WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - COVID-19 hospitalizations in the United States reached all-time record on Sunday, as medical workers have started the task of distributing the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against the pandemic nationwide.
As per the latest update published by COVID Tracking Project on Monday, a total of 109,331 patients are currently admitted in U.S. hospitals with coronavirus infection. This is the 12th consecutive day that the country is surpassing 100,000 hospitalizations.
21,231 of the COVID patients in the country are admitted in ICU, and 7,529 others are in ventilator, according to the U.S. collaborative volunteer-run effort to track the pandemic.
Almost every state reports more than 100 people hospitalized per million, while Nevada reports 592, which translates into 1 out of 1700 people in the state.
With 190,920 new cases reporting in the last 24 hours, the total number of patients infected with the disease increased to 16,253,219, as per latest data from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
A total of 1389 COVID patients were reported dead in the same period.
The U.S. is now averaging 2,427 deaths per day. That's 300 deaths more per day than at the peak of the spring wave.
With more than 35000 new cases, California set a new case record for any state on Sunday. More people are hospitalized in the most populous state in the country than in any state at any time since New York in April.
Even missing updates from several states, the 7-day averages for cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are records, according to COVID Tracking Project.
The US Food and Drug Administration on Sunday granted emergency use authorization of the first COVID-19 vaccine in the country, following which Pfizer shipped out the first batch of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines from the pharmaceutical giant's plant in Portage, Michigan.
Contrary to earlier reports that White House staffers will receive Covid-19 vaccine ahead of general public, President Donald Trump said, 'People working in the White House should receive the vaccine somewhat later in the program, unless specifically necessary.'
'I have asked that this adjustment be made. I am not scheduled to take the vaccine, but look forward to doing so at the appropriate time,' he said on Twitter.
'The first batch of doses of Pfizer-BioNTech's Covid-19 vaccine have arrived in Canada,' Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted on Sunday evening.
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