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, 2:16 PM EST

Argentina to start vaccinations with Russia's Sputnik V

Argentina announced it will begin administering doses of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine later this month.

"When the Russian vaccine is in Argentina, the first person to get it will be me,” President Alberto Fernandez said. “I have no doubt in the quality of the vaccine.”

Russia on Saturday began vaccinations with Sputnik V, which hasn't yet gone through the late-stage trials required in the U.S.

Dec 10, 2020, 1:54 PM EST

New Hampshire house speaker dies from virus

The speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, Richard “Dick” Hinch, has died from COVID-19 at the age of 71, the state’s attorney general said.

Hinch was just elected speaker last week.

In this Dec. 2, 2020, file photo, New Hampshire House Speaker Dick Hinch speaks during an outdoor legislative session at the University of New Hampshire in Durham, N.H.
Elise Amendola/AP

ABC News’ Ben Stein contributed to this report.

Dec 10, 2020, 12:19 PM EST

HHS officials acknowledge staffing struggle

Jonathan Greene, deputy assistant secretary for operations and resources at the Department of Health and Human Services, acknowledged in a briefing call that the agency is not able to provide the number of health care workers states are requesting.

HHS and FEMA have been "very judicious" in using and moving health care workers, providing 300 to 400 nationwide, which matches the number deployed during the first surge in the spring, Greene said. Fewer were deployed over the summer, mimicking the case curve.

St. Mary Medical Center staff work inside a triage tent to handle the overflow at its 200 bed hospital during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease in Apple Valley, Calif., Dec. 8, 2020.
Mike Blake/Reuters

About 3,100 can be deployed nationally, but Greene admitted the system is designed more for situations like hurricanes than for pandemics.

“It works less well when we're talking about a pandemic where everyone needs all of these providers all at once. And certainly when we activate and deploy these people and take them out of their full-time jobs and put them somewhere else, it reduces the capacity in the places where they come from,” he said.

Greene said the agency has encouraged the use of non-traditional health care providers in order "to bridge the gap."

ABC News' Sarah Kolinovsky contributed to this report.

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.

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