Coronavirus updates: California reports over 49,000 new cases, 468 new deaths
More than 373,000 Americans have died from COVID-19.
A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now infected more than 90 million people worldwide and killed over 1.9 million of them, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
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Hard Rock Stadium opens as Florida’s 1st drive-thru vaccination site
Hard Rock Stadium in Miami is opening as Florida’s first state-operated drive-thru vaccination site for front-line health care workers and people ages 65 and older.
First doses were administered in a “soft launch” on Wednesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis said. The site will fully open on Friday.
“Once fully operational, the site will offer 1,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine per day free of charge," the governor's office said.
The stadium will also continue to provide COVID-19 testing.
LA seeing infection every 6 seconds, death every 10 minutes: Mayor
Hard-hit Los Angeles is enduring a new coronavirus infection every six seconds and a new death every 10 minutes, Mayor Eric Garcetti said Wednesday.
The mayor spoke at one of four new vaccination sites opening on Wednesday for health care workers who cannot get vaccinations through employers.
Overall, the city of Los Angeles will be administering over 2,000 vaccinations every day, he said.
ABC News' Abigail Shalawylo contributed to this report.
CDC estimates life-threatening allergic reactions could occur in 11 out of 1 million vaccine shots
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it estimates that life-threatening allergic reactions could occur in about 11 out of every 1 million COVID-19 vaccine shots given.
That number is about 10 times higher than anaphylactic reactions to flu shots. However, officials are cautioning that the chances of any kind of adverse reaction are still incredibly rare as well as easy to manage so long as the person has access to treatment such as epinephrine.
“Our vaccine safety systems haven't picked up any worrisome signal. This means that right now, the known and potential benefits of the current COVID-19 vaccine outweigh the known and potential risks, getting COVID-19,” Dr. Nancy Messonier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said Wednesday.
With both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines available in the U.S., Messonier said one isn’t thought to be more prone to trigger allergies.
The CDC’s estimate is based on 21 cases of anaphylaxis following a 10-day period after the administration of 1.9 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine. The vast majority of these reactions -- 71%-- occurred within 15 minutes of the vaccination. Follow-up information was provided on 20 of the 21 cases, and all of them recovered.
The CDC recommends that anyone experiencing a life-threatening reaction to the vaccine not receive the second dose.
They also recommend that people with a history of allergies be observed for 30 minutes after receiving the shot.
ABC News' Anne Flaherty contributed to this report.
12 US states in South, West report record-high hospitalizations
Approximately 1 in every 15 Americans has contracted the coronavirus, according to ABC News’ analysis of data compiled by the COVID Tracking Project.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, over 700,000 Americans have been hospitalized with the virus.
On Tuesday, 12 U.S. states -- mostly in the South -- reported a record number of patients hospitalized: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.
Some data may be skewed due to incomplete reporting over the holidays.
ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos contributed to this report.