Italy added another 305 victims to its official coronavirus death toll on the same day it joined the rest of the European Union in launching a massive vaccination campaign.
Another 8913 people tested positive yesterday, far fewer than in recent days. But with the Christmas holiday weekend, far fewer tests were conducted.
Italy leads Europe in the official COVID-19 death toll with 71,925 victims, though officials say the true toll is far higher due to missed infections early on and testing limitations.
Italy on Sunday began administering the first Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines to health care workers who have been on the front lines of the pandemic since Italy in late February became the epicentre of the outbreak in Europe.
Meanwhile December has been the most deadliest month in the US since the COVID-19 pandemic's start - with more than 63,000 Americans lost to the virus in the past 26 days.
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In comparison, the entire month of November saw about 36,964 deaths.
The grim death toll comes on the heels of several brutal months for the US, with COVID-19 ravaging communities from coast to coast, crippling hospital systems and prompting new widespread restrictions.
The authorisation of two COVID-19 vaccines earlier in December offered some hope of a light at the end of the tunnel.
But experts continue to warn that while the end is in sight, the pandemic is not over and another surge stemming from the Christmas holiday could be on its way.
"We very well might see a post-seasonal - in the sense of Christmas, New Years - surge," Dr. Anthony Fauci said on CNN's State of the Union yesterday, pointing to holiday travel and private gatherings taking place despite the advice of health experts.
The nation's top infectious disease expert described the potential rise in cases as a "surge upon a surge," telling CNN's Dana Bash, "If you look at the slope, the incline of cases that we've experienced as we've gone into the late fall and soon to be early winter, it is really quite troubling."
More than 1.1 million people were screened at airports on Saturday, according to the TSA, marking the third busiest day for US air travel since March.
More than 616,000 were screened on Christmas Day alone, and hundreds of thousands more travelled in the days leading up to the holiday.
COVID-19 hospitalisation numbers across the US are already at record-high levels.
On Saturday, the country recorded its fifth-highest number of hospitalisations - with more than 117,300 COVID-19 patients nationwide, according to the COVID Tracking Project.
- Reported with CNN and AP
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