The United States recorded more than 25 million cases of Covid-19 on Saturday and just under 417,000 deaths, according to the latest NBC News data.
This comes days after President Joe Biden signed 10 executive orders aimed at expanding vaccine production, ramping up testing and reopening schools, among other goals. His full 198-page strategy to end the pandemic was boiled down to seven key points.
“We didn’t get into this mess overnight, and it is going to take months to get it turned around,” Biden said.
He warned the country is likely to top 500,000 deaths next month. According to NBC News’ statistics, the current death toll is 416,925 with 25,012,572 cases.
“But let me be equally clear: We will get through this,” Biden continued. “We will defeat this pandemic.”
Two vaccines, from Moderna and Pfizer, have already been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for emergency use. Both require two shots spaced out weeks apart.
As of Jan. 23, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that more than 3 million people in the United States are receiving both shots of the Covid-19 vaccine.
But the vaccine will not be widely available and accessible to the general public at retail pharmacies for some time, said Biden’s new CDC Director Rochelle Walensky.
During a “Today” show interview Thursday, Walensky said Americans should not expect the vaccine timeline that former President Donald Trump had promised. Former Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar had said last month on “Today” that the shots would be ready for pharmacies in February.
“We are going to, as part of our plan, put the vaccine in pharmacies. Will it be in every pharmacy in this country by that timeline? I don’t think so,” Walensky said. “I don’t think late February, we’re going to have vaccine in every pharmacy in this country.”
The first case of the coronavirus in the United States was recorded a little more than a year ago when a man in Seattle tested positive on Jan. 21, 2020, after returning from a trip to Wuhan, China.
