US Domestic News Roundup: CDC advisory panel recommends COVID-19; US hits 16 million COVID cases and more

They will be distributed by the U.S. Department of Defense in partnership with agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to government-designated facilities across the country, Pfizer said after a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory panel recommended the nation's first COVID-19 vaccine.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

CDC advisory panel recommends COVID-19 vaccine for widespread use

A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory panel on Saturday recommended the nation's first COVID-19 vaccine, helping clear the way for public health authorities to begin the largest vaccination campaign in U.S. history. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted 11 to 0 to recommend the vaccine from Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE as appropriate for Americans 16 and older. There were three abstentions due to prior conflicts of interest.

U.S. hits 16 million COVID cases even as vaccine begins roll-out

The United States hit a record 16 million COVID-19 cases on Saturday afternoon, with deaths closing in on the 300,000 mark, even as millions of doses of a new vaccine were expected to start rolling out across the nation on Sunday. The first vaccine was approved late on Friday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and is expected to touch off a mass-inoculation campaign of unparalleled dimension to end the pandemic that has upended daily life and devastated the U.S. economy.

Pfizer says first COVID-19 vaccine supplies being prepared to ship from Michigan site

Pfizer Inc said on Saturday that the first COVID-19 vaccine supplies are being prepared to ship from the company's Kalamazoo, Michigan site. They will be distributed by the U.S. Department of Defense in partnership with agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to government-designated facilities across the country, Pfizer said after a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory panel recommended the nation's first COVID-19 vaccine.

Historic U.S. COVID vaccine campaign launches with convoy of trucks

Workers at a Pfizer Inc factory in Michigan dispatched the first shipments of its COVID-19 vaccine shortly after 6:30 a.m. on Sunday - launching the largest and most complex vaccine distribution project ever in the United States. A network television video feed from the facility in Kalamazoo showed masked workers removing pizza-boxed sized cartons containing vaccine vials from a freezer, and placing them in large, blue coolers, before these were boxed and labeled.

Pro-Trump protests decry president's election loss, opposing groups clash in Washington

Conservative groups claiming without evidence that the Nov. 3 election was stolen from President Donald Trump staged protests across the country on Saturday, with one in Washington turning violent at times as police broke up sporadic clashes after dark. Organizers of Stop The Steal, linked to pro-Trump operative Roger Stone, and church groups urged supporters to participate in "Jericho Marches" and prayer rallies.

Most Americans with allergies should be safe to get Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine: FDA

Top U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulators said on Saturday that most Americans with allergies should be safe to receive the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc and Germany's Biotech SE. The FDA, which authorized the nation's first COVID-19 vaccine on Friday night, said that only people who have previously had severe allergic reactions to vaccines or ingredients in this particular vaccine should avoid getting the shot.

U.S. CDC reports 294,535 deaths from coronavirus

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Saturday reported 15,718,811 cases of the new coronavirus, an increase of 244,011 from its previous count, and said that the number of deaths had risen by 3,013 to 294,535. The CDC reported its tally of cases of the respiratory illness known as COVID-19, caused by a new coronavirus, as of 4 pm ET on Dec. 11 versus its previous report a day earlier.(https://bit.ly/3m662x4)

First U.S. shots in COVID-19 vaccine campaign coming Monday, Army general says

The first shots in a massive U.S. COVID-19 vaccine campaign will be administered as early as Monday, with Pfizer Inc and partners aiming to start shipments across the hard-hit country on Sunday, an Army general organizing the rollout said. Healthcare workers and elderly people in long-term care facilities are expected to be the main recipients of the first wave of 2.9 million shots this month, with healthcare worker inoculations as soon as Monday and nursing home residents by the end of next week, U.S. Army General Gustave Perna said on a Saturday press call.

Proud Boys leader wasn't invited to White House, took public tour: spokesman

The White House said a leader of the far-right Proud Boys group who posted photos on social media outside the executive mansion on Saturday had not been invited and was instead on a holiday tour open to the public. Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio posted photos taken inside the White House gates on the conservative platform Parler, adding that he had received a "last minute invite to an undisclosed location."

Trump castigates Supreme Court, Barr as election challenges sputter

President Donald Trump lambasted the Supreme Court on Saturday for declining to take a case he hoped would overturn President-elect Joe Biden's election victory and called Attorney General William Barr a "disappointment." The nation's high court late on Friday rejected an unprecedented lawsuit by Texas seeking to throw out voting results from four states.