The United Kingdom reported 1,325 new coronavirus deaths on Thursday, the highest daily death toll to date.
Why it’s important: The massive increase in deaths is partly fueled by a rapidly transmissible COVID-19 variant that is spreading rapidly across the UK and threatening to overwhelm hospital systems.
Between lines: The figure is even worse per capita than the record 4,000 deaths recorded in COVID-19 in 24 hours in the US on Friday, London Mayor Sadiq Khan. he declared a “major incident” due to the virus, which has infected 1 in 30 Londoners.
The big picture: The UK, which is in full closure for at least the next six weeks, was the first country in the world to approve and start administering both the Pfizer vaccine and the Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccine.
- On Friday earlier, British regulators removed the Modern vaccine for emergency use.
- The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) notes that while the new coronavirus variant is more transmissible, there is “no evidence to suggest that the variant has any impact on the severity of the disease or the effectiveness of the vaccine “.