Ten states will open eligibility for coveted vaccines to all adults this week ahead of President Joe Biden’s goal to make every American adult\u00a0eligible for vaccination by May 1.<\/p>\n
Kansas,\u00a0Louisiana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma and Texas will remove vaccine restrictions for those 16 and older Monday.\u00a0Minnesota will follow on Tuesday;\u00a0Indiana and South Carolina on Wednesday;\u00a0and Connecticut Thursday. California will also open up eligibility to all residents 50 and older Thursday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In all, 46\u00a0states and the District of Columbia have pledged to meet Biden’s goal of having all Americans eligible for a vaccine by May 1.<\/p>\n
While\u00a0143 million vaccine doses have been administered across the nation,\u00a0the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 180 million have been distributed, a 37 million dose disparity.<\/p>\n
But the U.S. pace of about 2.5 million shots a day is picking up, with 3.5 million doses administered on Saturday and\u00a03.4 million on Friday. Even at 3.5 million daily inoculations, it would take more than 10 days to clear a\u00a037 million backlog.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Also in the news:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u25baSan Diego Comic-Con organizers announced on the\u00a0official website Saturday\u00a0that a “Comic-Con Special Edition” would be held as a three-day event starting the Friday after Thanksgiving, Nov. 26, and continuing to Nov. 28.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u25baAustralia\u2019s third-largest city, Brisbane, will enter a three-day lockdown Monday evening after the coronavirus was found spreading in the community.<\/p>\n \u25baThe United Kingdom, which has the most COVID-19 deaths in Europe but has enjoyed more success with its vaccination program, is replacing its stay-at-home mandate with a message to stay local, allowing small outdoor gatherings and sports.<\/p>\n \u25baCOVID-19 vaccines are extremely effective at protecting pregnant women and likely provide protection for their babies as well, according to a new study.\u00a0<\/p>\n \ud83d\udcc8 Today’s numbers<\/strong>:\u00a0The U.S. has over 30.26 million confirmed coronavirus cases and more than 549,300\u00a0deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The global totals: 127 million cases and 2.78 million deaths. More than 180.6 million vaccine doses have been distributed in the U.S. and 143.4 million have been administered, according to the CDC.<\/p>\n \ud83d\udcd8 What we’re reading:<\/strong>\u00a0How this small town of 16,000 near the US-Canada border has given out 50,000 vaccines.<\/p>\n USA TODAY is tracking COVID-19 news. Keep refreshing this page for the latest updates. Want more?\u00a0Sign up for our Coronavirus Watch newsletter\u00a0for updates to your inbox and\u00a0join our Facebook group.<\/em><\/p>\n Travelers don’t need a COVID-19 test to fly to Mexico, but they can’t board a flight back to the U.S. from any international destination without showing a\u00a0negative test taken no more than three days before departure or proof of recovery from COVID.\u00a0Travelers who’ve been stuck\u00a0say they were told they faced 10 to\u00a014 days in isolation.<\/p>\n When the requirement was announced Jan. 12,\u00a0travelers\u00a0rushed to cancel plans\u00a0or shift their vacation plans to U.S. vacation spots that don’t require COVID tests. But the bookings rebounded as some hotels announced free testing and a free quarantine stay if they tested positive.\u00a0Read more here.<\/strong><\/p>\n Korey Mudd’s\u00a0positive test extended the honeymoon with\u00a0his wife, Alisha, in Mexico for nine nights longer than planned.<\/p>\n “Ultimately, we had pushed it off so many times already, we decided we were going to go ahead and go for it,” he said.\u00a0“It would have been better just to stay home.”<\/p>\n \u2013\u00a0Dawn Gilbertson<\/em><\/p>\n Florida, which was already the country’s hardest-hit state for two kinds of coronavirus variants, more than doubled its tally of variants in a report released Sunday by the CDC. Florida had reported 1,075 variant cases through Thursday. Sunday’s report added another 1,255, bringing the state to 2,330.<\/p>\n The U.S. as a whole reported another 2,303 variant cases Sunday, more than double the worst increase ever seen in the thrice-weekly CDC updates. The previous record was set on Tuesday.<\/p>\n That brings the country to 10,985 known coronavirus variants, a tally that more than doubled in the last two weeks as new coronavirus cases overall in the U.S.\u00a0stopped their extended\u00a0decline.<\/p>\n Most of the variant cases in Florida\u00a0and the U.S. overall\u00a0are of B.1.1.7, which was first seen in the United Kingdom,\u00a0spreads more easily and may be more likely to kill its victims. But Florida also nearly doubled its case count of P.1, a variant first seen in Brazil, adding another 19 cases to reach 42.<\/p>\nStuck in Mexico: Americans who test positive can’t come home right away<\/h2>\n
Florida’s variant cases more than double, CDC report says<\/h2>\n