Wednesday was the deadliest day of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, with 3,656 people dying from the disease, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. 

The U.S. also set records for new daily cases with 247,403 and for virus-related hospitalizations with 113,090. 

The previous high for deaths in a day was 3,306, and the previous record for new cases was 233,133. Both were set Friday.

Meanwhile, the U.S. is on the verge of surpassing 17 million cases — 16,981,302 to be exact as of Friday morning. More than 307,000 Americans have died from COVID-19.

The latest grim numbers come as a Food and Drug Administration advisory panel is set to meet Thursday to discuss whether to recommend approving for emergency use a vaccine developed by Moderna Inc. and the National Institutes of Health. It would become the second COVID-19 authorized in the U.S., following one made by Pfizer and BioNTech, which began to be administered this week to health care workers and nursing-home residents. 

Officials say it will likely be the middle of 2021 before the U.S. has distributed enough vaccine doses to cover all Americans who want it.