Here is what happens on Wednesday with the coronavirus pandemic in the USA:
THREE THINGS TO KNOW TODAY
– A number of states say they no longer have the vaccine, and tens of thousands of people who managed to get appointments for a first dose see them canceled. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said about half of the 31 million doses distributed to states by the federal government have been administered so far. Only about 2 million people received the two doses needed for maximum protection against the virus.
– President Joe Biden signs a series of executive actions reversing its predecessor’s orders on immigration, climate change and the coronavirus pandemic. Biden calls for the use of masks and social distancing in all federal buildings, on federal land, and by federal employees and contractors. Biden also urges the government to join the World Health Organization.
– Entry Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reaches an agency that was demoted to 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, while the number of deaths from coronavirus in the United States has exceeded 400,000, and the largest campaign vaccination in the history of the nation encounters confusion and delays.
FIGURES: The US has an average of about 201,000 new cases and about 3,000 deaths every day. The death toll from the nation since the beginning of the pandemic now stands at about 403,000.
QUOTABLE: “It’s so incredible, 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 death toll in the United States exceeded 400,000.
ICYMI: California Officials Hope President Joe Biden As He Struggles to Get Coronavirus Vaccines and to reduce an increase in infections that crowded hospitals and morgues. The San Francisco Department of Public Health says it may run out of vaccines on Thursday. Los Angeles County is beginning to inoculate people 65 and older, despite the shortage.
ON THE HORIZON: Biden takes over as 46th president of the United States His first ambitious 100-day plan includes a push to accelerate the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines to Americans and to pass a 1.9 pandemic aid package trillions of dollars.
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Find full AP coverage of the coronavirus pandemic at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic