Florida becomes the third state to identify a more transmissible coronavirus variant as overall U.S. cases hit 20 million

Florida on Thursday became the third state to identify a case of the coronavirus variant first detected in the United Kingdom, a reminder that the pandemic remains a formidable foe as infections in the United States cross 20 million.

The latest instance of the variant was found in a man in his 20s with no recent travel history, health officials said. The more transmissible version of the virus has also been reported in California and Colorado, and experts expect it to be identified in additional states.

The virus, spreading largely unchecked in much of the country, forced most people to have quieter New Year’s Eve celebrations. No one was likely to kiss a stranger at the annual ball drop in Manhattan’s Times Square, attended by only a few hundred frontline workers.

A fired Wisconsin pharmacist was arrested Thursday for allegedly deliberately spoiling more than 500 doses of coronavirus vaccine, which is available in limited supply and being rationed for high-risk people.

At a vaccination clinic in West Virginia, more than 40 people were accidentally given an antibody treatment for the virus, instead of Moderna's vaccine. The West Virginia National Guard, which is assisting with inoculations, said those people were at no risk of harm.

The number of vaccinations across the United States crossed 3 million Thursday, only about one-seventh of the doses that federal officials had promised to deliver to Americans' arms by the end of the year. Although authorities insist that lags in reporting mean the official tally is an undercount, the immunization campaign has nevertheless been marred by logistical delays as the nation experiences the most powerful surge of the pandemic so far.

The vaccines' complicated rollout has relied on coordination between the federal government and beleaguered state and local health-care systems, with communication gaffes and underfunded health departments contributing to the slowdown. Gustave Perna, chief operating officer of the Trump administration's Operation Warp Speed, on Wednesday said federal officials will "continue to make adjustments" to increase vaccinations.

Former Food and Drug Administration commissioner Scott Gottlieb called on the government to increase the pace of vaccination, especially for people in nursing homes. Those long-term care facilities are logging more than 60,000 infections per week, he said, and recording a 20-percent fatality rate.

"I think we need a sense of urgency about this, and the new variant, I think, adds to that risk," Gottlieb said Thursday on CNBC. "Because if we don't get control of this epidemic wave more quickly, and the vaccine is a tool to do that, it creates more opportunity for this new variant to start spreading more widely."

Gottlieb's comments came the same day as U.S. coronavirus-related hospitalizations set a record of more than 125,300 — the fourth straight day that that measure reached a new high. States reported 225,775 new cases of the virus, and deaths topped 3,000 for the third day in a row, according to The Washington Post's tracking.

» READ MORE: First U.S. case of new coronavirus variant detected in Colorado National Guard member

The situation remains particularly dire in California's Los Angeles County, where the Los Angeles Times reports that morgues are overflowing, funeral homes are turning away families and hospitals are reaching their breaking points. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti predicted Thursday that the city's "toughest and darkest days" lie ahead, as the surrounding county reports an average of more than 12,800 cases and 129 coronavirus-related deaths per day.

"Our health-care workers are stretched to the limit," Garcetti, a Democrat, told CNN. " ... We learned a lot, prepared a lot, have equipment, have a lot of the spaces now available, but we don't have the people. And that is what's devastating us."

Hospitals are also under strain elsewhere in the country, including in Arizona, where the state's health director said over 90 percent of ICU beds were occupied and more than half of those were housing COVID-19 patients.

“As you take precautions against COVID-19, consider whether you or someone you love might need one of those beds for a heart attack, stroke, serious injury or infection,” the director, Cara Christ, said in a video posted Thursday. “Wearing a mask, keeping your distance, washing your hands and taking other simple steps helps make sure there are beds for any medical emergency that Arizonans may face.”