Death toll soars in the U.S. as newyear begins

Whatever else the dawn of 2021 has brought, it has not slowed the relentless mounting of the pandemic’s toll in the United States.

The nation’s seven-day average of coronavirus-related deaths has broken past 3,000 a day, reaching 3,249 on Sunday. And the cumulative total of virus deaths surpassed 375,000 on Monday, according to a New York Times database.

California alone reported more than 3,300 virus deaths in the week ended Sunday.

The dire statistics follow a surge in new cases and hospitalizations that has extended to every part of the country. On average, 254,866 newc ases a day have been reported over the past week, 38 percent more than twoweeks earlier. As of Monday morning, a total of more than 22.4 million people in the United States have tested positive.

Health care facilities that have been scrambling to treat patients are also struggling to vaccinate people amid widespread frustration and confusion across the country. With states and counties left to sort out the logistics, the vaccination program has gone anything but smoothly.

As of Monday, nearly 9 million people had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, far short of the federal goal of 20 million people or more by Dec. 31.

The federal government said Friday that it had delivered more than 22.1 million vaccine doses to states, territories and federal agencies. President-elect Joe Biden said he would release nearly all available doses of the vaccine to states as soon as he is inaugurated. Federal officials have been holding back millions of vials to ensure that second doses will be available to those who received the first.

States have also begun broadening access to the shots faster than planned, amid public demand. Some states, including New York, Florida, Louisiana and Texas, have expanded who is eligible to get a vaccine now, even though many people in the first priority group recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — the nation’s 21 million health care workers and 3 million residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities — have yet to receive a shot.

Biden received his second injection Monday. His team said he would invoke the Defense Production-Act if necessary to ensure that second doses can be given on schedule.

In an interview with NPR last week, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said the high death toll was likely to continue and was probably a reflection of increased travel and gatherings over the holidays.

“We believe things will get worse as we get into January,” he said.