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away ambulance traffic in recent days because they can’t provide the airflow neecied to treat patients. Arizona now has the nation’s highest rate of coronavirus hospitalizations. In the Atlanta area, nearly every major hospital is almost full, prompting state officials to reopen a field hospital for the third time. ... Vaccine distribution is also off to a slow start, with at least 4.6 million inoculated, far short of the 20 million the Trump administration vowed to vaccinate by the end of 2020, “The back-to-back timing of Christmas and New Year’s Eve could have catastrophic results because many people develop symptoms roughly five to seven days after infection and are most contagious during the 48 hours before those symptoms appear. That means someone who was exposed to the virus on Christmas could have been contagious by the time they attended a New Year’s party or began traveling home. Just how bad the situation gets in the United States may depend on how widely the virus’s new variant — which scientists believe is more contagious, but not deadlier or vaccine-resistant — is circulating. The variant has been reported in five states including Georgia, which reported its first case [on] Tuesday. ... New daily deaths and cases have increased by more than 20 percent over the past week, toa total of more than 355,000 fatalities and 21 million infections. But experts say the toll on hospitals paints a clearer picture of the pandemic because of complications in reporting test results during the holidays." « Two House Republican from Texas, Reps. Kevin Brady and Kay Granger, tested positive for the virus. Brady received the first of two vaccine shots last month. Both are isolating. (NPR) ¢ Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R} will deploy the state’s National Guard to help local health departments as they inoculate medical workers, and he threatened to take away unused vaccines from hospitals that are slow to administer them. Sy ot vo Y S$ szetgsiyy 2 SANA AS ¢ Moderna said it will be able to produce at least 600 million doses of the vaccine this year, 160 million more than previously announced. The Massachusetts company also said it is making investments and adding staff to make as much as 1 billion doses this year. (VS) The rich receive special invites to the front of the vaccine line in FBI(21cv558)-115