U.S. health experts continue to raise alarm over the country's slow vaccine rollout. As of Tuesday morning, just 4.8 million vaccine doses had been administered across the country, out of a total 17 million doses distributed to administration sites, according to the CDC. CVS Health said Wednesday it's on pace to complete the first round of vaccinations at long-term care facilities by Jan. 25. The company also said a small number of vaccine doses could be made available at pharmacy locations in the coming weeks ahead of a broad rollout. Experts have recommended a number of changes to improve the pace of vaccinations, including broadening early eligibility and reducing stored capacity for second doses.
Here are some of the biggest developments Wednesday:
- The Covid variant found in South Africa is worrying experts
- IRS says some taxpayers won't receive stimulus check before tax season
- CVS says it's in talks to offer vaccine at pharmacies soon
- $2,000 stimulus checks will be 'one of the first things' on Democratic Senate to-do list
The U.S. is recording at least 219,200 new Covid-19 cases and at least 2,670 virus-related deaths each day, based on a seven-day average calculated by CNBC using Johns Hopkins University data.
The following data was compiled by Johns Hopkins University:
- Global cases: More than 86.94 million
- Global deaths: At least 1.87 million
- U.S. cases: More than 21.22 million
- U.S. deaths: At least 359,977