A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now infected more than 94.2 million people worldwide and killed over 2 million of them, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
There has been a nationwide decrease in the seven-day averages for tests, cases, hospitalizations and deaths in the U.S, according to the COVID Tracking Project.
Many states are reporting a decrease in the number of new cases per million people, though California, Virginia and South Caroline reported more than 1,000 new cases per million Sunday.
Along with the states that do not regularly report on Sunday, Washington reported data system issues over the weekend. There will be some disruptions to reporting expected on Monday due to Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
States reported 1.8 million tests, 186,000 cases, 124,387 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19, and 2,044 deaths on Sunday, according to the COVID tracking project.
-ABC News Darren Reynolds
The number of patients entering hospitals in the U.K. every day is showcasing the dire situation as the new variant of the COVID-19 virus that originated there continues to spread.
Sir Simon Stevens, Chief Executive of England’s NHS, announced Sunday that "every thirty seconds across England another patient is being admitted to hospital with coronavirus."
Hospitals and staff are under “extreme pressure,” Stevens said.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson also announced Sunday that the vaccine was being administered at a rate of "140 jabs a minute."
-ABC News’ Zoe Magee
The state of California is poised to surpass 3 million positive COVID-19 cases within two days, according to data from the California Department of Public Health.
On Sunday, the state health department reported 42,229 new cases and 432 new deaths.
Los Angeles County, the hardest hit in the state, surpassed 1 million cases on Saturday. Dodger Stadium, the largest vaccination site in the country, reopened on Friday, but officials told ABC News they only have enough doses to last until Wednesday.
ABC News’ Matthew Fuhrman and Zohreen Shah contributed to this report.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is urging the federal government to send more COVID-19 vaccines to the state as the variant that originated in the U.K. continues to spread.
Nearly 14,000 positive tests were reported Sunday, with 18 known cases of the variant and an infection rate of 5.6%, Cuomo announced.
While 7 million New York residents are currently eligible to receive the vaccine, the federal government sent less vaccines than what was expected, he added.
"We have the weapon that will win this war and we can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but how fast we get there depends upon two things-our own individual actions and the federal supply, which is where we are facing the greatest challenge," Cuomo said in a statement.
Pope Francis and his predecessor, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni.
"I can confirm that as part of the Vatican City State vaccination program to date, the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine has been administered to Pope Francis and the Pope Emeritus," Bruni said in a statement Thursday.
Francis, who turned 84 last month and had part of a lung removed when he was younger, reportedly received the shot Wednesday while Benedict, 93, reportedly got it Thursday.
Vatican City, an independent enclave surrounded by Rome that serves as the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church, launched the immunization campaign on Wednesday, administering doses of a COVID-19 vaccine developed by U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech.
The tiny city-state has a population of only around 800 people but employs more than 4,000. It's unclear how many doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine have been procured so far.
Vatican City citizens, along with employees and pensioners, will have the opportunity to receive the vaccine as well as family members who are entitled to use of the city-state's health care system. Priority is being given to health care workers, public safety personnel, the elderly and individuals who are most frequently in contact with the public, according to Bruni.
The vaccination campaign is voluntary and people under the age of 18 are being excluded for the time being, Bruni said.
Since the start of the pandemic, Vatican City has reported at least 27 confirmed cases of COVID-19, according to a real-time count kept by Johns Hopkins University.
ABC News' Phoebe Natanson contributed to this report.
