January has already become the worst month for US Covid-19 deaths.
As of Tuesday, there have been more than 79,000 coronavirus fatalities, topping the previous record set in December by more than a thousand, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
The grim milestone underpins the growing demand from state officials for more vaccines so that Americans can be inoculated more quickly.
On Tuesday, President Joe Biden's Covid-19 coordinator Jeff Zients told governors that allocations would increase by around 16% starting next week, according to a source with knowledge of the call.
Biden has pushed for 100 million vaccination shots in the first 100 days of his presidency, but with a long road ahead for vaccinations, he also called for 100 days of mask-wearing.
"The brutal truth is it's going to take months before we can get the majority of Americans vaccinated. Months. In the next few months, masks, not vaccines, are the best defense against Covid-19," – Biden said while announcing the federal government would buy and distribute more vaccine doses from Moderna and Pfizer.
