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.

Last Updated: December 8, 2020, 3:40 PM EST

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.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news developed this week. All times Eastern.
Dec 08, 2020, 3:09 PM EST

Washington state extends restrictions through holidays

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said the state's restriction on social gatherings, restaurants, bars, gyms and religious services will be extended to Jan. 4, 2021.

"We need to buckle down through the holidays," Inslee tweeted.

"The hospitalization projections are scary. We’re already at 80% ICU capacity," Inslee said, adding, "our hospitals are still on the brink."

A nurse administers a test during a COVID-19 testing and flu shot event at the Tacoma Dome on Nov. 28, 2020 in Tacoma, Wash.
David Ryder/Getty Images

Washington state has over 184,000 diagnosed COVID-19 cases and at least 2,941 fatalities.

Dec 08, 2020, 2:30 PM EST

Over 150 arrested at 'super spreader' party in LA County

Thirty-five juveniles and 116 adults were arrested at a "super spreader" underground party this weekend in Palmdale, California, said Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva.

The sheriff said the party was in clear violation of the governor's stay-at-home order, adding that the party would have been targeted without the pandemic due to allegations of drugs, weapons, prostitution and underage trafficking.

ABC News' Alex Stone contributed to this report.

Dec 08, 2020, 2:07 PM EST

Massachusetts enacts new restrictions as cases, hospitalizations rise

Massachusetts will roll back its reopening plans on Sunday as cases and hospitalizations rise in the aftermath of Thanksgiving, Gov. Charlie Baker said.

People wait in line to get a coronavirus test at a COVID testing site outside of Chelsea City Hall in Chelsea, Mass., Dec. 3, 2020.
Boston Globe via Getty Images

A nurse writes a note to communicate with staff outside the room of a Covid-19 positive patient at UMass Memorial Hospital in Worcester, Mass., Dec. 4, 2020.
Allison Dinner/AFP via Getty Images

Capacity will be reduced from 50% to 40% in facilities including offices, gyms, places of worship and retail stores, Baker said.

In offices, people must wear masks when they're not alone, and at gyms, customers must wear masks at all times.

Changes are also coming to Massachusetts restaurants. Customers must wear masks at all times except when eating and drinking, and their time at tables will be capped at 90 minutes.

Dec 08, 2020, 1:51 PM EST

Fauci: 'We have not yet seen the full blunt' of Thanksgiving

Dr. Anthony Fauci and White House coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx warned Tuesday that the U.S. hasn't yet seen the full impact of Thanksgiving gatherings.

“We have not yet seen the full blunt and the effect of the traveling and the congregating,” Fauci said at The Wall Street Journal's CEO Council summit .“That should be sometime probably next week, or a week and a half.”

A worker registers patients for a COVID-19 test from the back of a van as a patient receives a test at a COVID testing site outside of Chelsea City Hall in Chelsea, Mass., Dec. 3, 2020.
Boston Globe via Getty Images

"Then we're going to enter into the Christmas season, again, with more traveling and with more congregating at family and social gatherings. So we're in for a very challenging period," Fauci continued. "And the only way we're going to counter that is by a consistent uniform implementation and adherence to public health measures."

Fauci also said he’s accepted President-elect Joe Biden’s offer to become his chief medical adviser.

“I've already told the president-elect that I would gladly accept that responsibility. It really is very similar to what I'm doing now,” Fauci said.

ABC News' Anne Flaherty contributed to this report.

Related Topics