With the vaccine closer and closer, the US exceeds 15 million cases of coronavirus

FILE PHOTO: A woman holds a vial labeled “COVID-19 Coronavirus Vaccine” on dry ice in this illustration taken on December 5, 2020. REUTERS / Dado Ruvic / Illustration

NEW YORK – U.S. coronavirus cases crossed the 15 million mark on Tuesday as regulators moved one step closer to approving a COVID-19 vaccine and Britain began inoculating people, offering hope of slowing down. a pandemic that killed 15,000 Americans in the last week alone.

Record cases in at least three states – Arizona, Alabama and Ohio – brought the cumulative burden of cases to more than 15 million, according to a Reuters tally of state and county data. With the virus showing no signs of abating, top health officials once again sound the alarm of further spread when people gather for the end of the year holidays.

“We are facing a very challenging period,” infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci told a virtual summit Tuesday.

In good news, Pfizer Inc overcame another hurdle Tuesday when the US Food and Drug Administration released documents that raised no new red flags about the safety or efficacy of the vaccine it developed with Germany’s BioNTech SE.

The documents were prepared ahead of a meeting of an external advisory panel Thursday to discuss whether to recommend FDA emergency use authorization (US) for the Pfizer vaccine. That could eventually bring relief to weakening hospitals with a record 101,498 COVID-19 patients as of Monday, up 16% in a week. Healthcare workers are expected to be among the first to receive the vaccine if they receive an EUA.

Health officials forecast a quick green light that will allow the United States to join Britain, which became the first Western nation to begin mass inoculations with the Pfizer vaccine on Tuesday.

The FDA advisory panel is expected to review Moderna Inc’s COVID-19 vaccine next week, which could provide the public with two vaccines that could be distributed in the coming weeks.

While China and Russia have moved forward with their own vaccines, Britain’s Margaret Keenan, 90, became the first person to receive the Pfizer vaccine outside of clinical trials when she received an injection at her local hospital in Coventry, in the central England.

The United States urgently needs a new tool to combat a virus that is out of control. Another 203,474 infections were reported Monday and 1,582 people died.

Holiday waves

In Arizona, one of 14 states without a mask mandate, health officials reported more than 12,000 new coronavirus cases Tuesday, eclipsing the previous record of 6,799 on Dec. 5.

Alabama, which along with Arizona is among about half of the US states that have not enacted new restrictions during the latest virus wave, also recorded a record number of cases Tuesday, as did Ohio, according to a Reuters analysis.

Experts and officials expected an increase in cases, hospitalizations and deaths after the Thanksgiving holiday when many Americans traveled to be with family and friends.

In an effort to curb rapidly growing virus metrics, North Carolina became the latest state to clamp down on business and social activities. Gov. Ray Cooper on Tuesday filed an order beginning Friday that will require residents to stay home between 10 p.m. M. And 5 a. M., And that businesses, including restaurants, bars, and most retail stores, close at 10 p.m.

“A month ago, we were deeply concerned to see that daily case counts surpassed 3,000. Now, we are surprised that the number has doubled, with some daily counts of more than 6,000, “Cooper wrote on Twitter.

In California, the majority of the population is under new and heavy restrictions, and in Washington state, Governor Jay Inslee extended a package of restrictions for three weeks, including limits on gatherings and a ban on eating indoors. .

Twenty-six states have recently enacted state measures to curb the spread of the virus.

President Donald Trump, who will be succeeded by President-elect Joe Biden on January 20, has downplayed public health measures such as wearing masks and social distancing to stop the spread of the virus, focusing instead on vaccine development. .

Trump was due to sign an executive order Tuesday aimed at ensuring that priority access to COVID-19 vaccines purchased by the United States government is granted to the American people before helping other nations.

Dr. Moncef Slaoui, leader of the administration’s Operation Warp Speed ​​vaccine development program, said Tuesday that he was confident that there will be enough vaccines to immunize between 70% and 80% of the American population by mid-May. .

But Slaoui, speaking in an interview with Fox News, said he was more concerned about the number of Americans rejecting medical science and fear that vaccines are unsafe or a conspiracy to harm the public than about supply problems.

“The biggest concern I have is the level of hesitancy in the population to accept whether they will be immunized or not,” Slaoui said, pleading with people to keep an open mind. “Please do not come to a conclusion before you have been exposed to the data.”

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