As vaccine begins rolling out, US has record hospitalizations and surpasses 300,000 deaths from COVID-19

• A record 110,000 people are currently hospitalized with the coronavirus in the US, The COVID Tracking Project announced Monday.
• The number is nearly double that seen in the two previous COVID-19 surges the US has seen thus far.
• Over 300,000 Americans have now died from disease.

Nearly twice as many people in the US were hospitalized with COVID-19 on Monday as were hospitalized in April during the coronavirus' first surge, with more than 300,000 Americans now dead from the disease.

According to The COVID Tracking Project, at least 110,549 people in the US are hospitalized with COVID-19. During the country's two previous big waves of infection, in April and July, fewer than 60,000 people were hospitalized.

Arizona and Nevada now lead the nation in COVID-19 hospitalizations, with 505 people and 657 people per million in those states currently admitted for medical care.

By contrast, Hawaii and Vermont are doing the best; neither state has more than 100 people per million hospitalized with COVID-19.

—The COVID Tracking Project (@COVID19Tracking) December 15, 2020

The news comes amid another grim milestone: This week, Johns Hopkins University's tally of coronavirus deaths in the US surpassed 300,000, by far the highest recorded death toll of any country. Brazil, the next-closest country, has recorded more than 181,000 coronavirus deaths.

The latest forecasts analyzed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that by early next year as many as 362,000 Americans will be dead from the coronavirus.

"In January, we will pass 400,000 deaths," Dr. Ashish Jha, the dean of public health at Brown University, said on Sunday. "Those deaths will come from infections that have already happened or will this week."

"Vaccines will help," he added. "But we can, must do more."