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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Argentina to start vaccinations with Russia's Sputnik V
Argentina announced it will begin administering doses of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine later this month.
"When the Russian vaccine is in Argentina, the first person to get it will be me,” President Alberto Fernandez said. “I have no doubt in the quality of the vaccine.”
Russia on Saturday began vaccinations with Sputnik V, which hasn't yet gone through the late-stage trials required in the U.S.
New Hampshire house speaker dies from virus
The speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, Richard “Dick” Hinch, has died from COVID-19 at the age of 71, the state’s attorney general said.
Hinch was just elected speaker last week.
ABC News’ Ben Stein contributed to this report.
HHS officials acknowledge staffing struggle
Jonathan Greene, deputy assistant secretary for operations and resources at the Department of Health and Human Services, acknowledged in a briefing call that the agency is not able to provide the number of health care workers states are requesting.
HHS and FEMA have been "very judicious" in using and moving health care workers, providing 300 to 400 nationwide, which matches the number deployed during the first surge in the spring, Greene said. Fewer were deployed over the summer, mimicking the case curve.
About 3,100 can be deployed nationally, but Greene admitted the system is designed more for situations like hurricanes than for pandemics.
“It works less well when we're talking about a pandemic where everyone needs all of these providers all at once. And certainly when we activate and deploy these people and take them out of their full-time jobs and put them somewhere else, it reduces the capacity in the places where they come from,” he said.
Greene said the agency has encouraged the use of non-traditional health care providers in order "to bridge the gap."
ABC News' Sarah Kolinovsky contributed to this report.
Ellen DeGeneres tests positive
Ellen DeGeneres said Thursday that she’s tested positive for COVID-19 and is “feeling fine.”
“Anyone who has been in close contact with me has been notified, and I am following all proper guidelines,” the talk show host said.
6 states report over 10,000 new cases
As COVID-19 continues to surge across the U.S., six states reported over 10,000 new cases on Saturday, according to the COVID Tracking Project.
They were California, Florida, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas.
Another seven states reported over 5,000 new cases: Arizona, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina and Tennessee.
In total, according to the tracker, there were 223,365 new U.S. cases reported on Saturday, 2,477 deaths and a record 108,487 people currently hospitalized.