The first of many freezer-packed COVID-19 vaccine vials made their way to distribution sites across the United States on Sunday, as the nation’s pandemic deaths approached the horrifying new milestone of 300,000.

A vaccine is on the way, but it will likely be months before it is widely available. That means masks and social distancing protocols will need to remain in place, the governor said this week.

The nation’s first COVID-19 vaccine will begin arriving in states Monday morning, U.S. officials said Saturday, after the government gave the final go-ahead to the shots needed to end an outbreak that has killed nearly 300,000 Americans.

The U.S. gave the final go-ahead Friday to the nation’s first COVID-19 vaccine, marking what could be the beginning of the end of an outbreak that has killed nearly 300,000 Americans. 

Doctors and nurses around the U.S. are becoming exhausted and demoralized as they struggle to cope with a record-breaking surge of COVID-19 patients that is overwhelming hospitals and prompting governors to clamp back down to contain the virus.

The White House pressures the FDA to grant emergency authorization for Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine, as the virus kills more than 14,000 people in Illinois. 

President Donald Trump has been pressing for quick approval for the vaccine and tweeted directly at Hahn earlier Friday, complaining that FDA “is still a big, old, slow turtle.” Trump has publicly bashed the pace of the FDA’s vaccine review process.

More than 1,000 Illinoisans have died of the coronavirus this week alone, during a time in which the U.S. has repeatedly set single-day records for COVID-19 fatalities.

Across the country, contact tracers and emergency room doctors are hearing repeatedly from new coronavirus patients that they socialized over Thanksgiving with people outside their households.

“Many employees have told us they do not feel safe, nor do they feel the branches are safe for patrons, given the city's current positivity rate,” said Anders Lindall, a spokesman for AFSCME Council 31, which represents about 900 library employees.

Pilsen has long been an enclave for immigrants, and right now, it’s a community with many residents who are struggling because of the coronavirus. 

Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccines are expected to ship to Illinois and the rest of the country as soon as this weekend, with much of that shipment being stored in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin.

Shots could begin within days, depending on how quickly the Food and Drug Administration signs off, as expected, on the expert committee’s recommendation.

“We’ve come very far,” Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said Thursday. “Let’s keep going and let’s get everybody to the end of this marathon and get back to normal altogether."

The crisis across the country is pushing medical centers to the breaking point and leaving staff members and public health officials burned out and plagued by tears and nightmares.

An average of 1,729 Chicagoans have been diagnosed each day with the coronavirus during the past week, a 30% increase from the previous week, according to Chicago Department of Public Health data.