NY health provider may have fraudulently obtained COVID-19 vaccine

The vaccine was then given to members of the public not yet eligible.

Last Updated: December 21, 2020, 3:43 PM EST

A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now infected more than 80.2 million people worldwide and killed over 1.7 million of them, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing today. All times Eastern.
Dec 21, 2020, 3:33 PM EST

Biden gets vaccinated

President-elect Joe Biden was administered the Pfizer vaccine on Monday afternoon at ChristianaCare Hospital in Delaware.

President-elect Joe Biden receives a COVID-19 Vaccination from nurse practitioner Tabe Masa at ChristianaCare Christiana Hospital, Dec. 21, 2020, in Newark, Delaware.
Joshua Roberts/Getty Images

Dr. Jill Biden was vaccinated earlier on Monday.

Dr. Anthony Fauci is expected to get vaccinated Tuesday, according to the National Institutes of Health.

President Donald Trump has not been vaccinated because doctors wanted him to wait after he received monoclonal antibody treatment following his COVID-19 diagnoses, U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams said Monday.

"His doctors, who I've spoken with, wanted people to understand that if you have recently been given monoclonal antibodies, the FDA says you should wait several weeks before you get vaccinated,” Adams told reporters. “So the reason the president has not gotten vaccinated yet is because his doctors have advised him to wait."

ABC News' Ben Gittleson contributed to this report.

Dec 21, 2020, 1:46 PM EST

Moderna vaccinations begin in US

Injections of the newly authorized Moderna vaccine are now underway in the U.S.

Herbie Severe recieves the Covid-19 vaccine with the first batch of Moderna's vaccine at Hartford hospital in Hartford, Connecticut, Dec. 21, 2020.
Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images

Wilfredo Rivera celebrates getting vaccinated against Covid-19 with the first batch of Moderna's vaccine at Hartford hospital in Hartford, Connecticut, Dec. 21, 2020.
Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images

In Boston, health care workers at the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center were among the first people to receive Moderna's vaccine. Dr. Jaime Gallegos, the first staffer to get the vaccine, held a sign that said, "Take that, COVID!"

The first cases containing the Moderna vaccine -- which was authorized by the FDA on Friday -- were seen Sunday morning being rolled out from a facility in Olive Branch, Mississippi, to be shipped to the FedEx hub in Memphis, Tennessee, for nationwide distribution.

Boxes containing the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine are packed for shipping at the McKesson distribution center in Olive Branch, Miss., Dec. 20, 2020.
Paul Sancya/AP

The doses were packed into insulated coolers with specialized cold packs and a temperature monitor, according to pharmaceutical distribution company McKesson.

ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos contributed to this report.

Dec 21, 2020, 1:14 PM EST

European Commission authorizes Pfizer vaccine

The European Commission authorized the Pfizer vaccine on Monday, hours after the European Medicines Agency issued a recommendation granting a conditional marketing authorization (formal authorization) for the vaccine.

"It will be available to all EU countries at the same time, on the same conditions," tweeted EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen gives a press statement after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) gave the green light to European countries to start Covid-19 vaccinations in Brussels, Dec. 21, 2020.
Johanna Geron/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

French Prime Minister Jean Castex tweeted, "Vaccination will start in the 27 EU countries on December 27, 28 and 29."

ABC News’ Ibtissem Guenfoud contributed to this report.

Dec 21, 2020, 12:20 PM EST

WHO: New variant's reproduction rate is 0.4 higher

The reproduction rate of a new COVID-19 variant linked to an uptick in cases in England is 0.4 higher than other known strains, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 technical lead, said Monday.

That means the number of people an infected individual transmits to increases from 1.1 to 1.5 with the new variant.

There’s "zero evidence" that the new variant causes more severe disease, said Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme.

The variant was reported to the WHO on Dec. 14. In the last few days, a number of countries have introduced travel bans to the United Kingdom.

The variant has also been identified in one patient in Australia, one in Iceland, one in Italy, one in the Netherlands, and believed to be in about 10 people in Denmark, Van Kerkhove said.

Studies around antibody response are underway. WHO officials said they expect results in the "coming days and the coming weeks." 

ABC News’ Christine Theodorou contributed to this report.