Covid-19 Live Updates: Vaccinations Hit Record High While Experts Debate Fourth Wave In his Easter address, Pope Francis calls on world leaders to expand access to vaccines. Virus variants spread across the U.S. and threaten progress. Here’s what you need to know: Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccines were given out at New Hope Baptist Church last month in Newark.Credit...James Estrin/The New York Times Vaccinations against Covid-19 may be accelerating in the United States, but the Biden administration’s intervention at a troubled plant that ruined millions of vaccine doses, along with the continuing threat of dangerous variants of the coronavirus, suggest that the road to defeating the virus is likely to take many unpredictable twists and turns.