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U.S. President Joe Biden said 90% of U.S. adults will be eligible to get a Covid-19 vaccine in three weeks and the number of pharmacies where shots are available will soon double. The announcement came as the federal vaccination effort took on a tone of increasing desperation as more states loosen restrictions in the face of rising infections—and the first signs appear of the torrent of hospitalizations and death that usually follows. Over the weekend, Trump administration health official Deborah Birx stated that except for the 100,000 Americans who died in the first wave, the massive U.S. death toll—which now stands at 550,000—could have been “decreased substantially” but for mistakes by former President Donald Trump and his aides, states and local officials. On Monday, Biden pleaded with governors to reinstate mask requirements as variants accelerate infection. Rochelle Walensky, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fought back tears as she outlined the warning signals that may augur a fourth wave. . The seven-day average for new daily cases is now almost at 60,000, up 10% from the prior week. Hospitalizations are also up, to about 4,800 a day from 4,600 a week earlier. Deaths, a lagging indicator, have also started to rise again. “I’m going to reflect on the recurring feeling I have of impending doom,” Walensky said. “Right now I’m scared.”