The United States will have enough Covid-19 vaccines for its adult population by the end of May, President Joe Biden has said, while Brazil's troubles deepened as it registered its highest 24-hour death toll.
The two countries have the largest number of deaths in the world, with 515,000 coronavirus fatalities in the US and 255,000 in Brazil, with both counting the cost of mixed public health advice on masks and other measures.
The state of Texas took the contentious step yesterday of lifting its mask mandate, despite dire warnings from US health authorities against states rolling back steps taken to restrict the spread of the pandemic.