Number of deaths due COVID-19 has exceeded 3 million worldwide, according to a report from Johns Hopkins University. More than 566,000 of these deaths have occurred in the United States, which is now experiencing an increase in coronavirus cases, despite efforts to vaccinate people.
About 40% of Americans have received at least one dose of COVID vaccine, and almost a quarter of them are fully vaccinated.
But, as Tom Hanson reports for “CBS This Morning: Saturday,” new variants of the virus are fueling the latest increase in cases.
“The good news is that vaccines are launching at an excellent pace,” said Dr. David Ho of Columbia University. “The bad news is that variants are everywhere.”
Ho is looking at another variant, identified in his laboratory at Columbia University in New York.
“It’s worrying because it’s spreading at a rate that’s the same as the British version, and we know the British version is more transmissible and more lethal,” he said.
More deaths have been reported in the United States than in any other country. Globally, the number of deaths since the outbreak in Wuhan, China, more than a year ago is higher than the population of Chicago and equivalent to Dallas and Philadelphia, combined. It is roughly equal to Kiev, the population of Ukraine and metropolitan Lisbon, the Associated Press reported.
Success in controlling the virus varies greatly from country to country, and places like India and Brazil are experiencing a worsening crisis.
MICHAEL DANTAS / AFP through Getty Images
In the United States, the hunt for variants caused by mutations in coronavirus is carried out from coast to coast.
“We are clearly in the danger zone,” said Washington Gov. Jay Inslee.
Vaccine manufacturers are preparing for booster photos to combat the variants – at least the known ones.
“There are already ongoing clinical trials targeting an increase in the original wow virus vaccine, as well as an increase in a specific variant,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci.
The Biden administration is behind the momentum, announcing on Friday that $ 1.7 billion will be spent on detecting variants.
At the same time, Johnson & Johnson vaccine, available only since March, remains on hold while a handful of blood clots are investigated to see if that vaccine has caused complications.
A CDC advisory committee is scheduled to meet next week to report continued use.