COVID-19 updates: Anti-vaccine protesters halt vaccinations at Dodger Stadium

Demonstrators carrying anti-mask and anti-vaccine signs blocked the entrance.

Last Updated: February 2, 2021, 7:02 AM EST

A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now infected more than 102.5 million people worldwide and killed over 2.2 million of them, 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 is developing today. All times Eastern.
Jan 26, 2021, 7:56 PM EST

COVID-19 hospitalizations down in US, but daily death rate still over 3,000

COVID-19 hospitalizations in the United States continue to trend downward, but the country's daily death rate is still above 3,000, according to The COVID Tracking Project, a volunteer-run effort to track the U.S. outbreak.

There are 108,957 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19 in the U.S., which is almost 30,000 fewer cases than a couple of weeks ago, the group said.

The country's seven-day average of daily COVID-19 deaths is now at 3,302, according to The COVID Tracking Project.

"While cases and hospitalizations are falling, the 7-day average for deaths jumped up today. That's because last Tuesday's data was depressed by the holiday," the group wrote on Twitter Tuesday. "We do expect, however, that deaths could stay elevated for quite a while."

Jan 26, 2021, 4:58 PM EST

White House reaches agreements to buy more COVID-19 vaccines by summer

U.S. President Joe Biden's administration said it has secured commitments from manufacturers to buy another 200 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to arrive this summer -- 100 million from Pfizer and 100 million from Moderna.

This raises the total to 600 million and ensures the U.S. will eventually have two shots for nearly every American.

PHOTO: English teacher Karen Kramer works the room during the first day of in-person learning at Arvada West High School on Jan. 25, 2021 in Arvada, Colo. Students have not been in the building since before winter break.
English teacher Karen Kramer works the room during the first day of in-person learning at Arvada West High School on Jan. 25, 2021 in Arvada, Colo. Students have not been in the building since before winter break and returned after many arrangements were made to combat the spread of coronavirus.
Aaron Ontiveroz/medianews Group//Denver Post via Getty Images

"We expect these vaccines to be available in production over the course of the summer," a Biden official said Tuesday.

Buying more doses had always been an option for the U.S. government as part of the prior contracts.

"We will increase overall weekly vaccination distributions of states, tribes and territories from 8.6 million doses to a minimum of 10 million doses starting next week," Biden said Tuesday.

The president also vowed to increase "transparency with states, cities and tribes and local partners when it comes to the vaccine supply."

"From this week forward," he said, "states, tribes and territories will now always have a reliable, three-week forecast with the supply they're going to get."

ABC News’ Anne Flaherty contributed to this report.

Jan 26, 2021, 4:10 PM EST

Kamala Harris gets 2nd vaccine dose

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, while wearing two face masks, received her second COVID-19 vaccine dose on Tuesday at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.

Vice President Kamala Harris receives her second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine at the National Institutes of Health, in Bethesda, Maryland, Jan. 26, 2021.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

Harris described the shot as "relatively painless," adding, "We’re going to get 100 million vaccinations in 100 days."

"I want to urge everyone to take the vaccine when it is your turn," she said.

Harris' husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, also received his second vaccine dose Tuesday.

Jan 26, 2021, 3:00 PM EST

UK variant gains ground in Netherlands

The Netherlands is battling two epidemics of the novel coronavirus: one against its existing variants, in which cases are declining, and "another epidemic involving the U.K. variant, in which infections are increasing," the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment said in a situation report released Tuesday.

The so-called U.K. variant, first identified in England last September, has caused a massive jump in COVID-19 hospitalizations in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

In the Netherlands, government officials said they were "gravely concerned about the U.K. variant." Over the weekend they introduced a nighttime curfew which has sparked riots.

Over the last two weeks, the Netherlands has reported an 11.7% positivity rate for COVID-19 tests.

ABC News’ Christine Theodorou contributed to this report.

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