Covid live updates and vaccine news: Coronavirus cases continue to rise across the U.S.

5 min readDec 8, 2020

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On Tuesday, 334 days after the first reported coronavirus death in China, the U.K. became the first country to roll out a clinically approved vaccine.

For many, seeing these shots injected into Britons’ shoulder muscles will come as a much-needed morale boost at the end of a hellish year — one that’s seen 1.5 million people killed, 65 million others sickened, and countless more subjected to economic hardship.

But the reality is that even wealthy countries like the United States face an enormous logistical challenge in trying to vaccinate priority groups — let alone everyone else.

Map of U.S. hot spots and worldwide Covid-19 cases.
Tracking surges in states across the country this winter.
Map of travel restrictions and which states have a mask mandate.
Click here for more of NBC News’ Covid-19 coverage.

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Will Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip receive COVID vaccine on camera? -@SavannahGuthrie asks @DominicRaab pic.twitter.com/ZGBm3xd5MI
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Rebecca Shabad

14m ago / 1:18 PM UTC

Operation Warp Speed chief says he doesn’t know what Trump’s order on vaccines is about

The Trump administration’s adviser overseeing Operation Warp Speed, which is tasked with developing and distributing a Covid-19 vaccine, said Tuesday that he doesn’t know the purpose of President Donald Trump’s expected executive order on the vaccines.

“Frankly, I don’t know, and frankly, I’m staying out of this. I can’t comment,” said chief science adviser Dr. Moncef Slaoui in an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

Pressed further, Slaoui said, “Our work is rolling. We have plans. We feel that we can deliver the vaccines as needed, so I don’t know exactly what this order is about.”

A senior administration official told reporters Monday that Trump is “going to be signing an executive order on ensuring access to U.S. government Covid-19 vaccines. This is a reaffirmation of the president’s commitment to America first, to ensure the health and safety of our citizens, the viability of our economy, the security of our nation, and ensure that Americans are able to resume normal life. That’s the first and most directive thing the executive order

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William Shakespeare becomes second person to receive approved Covid-19 vaccine

In a turn of events that’s already spawned a thousand Twitter puns, the second person to receive the clinically approved Covid-19 vaccine Tuesday was a man named William Shakespeare.

Bill, 81, as he’s known to friends, got the shot at a hospital in the English city of Coventry, as the United Kingdom kicks off its largest public vaccination campaign in its history.

For a country recently accused of turning its world-first vaccinations into nationalistic point-scoring opportunities, it was a detail that might have been tossed from a writers’ room for being too on-the-nose.

“William Shakespeare” quickly became the number one trending topic on British Twitter, where people responded with wordplays such as “The Taming of the Flu,” “The Two Gentlemen of Verona” and “a plague on none of your houses.”

The U.S. tops 15 million Covid cases, its second million-milestone in December

The United States surpassed 15 million Covid-19 cases Monday only a few days after setting its first million-milestone this month, according to an NBC News tally.

The U.S. recorded 1,789 deaths related to coronavirus on Monday, bringing the total death count close to 285,000 people, according to the tally. The country logged nearly 187,000 new cases of Covid-19 on the same day.

The country also registered more hospitalizations on Monday since the pandemic began, with almost 102,000 people who were hospitalized across the country, according to The Covid Tracking Project.

California issues widespread stay-at-home order as ICU capacity dwindles

British woman becomes world’s first to receive approved Covid-19 vaccine

A woman in the English city of Coventry has become the first person to get a clinically approved Covid-19 vaccine. Margaret Keenan, 90, received the Pfizer-BioNTech shot Tuesday after the British government became the first to give it regulatory approval last week.

“I feel so privileged to be the first person vaccinated against Covid-19,” the grandmother of four, who turns 91 next week, told reporters. “It’s the best early birthday present I could wish for because it means I can finally look forward to spending time with my family and friends in the new year after being on my own for most of the year.”

Keenan’s inoculation kicks off what’s been described as the largest vaccination campaign ever attempted by Britain’s publicly funded National Health Service. The United States Food and Drug Administration is expected to discuss regulatory approval for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine this week.