Coronavirus updates: 1st vaccines now on the way to all 50 US states

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden on Monday announced key nominations and appointments of his health team, a slate of experts and public officials who will lead his administration's response to the coronavirus pandemic.

"This trusted and accomplished team of leaders will bring the highest level of integrity, scientific rigor and crisis-management experience to one of the toughest challenges America has ever faced -- getting the pandemic under control so that the American people can get back to work, back to their lives and back to their loved ones," Biden said in a statement. "This team of world-class medical experts and public servants will be ready on day one to mobilize every resource of the federal government to expand testing and masking, oversee the safe, equitable and free distribution of treatments and vaccines, reopen schools and businesses safely, lower prescription drug and other health costs and expand affordable health care to all Americans, and rally the country and restore the belief that there is nothing beyond America's capacity if we do it together."

California Attorney General Xavier Beccera is nominated to serve as the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Dr. Vivek Muthy, a physician and research scientist, is nominated to be the Surgeon General, a role he served during the Obama administration.

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, an expert on virus testing, prevention and treatment, is nominated to serve as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, an expert on health care disparities, will serve as the COVID-19 Equity Task Force Chair.

As Biden said last week, Dr. Anthony Fauci will stay on in his current role as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Fauci will also serve as Biden's chief medical adviser on COVID-19.

Jeff Zients, co-chair of Biden's transition team who led the Obama administration's National Economic Council, will serve as coordinator of the COVID-19 Response as well as counselor to the president.

Natalie Quillian, a national security expert, will serve as deputy coordinator of the COVID-19 response.

ABC News' John Verhovek contributed to this report.

COVID-19 vaccinations are expected to begin in Germany "in the very first days" of 2021, according to German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s chief of staff.

In an online interview Sunday with German newspaper Bild, Helge Braun said he and Merkel will get vaccinated "when it's our turn." The trained doctor also noted that he's prepared to help vaccinate people himself.

"That won’t work at every hour of the day or night as chief of staff, but at the weekend I’m prepared to join in," Braun told the Bild.

The European Union's drug regulator is expected to make a decision by Dec. 29 on approving the first COVID-19 vaccine for use. In the meantime, Germany is preparing special vaccination centers.

There were 175,663 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in the United States on Sunday, according to a real-time count kept by Johns Hopkins University.

It's the 34th straight day that the U.S. has reported over 100,000 newly diagnosed infections. Sunday'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 1,114 deaths from the disease were also registered nationwide on Sunday, 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 14,760,627 people in the U.S. have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began, and at least 282,312 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.