The global number of COVID-19 deaths reached 2 million
THREE THINGS TO KNOW TODAY
– The global death toll from COVID-19 has reached 2 million. Johns Hopkins University reported the milestone on Friday amid a monumental but uneven effort to vaccinate people against the coronavirus. Some countries are seeing real hope of overcoming outbreaks. In wealthy countries, including the United States, Britain, Israel, Canada and Germany, tens of millions of citizens have already been shot. But elsewhere, immunization initiatives are barely off the ground. Many health experts are predicting yet another year of losses and difficulties in places like Iran, India, Mexico and Brazil. These four countries are responsible for about a quarter of the deaths in the world.
– Coronavirus vaccines have been distributed unevenly in the United States, but some states in the Deep South have had particularly disappointing inoculation rates. Data from the states and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that less than 2% of the population in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and South Carolina received their first dose of vaccine earlier this week. The best states managed to inject more than 5% of their population. Although it is unclear why the region is lagging behind, public health researchers note that it has typically lagged in financing public health systems and addressing disparities in serving its large rural population.
– As US states implement the COVID-19 vaccine for people aged 65 and over, the elderly are struggling to figure out how to apply for vaccines. Many states and counties ask people to consult online. But troubled websites, overburdened phone lines and a patchwork of rapidly changing rules are plaguing older people, who generally have less technology knowledge. Many also live far from vaccination sites and are more likely to not have access to the Internet, especially people of color and the poor. The elderly, doctors and other health officials say there has been a wave of confusion.
THE NUMBERS: The USA averages about 240,000 new cases and more than 3,300 deaths per day. The death toll in the country since the pandemic began is now more than 388,000.
QUOTE: “Behind this terrible number are names and faces – the smile that will now only be a memory, the forever empty seat at the dining table, the room that echoes with the silence of a loved one.”
– UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres after the global number of COVID-19 deaths reached 2 million.
ICYMI: Americans cut spending in December for the third consecutive month, as an increase in virus cases kept people away from stores during the critical holiday shopping season. The Commerce Department said retail sales fell in December with a seasonal adjustment of 0.7% from the previous month, a drop that Wall Street analysts did not expect. The unexpected decline highlights the economy’s problems with the worsening of the pandemic this winter.
ON THE HORIZON: Scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that a new, more infectious strain of coronavirus – found for the first time in the UK – may become the dominant strain in the United States. Health officials have raised concerns about the strain and are looking like the alarm.
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