VIRUS TODAY: Lawmakers call for race data on vaccine access

Here’s what’s happening Thursday with the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S.:

THREE THINGS TO KNOW TODAY:

— Democratic lawmakers are urging federal health officials to address racial disparity in vaccine access nationwide in a letter sent to the acting Health and Human Services secretary, Norris Cochran IV. Data from some states has shown hard-hit nonwhite Americans who are eligible to get the vaccine are not receiving it in proportion to their share of the population. In the letter, Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey, all of Massachusetts, say the agency must work with states, municipalities and private labs to collect and publish demographic data about vaccine recipients. Without that information, policymakers and health workers cannot efficiently identify vaccine disparities in the hardest-hit communities, the lawmakers say.

— New York may have undercounted COVID-19 deaths of nursing home residents by as much as 50%, the state’s attorney general said in a report. Attorney General Letitia James has been examining discrepancies for months between the number of deaths being reported by the state’s Department of Health, and the number of deaths reported by the homes themselves. Her investigators looked at a sample of 62 of the state’s roughly 600 nursing homes. They reported 1,914 deaths of residents from COVID-19, while the state Department of Health logged only 1,229 deaths at those same facilities If that same pattern exists statewide, James’ report said, it would mean the state is underreporting deaths by nearly 56%.

— State lawmakers around the U.S. are moving to curb the authority of governors and top health officials to impose emergency restrictions such as mask rules and business shutdowns. Many legislators are resentful of the way governors have issued sweeping...