Moderna vaccine gets thumbs-up; states say their allotments are being cut; COVID-19 now nation’s leading cause of death
USA TODAY is keeping track of the news surrounding COVID-19 as vaccines begin to roll out nationwide. Just this week, the U.S. marked the stark milestone of more than 300,000 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic. Keep refreshing this page for the latest updates on vaccine distribution, including who is getting the shots and where, as well as other COVID-19 news from across the USA TODAY Network. Sign up for our Coronavirus Watch newsletter for updates directly to your inbox, join our Facebook group or scroll through our in-depth answers to reader questions for everything you need to know about the coronavirus.
In the headlines:
► The Moderna COVID-19 vaccine cleared a major hurdle Thursday when it got the overwhelming support of an advisory committee to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the second vaccine to be authorized in about a week. Committee members voted 20–0 with one abstention in favor of the Moderna vaccine, which uses a similar technology as the one developed by Pfizer and BioNTech. It could receive emergency use authorization by Friday.
► California legislators will consider a newly introduced bill that would give farmworkers, grocery store employees and other food sector workers priority for getting the COVID-19 vaccine and rapid testing.
► French President Emmanuel Macron has tested positive for COVID-19. He joins President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson among world leaders who have been infected.
► Rep. Joe Wilson, the Republican from South Carolina who earned notoriety when he yelled “You lie!’’ during President Barack Obama’s address to Congress in 2009, said he has tested positive for the coronavirus and doesn’t have symptoms.
► New York City-run hospitals canceled elective surgeries as of Tuesday in anticipation of increased hospitalizations due to COVID-19, Dr. Mitchell Katz, CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals, said Thursday. There were almost 11,000 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday across New York, with hospitalizations reaching over 6,100, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced.
► California on Wednesday reported more than 53,000 new coronavirus cases and 293 deaths. Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said two people are dying every hour in the county. “We’re experiencing an explosive and very deadly surge,” she said.
https://www.reddit.com/r/GGGvSzeremetafree/
https://www.reddit.com/r/GGGvSzeremetafree/comments/kfsqh8/watch_szeremeta_vs_gg_g_live_streamsreddit/
Get the Coronavirus Watch newsletter in your inbox.
Stay safe and informed with updates on the spread of the coronavirus
📈 Today’s numbers: The U.S. has 17.1 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 309,000 deaths. The global totals: More than 74.4 million cases and 1.65 million deaths.
Here’s a closer look at today’s top stories:
States complain of reduced vaccine allotments
Several states are voicing concern over the amount of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine they’ll receive in its second week of distribution, saying they’ve been told to expect significantly fewer doses. Other states, including Iowa, are saying they’re getting less than they expected in this week’s initial wave.
Senior Trump administration officials on Thursday downplayed the issue, citing confusion over semantics and changes to the delivery schedule rather than the amount, while Pfizer said its production levels remain the same.
Governors and health leaders in at least 10 states — including Michigan, Washington, Illinois, Montana, Kansas, Nebraska, New Hampshire and Indiana — said federal officials told them smaller shipments would be coming next week.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee wrote on Twitter that the CDC said his state’s allotment would be cut by 40%, and all other states would experience similar reductions.
“This is disruptive and frustrating. We need accurate, predictable numbers to plan and ensure on-the-ground success,’’ Inslee wrote. “No explanation was given.’’
COVID-19 now more deadly than heart disease and cancer
COVID-19 has surpassed heart disease and cancer as the leading cause of death in the U.S., according to an editorial published Thursday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University make the point that the surge in COVID-19 fatalities, from a weekly average of 826 daily deaths in November to more than 2,400 now, has turned the illness caused by the coronavirus into the nation’s №1 killer. Heart disease and cancer averaged about 1,700 and 1,600 daily deaths, respectively.
