Health & Fitness

The CDC issued a report last week on the demographics of those who received at least one shot during the first month of the vaccination campaign. Some groups were vaccinated at rates that matched their share of priority populations such as health care workers and nursing homes. But there was a glaring outlier in that Black adults made up only 5.4% of those vaccinated, about one-third of their numbers in those first-tier groups. State data show a similar pattern, reports AP.

Despite its world-class medical system and its vaunted Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. fell behind in the race to detect dangerous coronavirus mutations. And it's only now beginning to catch up.

Coronavirus infections and hospitalizations in California are plummeting weeks after it appeared some hospitals were so overwhelmed they might have to start rationing care, and the state's top health official said Tuesday if the trends continue by early March the number of hospital patients will fall by half.

The deadliest month yet of the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. drew to a close with certain signs of progress: COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are plummeting, while vaccinations are picking up speed.

Last week, the Biden administration announced plans to purchase another 200 million vaccine doses, 100 million each from Pfizer and Moderna. That brings the nation’s total order to 600 doses — enough for 300 million people — of the authorized, mRNA-based vaccines.