US Covid-19 deaths top 300,000 just as vaccinations begin

Dr. Kiesha Raphael, right, gets with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine from Registered Nurse Colleen Claffey at Memorial Healthcare System, Monday, Dec. 14, 2020, in Miramar, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

The US death toll from coronavirus has topped 300,000 on the day the country began dispensing Covid-19 shots in a huge campaign to conquer the outbreak.

The number of deaths is equivalent to repeating a tragedy on the scale of Hurricane Katrina every day for five and a half months, is more than five times the number of Americans killed in the Vietnam War, and is equal to a 9/11 attack every day for more than 100 days.