Brighter outlook for US as vaccinations rise and deaths fall

A Los Angeles Fire Department official gives a vaccine shot to former Los Angeles Lakers basketball star Magic Johnson on parking station rooftop clinic at the University of Southern California on Wednesday (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times/AP)

Figures in the US are painting a more encouraging picture in the country’s Covid-19 battle more than three months into its vaccination drive.

Covid deaths have dropped below an average of 1,000 a day for the first time since November, and 70% of Americans 65 and older have received at least one dose of a vaccine.