Dr. Dan Ponticiello (43) and Dr. Gabriel Gomez, 40, intubate a patient with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the COVID-19 intensive care unit at the Providence Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, California on January 8, 2021.
Lucy Nicholson | Reuters
A record 4,327 people died of Covid-19 in the United States on Tuesday. This was the deadliest day of the pandemic as the federal government is trying to accelerate the adoption of life-saving vaccines. Ohio researchers say they found two new variants that likely originated in the United States
The new record marks the second time in the last week that Covid-19 deaths have exceeded 4,000 in one day. According to a CNBC analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, the weekly average number of deaths per day climbs to 3,342 – a 26% increase from the previous week.
So far, 34,804 people have died in January to become the deadliest month of the pandemic in the United States. Medical experts say the nation is on an upswing after the vacation and the situation is likely to get worse before it improves.
The U.S. has reported more than 22.8 million Covid-19 cases since the pandemic began, and cases are increasing daily in most states. As of Tuesday, the average number of new cases in the past week in 36 states and Washington, DC rose at least 5%
“We were in a bad place even before the real holidays hit us,” said White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci, on Tuesday during the Schmidt Futures’ Forum on Preparedness.
“We’re in a very difficult situation and it’s getting worse,” said Fauci. “I hope we will see a high point and a turning point towards the end of January, especially if people stay there and don’t get discouraged by Covid-19 fatigue and let their public health actions down.”
The record Covid-19 deaths came as the Trump administration – just a week before President-elect Joe Biden took office – tries to accelerate the spread of Pfizer and Moderna coronavirus vaccines.
Researchers in Ohio say that one of the two new varieties they discovered quickly became the dominant strain in Columbus, Ohio over a three-week period in late December and early January.
Like the strain first detected in the UK, the US mutations appear to make Covid-19 more contagious, but this is not expected to affect the effectiveness of the vaccines, the researchers said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is reviewing research on the new strains.
The CDC on Tuesday issued new guidelines extending vaccine eligibility to all over 65s as well as those with comorbid conditions such as diabetes and heart disease.
US officials said they would also stop withholding millions of doses reserved for the second round of two-dose vaccinations. So far, most states have focused on vaccinating health workers and nursing home residents, but that has left a backlog of people waiting to get the shots.
The US has distributed more than 27.6 million vaccine doses but only given about 9.4 million shots, according to the CDC. Fauci said the federal government was “a bit too rigid” in restricting starting doses to just a small group of people and doses not being dispensed as efficiently as they could have been.
“That has changed,” said Fauci. “At the moment we are not going to give up prioritization, but when people are ready to get vaccinated, we will go straight to the next level so that no vaccine doses sit in a freezer or refrigerator where they could end up in people’s arms.”
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy told CNBC’s Squawk Box on Wednesday that hospitals in his state are asking to vaccinate people beyond their healthcare workers. The governor told CNBC that New Jersey will likely allow 65 years and older to sign up for vaccinations in the coming days, although this has not been officially announced.
“We have already worked towards that goal, and the blessings of the CDC, the deep support of the Biden administration for this, all of these things come together. And we will be taking that step shortly,” said Murphy.
New York governor Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday his state would follow CDC’s new guidelines. As of now, residents 65 and over can try to get vaccinated, he said, but urged patience as supply is likely to lag far behind demand.
“So you’re telling people today, ‘You’re eligible,’ but you’re also telling people, ‘We don’t have enough doses to reach you for the next six months,'” Cuomo said during a press conference Tuesday. “Is that helpful? I think not. I think it creates more frustration and more fear.”
– CNBC’s Nate Rattner, Will Feuer and Berkeley Lovelace Jr. contributed to this report.
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