The nearly yearlong coronavirus pandemic has been full of gloomy numbers but Wednesday brought an encouraging one -- more than 1 million people have received their first shot of a Covid-19 vaccine.

And that reported number is low, because many doses administrated in recent days have yet to be tabulated in the figures from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the agency said.

"With cases of COVID-19 continuing to surge nationwide, this achievement comes at a critical time and will help to protect those on the frontlines -- our healthcare providers treating COVID-19 patients -- as well as our most vulnerable: elder individuals living in nursing homes and assisted living facilities," CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield said.

The government has said it intends to distribute 20 million first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines in the coming weeks. So far, about 9.5 million doses have been distributed.

"It's been a big week of delivery of vaccines," Gen. Gustave Perna, chief operating officer of Operation Warp Speed, told reporters Wednesday. "Over 7,800 deliveries by the end of tomorrow, as we are delivering the 7.9 million doses of vaccine that were allocated for this week around the country -- really a tremendous feat."

Perna said about 15.5 million doses of vaccine have been allocated and another 4.5-5 million will be allotted next week.
"We'll finish those deliveries in the first week of January," he said.

Health officials like Dr. Anthony Fauci, long-time director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, have said vaccines will help put the pandemic behind us -- but most Americans, who won't get vaccinated until next year, need to be vigilant with mask and social distancing measures for the next few months.