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 14, 2020, 3:35 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 10, 2020, 12:07 PM EST

Ellen DeGeneres tests positive

Ellen DeGeneres said Thursday that she’s tested positive for COVID-19 and is “feeling fine.”

“Anyone who has been in close contact with me has been notified, and I am following all proper guidelines,” the talk show host said.

Dec 10, 2020, 11:13 AM EST

NYC schools aim to close ‘COVID achievement gap’

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio unveiled his 2021 student achievement plan, which will focus on getting students caught up after, for some, 18 months of remote learning.

“Clearly there will be a COVID achievement gap and we have to close that COVID achievement gap,” the mayor said.

A teacher speaks to students at Yung Wing School P.S. 124 in New York on Dec. 7, 2020.
Michael Loccisano/Getty Images

Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza said the plan is to: get a baseline of what ground was lost; increase the high-quality digital curriculum available for every single school; launch a one-stop digital learning hub; deepen professional development; expand Parent University (the "online learning and empowerment platform" for families); and confront the trauma and mental health crisis within schools.

ABC News' Aaron Katersky contributed to this report.

Dec 10, 2020, 9:02 AM EST

Seoul reporting bed shortages

In South Korea, more than 3,000 COVID-19 patients were identified in the last week, and in the Seoul area, as of Wednesday 506 were unable to be taken to hospitals this week due to bed shortages, Yonhap reported. 

PHOTO: Containers to be used as a ward to treat people infected with the coronavirus are set up on the grounds of the Seoul Medical Center in Seoul, South Korea, Dec. 10, 2020.
Containers to be used as a ward to treat people infected with the coronavirus are set up on the grounds of the Seoul Medical Center in Seoul, South Korea, Dec. 10, 2020. South Korea has reported another new 682 cases of the coronavirus, as officials work to expand testing to slow transmissions.
Ahn Young-joon/AP

South Korea reported 682 new cases and eight more deaths on Thursday, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency reported. 

The nation now has over 40,000 confirmed cases.

Dec 10, 2020, 8:37 AM EST

FDA Commissioner: 'We intend to' act quickly on vaccine review

The Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, an independent panel of infectious disease experts, doctors and scientists, is meeting Thursday to recommend if the Pfizer vaccine should be considered safe and effective in the U.S.

Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn told “Good Morning America” Thursday that he wouldn’t “prejudge” what the advisory committee would vote, but said the FDA will act “quickly” afterward.

“FDA's reviewers are mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters. We totally understand the urgency of this situation, and we are working around the clock on behalf of America,” Hahn said. “FDA scientists are known around the world for their expertise. We are a regulatory gold standard for the authorization or approval of medical products, including vaccines. We intend to do and we have done a very thorough review to get this right, to get all the answers we possibly can from the data.”

A vial contains the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is at the Northern General Hospital in Sheffield, Yorkshire on Dec. 8, 2020.
Andy Stenning/Pool via Getty Images

Hahn also said the FDA was “working very closely with our U.K. partners” after two people who received the vaccine in the U.K. had severe allergic reactions.

Hahn told NBC that it was “possible” that the FDA could advise people with significant allergies to not get the vaccine.

Hahn said the allergy issue would be discussed at Thursday’s meeting but added that the FDA stands by “our initial assessment” that Pfizer’s vaccine “does meet our criteria.”

ABC News' Ben Gittleson contributed to this report.

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