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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90-year-old grandmother becomes 1st to receive Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine outside clinical trial
A 90-year-old grandmother became Patient A on Tuesday morning as she was the first person in the world to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine outside a clinical trial.
Margaret Keenan, who turns 91 next week, received the shot -- the first of 800,000 doses -- at University Hospital Coventry in central England at 6:31 a.m., as part of a mass immunization program rolled out across the United Kingdom, according to a press release from the National Health Service (NHS), the country's publicly-funded health care system.
Keenan, a former jewellery shop assistant who only retired four years ago, said she feels "so privileged to be the first person." She will receive a booster injection -- re-exposure to the immunizing antigen after initial vaccination -- in 21 days "to ensure she has the best chance of being protected against the virus," according to the press release.
"It’s the best early birthday present I could wish for because it means I can finally look forward to spending time with my family and friends in the New Year after being on my own for most of the year," Keenan, who has two children and four grandchildren, said in a statement released by the NHS.
Last week, the U.K. became the first country in the world to authorize emergency use of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech. The potentially life-saving vaccine was shown in late-stage clinical trials to be more than 95% effective in preventing COVID-19.
US hospitalizations reach new record of 102,000
The number of Americans hospitalized with COVID-19 related issues rose to another record high Monday, according to the COVID Tracking Project.
There were 102,148 patients in hospitals, 20,098 of whom were in ICUs and 7,073 who were on ventilators, according to the project.
The seven-day average of hospitalizations is also at a record, with 100,814, the health data showed.
"Hospitalizations are rising in 31 states from 2 weeks ago," the tracking project tweeted.
By comparison, hospitalizations previously peaked around 60,000 in April and late July, according to the health data.
The country recorded 180,193 new cases on Monday, the tracking project reported. The seven-day average of new cases is at a record high of 196,882, according to the health data.
There were 1,347 new deaths recorded Monday, according to the tracking project. The seven-day average of daily deaths also reached a record high at 2,204, the health data showed.
"The 7-day average for deaths are at record levels in the Midwest, South, and West," the tracking project tweeted.
US saw dramatic increases in cases, deaths last week: HHS
After a slowdown in reporting and testing over the Thanksgiving holiday, week-over-week data shows dramatic increases in new cases and new deaths in the U.S., according to an internal memo from the United States Department of Health and Human Services that was obtained by ABC News.
From Dec. 1 to Dec. 7, the country recorded 1,341,309 new cases, which was an 18.8% jump from the previous seven-day period, according to the memo.
During that same period, the U.S. saw 15,202 new coronavirus related deaths, which was a 50.6% increase compared with the previous week, HHS said.
About 29% of the nation's hospitals have more than 80% of their ICU beds filled, the memo said.
-ABC News' Josh Margolin
Trump officials passed when Pfizer offered US more vaccine doses this summer
The Trump administration declined additional doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine late this summer when the pharmaceutical company offered them to the U.S. government, a senior Trump administration official familiar with the matter confirmed to ABC News.
Pfizer may be unable to produce more of the vaccine for United States citizens until June 2021 because it has committed those doses to other countries.
"The U.S. government placed an initial order of 100 million doses for Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine, and Pfizer is ready to begin shipping initial doses soon after receiving an Emergency Use Authorization from the FDA," Pfizer told ABC News in a statement.
"Any additional doses beyond the 100 million are subject to a separate and mutually-acceptable agreement. The company is not able to comment on any confidential discussions that may be taking place with the U.S. government."
The development was first reported by New York Times.
-ABC News' Josh Margolin and Eric Strauss contributed to this report.