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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6 states report over 10,000 new cases

As COVID-19 continues to surge across the U.S., six states reported over 10,000 new cases on Saturday, according to the COVID Tracking Project.

They were California, Florida, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas.

Another seven states reported over 5,000 new cases: Arizona, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina and Tennessee.

In total, according to the tracker, there were 223,365 new U.S. cases reported on Saturday, 2,477 deaths and a record 108,487 people currently hospitalized.


Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices votes to recommend Pfizer vaccine

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, an independent group of medical experts that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in a virtual meeting on Saturday voted 11-0 recommending the Pfizer vaccine for Americans 16 years and older.

Three committee members recused themselves because they had a conflict of interest.

This recommendation now heads to CDC Director Robert Redfield, who must sign off before doses can be administered.

 
ABC News’ Lauren Lantry contributed to this report.


Country music legend Charley Pride dies from virus

Country music legend Charley Pride died of COVID-19 complications on Saturday.

Last month, the 86-year-old performed at the CMA Awards, where he accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Pride was the first Black member of the Country Music Hall of Fame.

“Between 1967 and 1987, Pride delivered 52 Top 10 country hits, won Grammy awards, and became RCA Records’ top-selling country artist,” said the statement announcing his death. “His musicality opened minds and superseded prejudice.“


California breaks records for daily cases, daily deaths, total hospitalizations

California broke new records on Saturday for daily cases (over 35,700), daily deaths (225) and total hospitalizations (13,410).

Gov. Gavin Newsom has issued stay-at-home orders to regions if their intensive care unit capacity falls below 15%. The San Joaquin Valley, Southern California and the Greater Sacramento region all have fallen below that threshold, while the Bay Area and Northern California have not.

ICU capacity in the San Joaquin Valley fell to 0% on Saturday and was at 5.3% in Southern California.

ABC News’ Matt Fuhrman contributed to this report.


US averaging nearly 2,200 COVID-19 deaths per day for 1st time

For the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the United States is reporting an average of nearly 2,200 deaths from the disease per day, according to an ABC News analysis of data collected and published by The COVID Tracking Project.

The national seven-day average of COVID-19 deaths per day day is currently 2,171. That figure has increased by 139% in the past month.

Last week, there were nearly 15,000 fatalities from the disease recorded nationwide, including five days where the daily death toll surpassed the 2,000 mark. That's roughly equivalent to 88 COVID-19 deaths reported each hour.

Meanwhile, the U.S. has reported over 100,000 new cases of COVID-19 every day for more than a month straight, including three consecutive days where the daily count topped 200,000.

Just in the last month, the national seven-day average of daily new cases has doubled, now averaging 191,736 -- the highest it has been since the beginning of the pandemic.

There were 1,018,657 cases recorded nationwide in the first five days of December. To put that in perspective, it took nearly 100 days from the first recorded COVID-19 case in the U.S. for the country to surpass 1 million confirmed cases.

Hospitalizations continue to surge to unprecedented levels, with over 101,000 patients currently hopitalized with COVID-19 across the country -- a new national record.

In the past two months, current hospitalizations have more than tripled, increasing by 223%.

ABC News' Benjamin Bell, Brian Hartman, Kim Soorin and Arielle Mitropoulos contributed to this report.