Coronavirus Watch: US orders 100M doses of vaccine
The U.S. government has placed an initial order for 100 million doses of a vaccine candidate being developed by Pfizer and a German firm, BioNTech, once the companies obtain regulatory approval, the companies announced Wednesday.
Americans will receive the vaccine for free, the firms said.
If the ongoing studies are successful, the companies expect to be ready to seek authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as early as October.
It's Wednesday, and this is the Coronavirus Watch from the Paste BN Network. Here's the most significant news of the day, as of 2:30 p.m. ET:
- In his first White House coronavirus press briefing since April, President Donald Trump on Tuesday reversed course from his previous position on face masks and urged Americans to wear them.
- Federal unemployment benefits are taking a hit at a time when more states are abruptly pausing their reopening plans. The $600 weekly jobless benefits bonus, approved in March, is about to expire and likely won't be extended or replaced before next month.
- Back to school? Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Wednesday he "absolutely" feels comfortable sending his own grandchildren back to schools this fall despite few gains in the pandemic struggle in the U.S.
- Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro is still testing positive for the coronavirus following his July 7 announcement.
- Ten states and Puerto Rico set records for new cases over a seven-day period that ended Tuesday. A Paste BN analysis of Johns Hopkins data also revealed that a record numbers of deaths for a seven-day period were reported in Arizona, Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.
- Which state has the most confirmed cases? California on Wednesday surpassed New York as the state with the most confirmed infections, but California only has a fraction of New York's deaths.
- More than 59,000 Americans are hospitalized with COVID-19 related illness, a level not seen since hospitalizations peaked three months ago, according data from the COVID Tracking Project.
- Every state in the country should release 15 categories of information deemed "essential" to understanding the pandemic, Dr. Tom Frieden, former director of the CDC, said Tuesday.
Today's numbers: The U.S. has almost 4 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and more than 142,000 deaths have been confirmed, according to John Hopkins University data. Worldwide, there are more than 15 million confirmed cases, and more than 618,000 people have died. See the numbers in your area here, and check out where cases are rising here.
Halloween? School? Planning winter vacation? Here's what fall may look like amid the pandemic.
Everyday heroes are making a difference amid COVID-19: Check out our 98-page tabloid "America Responds," which salutes Americans who have shown unwavering commitment as the nation reopens. It will be offered on newsstands and as a free e-edition via Tecnavia for mobile, desktop and tablet users.
Do you have questions about the coronavirus? You can submit them through this form, and we'll answer them.
As always, thank you for subscribing! We appreciate you trusting the Paste BN Network with this important information. Know someone who could benefit from these daily updates? Forward them this email so they can sign up here.
– Grace Hauck, Paste BN breaking news reporter, @grace_hauck