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.
Latest headlines:
California reports record number of daily deaths
California reported 220 deaths on Thursday, surpassing the previous record of 219 on July 31.
With the average daily number of deaths climbing over the last month, the state's death toll now stands at 20,463.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has ordered regions to follow a stay-at-home order if their intensive care unit capacity falls below 15%.
The San Joaquin Valley -- where capacity is at 1.9% -- and Southern California -- where capacity is at 7.7% -- are under stay-at-home orders until at least Dec. 28.
The Greater Sacramento region now meets the criteria and a stay-at-home order will go into effect Thursday night.
Just two regions, the Bay Area and Northern California, are not under stay-at-home orders.
ABC News’ Matt Fuhrman contributed to this report.
Utah teachers could get vaccine this month
Utah teachers and school administrators will be eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccines as a part of phase one, directly after health care workers, Gov. Gary Herbert said.
Herbert said he expects teachers will be able to be vaccinated by the end of December or early January.
ABC News’ Matt Fuhrman contributed to this report.
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.
FDA ‘very comfortable’ with vaccine safety profile for 16, 17 year olds
Common questions surrounding the newly authorized Pfizer vaccine include safety for teenagers and the risk of allergic reactions.
Though the final data doesn’t have conclusive data on 16 and 17 year olds because they weren’t enrolled in trials until more recently, the FDA is “very comfortable with the safety profile that was observed in 17 and 16 year olds," Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, told reporters.
Regarding allergies, Marks said 1.6% of the population has had a severe allergic reaction.
Marks said you should notify your doctor if you’ve ever had an allergic reaction to a vaccine and noted that sites that administer the vaccine will have medications on hand to respond to an allergic reaction.
ABC News’ Anne Flaherty contributed to this report.