US deaths from COVID top 3,000 for third straight day
Iran Press TV
Friday, 18 December 2020 4:57 PM
US deaths from the new coronavirus have topped 3,000 for a third straight day, with a record number of new infections on Thursday.
The US on Thursday reported nearly 240,000 daily infections, raising its total caseload to over 17 million. The death toll from the virus also stands at over 311,000.
The figures were announced as the United States prepared to ship out nearly six million doses of a new vaccine upon its expected authorization on Friday.
The US remains the hardest-hit country in the world by the virus. Health experts have warned of a deepening crisis this winter amid rising number of hospitalizations.
"We expect to have more dead bodies than we have spaces for them," Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti told a briefing on Thursday, saying the country's second-largest city had fully exhausted its ICU capacity.
Meanwhile, two US healthcare workers have developed serious allergic reactions after receiving Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine, at a same hospital in Alaska, as millions of doses of the vaccine are being sent to all US states.
The New York Times reported on Thursday that the staff, one of whom remained at hospital for the night, started to develop reactions just minutes after receiving the FDA approved vaccine.
The first case, a middle-aged woman who had no previous history of allergies to vaccines, reported symptoms including shortness of breath and elevated heart rate, doctors said Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the administration of President Donald Trump is in talks with Pfizer to secure more coronavirus vaccines for the nation this spring.
The first shots of the vaccine were administered on Monday.
Pfizer began shipping over 180,000 doses of the vaccine across 50 states, over the weekend. Another vaccine, made by Moderna, is expected to receive emergency authorization from the FDA this week.
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