Coronavirus updates: US reports nearly 300,000 new cases in all-time high
A staggering 299,087 new cases were confirmed over the past 24 hours.
A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now infected more than 84.6 million people worldwide and killed over 1.8 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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UK grandmother who was 1st to get vaccine gets her 2nd second dose
Margaret Keenan, the 91-year-old grandmother in the United Kingdom who was the first in the world (outside of clinical trials) to get the Pfizer vaccine, got her second dose on Tuesday.
Keenan, then 90, received her first dose on Dec. 8.
ABC News’ Rashid Haddou contributed to this report.
January may be worse than December, Fauci warns
Dr. Anthony Fauci says the pandemic has “gotten out of control” and warned that January may be worse than December.
“That is what we're concerned about,” Fauci told CNN. “That in addition to the surge, we're going to have an increase … which could make January even worse than December. I hope not, I hope that doesn't happen, but it certainly is possible.”
“I think we just have to assume that it’s gonna get worse,” he said.
In terms of vaccines administered so far, Fauci said, “We certainly are not at the numbers that we wanted to be at the end of December.”
Over 11.4 million vaccine doses have been distributed and 2,127,143 Americans have received their first vaccine dose, according to the CDC.
Fauci said he believes there’ll be “an increase in the momentum” of vaccinations in January.
“Not being responsible myself for the rollout, I can't personally guarantee that we’re gonna catch up,” Fauci said. “I hope we do.”
Assistant Secretary for Health Adm. Brett Giroir said the data on people vaccinated is delayed.
“We know that’s underreported because there’s a three to seven-day delay. But we expect that to ramp up,” Giroir told MSNBC Tuesday..
ABC News’ Brian Hartman contributed to this report.
UK variant isn’t more deadly, preliminary analysis finds
A preliminary analysis from Public Health England found that the new COVID-19 variant detected in the United Kingdom isn’t more deadly than the prior dominant variant.
It’s still likely that the new variant is more easily transmissible, because of the speed at which it has outpaced the prior variant.
This new variant now accounts for over half of the new positive cases in the U.K., the study said.
The variants are all the same virus, no matter their small genetic differences. SARS-COV-2 is a respiratory virus, meaning it is transmitted through droplets, so masks and social distancing still work to slow transmission, no matter the variant.
In addition to several European nations, the variant has also been reported in North America and Asia.
ABC News’ Ian Pannell, Sony Salzman and Christine Theodorou contributed to this report.
Russian official admits COVID-19 death toll higher than reported
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova told reporters Monday that Russia’s total number of deaths from all causes during the pandemic has risen by 13.8% between January and November compared to the same period last year.
Of those excess deaths, Golikova said 81% of them were caused by COVID-19.
Data released by Russia’s state statistics agency shows that Russia has recorded 230,000 more deaths this year compared to 2019. If 81% of those are COVID-19 related, then the country’s total COVID-19 death toll is 186,000.
That is three times more than the official death toll published by the country’s health authorities (54,000).
A total of 186,000 fatalities would bring Russia’s death toll to the third worst in the world behind the U.S. and Brazil.
ABC News’ Patrick Reevell contributed to this report.
NY health group accused of line-skipping vaccine scheme referred to attorney general
New York State Police will refer ParCare Community Health Network to the New York Attorney General’s office for allegedly misappropriating the Moderna vaccine, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday.
State Health Commissioner Howard Zucker said the Orange County-based health care provider obtained the vaccine under false pretenses, moved it to Brooklyn, and gave it to people who weren't on the priority list. While ParCare is the only organization currently under criminal investigation, the governor said recipients of the vaccine who violated the state's distribution plan could also face charges.
"Whenever you have a valuable commodity that is being dispensed you should expect fraud," Cuomo said.
Under New York's current plan for "1A" distribution, only medical workers, first responders and nursing home staff members are allowed to receive the coronavirus vaccine. Other groups will follow in future rounds.
"We take this very seriously," Zucker said in a statement last week. "Anyone found to have knowingly participated in this scheme will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law."
New York State Police and other investigators were at the ParCare location in Borough Park on Saturday night.
A spokesman for ParCare told ABC News Sunday evening that it is cooperating with the state investigation and will return its unused vials. ParCare received 2,300 doses of the Moderna vaccine, and 869 of those doses have already been administered, according to the spokesperson.
"ParCare followed all NYS DOH procedures for obtaining the Moderna vaccine and was approved by NYS DOH for distribution and by CDC as a network site. As a result, we have properly received the vaccines and have provided the documentation regarding the proper receipt of the vaccines to the NYS DOH," the spokesperson told ABC News.
With regards to the patients who received their first shot, ParCare said it will be "working with the state to ensure that we provide the second dose for our patients."
-ABC News' Ivan Pereira, Sasha Pezenik and Aaron Katersky contributed to this report.