There were 142,511 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in the United States on Tuesday, according to a real-time count kept by Johns Hopkins University.

Tuesday's case count is far less than the country's all-time high of 298,031 newly confirmed infections on Jan. 2, Johns Hopkins data shows.

An additional 3,990 fatalities from COVID-19 were registered nationwide on Tuesday, down from a peak of 4,462 new deaths on Jan. 12, according to Johns Hopkins data.

COVID-19 data may be skewed due to possible lags in reporting over the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday weekend.

A total of 25,443,700 people in the U.S. have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began, and at least 425,216 have died, according to Johns Hopkins data. The cases include people from all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., and other U.S. territories as well as repatriated citizens.

Much of the country was under lockdown by the end of March as the first wave of pandemic hit. By May 20, all U.S. states had begun lifting stay-at-home orders and other restrictions put in place to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. The day-to-day increase in the country's cases then hovered around 20,000 for a couple of weeks before shooting back up over the summer.

The numbers lingered around 40,000 to 50,000 from mid-August through early October before surging again to record levels, crossing 100,000 for the first time on Nov. 4, then reaching 200,000 on Nov. 27 before nearing 300,000 on Jan. 2.

So far, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized two COVID-19 vaccines for emergency use -- one developed by U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech, and another developed by American biotechnology company Moderna and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

COVID-19 hospitalizations in the United States continue to trend downward, but the country's daily death rate is still above 3,000, according to The COVID Tracking Project, a volunteer-run effort to track the U.S. outbreak.

There are 108,957 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19 in the U.S., which is almost 30,000 fewer cases than a couple of weeks ago, the group said.

The country's seven-day average of daily COVID-19 deaths is now at 3,302, according to The COVID Tracking Project.

"While cases and hospitalizations are falling, the 7-day average for deaths jumped up today. That's because last Tuesday's data was depressed by the holiday," the group wrote on Twitter Tuesday. "We do expect, however, that deaths could stay elevated for quite a while."

U.S. President Joe Biden's administration said it has secured commitments from manufacturers to buy another 200 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to arrive this summer -- 100 million from Pfizer and 100 million from Moderna.

This raises the total to 600 million and ensures the U.S. will eventually have two shots for nearly every American.

"We expect these vaccines to be available in production over the course of the summer," a Biden official said Tuesday.

Buying more doses had always been an option for the U.S. government as part of the prior contracts.

"We will increase overall weekly vaccination distributions of states, tribes and territories from 8.6 million doses to a minimum of 10 million doses starting next week," Biden said Tuesday.

The president also vowed to increase "transparency with states, cities and tribes and local partners when it comes to the vaccine supply."

"From this week forward," he said, "states, tribes and territories will now always have a reliable, three-week forecast with the supply they're going to get."

ABC News’ Anne Flaherty contributed to this report.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, while wearing two face masks, received her second COVID-19 vaccine dose on Tuesday at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.

Harris described the shot as "relatively painless," adding, "We’re going to get 100 million vaccinations in 100 days."

"I want to urge everyone to take the vaccine when it is your turn," she said.

Harris' husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, also received his second vaccine dose Tuesday.

As of Thursday, the city of Los Angeles had vaccinated 152,612 people against COVID-19 at five city-run vaccination sites. The problem, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said, is supply. The city needs more vaccines.

Though California has said eligibility may go by age, Garcetti asked for flexibility Thursday so the city can get vaccines into communities where people are disproportionately dying -- specifically communities of color.

"The next group designated to be moved into receiving the vaccines in the coming weeks will be our workers in emergency services, as well as food and education and child care," Garcetti said.

The city has increased vaccine rollout by 17% since last week, Garcetti said, and its Dodger Stadium site is vaccinating 12,000 people per day. The entire county received 137,000 doses this week and expects 188,000 next week, according to Los Angeles County Public Health Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer.

"The city has distributed 81% of the doses that we have received," the mayor said. "This number is among the highest in the country, higher than many of our peer cities."

COVID-19 stats continue to improve in the hardest-hit county in America. Hospitalizations were down 3% and cases were down 3.4% from Wednesday, Garcetti said. However, Los Angeles County still reported 273 deaths from the disease on Thursday, crossing 16,000 total.

ABC News' Cammeron Parrish contributed to this report.