This is what is happening with the coronavirus pandemic in the US on Wednesday:
THREE THINGS TO KNOW TODAY
– A number of states report that the vaccine is running low, and tens of thousands of people who have managed to get first-dose appointments are seeing them canceled. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said about half of the 31 million doses dispensed to states by the federal government have been administered so far. Only about 2 million people have received the two doses necessary for maximum protection against the virus.
President Joe Biden signs a series of executive actions who are reversing his predecessor’s orders on immigration, climate change and the coronavirus pandemic. Biden demands the use of masks and social distancing in all federal buildings, on federal land, and by federal employees and contractors. Biden also orders the government to rejoin the World Health Organization.
– The incoming director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention arrives at a desk that was put on the sidelines during the pandemic. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, 51, an infectious disease specialist at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, arrives at the CDC this week as the U.S. coronavirus death toll exceeded 400,000 and the largest vaccination campaign in the country’s history confuses and delays.
THE FIGURES: The US has an average of about 201,000 new cases and about 3,000 deaths per day. The nation’s death toll since the start of the pandemic is now about 403,000.
QUOTABLE: “It is so unbelievably, unimaginably sad that so many people have died who could have been avoided.” – Cliff Daniels, Chief Strategy Officer for Methodist Hospital in Southern California, near Los Angeles, after the US death toll was over 400,000.
ICYMI: California Officials Putting Hopes on President Joe Biden as They Struggle to Get Coronavirus Vaccines and to quell a wave of infections that has led to overcrowded hospitals and morgues. San Francisco’s public health department says the vaccine is likely to run out Thursday. Los Angeles County, despite its scarcity, is beginning to vaccinate people 65 and older.
ON THE HORIZON: Biden has taken office as the 46th US president. Its ambitious first 100-day plan includes an effort to accelerate the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines to Americans and deliver a $ 1.9 trillion pandemic relief package.
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Find AP’s full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic