COVID-19 Weekly Report for Jan. 27: Case counts drop as new variants loom; Washington gearing up for 45K daily vaccinations
Posted: January 26, 2021
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Despite the two-week decline in national new infection rates (rates were down 20%this week, compared to 11% the week before), as of this week 1 in every 13 Americans are infected with the virus. Experts are suggesting that the holiday surge is on the wane, but caution to say that it is still far too early to speculate whether the slowly growing number of vaccinated individuals could be part of the reason.
Even though vaccine supplies nationwide continue to outstrip demand and many states are forced to cancel appointment due to lack of doses, federal and state governments are gearing up their distribution infrastructures. On Monday, the Biden administration upped its goal from 1 million to 1.5 million shots per day and announced plans to open 100 new vaccination centers in the coming month; this despite an admission by new CDC head Dr. Rochelle Walensky that she “does not know” when more supplies of vaccine will be arriving.