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.
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Another record-breaking day for LA County
Los Angeles County reported a new high for COVID-19 cases on Friday, topping the record set the day before.
There were 13,815 new cases reported on Friday, surpassing Thursday's record by nearly 1,000.
Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer attributed the surge to Thanksgiving gatherings.
"The impact of these Thanksgiving surges of cases, on top of already rising cases, is creating extraordinary stress," she said at a briefing. "Should this be followed by another surge related to the winter holiday, the numbers of hospitalizations and patients in the ICU could become catastrophic."
There are 3,624 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19. In two weeks, that could be over 7,300 people, Ferrer warned, if the average number of cases and hospitalizations continue to climb.
-ABC News' Bonnie Mclean and Cammeron Parrish contributed to this report
HHS buys another 100 million doses of Moderna vaccine
The Department of Health and Human Services said it’s buying another 100 million doses of Moderna's vaccine candidate, which is scheduled for review by the FDA advisory committee next Thursday.
The federal government will now own a total 200 million doses of the Moderna vaccine.
ABC News’ Stephanie Ebbs contributed to this report.
White House suggests FDA chief's job on line if vaccine isn't authorized by end of day
In a Friday phone call, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows suggested to FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn that his job could be on the line if his agency doesn't authorize emergency use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine by the end of the day, sources familiar with the matter said.
"We don’t comment on private conversations, but the chief regularly requests updates on progress toward a vaccine," a White House official told ABC News.
Vaccine authorization by the FDA is expected imminently, as early as today.
ABC News’ Katherine Faulders and John Santucci contributed to this report.
Fauci says he’ll get vaccinated publicly
Dr. Anthony Fauci told The New York Times that he'll “get vaccinated publicly, in the public space, so that people can see me getting vaccinated,” as soon as “the vaccine becomes available to me.”
Former Presidents Barack Obama, George Bush and Bill Clinton have all offered to get vaccinated on camera.
The Food and Drug Administration as early as today could authorize emergency use authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
South Africa urges students to quarantine after 'super-spreader' parties
South African Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has called on final-year students who attended end-of-year parties to immediately self-quarantine for 10 days to prevent spreading the novel coronavirus.
Mkhize made the plea to students and parents on Sunday, after numerous people who recently attended "Rage" parties in Ballito and Jeffrey's Bay tested positive for COVID-19. The events are hosted every year in South Africa as thousands of students celebrate the end of matriculation.
"We confirm that we have now identified a number of COVID-19 confirmed cases arising from these super-spreader events," Mkhize said in a statement. "This therefore means that if you attended any of these Rage events, you are now regarded as a contact."
In addition to quarantining, Mkhize also urged attendees to get tested as soon as possible.
South Africa has the highest tally of COVID-19 infections in all of Africa, with more than 814,000 confirmed cases including over 22,000 deaths.