Coronavirus updates: 84% of California population to go on lockdown Sunday night

The National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom has announced that it will begin vaccinating patients against coronavirus at dozens of hospital hubs starting on Tuesday, Dec. 8.

In what will be the biggest immunization program in British history, the first people who are eligible for the initial roll out of the vaccine are people aged 80 and over as well as care home workers will be first to receive the jab, along with NHS workers who are at higher risk, the NHS said in a statement.

“This coming week will be an historic moment as we begin vaccination against COVID-19," Health Secretary Matt Hancock said. "We are prioritizing the most vulnerable first and over-80s, care home staff and NHS colleagues will all be among the first to receive the vaccines. We are doing everything we can to make sure we can overcome significant challenges to vaccinate care home residents as soon as possible too. I urge everybody to play their part to suppress this virus and follow the local restrictions to protect the NHS while they carry out this crucial work.”

The NHS said that there are 50 hubs in the first wave and more hospitals will start vaccinating over the coming weeks and months as the program ramps up.

“Despite the huge complexities, hospitals will kickstart the first phase of the largest scale vaccination campaign in our country’s history from Tuesday," said Professor Stephen Powis, the NHS national medical director. "The first tranche of vaccine deliveries will be landing at hospitals by Monday in readiness. The NHS has a strong record of delivering large scale vaccination programs – from the flu jab, HPV vaccine and lifesaving MMR jabs – hardworking staff will once again rise to the challenge to protect the most vulnerable people from this awful disease.”

The seven-day average for reported COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. is the highest it's ever been, according to The COVID Tracking Project.

The number -- 2,123 -- surpasses the previous record of 2,116, from April 21. 

"Given data drops and spikes on and after Thanksgiving, the 7-average is an especially useful metric to watch right now," the tracker said. 

According to The COVID Tracking Project, the U.S. reported 211,073 new COVID-19 cases and 2,445 deaths on Saturday. There are 101,190 people currently hospitalized with the virus.

Two California regions will have to enact new stay-at-home orders because their intensive care unit capacities have dipped below 15%.

ICU capacity is at 8.6% in San Joaquin Valley and 12.5% in Southern California, the state health department reported on Saturday.

Hair salons, barbershops, museums, bars, playgrounds and more must close based on a new regional stay-at-home order introduced this week. Residents are also instructed to stay home as much as possible.

The order, which goes into effect at midnight Sunday and will last for at least three weeks, impacts 23 counties between the two regions.

The new policy comes as cases continue to surge in California. The state saw a record 25,068 new COVID-19 cases on Friday. There were 209 new deaths, which is approaching an August peak.

 Los Angeles County, a particularly hard-hit region, reported a record 8,949 cases on Saturday.

-ABC News' Matt Fuhrman contributed to this report

The number of new COVID-19 cases and deaths are increasing again, following a Thanksgiving data slowdown, an internal Health and Human Services memo obtained by ABC News shows. 

From Nov. 28 to Dec. 4, new cases increased 3.2% and deaths went up 16% compared with the previous week, the memo said.

The national test-positivity rate rose to 12.1% from 10% in week-to-week comparisons.

Across the country, 30% of hospitals have more than 80% of their intensive care unit beds filled, and 29% of ventilators in use are occupied by COVID-19 patients, a slight increase.

In Arizona, ICU bed use increased 458% from Sept. 29 to Dec. 2, according to HHS. As of Dec. 2, California had 1,810 ICU beds available, the lowest capacity during the pandemic. Hospitals in the southwest and southeast regions of Colorado had reached ICU capacity as of Dec. 3, the memo said.

-ABC News' Josh Margolin