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.
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.