near as science gets to a miracle: A coronavirus vaccine has arrived — and the main reason is that mRNA vaccines, a previously untested technology, appears to work better than almost anyone had hoped. As recently as this summer, many analysts were pushing their predictions for a vaccine into the fall of 2021, in line with the timeline of traditional treatments. If these new vaccines perform as well in the wild as they have in clinical trials, the world will remember it as a victory perhaps greater than Salk and Sabin against polio. If this new type of vaccine also goes on to work against other viruses, it will mark an epochal advance in vaccinology, closer to the discoveries of Pasteur and Jenner. But a strange thing has happened in our celebration of this scientific triumph. While we remember those historic advances as the work of individual scientists or laboratories, the vaccines against Covid-19 are being written instead as a victory for pharmaceutical companies. The rule in press coverage seems to be that the biggest brand involved gets top credit. And so, every day now there are stories about the Pfizer vaccine (a collaboration between Pfizer and the German biotech company BioNTech); the Moderna vaccine (a partnership between the National Institutes of Health and Moderna); and the AstraZeneca vaccine (a front-running non-mRNA candidate, in fact created by scientists at the University of Oxford and developed and distributed by AstraZeneca). It’s an incredible public relations coup for an industry desperate to rescue its image. Just last month, Purdue Pharma pleaded guilty and has agreed to penalties of more than $8 billion after being prosecuted for its role in America’s horrific opioid crisis. Pfizer set an earlier record for a drug industry fraud settlement in 2009 at $2.3 billion, in a case over its fraudulent marketing of a painkiller, an antipsychotic and other drugs for conditions for which it hadn’t received approval. The turpitude of the pharmaceutical industry is so commonplace that it has become part of the cultural wallpaper. The screenwriters of the 1993 movie “The Fugitive” knew they could find a perfectly plausible villain to menace Harrison Ford in a faceless drug company out to cover up its malfeasance. (The film was a hit.) In John le Carré’s 2001 novel “The Constant Gardner,” a British diplomat uncovering a pharma giant testing dangerous drugs on poor Africans is similarly easily to swallow: Its plotline echoes a real case involving Pfizer in Nigeria. (The company has denied any wrongdoing and settled out of court the suit brought by the families of children who died during the testing.) And yet, since the pharmaceutical industry stepped in with the vaccines, generations worth of ill will appears to be melting away. Last year, Gallup polling had the pharmaceutical industry ranked the most disliked in America, below both big oil and big government. By this September — even before the vaccines arrived — the industry’s approval rating was already improving. This isn’t lost on the industry itself. A financial analyst recently told this paper that Pfizer’s involvement in the coronavirus pandemic was about “as much public relations as it is a financial return.” In April, the chief executive of Eli Lilly, the company that put out an antibody therapy for Covid-19, told investors that the pandemic offered “a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reset the reputation of the industry.” We’ve all been hoping for a vaccine for so long, the moment the medicine is finally being delivered, it seems almost perverse to question the name on the vial. But the industry isn’t our savior. Each of these vaccine candidates is a complex scientific project with many collaborators — and a substantial level of state support. Giving the industry not just plaudits, but control over the vaccines themselves would be a mistake. Even amid this public relations coup, pharmaceutical corporations can’t help but revert to type. They will profit handsomely from these vaccines, even when they claim to be acting selflessly. And they largely are monopolizing access, which means that millions in the global south may not get the lifesaving vaccines for months. The mRNA vaccines in which people are now staking so much hope wouldn’t exist without public support through every step of their development. Moderna is not a pharma giant. In fact, it is, in a way, a homegrown success story. The company, founded in 2010 after a group of American university professors acquired support from a venture capitalist, has been working on this technology for years. But Moderna’s original work rests on earlier discoveries by scientists at the University of Pennsylvania who have received funding for their research from the National Institutes for Health. Once the race for a vaccine began, governments supercharged their efforts. Moderna has received about $2.5 billion in federal research and supply funding over the past year from the government’s Operation Warp Speed program, as well as shared technology the N.I.H. had developed for previous coronavirus vaccines. The N.I.H. also provided extensive logistical support, overseeing clinical trials for tens of thousands of patients. Pfizer, meanwhile, likes to say that it eschews federal money to maintain independence. But it is co-producing and distributing a vaccine from BioNTech, a company that received more than $440 million in funding from the German federal government. The vaccine is based on BioNTech’s technology, with Pfizer stepping in to speed up development and manufacturing. Pfizer had never produced an mRNA vaccine, but it retrofitted several factories to do so. In effect, it traded its immense capital and logistics network for branding rights. Moreover, the U.S. government claims that by placing a nearly $2 billion order before the vaccine’s final clinical trials started, it removed significant financial risks for Pfizer. The development of these vaccines involves a patchwork of academic research, biotech firms, public institutions, public money and Big Pharma. This has always been the case, but in the past, governments and academic scientists were able to have far more control over their contributions. Both Salk and Sabin made their polio vaccine discoveries patent-free. At the time, Pfizer was among the main manufacturers and distributors of the Sabin vaccine — making a tidy profit for providing this service, but rightly acknowledged as a small part of a larger whole. What do these kinds of partnerships get us today? The United States government negotiated bulk pricing for both the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines, $15.25 to $19.50 per dose over several different contracts. This is significantly less than the $25 to $37 Moderna says it will charge governments in the rest of the world, but analysts suggest that even $19.50 could yield Pfizer a 60 percent to 80 percent profit margin. Moderna has announced it won’t enforce its patents, but the company hasn’t forgotten about the profit opportunities. Whenever it looks as if we’re getting a good deal, it turns out to be an even better one for the drug companies. Even ostensibly selfless actions might very well turn out to work to the industry’s benefit. True, Oxford’s deal with AstraZeneca included a commitment to at-cost pricing for developing countries for now. But The Financial Times has reported that an agreement the company has signed with at least one manufacturer indicated that this particular deal could end as soon as July. (The company has said that it will seek expert guidance as to when it can declare an end to the pandemic.) And AstraZeneca’s deal with Oxford, according to The Financial Times, still allows for a healthy profit margin of up to 20 percent. This isn’t surprising. The ship has long sailed on the idea that the giants of American capitalism would help anyone without extracting a fee. Even in this disaster, even after the untold sacrifices that millions of ordinary people have made. The real issue is not the price — we’ll pay, obviously — it is about access. With control over the production of these vaccines, these companies will largely provide them on their own schedule, using their own factories or licensed producers — while other facilities around the world sit idle. Governments will almost certainly order more of the approved vaccines in the weeks and months to come, but the production capacity for each company is limited. Companies should not only pledge to waive their patents but to also share all their technical knowledge so that other manufacturers can help produce the much-needed vaccines. As it stands most people outside high-risk categories likely won’t get vaccinated until “later in 2021,” according to the Centers for Disease Control. Many countries in the global south are expected to be able to vaccinate at most 20 percent of their populations by the end of next year. Project the current daily death toll onto that timeline and despair. It doesn’t have to be this way. The especially galling thing is that mRNA vaccines were supposed to be a disruptive, liberatory technology. They can be produced faster and more simply, in smaller and cheaper facilities — basic laboratories, even — compared to traditional vaccines. Scientists envisioned a world where vaccines could be produced quickly, anywhere, for a small fraction of the traditional vaccines’ cost. That was before the industry stepped in. Nations across the global south are demanding a suspension of patent rights for coronavirus vaccines, and last month, American academics and activists — including Chelsea Clinton on behalf of the Clinton Foundation, hardly a revolutionary outfit — called for a similar plan, including sharing patents on vaccines and allowing worldwide manufacturing to begin. This would probably mean not just poorer nations but you — the person reading this — would get vaccinated faster because more vaccine doses would be produced. None of this is likely to happen. At the start of this pandemic, I recall feeling both horror at the unfolding calamity, and also a small sense of hope that as in other times of hardship, people would find ways to change the world for the better. There was talk of community support, mutual aid and the rediscovery of the positive powers of the state to protect its citizens. Much of that has dimmed now, and it often seems that we simply want relief — to go back to the way the world was before, and as soon as possible. We have to get back to that place. Yet this may be the best chance in our lifetimes to break the hold of an industry that, until recently, was rightly vilified. The public is following these developments closely, and the state support that underwrites pharmaceutical profits couldn’t be more obvious: Operation Warp Speed alone has dispensed over $10 billion to the industry. Pay it to make the vaccine, sure. That’s a service. But we shouldn’t be afraid to demand more: Public support should mean a public vaccine, one that reaches people as quickly as possible — profitable or not. The pharmaceutical industry wouldn’t be able to rake in its profits and restore its reputation without funding that comes from our tax dollars. We shouldn’t let Big Pharma forget it. (Stephen Buranyi is a science journalist in London and a visiting lecturer at the European Business School.)

Big pharma is fooling us

The United States set a grim double record Wednesday notching more than 3,700 deaths and over 250,000 new Covid-19 cases in 24 hours.

The tally marks the third time in the past week that the United States has crossed the 3,000 deaths threshold. The country has seen a spectacular spike in Covid infections for more than a month now.

The previous 24-hour record was set in late April at the height of the country's first wave -- which never totally ended.

Over the last two weeks, the number of new Covid-19 cases in 24 hours has climbed above 200,000 for 11 out of 14 days. Wednesday's exact death toll was 3,784 fatalities over the previous 24 hours leading up to 8:30 pm (0130 GMT Thursday).

Experts now fear the situation will become even more dire following end of year celebrations, including the Christmas holiday.

The latest records were set even as the United States undergoes its first week of a mass vaccination program aimed at stopping the surging pandemic.

On Monday the first Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine injections were administered in the United States.

Also, the US Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday that six or even seven doses could be squeezed out of vials that were supposed to contain only five doses to avoid unused vaccine being discarded.&nbsp;

To this end, lawmakers on Capitol Hill said they were nearing a long-elusive bipartisan deal on $900 billion in economic relief to help bolster a US economy ravaged by the pandemic.

Rollout of the first tranche of 2.9 million doses of a newly authorized vaccine from Pfizer Inc and German partner BioNTech SE continued for a third full day, with shipments headed to 66 more distribution hubs nationwide.

A second vaccine from Moderna Inc could win emergency-use approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration this week.

Express delivery companies FedEx and United Parcel Service, sharing a leading role in vaccine shipments, said they were monitoring the potential impacts of heavy snow and ice that had begun to disrupt transportation systems along the Eastern Seaboard on Wednesday.

President-elect Joe Biden, who has said he would get the vaccine publicly to help instill confidence in its safety, is expected to receive his first injection as soon as next week, according to his transition team.

Biden, 78, is in a high-risk category for the coronavirus due to his age.

Meanwhile, with hospitalisations setting a record for the 18th day in a row -- more than 112,000 patients under treatment on Tuesday -- health experts warn the death toll will rise higher still in the weeks ahead, even as the vaccine campaign steadily expands.

Another 2 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 5.9 million doses of the Moderna vaccine could be allocated next week, US Health Secretary Alex Azar said on a conference call on Wednesday. Two doses of the vaccines, given three or four weeks apart, would be required for each person being inoculated.

The Trump administration was also in talks to secure additional antibody treatment doses from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc and Eli Lilly and Co, Operation Warp Speed chief adviser Moncef Slaoui told the same conference call.

(with inputs from agencies)

The United States set a grim double record Wednesday notching more than 3,700 deaths and over 250,000 new Covid-19 cases in 24 hours. The tally marks the third time in the past week that the United States has crossed the 3,000 deaths threshold.

The United States set a grim double record Wednesday notching more than 3,700 deaths and over 250,000 new Covid-19 cases in 24 hours. The tally marks the third time in the past week that the United States has crossed the 3,000 deaths threshold. The country has seen a spectacular spike in Covid infections for more than a month now. The previous 24-hour record was set in late April at the height of the country's first wave -- which never totally ended. Over the last two weeks, the number of new Covid-19 cases in 24 hours has climbed above 200,000 for 11 out of 14 days. Wednesday's exact death toll was 3,784 fatalities over the previous 24 hours leading up to 8:30 pm (0130 GMT Thursday). Experts now fear the situation will become even more dire following end of year celebrations, including the Christmas holiday. The latest records were set even as the United States undergoes its first week of a mass vaccination program aimed at stopping the surging pandemic. On Monday the first Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine injections were administered in the United States. Also, the US Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday that six or even seven doses could be squeezed out of vials that were supposed to contain only five doses to avoid unused vaccine being discarded. To this end, lawmakers on Capitol Hill said they were nearing a long-elusive bipartisan deal on $900 billion in economic relief to help bolster a US economy ravaged by the pandemic. Rollout of the first tranche of 2.9 million doses of a newly authorized vaccine from Pfizer Inc and German partner BioNTech SE continued for a third full day, with shipments headed to 66 more distribution hubs nationwide. A second vaccine from Moderna Inc could win emergency-use approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration this week. Express delivery companies FedEx and United Parcel Service, sharing a leading role in vaccine shipments, said they were monitoring the potential impacts of heavy snow and ice that had begun to disrupt transportation systems along the Eastern Seaboard on Wednesday. President-elect Joe Biden, who has said he would get the vaccine publicly to help instill confidence in its safety, is expected to receive his first injection as soon as next week, according to his transition team. Biden, 78, is in a high-risk category for the coronavirus due to his age. Meanwhile, with hospitalisations setting a record for the 18th day in a row -- more than 112,000 patients under treatment on Tuesday -- health experts warn the death toll will rise higher still in the weeks ahead, even as the vaccine campaign steadily expands. Another 2 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 5.9 million doses of the Moderna vaccine could be allocated next week, US Health Secretary Alex Azar said on a conference call on Wednesday. Two doses of the vaccines, given three or four weeks apart, would be required for each person being inoculated. The Trump administration was also in talks to secure additional antibody treatment doses from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc and Eli Lilly and Co, Operation Warp Speed chief adviser Moncef Slaoui told the same conference call. (with inputs from agencies)

US sets a grim record with over 3,700 Covid deaths; vaccine campaign grows

The largest burden of Covid-19 has undoubtedly fallen on people older than 65, accounting for around 80 percent of deaths in the United States. But if we momentarily eclipse that from our mind’s eye, something else becomes visible: The corona of this virus.

Young adults are dying at historic rates. In research published on Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, we found that among U.S. adults ages 25 to 44, from March through the end of July, there were almost 12,000 more deaths than were expected based on historical norms.

In fact, July appears to have been the deadliest month among this age group in modern American history. Over the past 20 years, an average of 11,000 young American adults died each July. This year that number swelled to over 16,000.

The trends continued this fall. Based on prior trends, around 154,000 in this demographic had been projected to die in 2020. We surpassed that total in mid-November. Even if death rates suddenly return to normal in December — and we know they have not — we would anticipate well over 170,000 deaths among U.S. adults in this demographic by the end of 2020.

While detailed data are not yet available for all areas, we know Covid-19 is the driving force behind these excess deaths. Consider New York State. In April and May, Covid-19 killed 1,081 adults ages 20 to 49, according to statistics we gathered from the New York State Health Department. Remarkably, this figure towers over the state’s usual leading cause of death in that age group — unintentional accidents including drug overdoses and road accidents — which combined to cause 495 deaths in this demographic during April and May of 2018, the most recent year for which data are available to the public.

After the Northeast’s horrific first surge this spring subsided, similar trends began to become apparent in other regions over the summer. As caseloads among the younger population rose nationwide, Covid-19 became a leading cause of death among younger adults in other regions. While deaths from the virus temporarily exceeded opioid deaths among young adults in some areas this year, we are also concerned that unintentional overdose deaths have increased during the pandemic as well.

Nor is it an illusion that people of color constitute a disproportionate fraction of the dead. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, among adults 25 to 44, Black and Hispanic people make up not just a disproportionate number but a majority of Covid-19 deaths through Sept. 30.

Stay-at-home policies have saved lives, but their benefits have not been equally distributed. Among essential workers, many of whom are people of color, sheltering-in-place was never a real option.

Take a step back and compare what we are experiencing to the H.I.V./AIDS epidemic. Before effective treatments became available, we watched in horror as a contagious but preventable disease ravaged young adults in the prime of their lives. It claimed the lives of thousands of working-age adults every month. While too many still become infected, and too many die, public health messaging helped ease the epidemic.

Now we must deal with Covid-19. For too long, the message has been repeated — by us and our colleagues, by government officials and the public — that Covid-19 is dangerous for the old and that younger people do well. It’s true that deaths among adults ages 25 to 44 account for fewer than 3 percent of Covid-19 deaths in the United States, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.

But what we believed before about the relative harmlessness of Covid-19 among younger adults has simply not been borne out by emerging data. In the past, it took us too long to respond to the epidemics of opioids and H.I.V./AIDS when the young started dying in large numbers. Now that we have similar information about Covid-19, we must immediately address it.

We need to amend our messaging and our policies now. Outreach in the coming weeks and months is imperative. We know it can help. The use of lifesaving medications like methadone and buprenorphine increased after awareness of the devastation of the opioid epidemic became commonly understood, saving many lives. We need to tell young people that they are at risk and that they need to wear masks and make safer choices about social distancing.

This is even more important now that safe and effective vaccines are a reality. Young, healthy people are low on the priority list for the vaccine rollout. That means that modifying behavior now can save thousands of young lives next year.

And that is the crux of it. Our messaging is no longer about merely flattening the curve to prevent hospitals from overflowing. Now with vaccines, our policies and our individual choices can together save a far larger number of lives.

That challenge is ours to confront. The sooner that reality sets in, the better.

(Jeremy Samuel Faust is an attending physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital Department of Emergency Medicine in Boston and an instructor at Harvard Medical School. Harlan M. Krumholz is a professor of medicine at Yale University. Rochelle P. Walensky, chief of the division of infectious diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital and a professor at Harvard Medical School, has been nominated by President-elect Biden to be the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.)

The largest burden of Covid-19 has undoubtedly fallen on people older than 65, accounting for around 80 percent of deaths in the United States. But if we momentarily eclipse that from our mind’s eye, something else becomes visible: The corona of this virus.

The largest burden of Covid-19 has undoubtedly fallen on people older than 65, accounting for around 80 percent of deaths in the United States. But if we momentarily eclipse that from our mind’s eye, something else becomes visible: The corona of this virus. Young adults are dying at historic rates. In research published on Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, we found that among U.S. adults ages 25 to 44, from March through the end of July, there were almost 12,000 more deaths than were expected based on historical norms. In fact, July appears to have been the deadliest month among this age group in modern American history. Over the past 20 years, an average of 11,000 young American adults died each July. This year that number swelled to over 16,000. The trends continued this fall. Based on prior trends, around 154,000 in this demographic had been projected to die in 2020. We surpassed that total in mid-November. Even if death rates suddenly return to normal in December — and we know they have not — we would anticipate well over 170,000 deaths among U.S. adults in this demographic by the end of 2020. While detailed data are not yet available for all areas, we know Covid-19 is the driving force behind these excess deaths. Consider New York State. In April and May, Covid-19 killed 1,081 adults ages 20 to 49, according to statistics we gathered from the New York State Health Department. Remarkably, this figure towers over the state’s usual leading cause of death in that age group — unintentional accidents including drug overdoses and road accidents — which combined to cause 495 deaths in this demographic during April and May of 2018, the most recent year for which data are available to the public. After the Northeast’s horrific first surge this spring subsided, similar trends began to become apparent in other regions over the summer. As caseloads among the younger population rose nationwide, Covid-19 became a leading cause of death among younger adults in other regions. While deaths from the virus temporarily exceeded opioid deaths among young adults in some areas this year, we are also concerned that unintentional overdose deaths have increased during the pandemic as well. Nor is it an illusion that people of color constitute a disproportionate fraction of the dead. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, among adults 25 to 44, Black and Hispanic people make up not just a disproportionate number but a majority of Covid-19 deaths through Sept. 30. Stay-at-home policies have saved lives, but their benefits have not been equally distributed. Among essential workers, many of whom are people of color, sheltering-in-place was never a real option. Take a step back and compare what we are experiencing to the H.I.V./AIDS epidemic. Before effective treatments became available, we watched in horror as a contagious but preventable disease ravaged young adults in the prime of their lives. It claimed the lives of thousands of working-age adults every month. While too many still become infected, and too many die, public health messaging helped ease the epidemic. Now we must deal with Covid-19. For too long, the message has been repeated — by us and our colleagues, by government officials and the public — that Covid-19 is dangerous for the old and that younger people do well. It’s true that deaths among adults ages 25 to 44 account for fewer than 3 percent of Covid-19 deaths in the United States, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. But what we believed before about the relative harmlessness of Covid-19 among younger adults has simply not been borne out by emerging data. In the past, it took us too long to respond to the epidemics of opioids and H.I.V./AIDS when the young started dying in large numbers. Now that we have similar information about Covid-19, we must immediately address it. We need to amend our messaging and our policies now. Outreach in the coming weeks and months is imperative. We know it can help. The use of lifesaving medications like methadone and buprenorphine increased after awareness of the devastation of the opioid epidemic became commonly understood, saving many lives. We need to tell young people that they are at risk and that they need to wear masks and make safer choices about social distancing. This is even more important now that safe and effective vaccines are a reality. Young, healthy people are low on the priority list for the vaccine rollout. That means that modifying behavior now can save thousands of young lives next year. And that is the crux of it. Our messaging is no longer about merely flattening the curve to prevent hospitals from overflowing. Now with vaccines, our policies and our individual choices can together save a far larger number of lives. That challenge is ours to confront. The sooner that reality sets in, the better. (Jeremy Samuel Faust is an attending physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital Department of Emergency Medicine in Boston and an instructor at Harvard Medical School. Harlan M. Krumholz is a professor of medicine at Yale University. Rochelle P. Walensky, chief of the division of infectious diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital and a professor at Harvard Medical School, has been nominated by President-elect Biden to be the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.)

People thought COVID-19 was relatively harmless for younger adults. They were wrong

Tractor trailers loaded with suitcase-sized containers of COVID-19 vaccine will leave Pfizer Inc`s manufacturing facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on Sunday morning - launching the largest and most complex vaccine distribution project in the United States, where the virus is raging.

U.S. regulators late on Friday authorized the vaccine from Pfizer and partner BioNTech for use, and U.S. marshals will accompany the tightly secured shipments from factory to final destination.

"We have spent months strategizing with Operation Warp Speed officials and our healthcare customers on efficient vaccine logistics, and the time has arrived to put the plan into action," Wes Wheeler, president of UPS Healthcare, said on Saturday.

Pfizer`s dry-ice cooled packages can hold as many as 4,875 doses, and the first leg of their journey will be from Kalamazoo to planes positioned nearby. Workers will load the vaccine - which must be kept at sub-Arctic temperatures - onto the aircraft that will shuttle them to United Parcel Service or FedEx air cargo hubs in Louisville, Kentucky, and Memphis, Tennessee, respectively.

From there, they will be trucked or flown to facilities close to the 145 U.S. sites earmarked to receive the first doses.

Familiar UPS and FedEx package delivery drivers, who may also be carrying holiday gifts and other parcels, will deliver many of the "suitcases" into the hands of healthcare providers on Monday. The shipments are the first of three expected this week.

Healthcare workers and elderly residents of long-term care homes are first in line to receive the inoculations.

Pfizer`s inoculations have the most restrictive requirements for shipping and storage temperature, minus 70 degrees Celsius (minus 94°F).

UPS and FedEx are giving the vaccine top priority, reserving space on planes and trucks at a time when pandemic- and holiday- related e-commerce are creating more demand for deliveries than carriers can handle.

Both companies have expertise handling fragile medical products and are leaving little room for error. They are providing temperature and location tracking to backup devices embedded in the Pfizer boxes, and tracking each shipment throughout its journey.

Tractor trailers loaded with suitcase-sized containers of COVID-19 vaccine will leave Pfizer Inc`s manufacturing facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on Sunday morning - launching the largest and most complex vaccine distribution project in the United States, where the virus is raging.

Tractor trailers loaded with suitcase-sized containers of COVID-19 vaccine will leave Pfizer Inc`s manufacturing facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on Sunday morning - launching the largest and most complex vaccine distribution project in the United States, where the virus is raging. U.S. regulators late on Friday authorized the vaccine from Pfizer and partner BioNTech for use, and U.S. marshals will accompany the tightly secured shipments from factory to final destination. "We have spent months strategizing with Operation Warp Speed officials and our healthcare customers on efficient vaccine logistics, and the time has arrived to put the plan into action," Wes Wheeler, president of UPS Healthcare, said on Saturday. Pfizer`s dry-ice cooled packages can hold as many as 4,875 doses, and the first leg of their journey will be from Kalamazoo to planes positioned nearby. Workers will load the vaccine - which must be kept at sub-Arctic temperatures - onto the aircraft that will shuttle them to United Parcel Service or FedEx air cargo hubs in Louisville, Kentucky, and Memphis, Tennessee, respectively. From there, they will be trucked or flown to facilities close to the 145 U.S. sites earmarked to receive the first doses. Familiar UPS and FedEx package delivery drivers, who may also be carrying holiday gifts and other parcels, will deliver many of the "suitcases" into the hands of healthcare providers on Monday. The shipments are the first of three expected this week. Healthcare workers and elderly residents of long-term care homes are first in line to receive the inoculations. Pfizer`s inoculations have the most restrictive requirements for shipping and storage temperature, minus 70 degrees Celsius (minus 94°F). UPS and FedEx are giving the vaccine top priority, reserving space on planes and trucks at a time when pandemic- and holiday- related e-commerce are creating more demand for deliveries than carriers can handle. Both companies have expertise handling fragile medical products and are leaving little room for error. They are providing temperature and location tracking to backup devices embedded in the Pfizer boxes, and tracking each shipment throughout its journey.

Historic US COVID vaccine campaign launches with convoy of trucks

This should be a season of hope: We will shortly be getting a highly effective coronavirus vaccine, and the pandemic should wind down in the coming months.

Yet this is the most wretched holiday season of my life. Consider:

— More Americans have died from COVID-19 in nine months than in combat over four years in World War II. The virus death toll exceeds 292,000, compared with 291,557 American World War II battle deaths.

— We’re sometimes now losing more Americans from the virus in a single day than perished in the Pearl Harbor attacks or 9/11. But contrary to viral memes floating around the internet, the virus is not creating the “deadliest days” in American history: In October 1918, in a much smaller population, more than 6,000 Americans died of the Spanish flu on average &lt;em&gt;each day for the entire month.&lt;/em&gt;

— If American states were treated as countries, the places with the highest per capita coronavirus death rates would be: Slovenia, South Dakota, North Dakota, Bulgaria, Iowa, Bosnia, Hungary, Croatia, Illinois, North Macedonia, Rhode Island, Nebraska, Kansas, Arkansas, San Marino.

A pandemic is a test of a country’s governance, and this is one the United States has failed. Much of that is on President Donald Trump’s colossal failure of leadership, but it also reflects a deeper skepticism about science and a proclivity toward personal irresponsibility — such as refusing to wear masks.

America’s unraveling was captured by the video of a district health board meeting in Idaho a few days ago to discuss a mask mandate. One member, Diana Lachiondo, received an emergency call and frantically interrupted the discussion.

“My 12-year-old son is home by himself right now, and there are protesters banging outside the door,” she said, so distraught that it’s hard to make out her exact words. “I’m going to go home.”

The terrified boy and his 8-year-old brother were home alone (their grandmother had taken the dog on a walk) as armed protesters arrived, screaming, blowing air horns and calling their mom a tyrant — for trying to save people’s lives with face masks.

“I am sad,” Lachiondo wrote later in a Facebook post. “I am tired …. There is an ugliness and cruelty in our national rhetoric that is reaching a fevered pitch here at home, and that should worry us all. And, above all, I am terrified about the virus’s current trajectory.”

She added: “I’m calling on Republican leaders who have politicized public health, who have amplified rhetoric, capitalized on it, tacitly endorsed it while holding hands with the most extreme factions in their party. Take a hard look at what you’ve become. It’s far past time to do better.”

Historically, national crises have always stressed the social fabric. The plague led to attacks on Jews and poor harvests set off witch trials. Today as well, too many politicians and ordinary Americans disdain science or any iota of personal responsibility, polarizing the country and misleading fellow citizens.

“Open America up,” Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., tweeted recently. “Masks don’t work,” said Ron Paul, the former Republican presidential candidate. Both these assertions defy science and public health recommendations; they are not just misleading but potentially lethal.

All this may worsen the pandemic.

“I think we’re going to go up for weeks,” warns Dr. Tom Frieden, a former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Cases are cresting in the upper Midwest, but that’s just from massively high rates, and the post-Thanksgiving bump is just beginning to play out.”

Just as the Thanksgiving bump fades, I fear, the Christmas bump will arrive.

It’s not that the coronavirus can’t be controlled: Europe had a terrible autumn wave but reined in the virus — while keeping schools open. Yet the United States as a whole still can’t match Europe in rationally managing the virus. That goes back to weak American governance; if only Trump tackled a real virus as aggressively as he does fake electoral rigging.

“Most European countries are doing their best with government messaging, restrictions on hospitality and indoor house visits, testing, tracing, soft-touch border restrictions and face coverings, whereas the U.S. looks like a free-for-all,” said Devi Sridhar, an American who is a professor of global health at the University of Edinburgh. She noted that European countries have also put in place structures — universal health care, sick pay, free testing — that make it easier to address a crisis like this.

While Republicans have been particularly irresponsible in resisting face masks, it is mostly local Democratic officials who have irresponsibly kept schools closed more than necessary. As I’ve argued since May, that exacerbates inequality and learning gaps — without significantly curbing the virus.

“If the status quo continues, students of color stand to lose 11 to 12 months of learning by the end of the (school) year,” McKinsey &amp;amp; Co. warns in a new report. White students would be set back by less, four to eight months, it says.

The United States is also bungling the economic response. The nonprofit Feeding America warns that the pandemic could cause food insecurity to affect 1 in 4 American children, but Congress has been unable to pass an emergency bill to support those out of work. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is recklessly trying to disable tools used by the Federal Reserve to address the economic crisis, apparently seeking to inflict more pain on Americans in the Biden administration.

Folks, we should be celebrating now. We have a new Pfizer vaccine that is 95% effective! Just behind it in the approval process is a vaccine from Moderna! By next summer, we should be able to emerge from our caves and hug each other again.

Except that by then hundreds of thousands of us will no longer be around.

The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation projects that more than 500,000 Americans will have died of the coronavirus by the end of March. It expects that vaccines will have saved 25,000 lives by then — but that broader mask usage in this period could save even more lives, 56,000.

“Vaccines are amazingly promising — much more so than I thought possible,” Frieden told me. “But they won’t be here for a while, so we need to double down on protection protocols.”

Refusing to wear a mask is today’s equivalent of drunken driving. The odds of killing someone are low, but collectively this year the refusal to wear masks will kill far more Americans than driving under the influence.

This is the test of our lifetimes. Let’s stop failing it.

This should be a season of hope: We will shortly be getting a highly effective coronavirus vaccine, and the pandemic should wind down in the coming months. Yet this is the most wretched holiday season of my life.

This should be a season of hope: We will shortly be getting a highly effective coronavirus vaccine, and the pandemic should wind down in the coming months. Yet this is the most wretched holiday season of my life. Consider: — More Americans have died from COVID-19 in nine months than in combat over four years in World War II. The virus death toll exceeds 292,000, compared with 291,557 American World War II battle deaths. — We’re sometimes now losing more Americans from the virus in a single day than perished in the Pearl Harbor attacks or 9/11. But contrary to viral memes floating around the internet, the virus is not creating the “deadliest days” in American history: In October 1918, in a much smaller population, more than 6,000 Americans died of the Spanish flu on average each day for the entire month. — If American states were treated as countries, the places with the highest per capita coronavirus death rates would be: Slovenia, South Dakota, North Dakota, Bulgaria, Iowa, Bosnia, Hungary, Croatia, Illinois, North Macedonia, Rhode Island, Nebraska, Kansas, Arkansas, San Marino. A pandemic is a test of a country’s governance, and this is one the United States has failed. Much of that is on President Donald Trump’s colossal failure of leadership, but it also reflects a deeper skepticism about science and a proclivity toward personal irresponsibility — such as refusing to wear masks. America’s unraveling was captured by the video of a district health board meeting in Idaho a few days ago to discuss a mask mandate. One member, Diana Lachiondo, received an emergency call and frantically interrupted the discussion. “My 12-year-old son is home by himself right now, and there are protesters banging outside the door,” she said, so distraught that it’s hard to make out her exact words. “I’m going to go home.” The terrified boy and his 8-year-old brother were home alone (their grandmother had taken the dog on a walk) as armed protesters arrived, screaming, blowing air horns and calling their mom a tyrant — for trying to save people’s lives with face masks. “I am sad,” Lachiondo wrote later in a Facebook post. “I am tired …. There is an ugliness and cruelty in our national rhetoric that is reaching a fevered pitch here at home, and that should worry us all. And, above all, I am terrified about the virus’s current trajectory.” She added: “I’m calling on Republican leaders who have politicized public health, who have amplified rhetoric, capitalized on it, tacitly endorsed it while holding hands with the most extreme factions in their party. Take a hard look at what you’ve become. It’s far past time to do better.” Historically, national crises have always stressed the social fabric. The plague led to attacks on Jews and poor harvests set off witch trials. Today as well, too many politicians and ordinary Americans disdain science or any iota of personal responsibility, polarizing the country and misleading fellow citizens. “Open America up,” Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., tweeted recently. “Masks don’t work,” said Ron Paul, the former Republican presidential candidate. Both these assertions defy science and public health recommendations; they are not just misleading but potentially lethal. All this may worsen the pandemic. “I think we’re going to go up for weeks,” warns Dr. Tom Frieden, a former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Cases are cresting in the upper Midwest, but that’s just from massively high rates, and the post-Thanksgiving bump is just beginning to play out.” Just as the Thanksgiving bump fades, I fear, the Christmas bump will arrive. It’s not that the coronavirus can’t be controlled: Europe had a terrible autumn wave but reined in the virus — while keeping schools open. Yet the United States as a whole still can’t match Europe in rationally managing the virus. That goes back to weak American governance; if only Trump tackled a real virus as aggressively as he does fake electoral rigging. “Most European countries are doing their best with government messaging, restrictions on hospitality and indoor house visits, testing, tracing, soft-touch border restrictions and face coverings, whereas the U.S. looks like a free-for-all,” said Devi Sridhar, an American who is a professor of global health at the University of Edinburgh. She noted that European countries have also put in place structures — universal health care, sick pay, free testing — that make it easier to address a crisis like this. While Republicans have been particularly irresponsible in resisting face masks, it is mostly local Democratic officials who have irresponsibly kept schools closed more than necessary. As I’ve argued since May, that exacerbates inequality and learning gaps — without significantly curbing the virus. “If the status quo continues, students of color stand to lose 11 to 12 months of learning by the end of the (school) year,” McKinsey &amp; Co. warns in a new report. White students would be set back by less, four to eight months, it says. The United States is also bungling the economic response. The nonprofit Feeding America warns that the pandemic could cause food insecurity to affect 1 in 4 American children, but Congress has been unable to pass an emergency bill to support those out of work. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is recklessly trying to disable tools used by the Federal Reserve to address the economic crisis, apparently seeking to inflict more pain on Americans in the Biden administration. Folks, we should be celebrating now. We have a new Pfizer vaccine that is 95% effective! Just behind it in the approval process is a vaccine from Moderna! By next summer, we should be able to emerge from our caves and hug each other again. Except that by then hundreds of thousands of us will no longer be around. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation projects that more than 500,000 Americans will have died of the coronavirus by the end of March. It expects that vaccines will have saved 25,000 lives by then — but that broader mask usage in this period could save even more lives, 56,000. “Vaccines are amazingly promising — much more so than I thought possible,” Frieden told me. “But they won’t be here for a while, so we need to double down on protection protocols.” Refusing to wear a mask is today’s equivalent of drunken driving. The odds of killing someone are low, but collectively this year the refusal to wear masks will kill far more Americans than driving under the influence. This is the test of our lifetimes. Let’s stop failing it.

This is the test of our lifetimes

The United States on Wednesday registered more than 3,000 deaths from Covid-19 in 24 hours.

According to the Johns Hopkins University tally, this was&nbsp;the highest daily toll since April.

American authorities warned a spike in deaths was coming after millions travelled around the country for the Thanksgiving holiday last month, ignoring pleas to stay home to slow the spread of the virus.

The US has now recorded a total of 289,188 Covid deaths, up by&nbsp;3,071 in 24 hours. It also registered nearly 220,481 new cases.

California, where some 33 million people were back under lockdown this week, saw more than 30,000 cases on Wednesday -- the highest 24-hour tally in a US state, according to the Covid Tracking Project.

The number of virus patients hospitalised in the US continues to break records, hitting 106,000 on Wednesday.

Over the past two weeks the US has exceeded 2,000 Covid-related deaths per day several times, rivalling tolls the worst-hit nation in the world saw in the early days of the pandemic.

Faced with massive and uncontrolled spread of the virus, American authorities have put their hopes in halting its spread on a vaccine.

US experts meet Thursday to examine Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine, which could be given emergency authorization in the coming days.

Some 15 million people have contracted Covid-19 in the US since the start of the pandemic.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;

The United States on Wednesday registered more than 3,000 deaths from Covid-19 in 24 hours. According to the Johns Hopkins University tally, this was the highest daily toll since April.

The United States on Wednesday registered more than 3,000 deaths from Covid-19 in 24 hours. According to the Johns Hopkins University tally, this was the highest daily toll since April. American authorities warned a spike in deaths was coming after millions travelled around the country for the Thanksgiving holiday last month, ignoring pleas to stay home to slow the spread of the virus. The US has now recorded a total of 289,188 Covid deaths, up by 3,071 in 24 hours. It also registered nearly 220,481 new cases. California, where some 33 million people were back under lockdown this week, saw more than 30,000 cases on Wednesday -- the highest 24-hour tally in a US state, according to the Covid Tracking Project. The number of virus patients hospitalised in the US continues to break records, hitting 106,000 on Wednesday. Over the past two weeks the US has exceeded 2,000 Covid-related deaths per day several times, rivalling tolls the worst-hit nation in the world saw in the early days of the pandemic. Faced with massive and uncontrolled spread of the virus, American authorities have put their hopes in halting its spread on a vaccine. US experts meet Thursday to examine Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine, which could be given emergency authorization in the coming days. Some 15 million people have contracted Covid-19 in the US since the start of the pandemic.

US Covid deaths exceed 3,000 in 24 hours

The United States for the third consecutive day on Saturday confirmed a record number of <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/coronavirus">coronavirus </a>infections in 24 hours with about 230,000 new cases, according to a tally by John Hopkins University.

In the same period, the US also recorded 2,527 Covid-19 deaths, according to the tally at 8:30 pm (0130 GMT).&nbsp;

Watch |&nbsp;

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/coronavirus-pandemic-devastates-rural-areas-of-us-wion-voa-co-production-347658/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

With the latest updates, there are more than 14.6 million coronavirus cases and over 281,000 deaths in the country since the beginning of the pandemic.&nbsp;

Also read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/covid-19-has-shown-disturbing-signs-of-self-interest-blame-shifting-division-who-chief-tedros-347781">COVID-19 has shown disturbing signs of self-interest, blame-shifting &amp; division: WHO chief Tedros</a>

The US, the worst-hit country from Covid-19, has seen a huge spike in recent weeks.

This resurgence of coronavirus crisis worsened following the Thanksgiving holiday, where several people violated health officials warnings of avoiding large gatherings and travelling.&nbsp;

The country is seeing more than 2,000 deaths on a daily basis for two weeks, a figure that was seen during the first wave of coronavirus outbreak in the country.&nbsp;

The number of hospitalisations has also increased sustantially, particularly in the most populous states of California, Florida, New York and Texas, according to the COVID Tracking Project.

Globally, the deadly virus has killed at least 1,519,213 people, according to a tally compiled by AFP at 1100 GMT on Saturday.

As many as 65,865,820 infections of coronavirus have also been registered.

The United States for the third consecutive day on Saturday confirmed a record number of coronavirus infections in 24 hours with about 230,000 new cases, according to a tally by John Hopkins University.

The United States for the third consecutive day on Saturday confirmed a record number of coronavirus infections in 24 hours with about 230,000 new cases, according to a tally by John Hopkins University. In the same period, the US also recorded 2,527 Covid-19 deaths, according to the tally at 8:30 pm (0130 GMT). Watch | With the latest updates, there are more than 14.6 million coronavirus cases and over 281,000 deaths in the country since the beginning of the pandemic. Also read | COVID-19 has shown disturbing signs of self-interest, blame-shifting & division: WHO chief Tedros The US, the worst-hit country from Covid-19, has seen a huge spike in recent weeks. This resurgence of coronavirus crisis worsened following the Thanksgiving holiday, where several people violated health officials warnings of avoiding large gatherings and travelling. The country is seeing more than 2,000 deaths on a daily basis for two weeks, a figure that was seen during the first wave of coronavirus outbreak in the country. The number of hospitalisations has also increased sustantially, particularly in the most populous states of California, Florida, New York and Texas, according to the COVID Tracking Project. Globally, the deadly virus has killed at least 1,519,213 people, according to a tally compiled by AFP at 1100 GMT on Saturday. As many as 65,865,820 infections of coronavirus have also been registered.

With over 230,000 new infections, US sees record Covid-19 cases for third day in a row

The <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/coronavirus">novel coronavirus </a>continues to rage in the United States unabated as it sees more than 210,000 cases, highest ever, in the last 24 hours on Thursday, according to a tally by John Hopkins University.&nbsp;

The US also recorded 2,907 deaths in the same period as the deadly virus once again spread the most devastation in the country on a daily basis.&nbsp;

Watch |&nbsp;

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/us-coronavirus-daily-deaths-surpasses-3000-347334/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

The worst-hit Covid-19 country passed another grim milestone on Thursday as more than 100,000 people are hospitalized in the country for the first time.&nbsp;

Also read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/former-us-presidents-biden-agree-to-get-vaccinated-on-camera-to-spread-awareness-347341">Former US presidents, Biden agree to get vaccinated on camera to spread awareness</a>

California imposed stay-at-home orders to curb the transmission on a region-by-region basis when available ICU-bed space declines to 15% of capacity or less in any of five designated geographic areas of the state.&nbsp;

A notice of 48 hours will be given before the restrictions are imposed for three weeks.&nbsp;

The coronavirus crisis in the United States worsened after the Thanksgiving holiday as several people violated guidelines to avoid travelling and participation in large gatherings.&nbsp;

Meanwhile, US President-elect Joe Biden said after he takes office, on the very first day he would ask Americans to wear masks for 100 days to help curb the spread of the virus.&nbsp;

Biden and former US presidents, namely, Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton have said that they will get inoculated on television to encourage people to get vaccinated.&nbsp;

The novel coronavirus continues to rage in the United States unabated as it sees more than 210,000 cases, highest ever, in the last 24 hours on Thursday, according to a tally by John Hopkins University.

The novel coronavirus continues to rage in the United States unabated as it sees more than 210,000 cases, highest ever, in the last 24 hours on Thursday, according to a tally by John Hopkins University. The US also recorded 2,907 deaths in the same period as the deadly virus once again spread the most devastation in the country on a daily basis. Watch | The worst-hit Covid-19 country passed another grim milestone on Thursday as more than 100,000 people are hospitalized in the country for the first time. Also read | Former US presidents, Biden agree to get vaccinated on camera to spread awareness California imposed stay-at-home orders to curb the transmission on a region-by-region basis when available ICU-bed space declines to 15% of capacity or less in any of five designated geographic areas of the state. A notice of 48 hours will be given before the restrictions are imposed for three weeks. The coronavirus crisis in the United States worsened after the Thanksgiving holiday as several people violated guidelines to avoid travelling and participation in large gatherings. Meanwhile, US President-elect Joe Biden said after he takes office, on the very first day he would ask Americans to wear masks for 100 days to help curb the spread of the virus. Biden and former US presidents, namely, Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton have said that they will get inoculated on television to encourage people to get vaccinated.

Coronavirus in US: Highest-ever 210,000 new cases recorded

The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will shorten the recommended length of quarantine after exposure to someone who is positive for COVID-19, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday.

The updated guidelines will let people who have come in contact to someone infected with the coronavirus to end quarantine after 10 days, or seven days provided they receive a negative test result, the report said.

That's down from the 14-day period recommended since the onset of the pandemic.

The policy change has been discussed for some time, as scientists have studied the incubation period for the virus. It was discussed Tuesday at a White House coronavirus task force meeting.

The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will shorten the recommended length of quarantine after exposure to someone who is positive for COVID-19, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday.

The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will shorten the recommended length of quarantine after exposure to someone who is positive for COVID-19, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday. The updated guidelines will let people who have come in contact to someone infected with the coronavirus to end quarantine after 10 days, or seven days provided they receive a negative test result, the report said. That's down from the 14-day period recommended since the onset of the pandemic. The policy change has been discussed for some time, as scientists have studied the incubation period for the virus. It was discussed Tuesday at a White House coronavirus task force meeting.

US CDC to shorten COVID-19 quarantine to 10 days

The United States in the last 24 hours confirmed more than 2,200 coronavirus deaths, highest ever since May, according to a tally by the Johns Hopkins University tally on Thursday.

As per the latest updates at 0030 GMT Friday, there were 200,146 new infections and 2,239 deaths in the country in the last 24 hours, taking the total caseload to 11,698,661 and death toll to 252,419 respectively.&nbsp;

Also read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/one-person-dying-every-17-seconds-in-europe-due-to-coronavirus-who-344188">One person dying every 17 seconds in Europe due to coronavirus: WHO</a>

The US is seeing a huge uptick in cases and deaths for the last several days and US authorities have urged people to avoid travel next week for the Thanksgiving holiday.&nbsp;

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/oxford-astrazeneca-vaccine-safe-for-older-adults-results-show-344093">Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine safe for older adults, results show</a>

The country is recording over 1,000 Covid-19 deaths and 150,000 new cases on a daily basis.

On Thursday, the US surpassed another grim milestone of 250,000 coronavirus deaths, far more than any other country.&nbsp;

Several US cities are reimposing new restrictions, including home confinement and limiting gatherings and in the latest California on Thursday announced a night-time curfew to prevent the spread of the virus.

New York City had earlier announced that schools would be shut down again to battle the surge in Covid-19 cases.

Meanwhile, President-elect Joe Biden has stated clearly that there will no national shutdown as seen in some European nations due to a rise in cases. &nbsp; 
&nbsp;

The United States in the last 24 hours confirmed more than 2,200 coronavirus deaths, highest ever since May, according to a tally by the Johns Hopkins University tally on Thursday.

The United States in the last 24 hours confirmed more than 2,200 coronavirus deaths, highest ever since May, according to a tally by the Johns Hopkins University tally on Thursday. As per the latest updates at 0030 GMT Friday, there were 200,146 new infections and 2,239 deaths in the country in the last 24 hours, taking the total caseload to 11,698,661 and death toll to 252,419 respectively. Also read | One person dying every 17 seconds in Europe due to coronavirus: WHO The US is seeing a huge uptick in cases and deaths for the last several days and US authorities have urged people to avoid travel next week for the Thanksgiving holiday. Also read | Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine safe for older adults, results show The country is recording over 1,000 Covid-19 deaths and 150,000 new cases on a daily basis. On Thursday, the US surpassed another grim milestone of 250,000 coronavirus deaths, far more than any other country. Several US cities are reimposing new restrictions, including home confinement and limiting gatherings and in the latest California on Thursday announced a night-time curfew to prevent the spread of the virus. New York City had earlier announced that schools would be shut down again to battle the surge in Covid-19 cases. Meanwhile, President-elect Joe Biden has stated clearly that there will no national shutdown as seen in some European nations due to a rise in cases.

Coronavirus: US continues to battle huge uptick as it sees over 2,200 new deaths

The United States on Wednesday surpassed another grim figure as it became the first country to see more than 250,000 coronavirus deaths.&nbsp;

The US has now reported 250,029 fatalities, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University, the highest national death toll so far.&nbsp;

Also read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/a-participant-in-modernas-covid-19-vaccine-trials-reveals-its-side-effects-343937">A participant in Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine trials reveals its side effects</a>

The latest announcement came at a time when several US states and cities are imposing new restrictions, that include home confinement and limiting gatherings to contain the spread of the deadly virus.&nbsp;

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/final-results-show-coronavirus-vaccine-95-effective-says-pfizer-343912">Final results show coronavirus vaccine 95% effective, says Pfizer</a>

The US now routinely is witnessing more than 1,000 Covid-19 deaths and 150,000 new cases on a daily basis.

New York City, which became the virus's epicentre when Covid-19 first hit the US, has announced that schools would be closed again to battle the surge in cases.

"We must fight back the second wave of Covid-19," said New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, as quoted by news agency AFP.&nbsp;

Globally, over 1.3 million people have died and more than 55 million have been infected with the coronavirus that was first detected in China late last year, as per an AFP tally.&nbsp;

Brazil has the second-highest death toll with 166,699 fatalities, followed by India with 130,993 deaths and Mexico with 99,026.

The United States on Wednesday surpassed another grim figure as it became the first country to see more than 250,000 coronavirus deaths. The US has now reported 250,029 fatalities, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University, the highest national death toll so far.

The United States on Wednesday surpassed another grim figure as it became the first country to see more than 250,000 coronavirus deaths. The US has now reported 250,029 fatalities, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University, the highest national death toll so far. Also read | A participant in Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine trials reveals its side effects The latest announcement came at a time when several US states and cities are imposing new restrictions, that include home confinement and limiting gatherings to contain the spread of the deadly virus. Also read | Final results show coronavirus vaccine 95% effective, says Pfizer The US now routinely is witnessing more than 1,000 Covid-19 deaths and 150,000 new cases on a daily basis. New York City, which became the virus's epicentre when Covid-19 first hit the US, has announced that schools would be closed again to battle the surge in cases. "We must fight back the second wave of Covid-19," said New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, as quoted by news agency AFP. Globally, over 1.3 million people have died and more than 55 million have been infected with the coronavirus that was first detected in China late last year, as per an AFP tally. Brazil has the second-highest death toll with 166,699 fatalities, followed by India with 130,993 deaths and Mexico with 99,026.

US coronavirus death toll crosses 250,000 as several cities shut down schools

Nearly 91,000 cases were reported on Saturday, with 909 deaths and record hospitalizations for the sixth straight day in the Midwest

Over 91,000 Covid cases reported as America went to polls

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