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.
Here's how the news is developing today. All times Eastern.
Jan 27, 2021, 5:01 PM EST
No official recommendation yet on double masks, Fauci says
Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to U.S. President Joe Biden, told Fox News' "America Reports With John Roberts & Sandra Smith" that there’s no official recommendation yet on wearing double masks.
"The CDC doesn't officially recommend wearing double masks," Fauci said. "You know what would be a good start? If everybody wears at least one mask."
Congregants Virginia and Levi James wait for their turn to receive the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine at a pop-up COVID-19 vaccination site at St. Luke's Episcopal Church, Jan. 26, 2021, in the Bronx borough of New York.
Mary Altaffer/AP
ABC News’ Anne Flaherty contributed to this report.
Jan 27, 2021, 1:49 PM EST
Oregon health officials administer leftover vaccines on side of road
When Oregon health officials found themselves trapped on a road in a snowstorm, they walked car to car to administer leftover COVID-19 vaccine doses.
The staff and volunteers from Josephine County Public Health Department held a mass vaccination event at a high school Tuesday before getting trapped in the storm, they said.
"The team had six doses of COVID-19 vaccinations left to administer," but the doses would have expired before reaching their next destination, the department said.
"Not wanting to waste any doses, dedicated JCPH staff members began walking from car to car, offering stranded motorists a chance at receiving the vaccine," the department said. "In the end, all six doses were administered," including one to a sheriff’s office employee who had missed the mass vaccination event.
Jan 27, 2021, 1:16 PM EST
Any stockpile of vaccines 'no longer exists,' Biden adviser says
Andy Slavitt, a senior White House adviser for COVID-19, said Wednesday that any vaccine "stockpile that may have existed previously, no longer exists."
"We are taking action to increase supply and increase capacity. But even so, it will be months before everyone who wants a vaccine will be able to get one," Slavitt said. "Our practice is to maintain a rolling inventory of two to three days of supply that we can use to supplement any shortfalls in production and to ensure that we are making deliveries as committed. But we are passing doses directly along to states, very much in real time as they ordered them."
Firefighters wait in line to get their COVID-19 vaccine at a fire station in Los Angeles, Jan. 27, 2021.
Jae C. Hong/AP
Jeff Zients, the new White House coordinator on COVID-19, said the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will amend its rules to allow doctors and nurses who have recently retired to administer shots. They also plan to allow people licensed to vaccinate in their state to do so across state lines.
Over 23.5 million vaccine doses have been administered in the United States so far, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
ABC News’ Anne Flaherty and Sophie Tatum contributed to this report.
Jan 27, 2021, 11:50 AM EST
UK reports world's highest COVID-19 transmission, deaths rates
The United Kingdom now has the highest COVID-19 transmission and death rates of any country in the world, according to the World Health Organization's weekly epidemiological report released Wednesday.
With 383.1 new cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 residents, the U.K.'s transmission rate is higher than that of the United States, which decreased by 20% over the previous week to 380.6 new cases per 100,000 residents. But the UK appears to be moving in the right direction -- this week showed a 24% decrease in new cases confirmed from the previous week, the report said.
A funeral takes place at a South East London Muslim cemetery on Jan. 27, 2021, in London. The cemetery has significantly increased the number of new graves amid the covid-19 pandemic, as the country's official death toll surpasses 100,000.
Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
The U.K.'s COVID-19 death rate is also the world's highest, with 12.9 fatalities from the disease per 100,000 residents. The country -- which is made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland -- saw a 13% increase in new deaths over the previous week, according to the report.
A British government public health information sign is seen on bus shelter amid the spread of the coronavirus disease in London, Jan. 27, 2021.
Toby Melville/Reuters
In the U.S., the COVID-19 death rate went down by 7% to 6.5 fatalities per 100,000 residents, the report said.
Medical workers move a patient between ambulances outside of the Royal London Hospital amid the spread of the coronavirus disease pandemic, London, Jan. 27, 2021.
Toby Melville/Reuters
As of Monday, 70 countries have detected cases of a new, more contagious variant of the novel coronavirus that was first identified in the U.K., while 31 nations have cases of another variant that first emerged in South Africa and eight countries have cases of a variant that was first identified in Brazil, according to the report.
ABC News’ Christine Theodorou contributed to this report.
