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 COVID-19 deaths reached 3,253 on Wednesday, pushing up the U.S.
total since the start of the pandemic to 289,740, with a record
106,219 people hospitalized with the highly infectious respiratory
disease.
Healthcare professionals and support staff, exhausted by the demands
of the pandemic, have been watching patients die alone as millions
of Americans refuse to follow medical advice to wear masks and avoid
crowds in order to curb the virus' spread.
Potentially helping to rein in the outbreak, a vaccine could start
reaching healthcare workers, first responders and nursing home
residents as soon as Sunday, though more likely early next week,
according to Trump administration officials.
U.S. Army General Gustave Perna, the chief operating officer of the
Trump administration's Operation Warp Speed vaccine development
program, said all the vaccine doses remained in the hands of the
pharmaceutical companies.
"But we've worked many rehearsals and planning cycles ... and that's
why I'm confident that as soon as EUA (emergency use authorization)
comes aboard, we'll start packing to the final destinations and
distribution will begin within 24 hours," Perna said.
A panel of independent medical experts was due to decide on Thursday
whether to recommend a vaccine from Pfizer Inc and German partner
BioNTech SE for emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration.
FDA consent could come as early as Friday or Saturday, followed by
the first U.S. injections on Sunday or Monday, Moncef Slaoui, chief
adviser to Operation Warp, told Fox News.
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A second vaccine developed by Moderna is a week behind.
Widespread inoculations, however, could take months.
In the meantime, intensive care units at hundreds of hospitals across the
country were at or near capacity, data from the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services showed.
Ten mostly rural counties in California reported having no ICU beds on
Wednesday, according to state health figures analyzed by Reuters.
Besides the human cost, the pandemic has forced millions out of work as state
and local officials impose restrictions on social and economic life to contain
the outbreak.
Congress, meanwhile, has struggled to end a months-long stalemate over economic
assistance.
Disagreements remain over business liability protections demanded by Republicans
and aid to state and local governments sought by Democrats before a final deal
is reached on pandemic assistance.
(Reporting by Reuters staff; Writing by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Bernadette
Baum)
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