Coronavirus updates: Herd immunity by fall 'ambitious,' says surgeon general nominee

Wednesday marks one year since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the first case of COVID-19 in the United States.

It wouldn't be until several months later that scientists identified the virus that caused COVID-19 in blood samples from people in various U.S. states as early as December 2019.

Since the first confirmed case 365 days ago, more than 24.2 million people in the U.S. have tested positive for COVID-19, which means that approximately one in every 13 Americans have contracted the disease, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University.

At least 402,400 lives in the U.S. have been lost to COVID-19, representing approximately 19.5% of the worldwide death toll from the disease. That means one in every 823 Americans have now died from COVID-19.

New York remains the worst-hit U.S. state in terms of COVID-19 deaths -- with more than 37,000 confirmed fatalities -- followed by Texas, California and Florida.

Since the start of the pandemic, nearly 763,000 people in the U.S. have been hospitalized with COVID-19. Just under 124,000 people nationwide are currently hospitalized with the disease. In the last two weeks, that number has declined by 5.6%, according to data compiled by The COVID Tracking Project, a volunteer-run effort to track the U.S. outbreak.

January has already proven to be one of the worst months on record for the U.S. outbreak. In the first 19 days of 2021, the country has confirmed more than 4.15 million cases and over 55,000 deaths from the disease.

Although the numbers are currently impacted by the holiday weekend, the U.S. continues to see a drop in new infections, now averaging approximately 197,000 newly confirmed cases per day, according to The COVID Tracking Project.

ABC News' Brian Hartman and Arielle Mitropoulos contributed to this report.

U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams resigned from his post Wednesday at the request of President-elect Joe Biden.

"I've been asked by the Biden team to step down as Surgeon General," Adams wrote on his official Twitter account.

In a lengthy statement that was posted on Facebook, Adams reflected on his role in the COVID-19 response.

"In the face of a once in a century pandemic, I sought to communicate the rapidly evolving science on this deadly adversary, and arm people with the knowledge and tools they needed to stay safe," he said. "I wasn’t always right -- because no one was, and this virus continues to humble all of us -- but I was always sincere in my efforts to speak to every day Americans, and address the terrible health inequities this virus exposed."

Biden has nominated former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy back to the position and as a senior adviser in the COVID-19 response. Murthy's nomination will need to be confirmed by the Senate.

Joe Biden plans to sign more than a dozen executive actions after he is sworn-in as the 46th president of the United States on Wednesday, including one that will impose a mask mandate in federal buildings and on federal land.

The new requirement will be part of Biden's "100 Days Mask Challenge," which asks Americans to wear face masks for that time period.

Biden plans to sign another executive order that will create the position of COVID-19 Response Coordinator and restore the National Security Council's Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense, which is responsible for pandemic preparedness and was dissolved by the Trump administration in 2018.

Biden also plans to reverse President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the World Health Organization.

ABC News' Justin Gomez and Molly Nagle contributed to this report.

Vatican City began offering free COVID-19 vaccinations to Rome's homeless community on Wednesday, according to Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni.

The vaccinations took place in the atrium of the Paul VI Audience Hall, the massive auditorium where the Pope holds his weekly general audiences. An initial group of around 25 homeless individuals, who are all looked after in facilities run by the Office of Papal Charities, received their first doses of the vaccine Wednesday morning, according to Bruni.

"Further groups are to follow in the coming days," Bruni said in a statement.

Vatican City, an independent enclave surrounded by Rome that serves as the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church, launched a COVID-19 immunization campaign last week, administering doses of a vaccine developed by U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech. The tiny city-state has a population of only around 800 people but employs more than 4,000.

Both Pope Francis and his predecessor, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, have received their first doses of the vaccine.

The vaccination campaign is voluntary and people under the age of 18 are being excluded for the time being, according to Bruni.

Since the start of the pandemic, Vatican City has reported at least 27 confirmed cases of COVID-19, according to a real-time count kept by Johns Hopkins University.

ABC News' Phoebe Natanson contributed to this report.