This is what happens on Sunday with the pandemic in the US:
– Public health officials have been complaining for months that they do not have enough support or money to get COVID-19 vaccines to go to arms quickly. Now, the slower-than-expected start of the largest vaccination effort in U.S. history is giving them the reason. While working to increase firing, U.S. state and local public health departments cite several hurdles, most notably the lack of leadership from the federal government. Many officials worry that they are wasting precious time in the midst of the pandemic and that delays could cost lives.
– House legislators may have been exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID-19 while protecting himself in an undisclosed location during the siege of the Capitol by a violent mob loyal to President Donald Trump. The Capitol’s attending physician on Sunday notified all lawmakers of exposure to the virus and urged them to get tested for it. The infected person was not named.
– In a growing consensus, religious leaders at the forefront of the anti-abortion movement in the United States they tell followers that the most important vaccines available to fight COVID-19 are acceptable to take, given their remote and indirect connection to cell lines derived from aborted fetuses.
THE NUMBERS: According to January 9 data from Johns Hopkins University, the seven-day average of new daily deaths in the United States increased in the past two weeks, from 2,243.3 on December 26 to 3,174 on January 9. .
DEATH WEIGHT: The number of COVID-19-related deaths in the U.S. is 372,522.
QUOTE: “Asking God for help, but then rejecting the vaccine, makes no sense other than calling 911 when your house is on fire, but refusing to allow firefighters to enter. There is no legitimate reason based on faith for refusing to take the vaccine. ”- Southern Baptist Megispecies Pastor Robert Jeffress, who has called vaccines a “gift from God.”
ICYMI: Ten months after the U.S. viral outbreak, low-income workers continue to bear the brunt of job losses. The layoffs remain highly concentrated in the industries that have suffered the most because they involve the kind of face-to-face contact that is now almost impossible: restaurants, bars and hotels, theaters, sports venues and concert halls. With the virus transforming consumer spending habits, economists believe some of these service jobs will not return even after the economy has regained its footing.
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Find full AP coverage of the coronavirus pandemic at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic.