One American Dead From Covid Every 33 Seconds, More Than 18,000 Dead in the Last Week
States See Vaccine Rollout Chaos as Experts Warn Thousands Will Die Waiting for Doses
30 Days Until President-Elect Biden Takes Office
There are thirty days until President-elect Joe Biden takes office, and those thirty days are expected to bring unrelenting pain to the American people. Despite the beginnings of a vaccine campaign, the coronavirus crisis is deepening — hundreds of thousands of Americans are being infected daily as thousands lose their lives. Hospitals are overwhelmed, some considering rationing care to save what lives they can. Thanks to the Trump Administration’s complete abdication of responsibility for the crisis, experts are warning that things can only get worse before they get better.
American Deaths Pile Up While the Virus Spreads Out of Control and Hospitals Reach a Breaking Point
- One American Is Dying Every Thirty-Three Seconds From COVID-19. “It’s hard to resist the sense that the slowly growing number of deaths in the United States each day is a tragedy of world-shaping proportions. For all of the efforts by some to diminish the death toll and to shrug at the steadily expanding saturation of American hospital beds, our country is losing an American every 33 seconds to covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus that emerged last year.” [Washington Post, 12/19/20]
- More Than 18,000 Americans Died From COVID-19 In The Last Week, While The United States Reported 249,709 New Infections On December 18, The Most Of Any Day Since The Beginning Of The Pandemic. “In just the past week, more than 18,000 people died from Covid-19 in the US. Hospitals are filling up fast. And the US set a record Friday for the most Covid-19 infections reported in one day: 249,709, according to Johns Hopkins University.” [CNN, 12/21/20]
- On December 16, 3,611 People In The United States Died From COVID-19. “More than 1.6 million people around the world have died from Covid-19, according to a New York Times database. In the U.S. alone, more than 315,000 people have died — 3,611 of them on Wednesday [December 16], shattering the previous single-day record of 3,157 on Dec. 9.” [New York Times, 12/21/20]
- More Than 4,000 COVID-19 Patients Are Admitted To American Hospitals Each Day. “The number of new hospitalizations, as recorded by the COVID Tracking Project, is exceeding 4,000 each day. At some point, that hits a chokepoint: You can’t keep admitting people to the hospital if there’s no space to do so. But the number of hospital beds in use nationally, both regular and intensive care, continues to rise. Since Sept. 12, the number of ICU beds in use climbed from an estimated 69 percent to 79 percent.” [Washington Post, 12/19/20]
- California Is Considering Rationing Care As Hospitalizations Continue To Soar. “On Friday, the nation’s most populous state recorded 43,608 new cases, while almost 17,400 people are currently hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases, according to the California Department of Public Health. Over 3,500 of those cases are being treated in intensive care units, putting immense strain on hospitals… Some hospitals are now preparing for the possibility of rationing care in the coming weeks, according a document obtained by the Los Angeles Times. The document, which was circulated among doctors at four hospitals run by Los Angeles County, outlined guidelines on how to allocate resources in a crisis situation, shifting from a goal of trying to save every patient to instead saving as many as possible.” [NPR, 12/20/20]
- Moncef Slaoui, Chief Scientific Officer For Operation Warp Speed: “It Will Get Worse Because We Still Are Experiencing The Outcome Of The Thanksgiving Holiday And Gatherings.” “‘Unfortunately, it will get worse because we still are experiencing the outcome of the Thanksgiving holiday and gatherings,’ said Moncef Slaoui, chief scientific officer for Operation Warp Speed, the federal government’s vaccine initiative. ‘And unfortunately, there may be more over the Christmas holiday. So there will be a continuing surge.’” [CNN, 12/21/20]
As Trump Administration Fumbles Vaccine Roll-Out Experts Warn We Have a Long Way to Go
- At Least Fourteen States Are Getting Fewer Doses Of The Vaccine Than Were Expected Due To The Trump Administration’s Miscalculation About How Many Doses Of The Pfizer Vaccine Could Be Shipped. “The head of U.S. vaccine distribution apologizes as at least 14 states are getting fewer doses than expected in the near term… Gen. Gustave F. Perna, who heads Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration’s multiagency effort to get coronavirus vaccines out to Americans, apologized repeatedly on Saturday morning for confusion over vaccine deliveries to states. He attributed some of the problems to the federal government’s miscalculation of how many doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine could be shipped. The discrepancies disrupted vaccination plans and stirred consternation in at least 14 states.” [New York Times, 12/21/20]
- Pfizer Reports Having Millions Of Unused Doses Sitting In Their Warehouses, As States See Shipments Slashed. “Officials in multiple states said they were alerted late Wednesday that their second shipments of Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine had been drastically cut for [this] week, sparking widespread confusion and conflicting statements from Pfizer and federal officials about who was at fault… Pfizer released a statement Thursday… saying the company faced no production difficulties and had many more doses immediately available than were being distributed. ‘We have millions more doses sitting in our warehouse but, as of now, we have not received any shipment instructions for additional doses,’ the statement read.” [Washington Post, 12/17/20]
- Dr. Carlos Del Rio, Executive Associate Dean Of Emory University’s School of Medicine: “The Vaccine Is Coming Way Too Late For Thousands Of People Who Will Die Before We Get The Vaccine Distributed Widely.” “Dr. Carlos del Rio, executive associate dean of Emory University’s School of Medicine, said he agreed with that assessment. ‘We’re just simply saying, “Well, we’re getting vaccine.” But the vaccine is coming way too late for thousands of people who will die before we get the vaccine distributed widely,’ del Rio said Thursday. ‘Transmissions (of the virus) are actively happening, and I think before the end of the year, we may be getting close to 4,000 deaths a day,’ del Rio said.” [CNN, 12/21/20]
- Trump Administration Testing Czar Adm. Brett Giroir: “The Lives Of Tens Of Thousands Of Americans Depend On What We Do.” “[Adm. Brett Giroir] reiterated that to get through the rest of the holiday season Americans should continue to wear a mask, socially distance and wash their hands. ‘The most important things that Americans need to know, is that although we see the end of the pandemic in sight — and it will end with vaccination widespread in this country — we have a lot of work to do,’ he said. ‘The lives of tens of thousands of Americans depend on what we do.’” [Politico, 12/20/20]
- Incoming Surgeon General Vivek Murthy: “It May Be Closer To Mid-Summer, Early Fall When This Vaccine Makes Its Way To The General Population.” “Incoming US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy on Sunday warned Americans ‘to be realistic about the timeline’ of the coronavirus vaccine distribution plan, saying widespread vaccination might not occur until ‘mid-summer, early fall.’ ‘When it comes to the vaccine timeline, we all want the vaccine to be delivered as quickly, as fairly as possible, and you can be sure that every day and night, that myself and others on the Biden team are working toward that,’ Murthy said on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press.’ ‘But we also want to be realistic about the timeline,’ he continued. ‘I think that if everything goes well, that we may see a circumstance where by late spring, people who are in lower-risk categories can get this vaccine. But that would really require everything to go exactly on schedule. I think it’s more realistic to assume that it may be closer to mid-summer, early fall when this vaccine makes its way to the general population.’ Murthy’s timeline is months behind the one proposed by various health officials from the Trump administration.” [Business Insider, 12/20/20]