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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US marks deadliest week since beginning of pandemic
The last week marks the deadliest week for the U.S. since the beginning of the pandemic, with 15,578 deaths -- roughly equivalent to 92 deaths reported every hour.
The U.S. is now averaging more than 200,000 new cases each day -- three times higher than the country's summer peak in July, and more than six times higher than the country's spring peak in April.
There has not been a single day with less than 100,000 daily cases for the last five straight weeks, according to an ABC News analysis of data compiled by the COVID Tracking Project.
In the last week alone, the U.S. has reported 1.4 million new COVID-19 cases, more than any other week on record, and equivalent to 1 in every 231 Americans testing positive.
With numerous days now over the 200,000 mark, the seven-day average of new coronavirus cases has increased by 87% in the last month.
ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos contributed to this report.
Pennsylvania governor tests positive
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said he tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday and is isolating at home.
"I have no symptoms and am feeling well," Wolf said in a statement. “I am continuing to serve the commonwealth and performing all of my duties remotely."
Wolf's wife has been tested and is awaiting results.
Germany reports record rise in deaths
A record 590 new fatalities were reported in Germany on Wednesday, beating the record previously set Tuesday of 568 new deaths, the Robert Koch-Institute reported.
Germany has now lost 19,932 lives to COVID-19.
"A reversal of this trend so far is not in sight," German Deputy Government spokesperson Martina Fietz said, adding that in some regions, hospitals are reaching their limits.
"With more than 4,200 people in intensive care, the number is considerably higher than in the spring," Fietz said.
Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke in parliament Wednesday, pleading with regional leaders to enforce tighter regulations to stop the spread.
Over 1.2 million people in Germany have been diagnosed.
ABC News' Christine Theodorou contributed to this report.
Canada authorizes Pfizer vaccine
Canada has authorized the Pfizer vaccine, becoming the third country to do so after the United Kingdom and Bahrain.
Canada's health department said, "after a thorough, independent review of the evidence, Health Canada has determined that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine meets the Department's stringent safety, efficacy and quality requirements for use in Canada."
A rollout date was not announced. Initial supplies will be limited with more doses available in the spring, officials said.
Health Canada is also reviewing another three vaccines.
ABC News' Kirit Radia and Christine Theodorou 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.