Coronavirus Watch: US unveils plan to make vaccine available to all for free

COVID-19 vaccines will be free to all Americans, and the U.S. plans to begin distributing vaccine within 24 hours of one being approved, according to a government plan released Wednesday.

Federal health agencies and the Defense Department have sketched out complex plans for a vaccination campaign to begin gradually in January or possibly later this year. 

For most vaccines, people will need two doses, 21 to 28 days apart, according to the report.

It's Wednesday, and this is the Coronavirus Watch from the Paste BN Network. Here is the most significant news of the day, as of 12 p.m. ET:

• Pfizer, one of the frontrunners in creating a COVID-19 vaccine, said its candidate vaccine is looking safe, and the company expects to have data next month on how well it is protecting people against the coronavirus. 
• 2.3 million Americans lost health insurance before the pandemic, during President Donald Trump’s first three years in office, according to a Capital & Main analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data released Tuesday.
• Texas is nearing 700,000 confirmed infections. The state would become the country's second, after California, to reach that total.
• Meanwhile, a Texas woman who received nearly $2 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans was arrested Tuesday by federal authorities on fraud allegations.
• India's coronavirus confirmed cases crossed 5 million on Wednesday as the country's total caseload is closing in on the United States' tally. India reported a record daily high of 97,570 cases on Sept. 11 and has added more than 1 million cases this month alone.
• Stimulus update: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday the House will stay in session until a breakthrough is made on a coronavirus stimulus bill. 

Today's numbers: Alabama, North Dakota and Wisconsin set records for new cases, while Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Montana, North Dakota and Tennessee set records for number of deaths reported, according to a Paste BN analysis of Johns Hopkins data through late Tuesday. The U.S. has reported more than 6.6 million cases and more than 196,000 deaths. Globally, there have been more than 29.6 million cases and 936,000 fatalities. See the numbers in your area here, and check out where cases are rising here.

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– Grace Hauck, Paste BN breaking news reporter, @grace_hauck