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

There were 233,271 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in the United States on Thursday, bringing the country's cumulative total soaring past 17 million, according to a real-time count kept by Johns Hopkins University.

It's the 45th straight day that the U.S. has reported more than 100,000 newly diagnosed infections, and the second straight day with over 200,000. Thursday's tally falls just under the country's all-time high of 247,403 new cases confirmed a day earlier, according to Johns Hopkins data.

An additional 3,270 deaths from the disease were also registered nationwide on Thursday, down from a peak of 3,656 fatalities recorded the previous day. It's only the fifth time since the pandemic began that the country has reported more than 3,000 COVID-19 deaths in a single day, according to Johns Hopkins data.

A total of 17,212,496 people in the U.S. have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began, and at least 310,782 of them have died, according to Johns Hopkins data. The cases include people from all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., and other U.S. territories as well as repatriated citizens.

Much of the country was under lockdown by the end of March as the first wave of pandemic hit. By May 20, all U.S. states had begun lifting stay-at-home orders and other restrictions put in place to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. The day-to-day increase in the country's cases then hovered around 20,000 for a couple of weeks before shooting back up over the summer.

The numbers lingered around 40,000 to 50,000 from mid-August through early October before surging again to record levels, crossing 100,000 for the first time on Nov. 4 and reaching 200,000 for the first time on Nov. 27.

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter plans to get vaccinated for COVID-19, his foundation announced Thursday night.

"After consulting with his doctors, President Carter is looking forward to receiving the COVID-19 vaccine when it is available to him," The Carter Center wrote in a statement on Twitter. 

Carter has not said when he will receive the vaccine or whether it will be on camera like other former presidents have indicated they will do.

All living former U.S. presidents have now announced they will get the vaccine.

The Henderson County Department of Public Health said Thursday that it has identified 75 positive COVID-19 cases associated with the Hendersonville First Baptist Baptist Church in North Carolina.

The Henderson County Department of Public Health said the holiday event took place on the weekend of Dec. 5.

"To date, the Health Department has identified 75 individuals who have tested positive as a result of the event," they said in a statement. "The Health Department is working to identify any additional close contacts of these individuals. The CDC defines close contact as being within approximately six feet of an infected person with COVID-19 for a cumulative 15 minutes."

The news comes as Henderson County continues to see an increase in COVID-19 cases linked to parties, family gatherings and social events.

All members of Congress can get vaccinated now, according to a letter from the Capitol Hill attending physician obtained by ABC News.

In the letter, sent Thursday night to all members of Congress and staff, Dr. Brian P. Monahan said he was notified by the National Security Council that Congress will be provided with a specific number of COVID-19 vaccine doses to meet "long-standing requirements for continuity of government operations."

"The small number of COVID19 vaccine doses we will be provided reflects a fraction of the first tranche of vaccines as it is distributed throughout the country," he said in the letter.

Monahan told members of Congress to call to schedule their vaccines in advance.

"My recommendation to you is absolutely unequivocal: there is no reason why you should defer receiving this vaccine. The benefit far exceeds any small risk," he said.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi both already announced Thursday that they will be getting the vaccine soon based on Monahan's guidance.

Members will get vaccinated first, then "we will follow a process to identify the continuity-essential staff members in the various divisions of the Capitol community in the coming weeks," Monahan said in his letter.

After that, "the appointing process will then continue until the small vaccine supply is exhausted. A second dose scheduling process will then begin later."

-ABC News' Mariam Khan and Trish Turner contributed to this report