The world passed the grim milestone of 1.5 million coronavirus deaths on Thursday, as several nations planned to deliver much hoped-for vaccines early next year to break the cycle of lockdowns and restrictions.

Americans must wear masks for 100 days to help reduce transmission of the virus that is again surging in the country with the world’s highest number of deaths and infections, US President-elect Joe Biden said on his first day in office.

Biden said in excerpts of an interview to be broadcast on CNN,
“I’m going to ask the public for 100 days to mask. Just 100 days to mask — not forever.”

Several countries marked new COVID-19 records, even as the latest positive news about a vaccine was announced, with the Moderna candidate showing it confers immunity for at least three months.

According to Johns Hopkins University,
the US, for instance, posted an all-time high of more than 210,000 new cases in a 24-hour stretch to Thursday evening, meanwhile notching more than 2,900 deaths.

Meanwhile, Italy registered 993 deaths, topping its previous record of 969 earlier in the year when it was the first European country to be affected by the pandemic.

Following up on similar commitments from former US presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton,
to build trust in vaccines after they are approved, the 78-year-old Biden said he was willing to be vaccinated in public.

Biden asked through an interview to the government’s top infectious disease specialist Anthony Fauci to join his COVID team and serve as a chief medical adviser.