Updated on December 13, 2020 at 10:52 am
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The D.C. region has surpassed 500,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases Sunday.
The troubling landmark comes as the region prepares both for a coming surge in cases during the holiday season and for the first shipments of the Pfizer vaccine, which was recently approved for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration.
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The first shipments of the vaccine headed Sunday from Michigan to 145 distribution centers across the U.S.
About 3 million doses of the vaccine are expected to be sent out. Health care workers and nursing home residents are expected to receive the first shots in the initial weeks of distribution.