US surpasses 24 million coronavirus cases and nears 400,000 deaths

The United States surpassed

24 million coronavirus infections

this Sunday

and is approaching 400,000 deaths

, according to a count by our sister network NBC News.

According to the latest update of these data, the country already has 398,688 deaths.

The country is

the most affected by the pandemic

, followed by India (with 10.5 million cases), Brazil (8.5), Russia (3.5) and the United Kingdom (3.4).

In the world, the number of COVID-19 cases has already exceeded 95 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University count, which brings the number of deaths to more than two million.

[Follow our coverage on the coronavirus pandemic]

Meanwhile,

California on Monday became the first state to exceed three million cases

.

This after Los Angeles became the first county in the country on Saturday to register one million cases of coronavirus since the start of the pandemic.

And after the state health authorities confirmed

at least one case of the new variant of COVID-19

detected for the first time in the United Kingdom.

A healthcare worker treats a COVID-19 patient in the intensive care unit at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose, Calif., On Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021. AP

New vaccines

Amid complaints from states about vaccine administration delays, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, assured our sister network NBC News on Sunday that

the country is "weeks away, not months "of considering approval of new coronavirus vaccines.

The vaccine candidates are those being developed by

Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca.

"I imagine that in a period of a week or so, or at most, a couple of weeks, they will be gathering their data and showing it to the FDA (Food and Drug Administration)," Fauci said of the two drug companies. .

Concern in New York and Other States Over Vaccine Shortages

Jan. 18, 202101: 07

While the AstraZeneca vaccine requires two injections, like Moderna and Pfizer,

Johnson & Johnson requires only one.

"One thing that is clear is that the question of getting

100 million doses in the first 100 days

is absolutely doable," he added.

So far, about

14 million vaccines

have been supplied

in the country

, according to a count by Bloomberg with data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Added to this is the growing concern about mutations that could make the virus more contagious.

[The lack of oxygen in the midst of the coronavirus crisis provokes scenes of "despair" and ordeal in Mexico and Brazil]

"Just by the numbers, the more cases you have, the more hospitalizations and the

more hospitalizations there are, the more deaths there will be

," Fauci warned.

Amid the chaotic deployment of vaccines, West Virginia has become the state that has given the most injections.

This is the result, in large part, of the state's decision to

recruit small pharmacies to administer the vaccines

, rather than agreeing to a federal partnership with CVS and Walgreens.

In Mexico, many die at home due to the saturation of hospitals

Jan. 18, 202101: 47

In that state, more injections per capita have reached the arms of the people than in any other: at

least 7.5% of the population received the first of the two injections,

according to federal data.

West Virginia was the first in the country to finish offering the first doses to all long-term care centers before the end of December, and the state expects to deliver the second doses at those centers by the end of January.

With information from AP, Efe, NBC News and Bloomberg.