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Promised increase in vaccine supply comes as Republican Governors drop Covid restrictions

US ‘on track’ to have enough vaccines for all adults by May
Texas governor lifts mask mandate and declares: ‘It’s time to open 100%’
Neera Tanden withdraws as Cabinet nominee after facing opposition
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11.14am GMT
The Senate is expected to take up President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package today, with fellow Democrats seeking to advance key priorities and jettison aspects that have drawn unflattering scrutiny.
The bill would pay for vaccines and medical supplies, boost jobless assistance and send a new round of emergency financial aid to households, small businesses and state and local governments. Democrats aim to get it to Biden to sign into law before 14 March, when some current benefits expire.
10.56am GMT
With Covid case numbers continuing to fall, and the promise of the vaccine roll-out, states are beginning to list some of the restrictions that have been imposed during the pandemic. Greg Abbott has announced that Texas is flinging open businesses to full capacity while simultaneously ending its highly politicized mask mandate. Julie Bosman and Lucy Tompkins for the New York Times report on other openings around the US:
In Chicago, tens of thousands of children returned to public school this week, while snow-covered parks and playgrounds around the city that have been shuttered since last March were opened. Mississippi ended its mask mandate, too. Restaurants in Massachusetts were allowed to operate without capacity limits, and South Carolina erased its limits on large gatherings. San Francisco announced that indoor dining, museums, movie theaters and gyms could reopen on a limited basis.
Though national statistics have improved drastically since January, they have plateaued in the last week or so, and the US is still reporting more than 65,000 new cases a day on average — comparable to the peak of last summer’s surge. The country is averaging more than 2,000 deaths per day, though deaths are a lagging indicator because it can take weeks after being infected with the coronavirus to die from it.
New, more contagious variants of the virus are circulating in the country, with the potential to push case counts upward again. Testing has fallen 30 percent in recent weeks, leaving experts worried about how quickly new outbreaks will be known. And millions of Americans are still waiting to be vaccinated — including workers in restaurants, which are now open in vast numbers across the country. Continue reading...