VIRUS TODAY: Virus resurges and reshapes itself around world

Here’s what’s happening Tuesday with the pandemic in the U.S.:

THREE THINGS TO KNOW TODAY

— January is beginning as a grim month around the globe as the coronavirus resurges and reshapes itself from Britain to Japan to California. It’s filling hospitals anew and shutting down livelihoods as governments impose new lockdowns to keep people apart.

Mexico City hospitals hold more virus patients than they ever have. Germany reported one of its highest daily death tolls to date Tuesday. Even virus success story Thailand is fighting an unexpected wave of infections. Doctors are facing or bracing for rising numbers of COVID-19 patients after end-of-year holiday gatherings. And more and more countries are reporting cases of a new, more contagious variant of the virus that has already rampaged across Britain.

— Distribution hiccups and logistical challenges have slowed the initial coronavirus vaccine rollout in California. Gov. Gavin Newsom said the pace is “not good enough." Only about 1% of California’s 40 million residents have been vaccinated. About 454,000 doses of the vaccine have been administered — just a quarter of the 1.3 million doses the state has received so far. The state’s death toll on Monday topped 26,500 and confirmed cases neared 2.4 million since the pandemic began. California’s hospitals are swamped with more than 22,000 COVID-19 patients.

— Rhode Island emerged as a surprising COVID-19 hot spot last month, briefly posting the highest rate of new cases in the country. The nation’s smallest state has not experienced the number of deaths seen in more populous states. But experts say Rhode Island’s experience offers lessons for other states wrestling with the same factors, including high population density, an aging population and many nursing homes, plus poverty and an economy that...