From Wuhan to the White House: A timeline of COVID-19’s spread
Stacker constructed a timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic from its first mention by Dr. Li Wenliang in Wuhan, China, to crossing 300,000 U.S. deaths less than a year later.
Dec. 18: Emergency authorization for Moderna vaccine
One week after the FDA granted Pfizer and BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine Emergency Use Authorization, the agency granted authorization to Moderna's vaccine. Moderna's vaccine, like Pfizer's, uses messenger RNA—specially designed genetic material that triggers your body's immune system to prepare for an attack by the novel coronavirus without actually encountering the virus itself.
The two vaccines now available in the U.S. have both been highly effective in clinical trials and appear to reduce risk of serious COVID-19 illness, though scientific understanding about how well both vaccines work will improve in the months to come. Dr. Anthony Fauci, who received his first dose of Moderna's vaccine on Dec. 22, said he feels "extreme confidence in the safety and efficacy of this vaccine" and encourages other Americans to get vaccinated.
Dec. 29: First B.1.1.7 case detected in the US
A new variant of the novel coronavirus, called the B.1.1.7 variant, was found in the U.K. in September. The variant has many similarities to the existing coronavirus strain that has infected millions, and early research suggests that Pfizer and Moderna's vaccines should be effective in curbing illness caused by the strain. But this new variant is much more contagious, making it a significant threat to the U.S. at a time when hospitals are already under strain with COVID-19 patients at an all-time high.
As of Jan. 7, 2021, 52 B.1.1.7 cases have been detected in the U.S., according to the CDC. This number is likely a significant undercount, however, as the U.S. does not systematically identify the genetic sequences of coronavirus DNA in patients—a process which is necessary to distinguish the new variant from the older, more-prevalent coronavirus strain. The U.S. has sequenced fewer than 1% of its cases, while the U.K. has sequenced about 10%.
Jan. 19, 2021: US deaths reach 400,000 on Trump's last day
On President Trump's final full day in office, the death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic reached 400,000 American casualties. This is more than the number of American casualties reported in World War II—and is likely an undercount of the true death toll, according to Vox. That evening, the deaths were memorialized with 400 lights placed at the Reflecting Pool outside the Lincoln Memorial. President-elect Joe Biden hosted a ceremony to remember the lost lives; his inauguration took place the next day.
China's unyielding "zero-COVID" approach, which aimed to isolate all infected people, bought it years to prepare for the disease. But an abrupt reopening, announced Dec. 7 in the wake of anti-lockdown protests, caught the nation under-vaccinated and short on hospital capacity.
