Pfizer prepares to start shipping vaccines TODAY as the US hits record COVID hospitalizations for the seventh day: Maps show how ICU beds are filling up across the country as 108k patients are admitted and cases top 16million ahead of the rollout
Pfizer Inc has revealed that the first COVID-19 vaccine supplies are being prepared to ship from the company’s Kalamazoo, Michigan site on Sunday as officials confirmed they will reach hospitals and other sites across the United States by Monday morning.
The announcement came as the number of Americans hospitalized with COVID-19 reached a record high for the seventh straight day on Saturday as the nation's total cases rose over 16 million.
There are now 108,487 COVID-19 patients in hospitals across the United States, according to the COVID-19 Tracking Project, placing even further strain on the county's already struggling intensive care units.
Hospitalizations have risen from 101,487 since December 6.
On Saturday, California set a record for the most new daily cases reported in any state as 223,365 new cases were reported nationwide.
Daily deaths dipped for the second day from 2,749 to 2,477. However, earlier this week, the US recorded more than 3,000 daily deaths for the first time, while the national death toll is now nearing 300,000.
Despite the drop in deaths, the 7-day average for the three metrics that mark the severity of the nation’s outbreak – new cases, new deaths and overall hospitalizations – all broke new records for the third day in a row.
The increase in hospitalizations and the pressure it is placing on ICU units was highlighted in new maps from the COVID Tracking Project, which show the dramatic increase in the percentage of ICU beds occupied by COVID-19 patients in the last week of November compared to the last week in August.
New maps from the COVID Tracking Project, which show the dramatic increase in the percentage of ICU beds occupied by COVID-19 patients in the last week of November compared to the last week in August, as pictured above
The 7-day average for the three metrics that mark the severity of the nation’s outbreak – new cases, new deaths and overall hospitalizations – all broke new records for the third day in a row as hospitalizations also hit another new record
The increase in hospitalizations is placing even further strain on the county's already struggling intensive care units
Cases of the virus have been rising across much of the U.S., causing record death totals in recent days and furthering fears for the country's healthcare system.
Based on data published his week by the Department of Health and Human Services, COVID Tracking Project revealed the parts of the country with the highest number of COVID-19 patients in the ICU.
They were also able to compare these totals to the figures at the end of the second coronavirus wave in August, showcasing the worrying rise in the likes of Texas and New Mexico.
At the end of August, ICU units in the south and in California were shown to be under strain with some already reporting that close to 100 percent of the patients in the ICU had been admitted with COVID-19.
However, by the last week in November, these troubling spikes could be seen across the country, especially in the southwest and northeast where the winter months have brought more cases.
A map from the COVID Tracking project shows the high number of patients in the ICU across the country
Texas and New Mexico have been the hardest hit by the rise in COVID-19 patients in ICU, as pictured above
'Out of ten HHRs which saw the most drastic increase in COVID-19 patient occupancy, half are in the southwest United States,; the COVID Tracking Project said.
'Three of these regions are in Texas bordering New Mexico: Amarillo (an increase of 70.9 percentage points), El Paso (an increase of 53.8 percentage points), and Lubbock (an increase of 47.7 percentage points).
'In contrast, only one HRR on the entire East Coast was represented in the top ten: Providence, Rhode Island, with an increase of 51.2 percentage points during this timeframe,' it added.
As the world was shortly expected to cross the grim threshold of 1.6 million deaths, there were 1.1 million new cases confirmed in the US in the past five days.
According to the COVID Tracking Project, on Saturday, 13 states reported over 5,000 new cases.
Five states of these states had over 10,000 new cases - Florida, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas - while the majority of 24 states reported between 1,000 and 5,000 cases.
The spike in cases continues to worsen in California, in particular, which reported 35,729 new cases in the past 24 hours.
It was a new daily case record for any state in the country.
The state, the most populous in the country, also now has more people hospitalized than any state at any time since New York in April.
California public health officials say the number of available intensive care unit beds in the vast San Joaquin Valley has dropped to zero for the first time Saturday.
Just a day earlier, ICU capacity in region comprised of 12 counties was at 4.5 percent.
The news comes as ICU units fill up across California amid spiking COVID-19 cases. Last week, San Joaquin Valley and the enormous Southern California region were ordered to follow the strictest anti-COVID-19 rules under a new stay-at-home order.
Overflowing ICUs was a major factor in Gov. Gavin Newsom's decision to implement the new order.
Yet hope came Saturday as Pfizer announced that their COVID-19 vaccines were being prepared to be shipped across the country from Sunday.
Pfizer's vaccine was given emergency authorization by regulators late Friday after the Trump administration pressed regulators to move quickly.
White House Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, reportedly even told FDA commissioner, Dr. Stephen Hahn, to consider getting a new job if he didn’t approve the vaccine on Friday, a senior administration official told the New York Times.
Dr. Hahn subsequently ordered vaccine regulators at the agency to approve it by the end of the day.
Approval wasn't issued for more than 24 hours after an expert committee said the shot should be approved, drawing criticism from Trump himself, and alleged threats from his chief of staff.
An estimated 2.9 million doses of Pfizer's vaccine are expected to ship to every U.S. state and territory in the next 24 hours.
It will be up to states to decide who gets vaccinated first, but the CDC has recommended injecting health care workers and nursing home residents (who have equal priority) first.
They will be distributed by the U.S. Department of Defense in partnership with agencies within the HHS to government-designated facilities across the country, Pfizer said.
Trucks will roll out Sunday morning as shipping companies deliver the vaccine to nearly 150 distribution centers across the United States.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump hasn't publicly acknowledged this week´s record number of coronavirus deaths, hospitalizations and cases.
He hailed the vaccine but made no mention of the toll the virus has taken.
There are now more than 16 million coronavirus cases in the US and the death toll stands at 297, 789.
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