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Coronavirus Watch: A presidential inauguration like no other

Grace Hauck   | Paste BN

Today marks a presidential inauguration like no other.

President-elect Joe Biden will raise his right hand in front of a sparse audience of well-wishers wearing face masks, and the traditional parade down Pennsylvania Avenue will be replaced by a virtual parade.

On the night before his inauguration, Biden led a national tribute for the 400,000 Americans killed by the coronavirus, saying, "To heal, we must remember."

It's Wednesday, and this is the Coronavirus Watch from the Paste BN Network. Here's more news that you need to know:

  • The U.S. surpassed 400,000 reported coronavirus deaths Tuesday, almost double the total of the next most severely hit nation, Brazil.
  • Vaccine spoiled: About 11,900 doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine were spoiled because of temperature control issues during delivery to Michigan. An additional 4,400 doses will not be used in Maine due to the same issue.
  • Vaccine running out: San Francisco’s public health department is likely to run out of vaccine Thursday. New York City is facing the same issue. Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city is vaccinating residents faster every day and will run out of doses on Thursday.
  • The majority of Americans say the pandemic is out of control, a new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds. Only about 1 in 10 Americans say the pandemic is mostly under control, the poll found.
  • A panel of experts commissioned by the World Health Organization has criticized China and other countries for not moving to stem the initial outbreak of the coronavirus earlier and questioned whether the U.N. health agency should have labeled it a pandemic sooner.

Today's numbers: The U.S. has reported more than 24.2 million COVID-19 cases and 402,000 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Worldwide, there have been more than 96.3 million cases and more than 2 million deaths. See the numbers in your area here, check out where cases are rising here, and see how many vaccines your state has received here.

Are you a long-hauler? National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins is urging recovered COVID-19 patients still experiencing prolonged symptoms of the disease to fill out a patient-led survey and tell their story.

– Grace Hauck, Paste BN breaking news reporter, @grace_hauck

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