VOX
- While the US’s coronavirus case numbers are still relatively high and vaccine distribution remains challenging, the country has recovered from its winter peak. Case numbers are down 45 percent from early January, when the pandemic was at its worst. [Vox / German Lopez]
- Over the past week, cases are down 17 percent, deaths have been decreased by almost 12 percent and hospitalizations fell by 15 percent — all good signs that the US could be turning a corner. Every state has seen case counts fall over the past week, except for Texas, Vermont, Arkansas, and Wyoming. [Washington Post]
- To put a number on it: At the winter peak on January 8, 259,564 cases were reported. On Wednesday, that number was 136,442 — still double the summer peak but a significant drop, led by sharp declines in the Midwest. [NYT / Lazaro Gamio]
- January was the deadliest month of the pandemic, but deaths are now dropping for the first weekly period since October, save for the holidays. And though disparities persist, fewer cases are being reported in minority communities disproportionately affected by the pandemic. [Atlantic]
- And it’s not just the US — for the first time in the pandemic, cases are dropping across the globe. [Axios / Dave Lawler]
- In another spot of good news, Johnson & Johnson has filed for emergency use authorization for its single-dose vaccine. The Food and Drug Administration could approve it within two weeks. [The Hill / Nathaniel Weixel]
- The potential for new variants to take hold in the US could thwart the positive signs, but drugmakers say they are ready to tweak their vaccines and looking into quicker trial periods in order to get new boosters out when needed. [NYT / Apoorva Mandavilli]
- A Covid-related number that is going up: the count of people vaccinated, though the rollout has continued to be challenging, particularly in terms of equity. Racial data exists for about half of vaccines given so far, and of that pool, only 5 percent of the doses have gone to Black Americans. Eleven percent have gone to Latinos. [Politico / Tucker Doherty and Joanne Kenen]
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