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

Cynthia Mayes, 70, became one of the first nursing home residents in the nation to receive the Pfizer vaccine Wednesday morning.

Mayes was first of 288 residents and staff at ManorCare Health Services in Palm Harbor (part of ProMedica) to get the shot.

“This is a bad virus -- you are stupid not to get [vaccinated],” Mayes said, according to the facility.

“It’s like Christmas morning,” said Dr. Mark Gloth, the chief medical officer for ProMedica Senior Care.

When the Florida National Guard carried in the box containing the vaccine, Gloth said the nursing home staff erupted in spontaneous cheers and applause.

ABC News’ Matthew Mosk contributed to this report.

The United States registered 3,019 deaths from COVID-19 on Tuesday, which is approximately one fatality recorded every 30 seconds over the 24-hour reporting period, according to an ABC News analysis of data collected by Johns Hopkins University.

Over the past month, the country's seven-day average of daily deaths from the disease has more than doubled, according to an ABC News analysis of data compiled by The COVID Tracking Project. There were just five days where fewer than 1,000 COVID-19 fatalities were reported nationwide. In the last seven days, the country has reported 17,292 COVID-19 deaths -- a new weekly record.

More than 112,000 people in the United States are currently hospitalized for COVID-19 -- more than ever before. The figure is nearly double the country's previous peaks from April and July.

Meanwhile, the country's seven-day average of daily cases is nearing 209,000 -- more than three times the average from July, and more than six times the average in April.

ABC News' Brian Hartman and Arielle Mitropoulos contributed to this report.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo announced Wednesday that he will be the first in the country to be immunized against COVID-19 and that the vaccine, once approved, will be available at no cost to all citizens.

"I want to emphasize once again that I will become the first one to be vaccinated. This is to build trust and certain among the public that the vaccines are safe," he said in an address from the presidential palace that was livestreamed on YouTube. "I've ordered the finance minister to prioritize and reallocate to provide free vaccines, so there's no reason that the people can't access them."

Earlier this month, Indonesia received 1.2 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine developed by Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech. The vaccine, called CoronaVac, is still awaiting approval from Indonesia's food and drug agency, according to Widodo.

Indonesia, which has the fourth-largest population in the world, has reported more than 636,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began, including at least 19,248 deaths, according to a real-time count kept by Johns Hopkins University.

Vaccinations began Wednesday for staff at New York City’s public hospitals, beginning with Elmhurst Hospital in Queens.

Mayor Bill de Blasio, who attended the inaugural moment, commended the Elmhurst Hospital “health care heroes” who "held the line" when the hospital faced “one of the toughest battles” against COVID-19 in the U.S.

“In the last 48 hours since the vaccine arrived, over 1,600 health care workers have been vaccinated in New York City -- that is a huge step forward,” the mayor said.

Elmhurst plans to vaccinate its entire hospital staff within three weeks.