Anyone who does travel has been urged to get tested before and after their trips. The winter surge in cases rages across the country, where the virus has claimed more than 320,000 lives and is on course to be the third leading cause of death in the year. America reported more than 3400 deaths from the virus yesterday, and 232,000 new infections across the country. California was the worst impacted with 44,000 new cases, followed by Texas (20,000), Florida (11,000) and New York (12,000).
AMERICANS START TO GET VACCINE More than a million Americans have received the first dose of their COVID-19 vaccines, a milestone in the biggest immunisation drive in US history that came even as officials admitted the pace of rollout was slipping behind schedule.
Weeks after the first vaccine was approved by the Food and Drug Administration, states are making difficult decisions over the distribution of a still limited number of doses. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar has said that it will be spring before the country has enough doses for all Americans, not accounting for distribution.
Among the first to be vaccinated have been essential workers and high profile civil servants including some of the very politicians who have gone on the record downplaying the disease and contradicting scientists.
Perhaps one of the most high profile is Vice President Pence, who was vaccinated at the White House on live television to promote the safety and efficacy of the vaccine. The vice president, who had once predicted that the outbreak would be over by Memorial Day, has refused to wear a mask while visiting vulnerable patients and flouted other guidelines by the CDC intended to protect others.
December 22, 2020 6:15 AM By Brandon Lee
Congress passed a roughly $900 billion aid package attached to the $1.4 trillion measure to fund government operations through the end of the fiscal year. The Health and Human Services component of the fiscal 2021 government funding legislation boosts money for medical research and public health and also supports the rollout of vaccines that could bring an end to the pandemic.
HHS would get $96.5 billion in fiscal 2021, a $2 billion bump from last year. The package also includes a separate $73 billion pot of emergency funds to help tackle the pandemicâs continuing effects. Read more from Sarah Babbage.
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