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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77 COVID-19 cases linked to youth basketball tournament in Santa Clara County
An outbreak of COVID-19, resulting in 77 positive cases, has been traced to a youth basketball tournament held last month in California's Santa Clara County, public health officials said Friday.
At the tournament, held Nov. 7 and 8 at Courtside Basketball Center in Placer County, were 39 middle school and high school players, three coaches and 35 “additional contacts.”
Officials said it violated local and state orders for youth sports put in place during the coronavirus pandemic.
Another 17 cases outside the county have also been traced to the event, officials said in a news release.
“This outbreak is a troubling reminder that the widespread prevalence of COVID-19 in our community threatens all of us, and does not limit itself to geographic boundaries,” Dr. Monika Roy, Santa Clara County’s assistant public health officer, said in a statement.
“Public Health orders, directives, and guidance around contact sports and sporting events are in place for a reason. The risk of transmission in these settings can easily result in community spread that threatens the most vulnerable among us.”
The California Department of Public Health is investigating the incident, according to the news release, and Courtside’s website said the center is closed until further notice “out of precaution with the statewide lockdown and for the safety of all.”
The outbreak comes as California is seeing record numbers of COVID-19 cases during the holiday season.
FedEx to begin delivering Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine across US
FedEx took to Twitter Friday night to announce that it's on track to start delivering Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine, which was given emergency use authorization by the Food and Drug Administration Friday.
“We’re in motion to begin delivering our first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines from @pfizer -@BioNTech_Group to communities across the U.S.,"FedEx tweeted.
In a press release, the transportation company -- which has more than 90 cold chain facilities across five continents -- said it will use its FedEx Priority Overnight service to get vaccines to dosing centers around the country, and soon, the world.
"Vaccine distribution will be balanced among major cargo carriers, and FedEx is working closely with healthcare customers to prepare for additional vaccine shipments and transportation of critical vaccine-related supplies," they said in their statement.
Mexico approves emergency use of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine
Mexico approved emergency use of Pfizer and BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine on Friday.
The announcement came shortly before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said that it had authorized Pfizer's vaccine. Mexico has recorded over 1.2 million cases and 113,000 deaths -- fourth-most globally behind the U.S., Brazil and India.
The United Kingdom, Bahrain and Canada have also authorized the vaccine.
FDA authorizes Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for emergency use
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized Pfizer and BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use.
President Donald Trump announced the news on Twitter.
The move comes a day after the FDA's advisory committee recommended that the U.S. government authorize the nation's first COVID-19 vaccine for people over the age of 16.
The first vaccine will be administered in less than 24 hours, Trump said Friday night.
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told "Good Morning America" Friday morning that up to 20 million Americans will be vaccinated this month.
UK prepares for Tuesday's rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations
Doses of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech have been delivered across the United Kingdom, ahead of the launch of the country's immunization program.
The potentially life-saving vaccine will be administered nationwide starting Tuesday morning, and some 800,000 doses were expected to be in place for the first day of what will be the largest-scale immunization program in U.K. history.
Vaccinations will be rolled out in phases, with elderly care home residents and their carers first on the priority list, followed by anyone else aged 80 and over, as well as frontline health and social care workers.
Last week, the U.K. became the first country in the world to authorize the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for emergency use. The vaccine was shown in late-stage clinical trials to be more than 95% effective in preventing COVID-19.