This is what happens with the pandemic in the US on Sunday:
– Public health officials have been complaining for months that they do not have enough support or money to get COVID-19 vaccines up in arms quickly. Now the slower than expected start of the largest vaccination effort in US history proves them right. As they work to ramp up the shots, state and local public health departments in the US cite a variety of obstacles, most notably a lack of federal government leadership. Many officials fear that at the height of the pandemic they will lose valuable time and that the delays could cost lives.
House legislators may have been exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID-19 while hiding in a secret location during the Capitol siege by a violent mob loyal to President Donald Trump. The Capitol’s attending physician notified all lawmakers on Sunday about the exposure to viruses and urged them to get tested. The infected person was not named.
In a growing consensus, religious leaders are at the forefront of the anti-abortion movement in the United States, followers say the major vaccines available to combat COVID-19 are acceptable given their external and indirect connection to lines of cells from aborted fetuses.
THE NUMBERS: According to data through Jan. 9 from Johns Hopkins University, the seven-day moving average for daily new deaths in the US has increased from 2,243.3 on Dec. 26 to 3,174 on Jan. 9 in the past two weeks.
DEATH TOLL: The number of COVID-19 related deaths in the US stands at 372,522.
QUOTABLE: “Asking God for help but then refusing the vaccine makes no more sense than calling the emergency number when your house is on fire, but refusing to let the firefighters in. There is no legitimate faith-based reason for refusing to take the vaccine. – Southern Baptist megachurch Pastor Robert Jeffress, who has called the vaccines a “gift from God.”
ICYMI: Ten months after the outbreak of US viral outbreak, low-income workers still suffer most from job losses. Layoffs remain highly concentrated in the industries that have suffered the most, as there is personal contact that is now nearly impossible: restaurants, bars and hotels, theaters, sports arenas and concert halls. With the virus changing consumer spending habits, economists believe some of these service jobs will not return, even after the economy is back on track.
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Find AP’s full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic.