Here's what's happening Tuesday with the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S.:

THREE THINGS TO KNOW TODAY

— A scientific panel is meeting to provide guidance on when the first vaccine shots become available. Health care workers and nursing home residents will be among the first to get the vaccine.

— More than 36,000 people in the United States. The monthly number is not as high as the dark days of April and May but still a sign of the deadly turn the pandemic has taken this fall.

— Field hospitals as hospital capacity runs out. Rhode Island and New York are among the places to open such facilities in recent days.

THE NUMBERS: The U.S. averaged 1,200 deaths per day in November. The country is averaging 160,000 new confirmed cases per day. More than 96,000 people were hospitalized as of Monday.

QUOTABLE: “It would be stupidity on steroids if Congress left for Christmas without doing an interim (virus relief) package before the new administration takes over in January. — Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va.

ICYMI: Small-town hospitals as beds fill up with virus patients. In a rural Missouri town, the doctor knows most of his patients by name, making the pain of the pandemic worse.

ON THE HORIZON: Will Congress be able to work out a deal and send additional relief money to struggling Americans and businesses before the holidays? A bipartisan group of moderate lawmakers is hoping to pull off a and break an impasse.

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