USA TODAY is tracking the news surrounding COVID-19 as a pair of vaccines join the US fight against a virus that has killed nearly 375,000 Americans since the first reported death in February. Keep updating this page for the latest updates surrounding the coronavirus, including who gets vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, plus other important news across the USA TODAY network. Subscribe to the Coronavirus Watch newsletter To get updates directly to your inbox, Join our Facebook group or Scroll through our in-depth answers to our readers’ questions For everything you need to know about Coronavirus.
In the titles:
► President-elect Joe Biden will receive his second dose of COVID-19 vaccine on Monday. Biden and his wife received the first Pfizer-BioNTech vaccinations on December 21 at ChristianaCare Hospital in Newark, Delaware, As part of a campaign by senior officials to demonstrate that the vaccine is safe and effective.
On Sunday, the attending physician said to Congress that elected officials and their staff have been exposed to a person infected with the COVID-19 virus while the US Capitol building was closed during an armed incursion by pro-Trump rioters. Tennessee Attorney Chuck Fleishman tweeted Sunday that he had done so He tested positive for the virus After contacting another member of Congress.
On Monday, the government said that experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) will arrive in China on Thursday to conduct a long-awaited investigation into the origin of the coronavirus. The flight was originally scheduled for last week but was postponed after Chinese officials said the flight path was still under negotiation.
► Chicago Public Schools, the nation’s third-largest public school system, will reopen its doors Monday to 6,000 students in kindergarten and special education for the first time since March.
► Johns Hopkins data shows that we have a record number of deaths in a week to a day in a row, at 22676. At this rate, an American dies every 27 seconds. Cases in a week are the second-worst cases on record, at 1710110.
► Anger and frustration are rising Across the United States as the federal government is leaving states to deal with the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.
📈 Today’s numbers: The United States has more than 22.4 million confirmed cases of coronavirus and 374,000 deaths, According to data from Johns Hopkins University. Global Totals: More than90.2 million cases and 1.9 million deaths.
📘 What we read: Millions of Americans with intellectual disabilities are at particularly high risk for COVID-19. They are still waiting for vaccinations.
The study found that more than 75% of patients were still experiencing symptoms of COVID after six months of recovery
Chinese study It was published Friday in the peer-reviewed journal The Lancet, Found that more than 75% of COVID-19 patients reported symptoms six months after hospital discharge.
In what the British Journal described as the largest study yet of so-called “COVID-19 longhaulers”, researchers looked at 1,733 patients from Jin Yin Tan Hospital in Wuhan, China, where the coronavirus pandemic originated.
More than 60% of patients reported fatigue and muscle weakness, about 25% reported difficulty sleeping and hair loss, and 23% reported anxiety and depression.
Researchers said evaluating lung function found that a “significant percentage” of patients had a pulmonary defect six months after symptoms appeared, 22% to 56% across different levels of severity.
“There is a lot of anger”: the launch of the vaccine leaves people scrambling to find vaccines
As of Friday, states had received 22.1 million doses of vaccines. Of these, about 6.7 million – less than a third – were administered.
Federal officials point to a host of reasons for Delayed distribution of the vaccine, Including vaccination regimens still preparing, Federal funding not yet disbursed To the states and a requirement to allocate vaccines to long-term care facilities.
Add to this two holidays, bad weather in some areas, and the need to train medical professionals to prepare and administer two vaccines that require special storage and handling.
And a host of rules and procedures across the country add to the confusion. In Florida, For example, elderly people 65 and over are in the first phase of vaccine deployment. In Texas, the elderly and people with medical fragility in the second stage. In New York, they are in Stage Three. Read more here.
– Andrea Ball
How to immunize yourself against misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine
Senior scholars I created an online directory To provide people with scientific facts and practical advice to fight the lies, deceit and conspiracy theories that threaten public confidence in COVID-19 vaccines.
Over twenty leading experts in vaccine psychology, education, and virology They say they volunteered with contributions To the COVID-19 Vaccine Communication Handbook to deal with misinformation and propaganda by anti-vaccination activists that can lower vaccination rates and cause unnecessary deaths.
Even as coronavirus cases increase and hospitals flood with critically ill patients, opposition to vaccines resonates, not just in marginal communities, but with large swaths of the mainstream in America. Studies show that believing in COVID-19 lies can discourage people from getting vaccinated.
– Jessica Jane
There are two main types of COVID-19. Should you be worried?
Two main types of the virus that causes COVID-19 have appeared in recent weeks, but neither of them is more dangerous than the virus that spread last year, experts say, and the available vaccines must remain effective.
Viral mutations cause concerns because they may render tests, treatments and vaccines ineffective, and alter disease characteristics, making it more or less dangerous and dangerous.
The new variants appear to eliminate the old variants, raising concerns about whether the changes will affect the course of the disease or efforts to curb it. So far, though, the new variants don’t seem to be of much concern.
Over the course of more than a year of circulation, the virus has mutated several times, but only these two newer variables – one first appearing in the United Kingdom and the other in South Africa – seem to make a huge difference to its function. Read more here.
Karen Weintraub
Intensive care beds have expanded, and body bags are playing a stand against California hospitals
When the icon is blue It appears at St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard, California, Nurse Yesenia Avila received a small prayer in reference to cardiac arrest.
“We’ve never seen this much death before,” said Avila Friday. “I’ve been in healthcare for 22 years, and I’ve never felt fear. Now, I… fear for my kids.”
Every bed in the ICU is full most of the time as the new Corona virus rushes forward. If the bed is open, the nurses said, it often means the patient has died.
On Saturday, California health authorities reported a record-breaking total of 695 deaths due to the Coronavirus, as many hospitals were straining in light of an unprecedented number of cases. The death toll in California has risen since the start of the pandemic to 29,233, according to the state’s Department of Public Health website.
Los Angeles plans to convert its largest test site at Dodgers Stadium into a comprehensive vaccination center this week. KTLA-TV ReportsAiming to vaccinate up to 12,000 people per day when it is fully operational.
– Tom Keskin, Ventura County (California) star
Contribution: The Associated Press
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