(In 2nd paragraph, corrects spelling of CDC director's first
name to Rochelle, not Rachel)
WASHINGTON, Feb 3 (Reuters) - New COVID-19 cases and
hospitalizations appear to be on a downward trajectory in the
United States as the Biden administration remains confident that
it can hit its target of 100 million vaccines in 100 days, the
White House Coronavirus Task Force said on Wednesday.
However, Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, warned that new COVID-19
variants popping up across the country could threaten that
positive momentum.
Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious-disease
expert, said Americans should continue to follow social
distancing guidelines and added that there's no harm if people
want to "double mask" for added protection.
(Reporting by Lisa Lambert, Jarrett Renshaw and Michael Erman,
Editing by Franklin Paul and Alistair Bell)