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.
Latest headlines:
US death toll could reach 419,000 by Jan. 16: CDC
Another 16,400 to 27,600 Americans are expected to die from COVID-19 by Jan. 16, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, citing its national ensemble forecast from 36 modeling groups.
That would bring the total COVID-19 death toll in the U.S. to between 378,000 and 419,000.
At least 326,495 Americans have died so far, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
ABC News’ Ahmad Hemingway contributed to this report.
TSA sees busiest travel day of pandemic
The TSA screened 1,191,123 people at airport checkpoints nationwide on Wednesday, the highest single day total since the pandemic started, despite the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advising Americans against traveling for the holidays.
More than 6.3 million passengers have been screened since Dec. 18 .
ABC News’ Sam Sweeney and Ahmad Hemingway contributed to this report.
California surpasses 2 million cases
California now has more than 2 million confirmed cases of coronavirus since the start of the pandemic -- the first state to report the grim milestone.
The state has at least 2,010,004 diagnosed cases and 23,651 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
UK halts flights from South Africa
Grant Shapps, the United Kingdom's transportation secretary tweeted that all flights to and from South Africa will be halted starting 9 a.m. Thursday, after a new coronavirus mutation was discovered in that country.
"British & Irish Nationals, visa holders and permanent residents arriving from South Africa will be able to enter but are required to self-isolate for ten days along with their household," he tweeted.
South African nationals won't be allowed to enter the U.K. until the ban is lifted, Shapps said.
Surge affecting states with 80% of the population: White House Coronavirus Task Force
The White House Coronavirus Task Force urged state leaders to step up their messaging when it comes to health warnings as the number of cases continues to rise across the country, according to a report for governors that was obtained by ABC News.
The rise in cases is now in states home to more than 80% of the American population, according to the report.
"Preventing a post-Christmas/Kwanzaa surge is critical through clear and continuous messaging: 'To preserve our hospital system for you, we need you to wear masks, physically distance, wash hands, and avoid crowds and social gatherings beyond your immediate family,'" the report said.
The task force reported that the current surge is currently plateauing at 10 times the daily cases of the spring surge and three and a half times the daily cases of the summer surge.
The number of COVID-19 inpatients is three times the number of spring inpatients and more than double the summer surge, according to the report.
Weekly fatalities are greater than the spring surge and two and a half times greater than the summer surge, according to the task force.
-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos and Josh Margolin contributed to this report.