Company says its phase 3 trial in the u. S. Found its 72 effective in preventing moderate to severe symptoms and says it will file for Emergency Authorization in the coming week, that could mean approval by the end of february. Heres whats key, the vaccine does not require Ultra Cold Temperatures for storage and Shelf Life Is Good for up to two years, huge win. The other breaking story were following, scientists warning the u. S. Is in a race against time with the new Coronavirus Variants popping up across the country and one of those strains, the South African Variant, is now officially here. Two cases have been confirmed in the state of south carolina. Even more concerning, the state departments Public Health warning says that two infected adults had no recent travel history and no connection to one another. And its raising concerns the strain may already be circulating within the community as new data indicates the vaccines we have may be less effective against this one. That said,
testing. it s going to help us accelerate our nationwide effort to reopen schools safely. last week i directed all states, tribes and territories to make all adults eligible to be vaccinated no later than may 1. while this is a time of optimism, it s not a time for relaxation. i need all americans to keep doing your part. wash your hands, stay socially distanced, keep masking up as recommended by the cdc and get vaccinated when it s your turn. none of this is political. it s all science based. but now is not the time to let our guard down. that is science based as well. in the last week we ve seen increases in the number of cases in several states. things may get worse as new variants of the virus spread. that s why we need to vaccinate as many people as quickly as we possibly can, because the best thing we can do to fight back against these variants. we have to beat this virus. we have to and we will, but we ll do it by setting aside politics and embracing science. another s
and that should make it easier for schools to meet the requirements. president biden will leave for atlanta, georgia. the president will be visiting the cdc just after this new guidance came out. there s a live look at joint base andrews. they say that they are about to hit the vaccination goal of 100 million doses a day. they will do it today, i should say, the original plan was for the president and vice president to promote that package. but the shooting changed those plans. now the first joint trip will also include a meeting with asian american community leaders in georgia. the top concern, rising anti-asian rhetoric and violence this past year. a hearing on discrimination got heated on the hill, got personal as well. we will talk to georgia congressman hank johnson who sits on that committee. what he wants to hear from the president and vice president today in atlanta. we start with that breaking news from the centers for disease control, the cdc now saying, three
december before we were sworn in to an average of 2.5 million shots a day. when he took office, they were almost at 1 million shots a day, we should note. right now, 12% of the population is fully vaccinated. experts estimate we need that number to be 70 to 85% in order for the u.s. to achieve something like herd immunity. the president is also still standing by his promise of enough vaccine supply for every american adult by the end of may. those life-saving vaccines could not come soon enough. progress in bringing down coronavirus cases are stalling. more states in the u.s. are seeing cases on the rise right now than a decline in new infections. and president biden is warning against dangerous variants of the virus. also today, some major news that could likely mean more children in classrooms sooner. an official tells cnn that the cdc is expected to update its guidance for physical distancing in schools tomorrow, changing the guidelines from six feet of distancing to thr