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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2 trucks with COVID-19 vaccines have left facility, Pfizer says
The first vaccines in the U.S. have now left the Pfizer facility and are on their way to all 50 states.
Two main trucks left on Sunday morning -- an additional truck will come in later to pick up a few boxes and take them to the U.S. territories.
On Monday Pfizer has an order for another 400 boxes of the vaccine as well as an order for a slightly less amount of boxes on Tuesday, the company said.
The first shipments are expected to arrive at 145 sites on Monday, 425 sites on Tuesday and another 66 sites on Wednesday, Gen. Gus Perna of the Trump administration's Operation Warp Speed vaccine program said.
At those sites, the vaccines will be paired with ancillary kits to assist with the vaccinations. The kits contain needles, syringes, alcohol swabs, diluent, safety gear and vaccine reminder cards.
-ABC News' Joshua Hoyos and Luis Martinez
FedEx truck carrying 1st shipment of Pfizer vaccine leaves Michigan facility
FedEx has begun its shipment process of the Pfizer vaccine in the U.S. on Sunday morning, the company posted on Twitter.
Germany further tightens COVID-19 restrictions
Starting Wednesday, Dec. 16 through Jan. 10, all non-essential stores and schools will be closed in Germany and social meetings will be limited to five people from two households, with an exception made for the Christmas period from Dec. 24 to Dec. 26 when four more people beyond a household will be allowed.
No exceptions will be made for New Year's Eve.
COVID-19 transmissions remain high in the country despite softer restrictions in place. As of Dec. 13, the Robert Koch Institute reported a total of 20,2000 new cases and 321 deaths, bringing the totals to 1,320,716 and 21,787, respectively.
Germany had initially planned for a "semi-lockdown," allowing for a holiday exemption from Dec. 23 to Jan 1 where up to 10 people from two households could meet but those plans were scrapped in favor of these new rules.
ABC News' Christine Theodorou contributed to this report.
US surpasses 16 million coronavirus cases
At least 16,062,299 Americans have been diagnosed with coronavirus, according to the latest data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
There are currently over 108,000 Americans hospitalized with COVID-19 nationwide and current hospitalizations have increased by nearly 10% since the beginning of the month.
The U.S. is now averaging nearly 2,400 new coronavirus related deaths a day -- 2,379 to be exact -- which surpasses the country's previous peak in April.
This week alone, 16,653 COVID-19 related deaths were recorded which is nearly 100 American deaths reported every hour.
Additionally, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University, Friday marked the U.S. highest single-day new case total, with 231,775 new cases.
ABC News' Ahmad Hemingway 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.