North Carolina has identified its first case of the coronavirus’ United Kingdom variant, state health officials said.

The variant was confirmed in an adult in Mecklenburg County.

The U.S. has 195 confirmed cases of the variant across 21 states, according to North Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services.

ABC News’ Josh Hoyos contributed to this report.

COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are going down across the country.

In 44 states, the seven-day average of new cases has dropped over 10% since last week, The COVID Tracking Project reported Thursday. Daily cases are rising in only one state -- Virginia.

In 24 states, the number of current hospitalizations decreased by more than 10% from a week ago, it found. Everywhere else in the nation, hospitalizations are relatively flat.

United Airlines' top executive said he would like the airline to require COVID-19 vaccination for employees.

"I think the right thing to do is for United Airlines, and for other companies, to require the vaccines," CEO Scott Kirby said during an employee town hall Thursday. "That said, we have to have the logistic challenges worked out … and we need some others to show leadership, particularly in the health care industry."

Kirby told employees that if other companies mandate vaccines, "You should probably expect United to be amongst the first wave of companies that do it as well."

For now, United is urging employees to get the vaccine as soon as possible, according to an internal memo obtained by ABC News.

On an earnings call yesterday, an executive said the company has been working with local governments "to move our employees up in prioritization of essential workers for vaccination, both for their safety and the safety of our customers."

-ABC News' Gio Benitez

Two people -- a man and a child -- were identified as the first cases of the United Kingdom variant in New Jersey, officials said.

The Ocean County man, who is in his 60s, had no travel history or clear exposures to others who were ill, said the state’s Health Commissioner, Judy Persichilli.

He developed symptoms on Dec. 29 and was tested one week later. His “symptoms have since resolved and he was never hospitalized,” Persichilli said.

The child, who had traveled to northern New Jersey, was tested on Jan. 11 in New York City and is asymptomatic, she said.

ABC News’ Aaron Katersky contributed to this report.

California's top epidemiologist has recommended pausing the administration of COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna's lot 041L20A due to "possible allergic reactions" that are under investigation.

"A higher-than-usual number of possible allergic reactions were reported with a specific lot of Moderna vaccine administered at one community vaccination clinic," Dr. Erica Pan, state epidemiologist for the California Department of Public Health, said in a statement late Sunday night. "Fewer than 10 individuals required medical attention over the span of 24 hours. Out of an extreme abundance of caution and also recognizing the extremely limited supply of vaccine, we are recommending that providers use other available vaccine inventory and pause the administration of vaccines from Moderna Lot 041L20A until the investigation by the CDC, FDA, Moderna and the state is complete."

The California Department of Health said all of the affected individuals appeared to be experiencing "a possible severe allergic reaction during the standard observation period," which the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says some people have experienced when receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.

More than 330,000 doses from that specific lot have been distributed to 287 providers across the state, with the shipments arriving between Jan. 5 and 12, according to the California Department of Public Health, which said it has not been notified of any other cluster or individual events related to this lot.

When asked for comment, a spokesperson for Moderna told ABC News: "Moderna acknowledges receiving a report from the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) that a number of individuals at one vaccination center in San Diego were treated for possible allergic reactions after vaccination from one lot of Moderna’s COVID-19 Vaccine. The company is fully cooperating with CDPH in investigating these reported adverse events. Consistent with the statement from CDPH, at this point Moderna is unaware of comparable adverse events from other vaccination centers which may have administered vaccines from the same lot."

ABC News' Sony Salzman contributed to this report.