Vaccines Could Blunt U.K. Epidemic in Weeks

LONDON — Britain is on a pace to give the first shot of a two-dose coronavirus vaccine to its entire population by the end of June, if it can avoid supply and logistical issues that threaten to slow one of the world’s fastest rollouts.

The most vulnerable will get their first doses much sooner — likely over the next two weeks — which could drastically reduce deaths. People over 70, nursing home residents and workers, health and social workers, and those whose health problems make them extremely vulnerable are all on schedule to receive their first vaccine shots before Feb. 15. Together these groups have accounted for 88 percent of all Covid-19 deaths.

The timeline shows the promise of vaccination as a path out of the deadliest stage of the pandemic in the countries that are moving quickly. ...

U.S. Coronavirus Cases Are Down but Eclipse Spring and Summer Peaks New cases have fallen almost 50 percent since the highest peak, on Jan. 8. Still, the numbers are far higher than at any point before Oct. 1. nytimes

The worst of the current wave of coronavirus infections seems to be behind us, with the seven-day rolling average of new cases trending down in almost every part of the country. Nationally, that average peaked on Jan. 8 at nearly 260,000 new cases; the figure for Feb. 3, 136,442, amounts to a 47 percent drop from that peak.