White House Expects To Fill Backlog Of COVID-19 Vaccines Delayed Due To Winter Weather This Week

Across the country, the number of Americans in the hospital with COVID-19 is going down, along with the rate of infection. But the United States still has the most confirmed cases in the world and 500,000 COVID-19 related deaths.

Winter weather delayed the shipments of around 6 million COVID-19 vaccine doses last week. The White House said it expects to fill that backlog this week.

Even though the infection rate is going down, experts say, with new variants, this is not a time to let your guard down.

"When it goes way down, and the overwhelming majority of the people in the population are vaccinated, then I would feel comfortable in saying, we need to pull back on the masks, we don't need to have masks," said NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci.

President Joe Biden's COVID-19 relief plan will be the main focus this week in Washington. The House is expected to go over the bill on Monday.

The plan includes $1,400 dollar checks to most Americans as well as additional aid to businesses impacted by the pandemic.

The House is expected to vote on the bill this week, it will then go to the Senate.