Today is the day states must submit requests for doses of Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine, and specify where they should be shipped.

States are expecting to get the first doses of the vaccine in just 11 days on Dec. 15. Moderna's vaccine is expected to roll out a week later.

Meanwhile, just a few hours ago, the first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine arrived in the U.K., according to several media outlets overseas. Pfizer is not yet commenting this morning, citing potential security concerns. Up to 800,000 doses of the vaccine are being made available in Britain as early as next week.

It was another bleak week, as the pandemic continues to race out of control. Each day this week has brought a new record number of COVID-19 cases, COVID-19 hospitalizations and COVID-19-related deaths.

These skyrocketing numbers are putting a strain on hospitals across the tri-state.

Dr. Hugh Cassere joined News 12's Erin Colton to talk about what is happening inside our hospitals. Dr. Cassere is the chief of the Division of Critical Care Medicine at Northwell Health.

The U.S. just had its worst day of new COVID-19 cases, and deaths, since the beginning of the pandemic.

We recorded more than 217,000 new infections Thursday, according to Johns Hopkins University.

That tops a record set last Friday, when we saw 205,000 new infections. We've recorded more than 14.1 million cases in the U.S. since the pandemic began.

There were also a record-high number of virus-related deaths Wednesday. More than 2,800 people died. It tops the previous record of 2,800 virus-related deaths set just one day earlier.

Are we getting back to where we were in the spring and summer? Dr. Cassere comments on the numbers and what is happening inside hospitals now:

Is the surge in cases right now, part of the Thanksgiving travel? Dr. Cassere answers this question in the video below:

A few months back we heard a lot of ventilators, are ventilators still used like they were? Will we run out of ventilators again? Dr. Cassere says there is good news:

What is different now, in terms of how doctors can treat COVID-19 now that doctors have new drugs? Dr. Cassere discusses the new types of treatments and other uses of ventilators:

Vaccines are on the horizon here in the U.S. As we have been reporting, distribution could potentially begin in 11 or 12 days. Next week the FDA will first examine Pfizer's vaccine, and the agency is expected to grant emergency use. Dr. Cassere discusses the vaccines, immunity and safety:

What are the side effects of the coronavirus vaccine? Are there long term effects? Below is Dr. Cassere’s answer:

California is now enacting strict regional stay-at-home orders as their cases and hospitalizations surge. Dr. Cassiere discusses if this is something we'll need here:

Will you need to take a vaccine every year? Dr. Cassiere explains why you will most likely need boosters:

Watch the full show below: