Coronavirus updates: Over 7,000 Americans died in past week

Should it be authorized, Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine needs to be kept at extremely cold temperatures -- which could pose a challenge in distributing doses across the country, pharmaceutical experts said Wednesday on ABC News Live Prime.

The freezers needed to properly store Pfizer's vaccine at around minus 70 degrees Celsius are "almost like unicorns in health care -- they're far and hard to find," Soumi Saha, senior director of pharmacy consulting company Premier, Inc., told ABCNL. 

"[It's] the coldest that any vaccine or any drug has ever been required to be stored at," Saha said. "And so this is going to be the greatest drug distribution challenge that our country has ever faced because of the unique circumstances around the temperature requirement."

Keeping Pfizer's vaccine stable when distributing it in rural communities might pose another challenge, according to Azra Behlim, senior director of pharmacy sourcing and program services at Vizient. 

"That is going to be a lot more difficult, because now we need to find a way to maintain that temperature while we are driving it out 20 or 50 miles in order to do an inoculation," Behlim told ABCNL. 

Earlier this week, Pfizer and partner Biotech announced that their vaccine was "found to be more than 90% effective in preventing COVID-19" based on an early analysis that included 94 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in trial participants. More safety data is needed prior to authorization.

Pfizer has committed to produce globally up to 50 million vaccine doses in 2020 and up to 1.3 billion doses in 2021. 

The company will distribute vaccine doses in special temperature-controlled thermal boxes packed with dry ice. Most will go from its Kalamazoo, Michigan, site directly to places where the vaccines are needed.

Upon reaching their destination, the doses can be repacked with dry ice and stored for up to 15 days, stored in normal refrigerators for up to five days or kept in ultra-low-temperature freezers for up to six months. These freezers are typically only available at large medical centers.

ABC News' Sony Salzman, Victor Ordonez and Layne Winn

The U.S. reported a record 144,270 daily COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, according to The COVID Tracking Project.

It marked the first time the number of new cases nationally crossed 140,000. The figure also broke a record set the day before by more than 13,000 cases, based on data from the tracker.

There were 1,421 deaths due to COVID-19 reported on Wednesday.

Last month, 8.4% of long-term care facility residents diagnosed with COVID-19 died, according to The COVID Tracking Project, as the surge in coronavirus cases takes its toll on the vulnerable population. 

That percentage is about seven times the national rate, according to the data project, which is now publishing weekly updates on the state of the pandemic in long-term care facilities.

The project tracked more than 24,000 new cases in long-term care facilities last week. About one-fifth, it said, were in Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania. 

"Because a case in a long-term care facility is far more likely to result in death, this explosion in cases is alarming," the project said.

Indeed, from Oct. 29 to Nov. 5, long-term care facilities accounted for 4% of the nation's COVID-19 cases, but 39% of the nation's deaths, according to the project. 

That number was even higher in South Dakota, where 73% of deaths that occurred in the state during that time frame were among long-term care residents, it said.

A stay-at-home order in El Paso County, Texas, that has faced legal challenges has been extended through Dec. 1.

"Every day that the county stay-at-home order remains in effect is another day that we can save lives," El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego said Wednesday during a virtual press briefing.

"I've decided to extend the county stay-at-home order until we can regain some stability in our community," he said.

Nonessential businesses will remain closed until 2 a.m. on Dec. 1 under the order.

Currently, slightly more than half of all hospitalizations in El Paso are COVID-19 patients, the judge said. The hard-hit county has also brought in six mobile morgues, with plans to bring in another four, he said. 

Gov. Greg Abbott said Wednesday that the state will be sending more personal protective equipment, increasing bed capacity at an alternative care facility and adding more military personnel as needed in the county.

Samaniego first issued the stay-at-home order at the end of October, calling for a shutdown of nonessential businesses for two weeks. It was immediately met by challenges from state and local leaders, including the Texas attorney general and El Paso mayor. 

Earlier on Wednesday, the Texas Supreme Court denied the state's request to halt the order. The Eighth Court of Appeals is expected to rule on the order this week.

Samaniego said the county stay-at-home order will remain in effect as long as hospitalization rates remain at 30% or higher. 

ABC News' Bonnie McLean, Kevin Kraus and Leah LaRosa contributed to this report