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:
Over 1 million Americans have received 1st vaccine dose
At least 1,008,025 Americans had received their first dose of the vaccine as of 9 a.m. Wednesday, according to a tally from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
There have been 9,465,725 doses distributed across the country.
ABC News’ Eric Strauss contributed to this report.
1st New York City EMTs get vaccinated
The first New York City EMTs were vaccinated Wednesday morning, with the hopes of inoculating 450 FDNY members per day.
Since the pandemic began -- with New York City as the spring’s epicenter -- 5,700 members of the FDNY have been diagnosed with COVID-19.
On Tuesday, the FDNY lost its 12th employee to COVID-19. EMT Evelyn Ford, 58, leaves behind four children.
ABC News’ Aaron Katersky contributed to this report.
UK travelers must quarantine upon arrival in NYC
In the wake of new variants of the coronavirus in the United Kingdom, travelers arriving in New York City from the U.K. will be visited by a sheriff’s deputy to confirm they are quarantining, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.
Additionally, all international travelers will receive a city health commissioner’s order to quarantine via certified mail.
Those who are found in violation will face daily $1,000 fines.
“We cannot take chances with anyone who travels,” the mayor said.
ABC News’ Aaron Katersky contributed to this report.
Another variant detected in UK
Another COVID-19 variant has been detected in two cases in the United Kingdom, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said.
"Both are contacts of cases who have traveled from South Africa over the past few weeks,” Hancock said.
Hancock said the “new variant is highly concerning because it is yet more transmissible and it appears to have mutated further than the new variant that has been discovered in the U.K."
The health secretary said both cases and close contacts of the cases have been quarantined.
U.K. travel to and from South Africa is suspended, Hancock said.
The coronavirus is constantly mutating, and there are many thousands of lineages of the virus, each with distinct mutations. There's no evidence this new variant is more deadly and there's no evidence it will affect the vaccine.
ABC News' Mike Trew contributed to this report.
US deaths, cases continue to rise: HHS
The number of new coronavirus cases and deaths jumped over the last seven days, according to an internal U.S. Department of Health and Human Services memo obtained by ABC News.
In the last week, the country recorded 1,677,232 new cases, which was a 13.6% increase from the previous seven-day period, according to the memo.
There were 18,578 deaths recorded during the last seven days, marking a 9.2% jump from the previous week, according to HHS.
Nearly 30% of hospitals across the country have more than 80% of their ICU beds filled, the memo said.
Several states recorded large jumps in hospitalizations last week, according to HHS.
On Dec 18, Louisiana state officials reported its 30-day increase in hospitalization was 82% and there were only 19.1% of ICU beds were available, according to the memo.
Nevada's COVID-19 deaths increased by 21% in the week ending Dec. 15, compared to the prior week, HHS said.
-ABC News' Josh Margolin contributed to this report