US reports record 3,000+ Covid-19 deaths in a single day as poll shows half of Americans hesitant to take vaccine jab

The United States has crossed another daily death record amid the coronavirus pandemic, recording over 3,000 new fatalities in the space of 24 hours as only about half of Americans surveyed say they’ll agree to take a vaccine.

The US reported 3,054 deaths on Wednesday, topping a previous record of 2,769 reached in May, according to data compiled by the Covid Tracking Project. The country is now approaching 290,000 Covid-related fatalities since the global virus outbreak kicked off late last year.

Despite the spike in reported hospitalizations and deaths, large swathes of Americans remain reluctant to receive any of the coronavirus inoculations currently under trial, recent polling conducted by the Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows.

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Though some health experts maintain that at least 70 percent of the population would need to take the jab before achieving herd immunity, 53 percent of those surveyed were either not sure whether they would get vaccinated, or adamant that they would not. That figure was roughly split down the middle between the two camps, while the other 47 percent of respondents said they planned to get the shot.

That hesitance comes as Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulators are looking to authorize an immunization developed jointly by Pfizer and German firm BioNTech, with one official noting earlier on Wednesday that a decision would come within “days to a week” after an agency meeting set for December 10.

Though the UK became the first to green-light the Pfizer jab earlier this month, followed by Bahrain and Canada, British health authorities have since warned that those with a “significant history of allergic reactions” should steer clear of the vaccine “on a precautionary basis.” The warning was issued after two National Health Service staffers who received the jab on Tuesday experienced adverse side effects, both of whom were said to have been prone to allergic reactions.

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