Axios

California's regional stay-at-home order has been extended for Southern California and San Joaquin Valley, officials announced Tuesday.

Driving the news: The expected move came as the ICU capacity in both regions remained at 0%, the state health department said. Southern California and San Joaquin Valley have been under the order since Dec. 6.

Colorado's health department discovered the new variant of the coronavirus that may be more transmissible, Gov. Jared Polis announced on Tuesday.

Why it matters: It's the first known U.S. case of the variant, which was initially discovered in the United Kingdom.

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris received her first dose of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine in D.C. Tuesday morning.

Why it matters: Although the FDA has found the vaccine to be safe and effective, the 56-year-old Harris wanted to get the shot live on television as a way of bolstering public confidence in the vaccine.

Argentina and Belarus on Tuesday became the first countries outside of Russia to begin coronavirus vaccinations using the Sputnik V vaccine, AP reports.

Why it matters: Although both countries authorized the vaccine last week, Russia has yet to complete advanced studies to ensure that Sputnik V is safe, effective and adheres to scientific protocols.

Anthony Fauci told CNN on Tuesday that Operation Warp Speed will not reach its goal of having 20 million Americans receive the coronavirus vaccine by the end of December.

By the numbers: Only 2.1 million people have received the first dose of the vaccine, with nearly 11.5 million doses distributed as of Monday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

President-elect Biden, who has vowed to be clear-eyed and straight about the pandemic, plans a renewed warning in remarks on COVID-19 in Wilmington today, a transition official tells Axios.

Driving the news: Echoing a CDC forecast from last week, Biden is expected to say that, tragically, the infection rates and the number of deaths are expected to increase in the coming weeks.

World Health Organization chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan told a virtual briefing Monday people who've been vaccinated for COVID-19 "need to take the same precautions" as those who haven't "till there's a certain level of herd immunity."

Driving the news: Swaminathan was asked whether international travel without quarantine would be possible after mass coronavirus vaccinations. "I don't believe we have the evidence on any of the vaccines to be confident that it's going to prevent people from actually getting the infection and therefore being able to pass it on," she said.

Spain is creating a registry of people who refuse to get a COVID-19 vaccination and will share this with other European Union member states, the country's Health Minister Salvador Illa told broadcaster La Sexta Monday.

The big picture: Spain become on Monday the fourth European nation to surpass 50,000 deaths from the coronavirus, after the United Kingdom, Italy and France, per Johns Hopkins. It's confirmed nearly 1.9 million cases. Illa said vaccinations are free and not mandatory. Data on those who refuse inoculation won't be publicly disclosed "and it will be done with the utmost respect for data protection," he added.

Flashback: Spain becomes first nation in Western Europe to exceed 1 million COVID-19 cases

Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) plans to filibuster the Senate’s veto override of the bipartisan defense bill unless the chamber holds a vote on the $2,000 stimulus payments included in the COVID relief bill, Politico reported Monday.

Why it matters: Though it's unlikely Sanders will stop the vote on the veto override, delaying it until New Year's Day could create new hurdles for the Republican Party.

A member of President-elect Joe Biden's COVID-19 advisory team told CNBC on Monday that Biden plans to invoke the Defense Production Act to boost production of coronavirus vaccines.

Why it matters: The law allows the president to direct the private sector to prioritize manufacturing in the interest of national defense.

The Transportation Security Administration screened 1,284,599 people at airport checkpoints around the U.S. on Sunday, according to agency data.

Why it matters: It's the highest number of travelers the TSA has recorded since the COVID-19 pandemic was declared in March.

The New Yorker is devoting nearly the entire issue — something the magazine has done just a handful of times in its history — to "The Plague Year," a 40-page account by Lawrence Wright about how America botched its virus response.

The intrigue: Much of Wright's narration of the West Wing's panicked early response is from the point of view of deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger, a former Marine and China correspondent for The Wall Street Journal and Reuters

A court in Shanghai sentenced a citizen journalist to four years in prison Monday after finding her guilty of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" by reporting on China's early coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, per rights groups.

Why it matters: Zhang Zhan's conviction marks the first known sentence of someone "who chronicled authorities' early struggle to manage the outbreak," Bloomberg notes.

The number of COVID-19 infections confirmed in the U.S. surpassed 19 million on Sunday, per Johns Hopkins. The U.S. coronavirus death toll stands at over 333,000.

The big picture: The New York Times notes this means "at least 1 in 17" Americans have tested positive for the virus during the pandemic. The Census Bureau estimated the U.S. population to be about 330,750,000 for the last week of December, per CNN. That means the virus has killed roughly one in every 1,000 in the U.S.