warning about scenes like this one. huge crowds, huge of spring breakers gathered on florida beaches prompting major concerns at another avoidable surge could be on the way. we ll have more on that in a moment. and the biden administration kicking off its nationwide tour to sell its $1.9 trillion economic relief plan. that is just moments away. let s begin though with our senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen on the state s opening up morning eligibility for vaccines today. right, poppy. it is getting easier to get a covid-19 vaccine. many states are changing the eligibility requirements, widening them. take a look at a smaterring of states and see what they re doing. for example, in alaska, they re saying you just have to be over the age of 16 in order to get a vaccine. in california, they say anyone 16 plus that has certain health conditions and so on and so forth. just getting easier. so because there is more vaccine out there, the federal government and the nex
the biden administration wants to see made permanent. so, i think this is part of building that for them. and the questions are whether or not they actually get there, but also how the execution of it goes. so, that s how you saw president biden say he s tapping gene sperling, this long-time democratic economic aide to oversee the spending here. he was talking about how when he oversaw the stimulus bill in 2009 amid the great recession, how crucial it was to just be on the phone, have these conversations at a granular level to make sure there is no fraud or abuse or mis-spending. i think that s the next big tactic for them to go after because, of course, republicans are going to be watching very closely for any kind of a misstep and if they haven t properly communicated it. be cautious, fullcourt press, that s number one. number two, what s the story out of the cdc today? we re getting new reporting that some of the covid guidelines put in place by the trump administration
admin administered yesterday alone. nearly 70 million americans have gotten at least one dose of a covid-19 vaccine, which means one out of five americans has received a shot. this as those $1400 stimulus checks are starting to hit bank accounts. despite the progress being made, thoupds of people are traveling and attending spring break events across the country. many not wearing masks. no protection. masks and social distancing don t seem to be priorities. health officials are warning of the potential consequences. saying the next few weeks will be critical in determining if we ll see another surge. even though the numbers have gone down, over the last couple of weeks, they ve plateaued and when you see a plateau at a level as high as 60,000 cases a day, that is a very vulnerable time to have a surge to go back up. we can avoid that, if we continue to vaccinate people, get more and more protection without all of a sudden pulling back on public health measures. all right.
coronavirus. and there is plenty to herald on that front. the cdc now hayes 107 million vaccine doses have been administered. and today, dr. anthony fauci said it is possible that three feet of social distancing instead of six would suffice to reopen schools. and he teased that new guidance should be coming from the cdc soon. also today we are closely following developments surrounding new york governor andrew cuomo. house speaker nancy pelosi saying cuomo needs the look inside his heart but ultimately stopped short of calling their his resignation as multiple women now accuse of him sexual harassment. we will go live to albany new york in i don t want. first to south florida where spring break is in full spring despite health officials advice. cnn is in miami beach. what does spring brack look like? is the feeling there that the pandemic is over? certainly people have told us they are here partly because they are escaping more restrictive conditions wherever they came f
at our front door never stopped. the donald trump administration didn t stop them. i am pamela brown in washington. welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. you are live in the cnn newsroom on this sunday. in florida, brspring breakers a cutting loose after a year of lockdowns and quarantines, and health experts warn highly contagious variants rapidly can spread. joe johns has more on the collision offing spring break and the pandemic. that s true, pamela. good evening. the cdc said there s about 4,900 cases involving variants that have been spotted all around the country, but the biggest concern right now at least this weekend at least is there could be a spike in the numbers because spring break is upon us. spring break in south florida where college students might not be the only ones hitting the beaches. experts fear covid-19 and variants of the virus are coming, too. as the decline in cases across the country starts to level off. even tho