Early this morning, AstraZeneca announced that late-stage trials of its COVID-19 vaccine were “highly effective’’ in preventing disease.

Dr. Ankita Sagar, a primary care physician and the director of Ambulatory Quality at Northwell, joined News 12's Elizabeth Hashagen in this morning's the New Normal show to speak about the latest developments in the race to find a COVID-19 cure.

AstraZeneca says its coronavirus vaccine can be around 90% effective. The drugmarker also says it kept 70% of people from getting the virus in late-stage trials, but when people got a half dose followed by a full dose, it rose to 90%. It now becomes the third drugmaker to announce promising results. AstraZeneca has been developing the vaccine with the University of Oxford. Dr. Sagar breaks down this information:

And a promising COVID-19 treatment could be available at our area hospitals as soon as today or tomorrow. Regeneron was given the green light this weekend on its antibody cocktail - the one used to treat President Donald Trump. Below are Dr. Sagar comments on the treatment, and how it's administered:

On Saturday, New Jersey reported its highest number of daily coronavirus cases ever, with more than 4,600 new infections. In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the state had a record-high number of tests Friday, more than 207,000, and hospitalizations are the highest they've been since early June. In New York City alone, there were 118 new hospitalizations and more than 1,300 new cases, with the seven-day average infection rate at 3.11%.

Dr. Sagar comments on the COVID-19 exponential spread:

White House officials say the first Americans could get a COVID-19 vaccine as early as Dec. 11. Officials with Operation Warp Speed say the FDA Vaccine Advisory Committee is set to meet Dec. 10 to discuss the Pfizer vaccine. If given Emergency Use Authorization, distribution could begin the next day.

There is increasing data being reported on burnout, anxiety, depression among health care workers as a result of COVID-19. Dr. Sagar talks about the toll this is taking on our health care workers:

As the country faces a surge of COVID-19 infection rates, and a growing number of fatalities, the CDC is urging Americans to stay home for Thanksgiving.

RELATED: 4 things to know about CDC's new warning against traveling for Thanksgiving

Dr. Sagar comments on when we'll see the numbers increase: