Coronavirus Watch: We could have 2 vaccines by the end of the week

The United States may have two coronavirus vaccines by the end of the week.

Data released Tuesday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration confirmed that Moderna's vaccine appeared safe and highly effective in a study of more than 30,000 volunteers. The information will be reviewed by an FDA advisory committee on Thursday, with possible authorization and distribution of the vaccine to follow.

It's Tuesday, and this is the Coronavirus Watch from the Paste BN Network. Here's more news that you need to know:

• The vast majority of nursing homes in the U.S. won't start vaccinating staff and residents against COVID-19 until Dec. 21, and some won't start until Dec. 28, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
• An additional 400 hospitals were expected to receive the vaccine Tuesday, and several states were celebrating their first vaccinations. In Puerto Rico, the first person to receive the vaccine Tuesday was a respiratory therapist who treated the first two COVID-19 patients hospitalized on the island.
• An increasing number of Americans said they'd definitely or probably get a COVID-19 vaccine if it were deemed safe by experts and made free for the public, a Kaiser Family Foundation poll found.
• Lawmakers unveiled a $908 billion coronavirus rescue package Monday, with a potential deal coming down to the wire since Congress has until the end of the week to strike an agreement that can be tied to longer-term spending legislation.
• What about the two other vaccines in Phase 3 trials? Moncef Slaoui, Operation Warp Speed’s science adviser, said Monday that, if authorized, Americans could begin receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in February and the AstraZeneca vaccine in March.
• The U.S. has enough vaccines already purchased to meet the goal of vaccinating every American who wants it by the end of the second quarter of 2021, so by June, Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar said Monday.

Today's numbers: The U.S. has reported over 16.5 million cases and over 301,000 deaths. That means 1 in 20 Americans has tested positive for COVID-19. Globally, there have been over 73 million cases and nearly 1.6 million fatalities. See the numbers in your area here, and check out where cases are rising here.

What do you want to know about the vaccine? We're taking your vaccine questions through this online form, and we've answered some common ones here. Many of you have been asking: Can teens get the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine?

For teens 16 and 17, officials believe they know enough to conclude the benefits of getting vaccinated outweigh the risks, although there's not as much data for this age group as others, said Dr. Peter Marks, who directs the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research at the FDA. Sixteen- and 17-year-olds rarely get severely ill with COVID-19, but they do transmit it easily, often without showing symptoms. And some in that age group work jobs in which they interact with the public, such as check-out clerks.

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