US registers more than half a million check-ins on Christmas Day

The Transportation Security Administration in the United States screened 616,469 people at airport security checkpoints across the country on Christmas Day -- this despite the fast spreading the new variant of the novel coronavirus.

The holiday travel rush comes even after the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged Americans to stay home to avoid spreading coronavirus.

That's, however, just 23 per cent of the number of travellers who flew the same day a year ago, before the pandemic. 

On Thursday, Christmas Eve, 846,520 people passed through TSA checkpoints.

Sunday is expected to be another big day for air travel, travel experts say. TSA numbers show that in the last week, nearly 7 million people were screened at airport security checkpoints.

Meanwhile, the US government has signed a deal with Pfizer Inc according to which it will pay nearly $2 billion for 100 million additional doses of its COVID-19 vaccine to bolster its supply.

Under the new agreement, Pfizer will deliver at least 70 million doses by June 30 and the rest no later than July 31, the company said on Wednesday.