Coronavirus updates: 1st vaccines now on the way to all 50 US states
Two main trucks left the Pfizer facility on Sunday morning, the company said.
A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now infected more than 71.5 million people and killed over 1.6 million worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
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HHS secretary says Pfizer vaccine will be approved, vaccinations could start next week
HHS Secretary Alex Azar told "Good Morning America" that vaccinations could come Monday or Tuesday.
He said the Pfizer vaccine will be approved, they are just working out the details and finalizing the fact sheet on allergy warnings.
"We weren't counting on it in terms of getting to the projections that you and I have talked about about having enough vaccine for the second quarter," he said. "The Sanofi vaccine could be an important additional technology for later rounds of vaccination as one goes forward later in 2021."
Azar also said the Food and Drug Administration will proceed with the emergency use authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
He said 20 million Americans will be vaccinated this month, up to 50 million total in January and the U.S. believes "we could have 100 million vaccinations in arm by the end of February."
Mayor: In LA, 'someone is dying of COVID-19 every 20 minutes'
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti shared "astounding" COVID-19 figures in a press briefing Thursday.
"In Los Angeles, someone is dying of COVID-19 every 20 minutes," the mayor said, as he reported that there were 74 new deaths from the virus in the county.
Los Angeles County reported a record 12,819 new COVID-19 cases, surpassing Sunday's record of 10,528. Cases have increased 1,000% in the past month-and-a-half, the mayor said.
Intensive care unit bed capacity has also dropped to 7.7%, he said.
"Today's COVID-19 data from LA County is the most devastating since the start of this pandemic," Garcetti said.
The mayor said there is a "light at the end of the tunnel." LA County could begin distributing vaccines early next week if one is authorized soon, he said.
The county could receive up to 83,000 doses in the next couple of days, and as many as 500,000 doses by the end of December, he said.
"I urge all Angelinos to get vaccinated as soon as they qualify," Garcetti said. "The end of this pandemic is finally, finally in sight."
-ABC News' Michelle Mendez contributed to this report.
Deaths up 44% week-over-week in US: HHS
The number of COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. increased dramatically in the past week, according to an internal memo from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services obtained by ABC News Thursday night.
There were 16,237 deaths recorded from Dec. 4-10, marking a 44.3% increase in new deaths compared with the previous seven-day period, the memo said.
There were 1,449,322 new cases confirmed during that period -- a 26.9% increase week-over-week, according to the memo.
Across the country, 30% of hospitals have more than 80% of their intensive care unit beds filled, and 31% of ventilators in use are occupied by COVID-19 patients, HHS said.
Several states are seeing hospital strain.
COVID-19 hospitalizations in Nevada doubled from mid-October to mid-November, and projections show hospital capacity being surpassed in the next 30 days, HHS said.
In Pennsylvania, the seven-day hospitalization rate hit a new four-month peak on Dec. 6, and officials warned that hospitals will be overwhelmed if residents do not take precautions, the memo said.
-ABC News' Josh Margolin
'Worst week yet' in US: COVID Tracking Project
The U.S. had its "worst week yet" during the pandemic in terms of COVID-19 deaths, according to an analysis by the COVID Tracking Project.
The seven-day average of reported deaths per day surpassed 2,000 this week for the first time since the spring. As of Dec. 9, that number was 2,281, a new record.
New COVID-19 deaths also set a record high this week, with 3,088 reported on Thursday.
As the number of new cases and current hospitalizations continue to climb, "the worst is yet to come," the COVID Tracking Project warned.
"Given the rapid increase in the number of new cases, we expect the metrics for hospitalizations and deaths to continue to rise in the coming weeks -- especially if in-person gatherings over Thanksgiving led to increased spread of the novel coronavirus, as public health experts warned," it said.
2 trucks with COVID-19 vaccines have left facility, Pfizer says
The first vaccines in the U.S. have now left the Pfizer facility and are on their way to all 50 states.
Two main trucks left on Sunday morning -- an additional truck will come in later to pick up a few boxes and take them to the U.S. territories.
On Monday Pfizer has an order for another 400 boxes of the vaccine as well as an order for a slightly less amount of boxes on Tuesday, the company said.
The first shipments are expected to arrive at 145 sites on Monday, 425 sites on Tuesday and another 66 sites on Wednesday, Gen. Gus Perna of the Trump administration's Operation Warp Speed vaccine program said.
At those sites, the vaccines will be paired with ancillary kits to assist with the vaccinations. The kits contain needles, syringes, alcohol swabs, diluent, safety gear and vaccine reminder cards.
-ABC News' Joshua Hoyos and Luis Martinez