[ad_1]
And some local leaders warn that the worst is yet to come. “We are still going to have our darkest and most difficult days,” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti told CNN.
In Georgia, Governor Brian Kemp said a convention center will begin accepting patients later this week and will have 60 additional beds to “help ensure that our hospitals continue to have the capacity they need for Covid and non-Covid patients.” “
Arizona health officials say new cases remain high and there is an increase in hospitalizations and deaths.
And experts warned that the numbers across the country could rise further in the coming weeks, an increase due to the meetings and trips that took place over the holidays.
Despite repeated calls by local and state leaders for people to celebrate with only members of their household, millions of Americans chose to spend time away from home. On Wednesday, the Transportation Security Administration reported its fourth busiest day of the pandemic, examining more than a million people for the fifth day in a row.
How are vaccine distributions going?
Vaccines are ongoing across the country, but experts say it will be months before vaccines become widespread enough to change the course of the pandemic.
The initial supply, the governor’s office said, will be “extremely limited and people should contact a designated pharmacy to schedule appointments before going to get vaccinated.”
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Thursday that he expects the city to administer one million doses by the end of January.
“Like any good New Year’s resolution, one million doses by the end of January is an ambitious goal to say the least,” he said. “We’re doing everything we can to vaccinate as many New Yorkers as possible, but to really pick up the pace, we need our federal and state partners on board, and fast. It will be tough, but I think we can do that.”
As distribution expands to the general public, the mayor said the vaccine will be available first to the hardest hit neighborhoods.
So far, more than 12.4 million doses of vaccines have been distributed across the country and more than 2.7 million have been administered. Deployment has been slower than many officials expected, but if the United States can “catch up” in 2021, widespread vaccination could be possible starting in April, said Dr. Anthony Fauci.
“Let’s say April will be what I call ‘open season,’ meaning anyone who wants to get vaccinated can do it,” Fauci said. “If we then diligently vaccinate people in April, May, June and July, we will gradually and remarkably gain a degree of protection that approximates herd immunity.”
By the start of autumn, Fauci said, “we will have enough herd immunity to really return to a strong semblance of normalcy.”
Florida has evidence of a variant case in the UK
Meanwhile, more states are starting to Report cases of the Covid-19 variant that was first detected in the UK.
“The Department is working with the CDC on this investigation. We encourage everyone to continue to practice Covid-19 mitigation,” the state health department wrote on Twitter.
California health officials also said earlier this week that the variant was detected in a 30-year-old San Diego man, who is not hospitalized and had very few social interactions during his potentially contagious period.
But experts have said they expect there will be many more cases across the country that simply haven’t been detected.
“An unknown travel history means this person picked you up in the community,” Dr. Atul Gawande, a member of Biden-Harris’ Covid-19 transition advisory board, previously told CNN.
“If this mutation, this mutated virus, which is more contagious, is not yet widespread and is starting to spread, that means it will be even more important to follow the approaches that we know work,” he said.
CNN’s Sarah Moon, Jennifer Henderson and Kristina Sgueglia contributed to this report.
[ad_2]
