Dec 18 (Reuters) - U.S. deaths from COVID-19 topped 3,000 for a third straight day, with a record number of new infections on Thursday, just as the United States prepared to ship out nearly six million doses of a new vaccine upon its expected authorization on Friday. The United States reported a record 239,903 new cases on Thursday, raising the cumulative number above 17 million since the coronavirus pandemic began nearly a year ago. A panel of outside advisers to the FDA overwhelmingly endorsed the emergency use of Moderna's coronavirus vaccine on Thursday. Vice President Mike Pence will receive the coronavirus vaccine in public on Friday, becoming the highest-profile recipient to date to receive a the vaccine. President-elect Joe Biden, set to take office on Jan. 20, will publicly get the vaccine next week, according to transition officials.
