The situation of the pandemic in the US worries, says expert 1:23
(CNN) -
A record-breaking weekend has seen the United States surpass 10 million coronavirus infections.
And the pace keeps picking up.
As of Monday, 43 states reported at least 10% more new cases of COVID-19 compared to last week, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
And the rate of new infections continues to exceed the rate of testing.
The average daily number of new cases soared 34% over the past week, but testing only increased 7.41% over the past week, according to data from the Covid Tracking Project.
“We absolutely need more evidence.
Cases are increasing faster than testing rates, ”said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.
According to the Johns Hopkins University case count in the US, there have been at least 10,018,278 cases of coronavirus in the country;
at least 237,742 people have died from coronavirus.
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While hospitalizations and deaths continue to rise, there is good news on the vaccine front.
Biden points to coronavirus as first agenda item 1:33
A vaccine can be 90% effective
On Monday, pharmaceutical company Pfizer said early data shows that its Covid-19 vaccine is more than 90% effective.
More than 43,000 volunteers had received two doses of the vaccine or a placebo.
Pfizer examined the first 94 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among the more than 43,000 volunteers who received two doses of the vaccine or a placebo.
Less than 10% of coronavirus cases occurred in participants who had received the vaccine.
More than 90% of the infections seen in the trial were in people who had received a placebo.
Pfizer said the vaccine provided protection seven days after the second dose and 28 days after the initial dose of the vaccine.
The ultimate goal is to reach 164 confirmed cases of coronavirus infection.
Read more in the link of our profile
Pfizer said it plans to apply for emergency use authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration shortly after the volunteers have been monitored for two months after receiving their second dose of vaccine, as requested by the FDA.
That request could be made before the third week of November.
Pfizer will ask for emergency use of vaccine 1:04
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said that so far, the vaccine has shown no safety concerns.
"But we have to wait until the results are there," Bourla told CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
It is not clear exactly when the vaccine might be ready for most Americans.
But when it is, "the vaccine will be available free to all American citizens," Bourla said.
'Pour gasoline on the fire'
As the United States waits for a vaccine, the coronavirus is raging at levels never seen before during the pandemic.
The United States has averaged 108,737 new cases of ovid-19 per day over the past week, a new record, according to Johns Hopkins.
The highest number of infections ever reported in one day was on Saturday, with 128,412 new cases.
"Over the past week, about 23 states in all regions of the country reported record (new) cases," Walensky said.
'The death rates are high and actually represent case counts from two to three weeks ago.
So that's when we had case counts in the 60,000 to 70,000 range.
So you can imagine what will happen in the next few weeks, "he added.
MIRA: The United States is approaching 10 million cases of coronavirus
And 19 states reported record covid-19 hospitalizations over the weekend, according to the Covid Tracking Project.
Emergency medicine doctor Dr. Megan Ranney said the United States "is heading towards the worst of this pandemic."
"We're about to see all these little epidemics across the country, crossed and mixed," Ranney said.
"It's going to be a lot like putting gasoline on the fire," he said.
