Dec 23, 2020 - Health

Over 1 million people in U.S. have received the COVID-19 vaccine

Picture of an elderly man getting the coronavirus vaccine

Photo: Hyoung Chang/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images

More than 1 million people in the U.S. have received the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine as of Wednesday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Why it matters: The U.S. began its largest vaccination campaign in U.S. history last week as COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths surged nationwide.

By the numbers:

  • 9,465,725 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines have been distributed as of Wednesday.
  • 1,008,025 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine have been administered.
  • Of note: The CDC does not yet have data on the number of the Moderna vaccine doses administered. The FDA granted Moderna an emergency use authorization for its vaccine late last week.
  • The U.S. has recorded over 18 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 324,000 deaths as of Wednesday afternoon, per Johns Hopkins University data.
  • Some 117,777 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Tuesday evening, according to the COVID Tracking Project.

The big picture: Health care workers and people living in long-term care facilities, as well as some lawmakers, were the first to receive the vaccine in the U.S.

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