Coronavirus updates: US will soon have 'half a million' deaths, CDC says

The U.S. is forecast to have almost 500,000 COVID-19 deaths by mid-February.

Last Updated: January 15, 2021, 4:57 PM EST

A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now infected more than 94.2 million people worldwide and killed over 2 million of them, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news developed this week. All times Eastern.
Jan 15, 2021, 4:57 PM EST

Biden stresses equity, transparency in vaccination plan

President-elect Joe Biden laid out a five-point vaccination plan Friday that he promised would turn the public's "frustration into motivation" and meet his goal of getting 100 million shots into Americans' arms within his first 100 days in office.

The plan includes working with states to open up more priority groups for vaccination, mobilizing a larger workforce to administer vaccines and working directly with independent and chain pharmacies to distribute them. Biden's administration also plans to set up 100 federally funded vaccination centers in school gyms, sports stadiums and mobile clinics to help reach communities that have been hit hard by the virus.

"Equity is central to our COVID response," Biden said.

Scientists in Biden's administration, like the surgeon general, will speak directly to the American people, he added, and pledged to be transparent about "both the good news and the bad" when it came COVID-19 progress. "You’re entitled to know," he said.

Jan 15, 2021, 2:07 PM EST

Faster-spreading variant could become dominant by March: CDC

The new COVID-19 variant first identified in the United Kingdom could increase the trajectory of the virus in the United States, according to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday.

Unless new mitigation measures are taken, the variant, known as B.1.1.7, is likely to become the predominant variant in the U.S. by March, the report warned. The CDC called for "universal compliance" with public health measures and more genomic surveillance to monitor new variants and mutations.

"Higher vaccination coverage might need to be achieved to protect the public," according to the report. While the new variant is not more deadly than the old one, it is thought to be more transmissible, meaning that it could lead to more cases, and ultimately more hospitalizations and deaths.

-ABC News' Sony Salzman contributed to this report.

Jan 15, 2021, 1:01 PM EST

COVID-19 deaths top 2 million worldwide

Deaths from COVID-19 reached a grim new milestone Friday, with 2,00,905 fatalities reported around the world since the pandemic began, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Employees store coffins, some marked with "infection risk" as others have "corona" scrawled in chalk, in the morning hall of the crematorium in Meissen, Germany, Jan. 13, 2021.
Jens Schlueter/AFP via Getty Images

The United States leads the world in COVID-19 deaths, with 389,581 fatalities, followed by Brazil, India, Mexico and the United Kingdom.

-ABC News' Rachel Katz contributed to this report.

Jan 15, 2021, 1:11 PM EST

100M doses in 100 days 'quite feasible': Fauci

Dr. Anthony Fauci called President-elect Joe Biden's promise to administer 100 million COVID-19 shots in the first 100 days of his term "quite feasible" during an interview with NBC's "Today" show Friday. He said he hopes the United States can get to 70% or 80% vaccination within several months.

Part of the distribution holdup, according to Fauci, has been careful prioritization by states. "If you have a dose, give it," he urged states. "Don't be so rigid as to those early designations."

Reaching those goals, however, depends on vaccine uptake. "When a vaccine becomes available, get vaccinated,” Fauci pleaded with the public.

-ABC News' Anne Flaherty contributed to this report.

Related Topics