conference, australians have worked very hard to have this christmas together and we want to protect that. but, kim, it s proving very hard to do just that. yeah, the timing for all this couldn t be worse. selena wang in tokyo, thanks so much. americans are getting their covid vaccines, but not at the rate health experts would like. cdc reports more than 500 million doses administered in the u.s., more than a million and a half a day, but the pace of vaccinations is down 19% compared to last month. meanwhile doctors and nurses on the front lines of the pandemic will be spending a second christmas treating patients, many infected with the omicron variant. according to the health and human services department, more than 70,000 americans were hospitalized with covid as of thursday. u.s. regulators have authorized a second antiviral pill made by merck to treat mild to moderate covid-19. the food and drug administration authorized pfizer s antiviral pill on wednesday. and more america
in hospital due to 0micron, and after a huge push, all uk nations say they ve hit the target of offering all adults a third dose by the end of the year. i would just say to people again, there s 1.5 million slots out there over the next few days. there s plenty of opportunity. there s mobile vaccination units, there s gps vaccinating. there s all sorts of ways to get vaccinated. and just please come forward and help yourself, but also help reduce that burden on the nhs. and now this a second antiviral pill has been approved by the uk regulator. in trials, pfizer s paxlovid drug offered nearly 90% protection from severe illness and death among vulnerable adults. there is a glimmer of hope for the new year. vaccines and new treatments should help protect the most at risk from serious illness. but there are huge uncertainties. if there is a sharp rise in hospital admissions, health leaders say ministers will have to act fast. katharine da costa, bbc news.
i would just say to people, again, there s 1.5 million slots out there over the next few days. there s plenty of opportunity. there s mobile vaccination units, there s gps vaccinating, there s all sorts of ways to get vaccinated and just please come forward and help yourself, but also help reduce that burden on the nhs. and now this a second antiviral pill has been approved by the uk regulator. in trials, pfizer s paxlovid drug offered nearly 90% protection from severe illness and death among vulnerable adults. there is a glimmer of hope for the new year. vaccines and new treatments should help protect the most at risk from serious illness. but there are huge uncertainties. if there is a sharp rise in hospital admissions, health leaders say ministers will have to act fast. katharine da costa, bbc news. the legendary american actor and comedian betty white has died at the age of 99. her career spanned nine decades