After becoming the first country to cross that threshold Monday, the U.S. is in store for a lot more pain. Experts fear the nation is heading inexorably toward the next milestone of surpassing the total of American fatalities in World War II – about 405,000 – even as vaccines come to distribution sites across the country.
A weeks-long surge in coronavirus transmission has led to an average of more than 210,000 new infections and nearly 2,500 deaths a day this month. Despite the positive news on the vaccine front, the U.S. is still battling overcrowded hospitals and shrinking ICU capacity.
But there is hope down the line. Health care workers across the United States received the first doses of a COVID-19 vaccine Monday, a landmark step in the country's fight against the coronavirus pandemic.