Virus Today: 3rd vaccine shows promise, death toll soars

Here's what's happening on Monday with the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S:

THREE THINGS TO KNOW TODAY

—Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca said that late-stage trials showed its coronavirus vaccine was up to 90% effective, giving public health officials hope they may soon have access to a vaccine that is cheaper and easier to distribute than some of its rivals. AstraZeneca is the third major drug company to report encouraging news in recent weeks as the world anxiously waits for scientific breakthroughs that will bring an end to a pandemic that has wrought economic devastation and resulted in nearly 1.4 million confirmed deaths.

—Americans are still heading to airports in large numbers to travel for the Thanksgiving holiday, despite the pandemic and guidance from health officials to limit gatherings as the virus rages through the country. More than 1 million people were screened by the Transportation Safety Administration on Sunday — the most on any day since March. Travel numbers are much lower than previous Thanksgiving holidays.

—The switch to remote learning in rural New Mexico has left some students profoundly isolated — cut off from others and the grid by sheer distance. In the village of Cuba, New Mexico, population 800, the school system is sending school buses to students’ homes over an hour away to bring them assignments, meals and a little human contact. On the fringe of the Navajo Nation, many families have no electricity, let alone internet. It is yet another way in which the pandemic has exposed the gap between the haves and have-nots in the U.S.

THE NUMBERS: The U.S. is now averaging more than 1,500 new deaths per day, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The seven-day rolling average for deaths was less than 1,000 two weeks ago and now is 1,510 There have been close to 1.4...