COVID-19 vaccine shipments start in the U.S. following emergency use order

As the U.S. continues grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccine shipments on Sunday were dispatched from Michigan to destinations around the nation.

Approximately 3 million doses were anticipated to be shipped initially with health care workers and those living in nursing homes the priority for getting injections, according to the Associated Press.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization regarding the vaccine on Friday.

"Federal officials say the first shipments of Pfizer’s vaccine will be staggered, arriving in 145 distribution centers Monday, with an additional 425 sites getting shipments Tuesday, and the remaining 66 on Wednesday," the wire service reported. 

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is going to hospitals and other facilities that can keep it under frigid temperatures of around 94 degrees below zero, according to the AP. 

"Doses should be delivered to all vaccination sites identified by states, such as local pharmacies, within three weeks, federal officials said," according to the outlet.

The government is saving 3 million vaccine doses so people who get the initial vaccination shot can later receive their second injection required for protection from the illness.

So far there have been more than 16.1 million COVID-19 cases in the U.S., and more than 298,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.