U.S. COVID-19 Death Toll Hits 300,000 as Vaccine Rollout Begins

TUESDAY, Dec. 15, 2020 -- The number of Americans killed by COVID-19 topped 300,000 on Monday, the same day the country launched a massive vaccination campaign to curb the spread of COVID-19.

And on Tuesday morning, scientists from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released a data review that almost guarantees a second vaccine will soon join the Pfizer vaccine that was sent out on Monday: The two-shot Moderna regimen, which is based on the same technology as the Pfizer vaccine, was found to be 94 percent effective in a clinical trial and carried no serious safety concerns. The glowing assessment positions the Moderna vaccine for approval from an FDA advisory panel that is meeting on Thursday, The Washington Post reported.

As the first doses of the Pfizer vaccine made their way to the arms of health care workers around the United States, a new survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation showed that 71 percent of Americans say they will "definitely or probably" get a COVID-19 vaccine.

That is up from 63 percent in September, and it is a sign that a growing number of Americans are starting to trust the science behind the vaccines as they become more comfortable with the speed in which the vaccines are being developed.

The Washington Post Article

KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor

Posted: December 2020