COVID-19 updates: US has 1st day since November with fewer than 100K new cases

People with certain chronic conditions will be eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations on Feb. 15, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced during a Friday press conference. Underlying conditions are a key risk factor for severe COVID-19 illness and death. Cuomo posted the full list of conditions on Twitter Friday afternoon, which included people with cancer, heart conditions, chronic kidney disease, severe obesity and those who are pregnant.

States that instituted mask mandates reported a decline in COVID-19 hospitalizations, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Researchers analyzed hospitalization data in 10 states with mask mandates between March and October of last year. They found a 5.5% decline in weekly COVID-19 hospitalizations among adults, compared to the period before the mandates were implemented.

In addition to reducing virus exposure and transmission, masks are part of a multi-pronged strategy to "reduce strain on the health care system," the researchers note, adding that masks likely have a direct effect on COVID-19 illness and death.

The researchers did not examine whether other policies, such as school closings and physical distancing recommendations, contributed to the decline. The results were published Friday in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

-ABC News' Eric Strauss contributed to this report.

Former Yankees pitcher Mariano Rivera will join Mayor Bill de Blasio at Yankee stadium Friday afternoon to celebrate the opening of a mass vaccination site at the stadium.

The site, which will be reserved for residents from the Bronx, will be open daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and is meant to ensure that Black and Latino residents have equal access to the vaccine. It will be open 24 hours a day when more vaccine supply is available, according to the mayor.

"I think it’s going to be extraordinary," de Blasio told WNYC on Friday. "We are going to have a wonderful celebration of this place opening up. I will be joined by Mariano Rivera, who will help us get this message out. This is for people of the Bronx, people who haven’t been able to get vaccinated."

-ABC News' Aaron Katersky contributed to this report.

So far, 8% of the U.S. population has received one or more doses of COVID-19 vaccines, according to official figures released Friday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

In total, 35,203,710 vaccine doses have been administered nationwide. About 27.9 million people -- 8% of the population -- have received one or more doses, while 6.9 million people -- 2% of the population -- have received two doses.

ABC News' Josh Margolin contributed to this report.