Here are some significant developments:
- The Southern California region that includes San Diego and Los Angeles said its ICU capacity fell to 0 percent on Thursday as the state became the epicenter of the pandemic, with more than 100,000 new cases and record deaths since Wednesday.
- The Food and Drug Administration indicated it would likely authorize Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine as early as Friday, after finding the two-shot regimen “highly effective” in clinical trials.
- White House aides persuaded President Trump to abandon a call for $2,000 stimulus checks, which might have stalled efforts to pass an economic relief package. Members of Congress may continue to negotiate the deal, which includes $600 checks for U.S. citizens, through the weekend.
- As the pandemic began, U.S. opioid fatalities increased sharply from March to May, contributing to the deadliest 12-month period of the nation’s decades-long opioid crisis, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.
- The FDA is investigating a small number of allergic reactions to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, but the agency said Thursday that distribution of the vaccination should continue without restrictions.