1 Mln People In US Receive First Dose Of COVID-19 Vaccine

(RTTNews) - More than 1 million people have reportedly received their first shot of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Reports says that the number is low as many doses administrated in recent days have yet to be tabulated in the figures from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"With cases of COVID-19 continuing to surge nationwide, this achievement comes at a critical time and will help to protect those on the frontlines -- our healthcare providers treating COVID-19 patients -- as well as our most vulnerable: elder individuals living in nursing homes and assisted living facilities," CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield said.

Redfield added that CDC, along with DoD and other federal partners, continues to work closely with state, local, tribal, and territorial health departments to combat the spread of COVID-19, and distribute COVID-19 vaccine doses as quickly as possible to accomplish vaccination of the American public.

The government has said it intends to distribute 20 million first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines in the coming weeks. So far, about 9.5 million doses have been distributed.