People over 75, front-line essential workers should get vaccine next, CDC panel says

The U.S. has recorded nearly 2.9 million cases in the first two weeks of December and is on track to become the worst month on record for COVID-19 cases, according to ABC News’ analysis of data compiled by the COVID Tracking Project.

Hospitalizations have surged to unprecedented levels, with over 110,000 patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19 across the country -- a record high for the ninth consecutive day.

Nearly 40,000 people are currently hospitalized in the South, which has surpassed the surge from the summer.
 
ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos contributed to this report.

The FDA has authorized the first at-home COVID-19 test that doesn't require a prescription and provides results within 20 minutes.

The Ellume COVID-19 Home Test is an antigen test that detects fragments of proteins from the SARS-CoV-2 virus on a nasal swab and then reports results to your phone.   

“Today’s authorization is a major milestone in diagnostic testing for COVID-19,” FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn said in a statement. “By authorizing a test for over-the-counter use, the FDA allows it to be sold in places like drug stores, where a patient can buy it, swab their nose, run the test and find out their results in as little as 20 minutes.” 

The test "correctly identified 96% of positive samples and 100% of negative samples in individuals with symptoms," the FDA said. "In people without symptoms, the test correctly identified 91% of positive samples and 96% of negative samples."

The company says it will deliver 20 million at-home tests, which are manufactured in Australia, to the U.S. in the first half of 2021.

ABC News’ Stephanie Ebbs contributed to this report.

Nurses in some hard-hit Southern California communities are planning a strike in response to alleged conditions including: “aggressive rationing” of personal protective equipment and dirty PPE, insufficient testing for staff and patients, full shifts without a break, and not enough housekeepers, leading to poor sanitation.

The 10-day strike, set to begin Christmas Eve, will take place at Los Robles Regional Medical Center, Riverside Community Hospital and West Hills Hospital & Medical Center.

These hospitals are in Riverside, Los Angeles and Ventura counties -- all hard-hit by the pandemic.

Riverside County’s intensive care unit capacity fell to almost 0% on Monday, the Palm Springs Desert Sun reported. Overall, the Southern California region’s ICU capacity stood at 1.7% on Tuesday.

A Kentucky doctor who was among the first Americans to receive a COVID-19 vaccine outside a clinical trial this week encouraged others to get immunized as soon as possible but also warned against any "false sense of security."

Dr. Valerie Briones-Pryor, who primarily works with hospitalized COVID-19 patients at University of Louisville Health in Kentucky's largest city, said she was elated to find out that she would be one of the first five Americans to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, which was authorized for emergency use in the United States last week.

"I tear up just thinking about it because I finally felt like we had something, that we had one leg up on this nasty virus that doesn't care, that wants to hurt everybody, hurt my loved ones," Briones-Pryor told "Start Here," ABC News' daily news podcast.

Briones-Pryor said she feels fine and immediately returned to work after receiving the shot on Monday but is continuing to practice public health measures.

"Because I know that the rest of the community and my colleagues still haven't received the vaccine yet, my patients haven't received the vaccine yet, the more important it is that I stay vigilant about masking, social distancing, washing my hands and not being cavalier with what I do," she said. "Just because we have the vaccine, we still have to do the right thing."

"You still want to set an example for others, because there's a false sense of security that I'm vaccinated," she added. "But I can still carry things around."

This report was featured in the Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020, episode of “Start Here,” ABC News’ daily news podcast.

"Start Here" offers a straightforward look at the day's top stories in 20 minutes. Listen for free every weekday on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, the ABC News app or wherever you get your podcasts.