Within Hours, 17-Year Old Loses Both Parents To Coronavirus

ACROSS AMERICA — Most 17-year-olds in the United States are worried about similar things — college admissions essays, getting good grades in calculus, and what color dress to wear to their senior prom.

Brisa Vasquez, however, is likely worried about how she'll pay mountains of medical bills and how to live in a world without her parents after both died from coronavirus.

Tony and Lisa Vasquez were high school sweethearts. Last week, within hours of each other, the two died from COVID-19, according to a CNN profile on their family. Tony was 56 and Lisa was 53. They died Dec. 2 and Dec. 3, respectively.

Both were actively involved in Brisa's life, particularly her swim team at Chandler High School in Chandler, Arizona.

"Tony worked harder than everybody," Rachel Tribby, vice president of the booster club, told CNN. "If the event started at 5 p.m., he would be there at 5 a.m."

A GoFundMe page, which has so far raised more than $48,000, has been set up to support Brisa and help the family with medical bills.

Meanwhile, Brisa is trying to look ahead, according to Tribby. She plans to follow in her father's footsteps by enlisting in the military.

Read more via CNN

The Latest

The first shipments of a coronavirus vaccine were on the road Sunday morning. Trucks carrying 184,275 virals of the vaccine left from a Pfizer plant in Portage, Michigan, according to CNN. The shipments left less than two full days after the Food and Drug Administration approved the emergency use of the vaccine developed by Pfizer and its German partner BioTech.

Another shipment is expected to leave later on Sunday, CNN reported. They are en route to nearly 150 distribution centers across all 50 states, and states plan to begin offering the vaccine as early as Monday.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy was on ABC "This Week" Sunday morning, confirming his state will begin vaccinating healthcare workers Tuesday morning. Murphy said he and the state's health commissioner will be at University Hospital in Newark as the first vaccine shots are given.

READ MORE: Vaccines Are Coming To New Jersey On Tuesday

Army Gen. Gustave Perna of Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration’s vaccine development program, said at a Saturday briefing that an additional 425 sites will get shipments Tuesday, and the remaining 66 on Wednesday.

The news follows the issuance of an emergency use authorization by the FDA that will allow people 16 years of age and older to receive the vaccine in the United States.

READ MORE: Coronavirus Vaccine Gets Emergency Use Authorization By FDA

Pfizer has said its clinical trials show the vaccine is about 95 percent effective. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine had already been approved for use in the United Kingdom and Canada.

Perna compared the vaccine distribution effort to D-Day, the U.S.-led military offensive that turned the tide in World War II.

“D-Day was the beginning of the end and that’s where we are today,” Perna said a news conference. But he added that it would take months of work and "diligence, courage and strength to eventually achieve victory.”

As the vaccine receives emergency authorization, the United States is likely to soon surpass 300,000 pandemic-related deaths. On Wednesday, the nation recorded more than 3,000 coronavirus deaths for the first time ever. The number grew to more than 3,300 on Thursday and Friday.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield said we shouldn't expect the number of daily deaths to drop anytime soon.

In fact, Redfield on Thursday said the country could see more than 3,000 deaths per day for the next two to three months.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump hasn’t publicly acknowledged this week’s record number of coronavirus deaths, hospitalizations and cases. He hailed the vaccine but made no mention of the toll the virus has taken, according to The Associated Press.

In cities across the United States, strict new limits continue to be implemented to help slow the virus's spread.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Friday reinstated a ban on indoor dining in New York City. As of Monday, only takeout orders and outdoor dining will be allowed in the city, one of the world's great cuisine capitals, the governor said at a news conference in Albany.

Cuomo said that despite the economic pain to the city's roughly 24,000 restaurants and their legions of workers, he needed to act.

"In New York City, you put the CDC caution on indoor dining together with the rate of transmission and the density and the crowding, that is a bad situation," he said, adding that the shutdown will be evaluated again after two weeks.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said he supported Cuomo's decision.

"This is painful. So many restaurants are struggling. But we can't allow this virus to reassert itself in our city," the Democratic mayor said on Twitter.

READ: NYC Indoor Dining To Close; Decision Coming For Rest Of State

Hospitalizations due to the virus have also reached an all-time high. According to the Covid Tracking Project, more than 108,000 people are currently hospitalized due to complications from the virus.

Now there is public data that can help Americans see how full the hospitals are near them. A "look-up tool" was released by NPR this week that is searchable by county.

Newest Numbers

At least 2,440 new coronavirus deaths and 227,531 new daily cases had been reported in the United States on Saturday, according to a Washington Post database. Over the past seven days, the United States has averaged more than 213,000 cases each day.

As of Sunday, 47 states and Puerto Rico remained above the positive testing rate recommended by the World Health Organization to safely reopen. To safely reopen, the WHO recommends states remain at 5 percent or lower for at least 14 days.

More than 16 million people in the United States had tested positive for the coronavirus as of Saturday morning, and more than 297,800 have died, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Stay up to date on the latest coronavirus news via The New York Times or Washington Post.

Read More From Across America:

• Wolf Puts Pennsylvania 'On Pause' Through Jan. 4: What To Know
• Gov. Murphy: 10 NJ Bars, Restaurants Broke COVID-19 Rules
• Lamont Leans Toward Keeping CT Restaurants Open
• 8 NYC Hospital ICUs Near-Full With Coronavirus Patients: Data
• IL Reports 9,420 New Coronavirus Cases Friday, 190 More Deaths
• GA Coronavirus: 5 Atlanta-Area Sheriffs-Elect Now Have COVID-19
• MD Adds Relief Funding; Gov. Calls Restrictions 'Death Sentence'
• LA County Gets Restraining Order Against Gym Over Indoor Workouts
• 5 Incoming Atlanta-Area Sheriffs Have COVID-19