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.

ByMorgan Winsor, Erin Schumaker, Ivan Pereira, Emily Shapiro, Meredith Deliso, and Rosa Sanchez
Last Updated: December 13, 2020, 12:44 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 13, 2020, 12:44 PM EST

Italy now has highest COVID-19 death toll in Europe

Italy's Civil Protection Agency reported 484 new deaths on Sunday, bringing the total number of fatalities in the country to 64,520, surpassing the United Kingdom which stands at 64,267, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

There were 17,938 new COVID-19 cases reported in Italy, representing an 11.7% positivity rate and brings the total number of diagnosed cases to 1,843,712.

People wearing a face masks do their Christmas shopping, Dec. 13, 2020, in Rome, Italy, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Vincenzo Pinto/AFP via Getty Images

There have been a total of 372,965 deaths and 14,959,949 cases in the EU and the U.K., according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

-ABC News' Christine Theodorou

Dec 13, 2020, 11:08 AM EST

Kuwait authorizes emergency use of Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine

The gulf nation joins a list of countries -- including the U.K., U.S., Canada, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Mexico -- that have authorized the emergency use of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

-ABC News' Christine Theodorou

Dec 13, 2020, 10:25 AM EST

Details on Monday's vaccine shipment

With Sunday's vaccine shipment now in transit, Pfizer has began preparations to ship out an additional 400 boxes of the vaccine on Monday.

There are 975 vials per box -- each vial provides five doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, the company said.

Boxes containing the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine are prepared to be shipped at the Pfizer Global Supply Kalamazoo manufacturing plant in Portage, Michigan, Dec. 13, 2020.
Morry Gash/POOL/EPA via Shutterstock

There are 195 vials per tray and 60,000 vials per freezer.

Dec 13, 2020, 9:33 AM EST

2 trucks with COVID-19 vaccines have left facility, Pfizer says

The first vaccines in the U.S. have now left the Pfizer facility and are on their way to all 50 states.

Two main trucks left on Sunday morning -- an additional truck will come in later to pick up a few boxes and take them to the U.S. territories.

On Monday Pfizer has an order for another 400 boxes of the vaccine as well as an order for a slightly less amount of boxes on Tuesday, the company said.

The first shipments are expected to arrive at 145 sites on Monday, 425 sites on Tuesday and another 66 sites on Wednesday, Gen. Gus Perna of the Trump administration's Operation Warp Speed vaccine program said.

At those sites, the vaccines will be paired with ancillary kits to assist with the vaccinations. The kits contain needles, syringes, alcohol swabs, diluent, safety gear and vaccine reminder cards.

-ABC News' Joshua Hoyos and Luis Martinez

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