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Coronavirus updates: 1st vaccines now on the way to all 50 US states

PHOTO: A truck backs into the loading dock of the Pfizer Global Supply manufacturing plant in Portage, Mich., Dec. 11, 2020.
2:13
Rebecca Cook/Reuters
FDA authorizes COVID-19 vaccine as number of cases hit another record high
By Morgan Winsor, Erin Schumaker, Ivan Pereira, Emily Shapiro, Meredith Deliso, Rosa Sanchez
Last Updated: December 9, 2020, 10:54 PM

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:

  • 2 trucks with COVID-19 vaccines have left facility, Pfizer says
  • FedEx truck carrying 1st shipment of Pfizer vaccine leaves Michigan facility
  • US surpasses 16 million coronavirus cases
  • 1st vaccines to arrive at 145 sites on Monday
Here's how the news developed this week. All times Eastern.

Dec 09, 2020 10:54 PM

LA County health director breaks down as over 9,200 new cases recorded

Los Angeles County Health Director Barbara Ferrer broke down as she revealed the latest tallies of coronavirus cases and deaths Wednesday.

There were 9,243 new cases and 75 new deaths recorded Wednesday, according to the health department. The county has seen 475,271 total cases and 8,075 total deaths during the pandemic.

PHOTO: Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer takes questions at a news conference in Los Angeles, March 12, 2020.
Damian Dovarganes/AP, FILE
Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer takes questions at a news conference in Los Angeles, March 12, 2020.
Damian Dovarganes/AP, FILE

"The more terrible truth is that over 8,000 people who were beloved members of their families are not coming back and their deaths are an incalculable loss to their friends and their family, as well as our community," Ferrer said while breaking down in tears.

Roughly 3,200 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19 in Los Angeles, 23% of whom are in the intensive care unit and 15% on ventilators, according to the health department.

"Given that we are just now seeing the hospitalizations from the Thanksgiving holiday, we anticipate that the number will continue to grow over the next few weeks with potentially 700 new daily COVID hospitalizations in just one week from now," Dr. Christina Ghaly, director of the LA County Health Services Department, said.

-ABC News' Cammeron Parrish


Dec 09, 2020 9:54 PM

Big Ten Conference changes rules, Ohio State eligible for championship game

The Big Ten Conference Administrators Council voted Wednesday to eliminate the game minimum requirement for teams to play in the conference championship, clearing the way for Ohio State to play for the title despite only playing five games this season due to COVID-19 cancellations.

Among the cancellations was this weekend's game against University of Michigan after Michigan reported "an increasing number of positive COVID-19 cases and student-athletes in quarantine."

The conference said, "The decision was based on a competitive analysis which determined that Ohio State would have advanced to the Big Ten Football Championship Game based on its undefeated record and head-to-head victory over Indiana regardless of a win or loss against Michigan."

Ohio State will play Northwestern in the Big Ten Football Championship Game.

The conference had voted prior to the season that a team must played at least six games to qualify for the title game.


Dec 09, 2020 9:25 PM

California sees 30,000 new cases in 1 day

California recorded 30,851 new cases on Tuesday, bringing the state's case total to over 1.42 million.

The Golden State's seven-day positivity rate stands at 10%.

PHOTO: St. Mary Medical Center staff work inside a triage tent to handle the overflow at its 200 bed hospital during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease in Apple Valley, Calif., Dec. 8, 2020.
Mike Blake/Reuters
St. Mary Medical Center staff work inside a triage tent to handle the overflow at its 200 bed hospital during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease in Apple Valley, Calif., Dec. 8, 2020.
Mike Blake/Reuters

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 and Southern California regions have already met this criteria and 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 there the night of Dec. 10.

Northern California and the Bay Area are the two remaining regions with ICU capacities above 15%.



Dec 09, 2020 9:21 PM

2.9 million doses to go out immediately upon FDA authorization

Once the FDA approves the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, 2.9 million doses will go out immediately in the U.S., said Gen. Gus Perna, commander of the Army Materiel Command. The second batch of 2.9 million will be close behind, within 21 days, Perna said.

PHOTO: RN Clinical Staff Educator Diane Mikelsons receives a mock Pfizer vaccine for the coronavirus disease during a staff vaccine training session at UW Health in Madison, Wis., Dec. 8, 2020.
John Maniaci/UW Health via Reuters
RN Clinical Staff Educator Diane Mikelsons receives a mock Pfizer vaccine for the coronavirus disease during a staff vaccine training session at UW Health in Madison, Wis., Dec. 8, 2020.
John Maniaci/UW Health via Reuters
PHOTO: An elderly couple wearing a protective face masks walks past the Pfizer Inc. headquarters on Dec. 9, 2020, in New York.
Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images
An elderly couple wearing a protective face masks walks past the Pfizer Inc. headquarters on Dec. 9, 2020, in New York.
Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images

Twenty million Americans are expected to be vaccinated by the end of 2020, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said.

"We remain confident that across our portfolio of multiple vaccines, we will have enough doses for any American who wants a vaccine by the end of the second quarter of 2021," Azar said.

After two allergic reactions to the Pfizer/BioNTechvaccine were reported in the United Kingdom, Moncef Slaoui, Trump’s chief scientific adviser on vaccines, told reporters, "The expectation would be that subjects with known severe reaction, allergic reaction, should not take the vaccine, until we understand exactly what happened here."

ABC News' Anne Flaherty contributed to this report.


Dec 10, 2020 6:54 PM

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.

PHOTO: In this Dec. 2, 2020, file photo, New Hampshire House Speaker Dick Hinch speaks during an outdoor legislative session at the University of New Hampshire in Durham, N.H.
Elise Amendola/AP
In this Dec. 2, 2020, file photo, New Hampshire House Speaker Dick Hinch speaks during an outdoor legislative session at the University of New Hampshire in Durham, N.H.
Elise Amendola/AP

ABC News’ Ben Stein contributed to this report.


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