New York health provider may have fraudulently obtained COVID-19 vaccine

The vaccine was then given to members of the public not yet eligible.

A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now infected more than 80.2 million people worldwide and killed over 1.7 million of them, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.


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Dr. Birx says she plans to retire

Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, said she’s planning to retire but is available to help President-elect Joe Biden’s administration with the pandemic, The Associated Press reported.


2020 marks deadliest year in US history: AP

This year has become the deadliest year in U.S. history, with overall deaths expected to climb above 3 million for the first time, The Associated Press reported.

So far 320,864 Americans have lost their lives to COVID-19, according to Johns Hopkins University data.


Pregnant women in 3rd trimester unlikely to pass virus to newborns 

Pregnant women with COVID-19 during the third trimester are unlikely to pass the infection to their newborns, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health and published in the journal JAMA Network Open.

The study followed 127 pregnant women, and among the 64 women in their third trimester who tested positive for COVID-19, no newborns tested positive.

ABC News’ Adjoa Smalls-Mantey and Eric Strauss contributed to this report.


New York hospitals to test for UK variant

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is instructing hospitals across the state to test specifically for the variant of the coronavirus discovered in the United Kingdom.

“If we find the variant, we want to know where it is immediately,” Cuomo said. 

Cuomo said he does not support a travel ban from the U.K. into the U.S., but does believe the U.S. should follow New York state’s lead in requiring flights originating in the U.K. to have passengers test negative.

Dr. Anthony Fauci told ABC News’ “Good Morning America” Tuesday that “the possibility and maybe the likelihood of requiring the testing of individuals before they board a plane to the United States -- that is under active discussion.”

Fauci added, “you really need to assume” that the variant is already in the U.S.

ABC News’ Aaron Katersky contributed to this report.


Over 60 arrested at superspreader events in LA County

Los Angeles officials arrested over 60 people involved in underground parties over the weekend.

In a statement, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said the parties were considered superspreader events, as they violated COVID-19 health protocols.

Around 10:45 p.m. Saturday, the Los Angeles Police Department responded to an underground party event in Los Angeles and found two people shot. One of the victims was pronounced dead at the scene, according to a statement from the LASD.

Then, at around 12:30 a.m. Sunday, officers responded to another underground party in Compton, where they arrested 67 people: 61 adults and six juveniles. One firearm was recovered.

A third underground party, located in Los Angeles, was shut down by the LAPD after a shooting took place.

"Sheriff Alex Villanueva has made it clear he will seek out and take law enforcement action against all underground party events occurring anywhere within Los Angeles County, who fall under the Health Orders of the County’s Department of Public Health," the LASD said in their statement. "The goal of these enforcement actions is to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and the risk to our vulnerable populations."