Global COVID-19 deaths passed 2 million Jan. 15, just about a year after the first case was reported Dec. 12 in China, according to data from Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins University.  

The fast-spreading coronavirus variant first identified in the U.K. will become the dominant strain in the U.S. within two months, the CDC predicted Jan. 15.

The percentage of respiratory specimens testing positive for the flu at clinical laboratories was 0.4 percent for the week ending Jan. 9, up from 0.1 percent the week prior, according to the CDC's FluView report.

Members of President-elect Joe Biden's COVID-19 advisory team said they've had multiple conversations with vaccine makers and do not anticipate that the plan to release nearly all available doses will delay people from getting their second shot on time, CNBC reported Jan. 14. 

New Jersey officials' decision to include smokers among high-risk groups  with priority access to the COVID-19 vaccine has been met with surprise by some health experts and front-line workers in the state, reports The Washington Post. 

As data stabilizes after the holidays, the U.S. is still recording more than 200,000 new COVID-19 cases and 3,000 deaths each day, the highest levels of the pandemic, reports The COVID Tracking Project. 

West Virginia has administered the highest percentage of COVID-19 vaccines it has received, according to the CDC's COVID-19 vaccine distribution and administration data tracker.

As of Jan. 15, about 388,000 people in the U.S. have died after contracting COVID-19, according to The New York Times.

California has the most COVID-19 patients hospitalized in the U.S., according to the COVID Tracking Project. 

Washington has the highest COVID-19 reproduction rate, while West Virginia has the lowest, according to rt.live. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted many cracks in our nation's public health system and underscored the need to be better prepared for future outbreaks, four former CDC directors said during a Jan. 14 interview on NBC's "Today."

COVID-19 immunity lasts at least five months for people who have been infected by the virus and provides about 83 percent protection against reinfection, compared to those who haven't had the virus, according to a preliminary study conducted by scientists at Public Health England, an executive agency of the U.K.'s health department. 

A Kentucky nurse who worked at Evansville, Ind.-based Ascension St. Vincent hospital said she was fired after attending the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, Nashville FOX affiliate WZTV reported Jan. 13. 

Chest X-rays from people who've had COVID-19 often show severe scarring, sometimes worse than that of a long-time smoker, CBS News reports. 

Researchers at Southern Illinois University Carbondale have discovered a new variant of the coronavirus that originated in and is widespread across the U.S., reports The Southern Illinoisan.

There is a very real possibility some hospitals in California may need to resort to crisis care over the coming days to weeks as COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to swell in the state, according to Carmela Coyle, president and CEO of the California Hospital Association.

The fast-spreading U.K. coronavirus variant has been identified in at least 13 states, according to the CDC and The Washington Post.

Daily COVID-19 deaths are rising by at least 10 percent in 25 states, according to seven-day averages recorded by The COVID Tracking Project.  

The U.K. variant known as B.1.1.7 has been identified in Wisconsin and New Mexico, confirming the more transmissible strain's presence in at least 13 states. 

Health officials are sounding the alarm after thousands of people in Tuscaloosa, Ala., gathered in packed streets on Jan. 11 to celebrate the University of Alabama's football national championship, CBS News reported Jan. 12.