Coronavirus updates: 1st vaccines now on the way to all 50 US states
Two main trucks left the Pfizer facility on Sunday morning, the company said.
A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now infected more than 71.5 million people and killed over 1.6 million worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
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6 states report over 10,000 new cases
As COVID-19 continues to surge across the U.S., six states reported over 10,000 new cases on Saturday, according to the COVID Tracking Project.
They were California, Florida, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas.
Another seven states reported over 5,000 new cases: Arizona, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina and Tennessee.
In total, according to the tracker, there were 223,365 new U.S. cases reported on Saturday, 2,477 deaths and a record 108,487 people currently hospitalized.
Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices votes to recommend Pfizer vaccine
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, an independent group of medical experts that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in a virtual meeting on Saturday voted 11-0 recommending the Pfizer vaccine for Americans 16 years and older.
Three committee members recused themselves because they had a conflict of interest.
This recommendation now heads to CDC Director Robert Redfield, who must sign off before doses can be administered.
ABC News’ Lauren Lantry contributed to this report.
Country music legend Charley Pride dies from virus
Country music legend Charley Pride died of COVID-19 complications on Saturday.
Last month, the 86-year-old performed at the CMA Awards, where he accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Pride was the first Black member of the Country Music Hall of Fame.
“Between 1967 and 1987, Pride delivered 52 Top 10 country hits, won Grammy awards, and became RCA Records’ top-selling country artist,” said the statement announcing his death. “His musicality opened minds and superseded prejudice.“
California breaks records for daily cases, daily deaths, total hospitalizations
California broke new records on Saturday for daily cases (over 35,700), daily deaths (225) and total hospitalizations (13,410).
Gov. Gavin Newsom has issued stay-at-home orders to regions if their intensive care unit capacity falls below 15%. The San Joaquin Valley, Southern California and the Greater Sacramento region all have fallen below that threshold, while the Bay Area and Northern California have not.
ICU capacity in the San Joaquin Valley fell to 0% on Saturday and was at 5.3% in Southern California.
ABC News’ Matt Fuhrman contributed to this report.
US reports over 192,000 new cases
There were 192,299 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in the United States on Monday, according to a real-time count kept by Johns Hopkins University.
It's the 35th straight day that the U.S. has reported over 100,000 newly diagnosed infections. Monday's tally is less than the country's all-time high of 227,885 new cases confirmed on Dec. 4, according to Johns Hopkins data.
An additional 1,404 deaths from the disease were also registered nationwide on Monday, down from a peak of 2,879 fatalities on Dec. 3, according to Johns Hopkins data.
COVID-19 data may be skewed due to possible lags in reporting over Thanksgiving followed by a potentially very large backlog from the holiday.
A total of 14,954,331 people in the U.S. have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began, and at least 283,746 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.