November 16 coronavirus news

People wear masks while walking in Las Vegas, Nevada, in October.

State health officials in Nevada say they are seeing more people complying with orders to wear a mask in public places as the state’s daily case count has skyrocketed, but the change of heart may have come too late to turn things around quickly.

Nevada reported at least 1,914 new coronavirus cases Monday as the statewide death toll rose to 1,917 since the pandemic began. There are now at least 984 people being treated in Nevada hospitals with a confirmed coronavirus infection – a new record.

The state’s Covid-19 response director, Caleb Cage, said enforcement of efforts to stop the spread have been uneven.

“What’s been missing overall from the process is comprehensive mitigation measures that have been applied consistently at the local level,” Cage said. 

Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak announced Friday that he tested positive for Covid-19. Sisolak said in a written statement Monday that he has mild symptoms and continues to work in isolation.

“The governor’s in good spirits,” added his spokesperson, Meghin Delaney. 

As they work closely with local health departments on a response to the surge, Cage added to the growing call for people to avoid large family holiday plans this year.

“I would personally request for people to stay home and stay with their immediate families on Thanksgiving,” he said.

 Best Western CEO David Kong on Monday called congressional inaction on stimulus “tremendously maddening and frustrating,” despite promising vaccine news. 

Kong noted how the recent spike of Covid-19 cases has been causing the company a “tremendous” amount of cancellations and adding “fuel to fire to a very bad situation.”

In a report last week, ratings agency S&P said that even if a coronavirus vaccine is released next year, the battered lodging industry will take several years to recover. In a worrisome stat for hotel companies, year-over-year revenue per available room, which is a closely watched metric for gauging hotel health, has decreased 50% in 2020.

Kong also noted the industry’s revenue loss, calling it “incredible carnage” and pointed to the disconnect between struggling hotel owners and the recent stock market rally.

“This whole big stock market rally is happening on Wall Street, it’s not Main Street,” Kong said. 

CNN’s Jordan Valinsky contributed to this report.

A syringe is prepared for use in Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine trial in DeLand, Florida, on August 4.

The Moderna coronavirus vaccine seems to protect some of the people most at risk of severe coronavirus disease – the elderly and people of color, Noubar Afeyan, the co-founder and chairman of Moderna, said Monday.

Afeyan said the company doesn’t see “any difference in the results,” among subgroups in its Covid-19 vaccine trials.

“Moderna actually slightly slowed down the trial recruitment to ensure that we had a substantial representation, and it turns out, 37% of our trials were people, were subjects, that are considered of color,” Afeyan said on CNN International Monday.

On Friday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that hospitalization rates are significantly higher among the Black, Latino and Alaska Native or Native American populations in the US compared to Asian and White people. Hospitalization rates are about four times higher among Blacks and Latinos than Whites.

Afeyan said the company also deliberately recruited older people to be a part of the trial. Older people are more vulnerable to getting severely ill from coronavirus infections and vaccines don’t always work as well among seniors. But interim results showed people who were over 65 and older had a “robust and equivalent” response from the vaccine, Afeyan said.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, said countries allowing the coronavirus go “unchecked” are playing with fire. 

Tedros did not name any particular country, but said there will be further needless deaths and suffering, he said, and there are a significant number of people who are experiencing long-term effects of the virus. Health workers are facing extreme mental health pressure and cases are burdening health systems severely in too many countries, Tedros said. 

He said that health workers went into medicine to save lives, and they must not be put in a position where they have to make impossible choices about who to care for. 

“We need to do everything we can to support health workers, keep schools open, protect the vulnerable and safeguard the economy,” Tedros said. 

“There is no excuse for inaction. My message is very clear: act fast, act now, act decisively,” Tedros said. “A laissez-faire attitude to the virus – not using the full range of tools available – leads to death, suffering and hurts livelihoods and economies.” 

Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Brett Giroir said Monday that his agency has distributed more than 50 million point of care tests to keep schools and universities open and to protect the vulnerable in nursing homes.

The Health and Human Services Department has distributed Abbott’s BinaxNow rapid antigen tests to nursing homes, home health care organizations, American Indian nations and historically Black colleges and universities.

For this week, the agency has distributed more than 8 million BinaxNow tests to these targeted populations.

It has also sent additional tests to conduct large scale surveillance operations in Utah where there has been a spike in cases, and extra tests in the past 10 days to support school reopenings in southeastern Pennsylvania, Giroir said.

Giroir added that he has sent a surge of tests to multiple locations in 10 states and will be extending the surge of tests to New Mexico and Kentucky for the next two weeks.

The agency also sent extra tests to nursing homes in yellow zones —regions of the country with a high number of cases — in anticipation of the approval of the Eli Lilly monoclonal antibody treatments.

“For this therapy to be most effective, it needs to be given early,” Giroir said. “So distributing BinaxNow to all nursing homes means that they have a very sensitive way to immediately diagnosis symptomatic residents who might benefit from the Lilly monoclonal that’s actually in the states as of today.”

Indianapolis hosted the first and second rounds of the NCAA men's basketball tournament in 2017.

The NCAA is planning to host the famed men’s college basketball postseason tournament, known as March Madness, entirely within the metropolitan area of Indianapolis, Indiana.

NCAA officials say they are in preliminary discussions with the city and state to coordinate a single-site for the 68-team, single-elimination tournament. The city of Indianapolis had previously been scheduled to host the men’s Final Four from April 3 – 5, 2021. 

The NCAA had been planning to host the tournament at 13 different cities for early-round games but acknowledged the challenges to maintain safe environments were too great. 

In August, University of Kentucky Athletics Director and men’s basketball selection committee Chairman Mitch Barnhart declared the NCAA would do what it takes to host March Madness in 2021, telling NCAA.com, “We will absolutely do all we can do, whatever assets, whatever resources, whatever it takes, to try and give our young people the chance to play the game they love.”

On Monday, NCAA President Mark Emmert added, “The Board of Governors and my top priorities are to protect the health and well-being of college athletes while also maintaining their opportunity to compete at the highest level. These principles have guided the decision-making process as we continue to assess how to have a fair and safe championship experience.”

When asked about plans for the women’s March Madness tournament, the NCAA told CNN in an email, “The women’s basketball committee is continuing its ongoing discussions with staff, broadcast partners and medical experts to determine next steps for the women’s basketball tournament. The primary focus of these discussions is on the safety and well-being of the student-athletes, coaches, officials, administrators and anyone else who will be in our competition venues.”

In September, the NCAA Division I Council approved a Nov. 25 start for men’s and women’s basketball teams to begin playing games for the upcoming season.

The NCAA was forced to cancel the 2020 edition of March Madness due to concerns about the spread of coronavirus. Previously, the men’s Division I championship had been played every year since its inception in 1939.

The NFL’s Cleveland Browns have announced a player tested positive for Covid-19 Monday morning. The unnamed player immediately began to self-isolate, and the Browns closed the team’s facility while contract tracing is being conducted, per NFL-NFLPA Covid-19 protocols.

The 6-3 Browns, who are coming off a win Sunday over the Houston Texans, are scheduled to host the Philadelphia Eagles this Sunday.

Here’s the team’s statement:

People wait in line to get tested for Covid-19 in Newark, New Jersey, on November 12.

New Jersey added 14,566 Covid-19 cases in the last four days, a marked increase in infections, according to the governor. 

“Five percent of our entire cumulative today has come in the past four days,” Gov. Phil Murphy said in a press conference Monday.

Murphy said that the weekend’s reported numbers now constituted the highest two days of reported cases since the beginning of the pandemic.

What happens now: Murphy announced an executive order to reduce indoor gathering limits to no more than 10 people. The order goes into effect tomorrow morning at 6 a.m. ET, with exemptions for religious services, weddings, political activities, performances and funerals.

Outdoor gatherings will be limited to 150 people, in effect a week from Monday, with exemptions for religious services, weddings, political activities and funerals.

People eat at a bar in Stockholm on September 19.

Sweden will ban public gatherings of more than eight people – including in bars and restaurants — as Covid-19 cases surge across the Nordic country that famously opted not to lock down during the first wave of the pandemic.

Prime Minister Stefan Lofven urged fellow Swedes during a press conference Monday: “don’t go to gyms, don’t go to libraries, don’t host dinners, don’t host parties. Cancel.”

He said the pandemic has created a “new norm for the entire society.”

The new government restrictions do not include closing gyms or libraries but people are being urged to be cautious.

The new rule limiting gatherings is expected to start on Nov. 24, pending approval from relevant government consultation bodies. 

The restrictions will last for four weeks, although the government warned they could be extended over Christmas and New Year if the situation does not improve.

The latest official health data from this past Thursday shows that Sweden reported 4,519 new cases. 

Infections and hospitalizations have risen sharply throughout the autumn. The cumulative 14-day infection rate is approximately 511 cases per 100,000 people, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. 

Sweden has registered 177,355 cases and 6,164 deaths since the start of the pandemic. 

A nurse exits a tent for coronavirus patients at University Medical Center in El Paso, Texas, on October 30. Health care workers will be among the first to get the coronavirus vaccine.

An advisory committee to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is scheduled to meet next week to decide who will get a Covid-19 vaccine first, according to a longtime member of the committee. 

Members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices received notice last week that they’ll meet Nov. 23 for five hours, according to committee member Dr. William Schaffner. 

A spokesperson for the CDC confirmed the meeting. 

Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN Sunday that he expects the first vaccinations to occur “towards the latter part of December.” But there won’t be enough vaccine for everyone to get it at once, so the CDC will set priorities. 

Among the first to get the vaccine will be health care workers, and essential workers, and in addition, those over age 65 and people with underlying conditions because they are at high risk for complications from Covid-19.  

The question is what order these groups should be in, Schaffner said.  

After that, the committee members will need to define what underlying conditions would merit getting a vaccine early on, and what defines “essential workers.” That group could include everyone from police officers to supermarket clerks. 

“There have been huge ethical discussions about this,” Schaffner said. 

The CDC committee was expected to make a decision about prioritization months ago, but did not. 

The UK government has reached an “initial agreement” with pharmaceutical company Moderna to secure five million doses of their candidate vaccine, should it be approved by regulators, UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced Monday. 

“Should this latest vaccine be approved, the doses would be available from spring next year and I can announce that we have today secured an initial agreement for five million doses of the Moderna vaccine,” Hancock said during a Downing Street briefing.  

“This is another encouraging step forward, although I stress that this is preliminary. The safety data is limited, and their production facilities are not yet at scale,” he added. 

Earlier on Monday, Moderna announced that early data shows that its vaccine is 94.5% effective against coronavirus, making it the second vaccine in the United States to have a stunningly high success rate.

More than one million US children under 18 have been diagnosed with Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic, the American Academy of Pediatrics and Children’s Hospital Association said Monday.

“The increase tracks surges in the virus in communities across the U.S.,” they added.

“As a pediatrician who has practiced medicine for over three decades, I find this number staggering and tragic. We haven’t seen a virus flash through our communities in this way since before we had vaccines for measles and polio,” Dr. Sally Goza, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, which represents pediatricians, said.

“We urgently need a new, nationwide strategy to control the pandemic, and that should include implementing proven public health measures like mask wearing and physical distancing,” Goza added in a statement.

“This pandemic is taking a heavy toll on children, families and communities, as well as on physicians and other front-line medical teams. We must work now to restore confidence in our public health and scientific agencies, create fiscal relief for families and pediatricians alike, and support the systems that support children and families such as our schools, mental health care, and nutrition assistance,” she said.

While severe illness and deaths remain rare, the group urged health authorities to do more to collect data on longer-term effects on the health of children.

From running out of room at the morgue to caring for critically ill colleagues, many doctors and nurses on the frontlines of America’s Covid-19 crisis tell CNN they “don’t feel like heroes anymore.”

The United States surpassed 11 million coronavirus cases on Sunday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, as states across the country moved to enact restrictions in an effort to curb the spread.

The latest milestone came just six days after the US recorded 10 million cases, per Johns Hopkins data. It was the fastest the US has added one million new cases since the pandemic began.

Hear these health professionals describe what the spike in Covid-19 cases has been like for them:

Workers suit up in personal protective equipment as they prepare to open a COVID-19 test site in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago, on Thursday, November 12.

While two coronavirus vaccine candidates, Pfizer and Moderna, now show high efficacy rates, Americans should not be hoping for any authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration before the last half of December, experts agreed.

And even when the vaccine finally becomes available, Chicago plans to first provide it to health care workers, who are at high risk of exposure, according to Dr. Allison Arwady, Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health.

The first batch of vaccines that the city gets may not be enough to cover all of its health care workers, Arwady added. 

“We have a sense how many doses we would need,” she said Monday. “There are hundreds of thousands of health care workers in Chicago and we’ll probably get maybe 150,000 between the two vaccines.”

There are plans in place to push the vaccine out as soon as it becomes available, Arwady said, adding that the city is equipped to accept and distribute any amount of vaccine that it gets. There’s been work done to prioritize based on population.

Watch the interview:

GOP Rep. Tim Walberg announced on Monday that he learned yesterday that he has tested positive for the coronavirus.

He said he is experiencing mild symptoms and remains “in good spirits,” adding that it has been more than a week since he has attended a public event.

The Michigan Republican said his office is reaching out to individuals who he had been in contact with before he began self-isolating.

“As we enter the winter months, I encourage everyone to remain vigilant and adhere to public health guidelines to combat this virus,” he wrote.

Read the tweet:

Another congressman, Rep. Mark Pocan, a Democrat from Wisconsin, is quarantining after his mother tested positive for Covid-19, according to a statement from his office. His office said he drove her to a nursing home on Monday and then she tested positive on Tuesday.

He tested negative Friday and will test again at the end of the week.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen gives a statement at the EU headquarters in Brussels, Monday, Novem 16.

The European Union has announced its intention to authorize a contract with biopharmaceutical company CureVac for the supply of up to 405 million doses of their candidate coronavirus vaccine, pending regulatory approval. 

“Tomorrow, we will authorize a new contract to secure another Covid-19 vaccine for Europeans. This contract allows us to buy up to 405 million doses of a vaccine produced by the European company CureVac,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Monday. 

“If the vaccine is proven safe and effective against Covid-19, every Member State will receive the vaccine at the same time on a pro-rata basis, and under the same conditions,” she added. 

The announcement comes just days after the EU announced it had authorized a contract with Pfizer-BioNTech for their candidate vaccine, and marks the fifth coronavirus vaccine deal signed by the EU so far. 

Speaking during a press conference in Brussels, the commission president added that the EU is also pursuing a sixth contract with Moderna for its coronavirus vaccine. 

“We have already concluded exploratory talks with Moderna. We hope to finalize the contract soon,” von der Leyen said. 

Noubar Afeyan speaks at the 2019 Aurora Forum on October 16, 2019 in Yerevan, Armenia.

Noubar Afeyan, the co-founder and chair of Moderna, said that the interim results from its Covid-19 vaccine trial that showed a 94.5% efficacy rate “exceeded our expectations.”

“We’ve been working over the past six months to get to this point, since we started our very first human trials back in March, and of course it is an anxiety-filled moment, because in sciences, we can’t be sure to predict what might happen,” Afeyan said on CNN International Monday. 

Afeyan said that the company heard from the independent monitoring board Sunday. 

There were 15,000 people in the study who got the placebo and 15,000 who got the vaccine. The interim analysis showed that out of all those people, 95 volunteers in the trial that got Covid-19. Only five who became ill had gotten the vaccine. The other 90 got the placebo. 

Among the volunteers that got sick, 11 had a severe form of the disease and none had received the vaccine. That could suggest that even if someone does get sick after the receiving the vaccine, it is protective enough to limit the illness to a mild case. Earlier tests in animals and prior human analysis showed the vaccine generated a robust and protective antibody response, Afeyan said.

“You know, in scientific or clinical research, optimism is something that you actively keep in check, because you have to do the rigorous experiments,” Afeyan said. “But certainly I can say that we’re encouraged by this interim readout.”

National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien speaks with reporters at the White House, on Thursday, October 22, in Washington.

President Trump’s top national security adviser Robert O’Brien said in a statement that he’s learned the importance of wearing a mask and social distancing as a Covid-19 survivor and encourages others to do the same, offering far more direct public health guidance than his boss, the President, ever has. 

 O’Brien tested positive for Covid-19 in July following a family vacation. 

The NSC mandated masks among its own staff after Trump tested positive for the virus, Until then, masks were optional. While O’Brien is occasionally seen wearing a mask, he’s often spotted without one, including on Veterans Day at the Arlington Cemetery commemoration ceremony, at a Trump rally in Michigan on Nov. 2 and in the Oval Office on Oct. 23.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta: How the Covid-19 pandemic turned into a ‘humanitarian disaster’

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Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel attends a meeting with President Donald Trump, members of the Coronavirus Task Force, and pharmaceutical executives in the Cabinet Room of the White House, on Monday, March 2.

The Moderna vaccine’s potential to prevent severe Covid-19 is “a very important impact,” said Stéphane Bancel, CEO of Moderna, on Monday during a National Institutes of Health telebriefing. 

Moderna’s early results released Monday found that the vaccine was 94.5% effective and that all cases of severe disease were found in the group that was given placebo, a shot of saline that has no effect.

Some more context: In Moderna’s trial, 15,000 study participants were part of the placebo group. Over several months, 90 of those people developed Covid-19, 11 of them became severely ill. 

Another 15,000 participants were given the vaccine, and five of them developed Covid-19, none of them developing severe illness. 

The results have been reviewed by an independent panel called the Data and Safety Monitoring Board. 

Emergency room nurse Jodi Doering wants to remember the happy and big moments in her career where she may have helped save lives.

But through the coronavirus pandemic, the South Dakota nurse also remembers how some of her Covid-19 patients “don’t want to believe that Covid is real” even as they go through treatment for the virus.

Many of her patients decline to call their family members because they think they’re going to be fine, she said.

“Their last dying words are, ‘This can’t be happening. It’s not real.’ And when they should be spending time Facetiming their families, they’re filled with anger and hatred,” the South Dakota nurse said.

Hospitals in South Dakota are among those particularly stretched thin across the Midwest, which has led this third wave of infections. The number of people hospitalized for coronavirus doubled in the past month. At least 644 people have died of Covid-19 in South Dakota.

“The town I live in has 650 people. So when you put in perspective … that’s every single person in our town gone,” she said. “The fact that we have this many deaths in a state this size is mind blowing to me and it’s not currently getting better.”

Being a nurse through this pandemic is like “a movie where the credits never roll,” Doering added.

Watch the interview:

Pedestrians walk past the New York Stock Exchange in New York City, on Monday, November 9

US stocks rose sharply Monday, on pace to hit new record highs, after Moderna said that its experimental Covid-19 vaccine is highly effective.

That heralded another breakthrough in the fight against coronavirus that could eventually help the world’s biggest economies recover from deep recessions.

Moderna said in a statement that the first interim analysis of Phase 3 trial results showed its vaccine candidate was 94.5% effective against the coronavirus.

Last week, Pfizer said that a vaccine it developed with German drug maker BioNTech was more than 90% effective against Covid-19.

There are dozens more potential vaccines in development, and the promising test results from Moderna and Pfizer suggest that vaccines may be an effective way to fight the coronavirus. Both vaccines require two doses to be administered. 

US stocks rose after Moderna announced the results. The Dow added 1.2%, or 330 points. The S&P 500 increased 0.75% and the Nasdaq was flat. Shares in Moderna were up 11%.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar delivers an update on "Operation Warp Speed" in the Rose Garden of the White House on Friday, November 13.

Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine candidate is “more flexible” because “it can be kept in regular freezer refrigeration,” US Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said Monday on Fox and Friends.

Pfizer’s vaccine candidate has to be kept at minus 75 degrees Celsius — or about minus 103 degrees Fahrenheit. No other vaccine in the US needs to be kept that cold, and doctors’ offices and pharmacies do not have freezers that go that low.

Moderna’s vaccine can be kept at minus 20 degrees Celsius, which is about minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit. Other vaccines, such as the one against chickenpox, need to be kept at that temperature.

On Moderna’s vaccine, Azar said:

CORRECTION: A previous version of this post misstated the temperature the Moderna vaccine can be kept. It’s minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit.

A traffic officer directs drivers as people arrive and depart from the Covid-19 testing venue at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, on Thursday, November 12.

As Moderna announced its coronavirus vaccine is 94.5% effective against coronavirus, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease doctor, said vaccinations could begin next month.

Moderna plans to apply to the US Food and Drug Administration for authorization of its vaccine soon after it accumulates more safety data later this month.

Fauci says he expects the first Covid-19 vaccinations to begin “towards the latter part of December, rather than the early part of December.”

Initially, there won’t be enough vaccine for everyone. The highest priority groups — which include health care workers, the elderly, and people with underlying medical conditions, —will get the vaccine first.

“I think that everybody else will start to get vaccinated towards the end of April,” Fauci said. “And that will go into May, June, July. It will take a couple of months to do.”

Parents and students demonstrate during a rally to call on New York Mayor Bill de Blasio to keep schools open in New York, on Saturday, November 14.

New York City schools will remain open Tuesday, as the city’s seven-day test positivity rate remains under 3%, Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a televised interview with MSNBC.

The seven-day average test positivity rate as of Monday morning is 2.77%, he said.

If the test positivity rate reached or exceeded 3%, city schools could be closed and students would move to all-remote learning, the city previously announced.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has publicly suggested that schools across New York City should be allowed to “test out” of closing as Covid-19 rates continue to rise across the city.

Schools should also be able to “test out of a red zone” areas around the state, where infection levels are 4% or higher, Cuomo said.

Remember: The positivity rate is the percentage of people who test positive for the virus of those overall who have been tested. So, as more and more people are being tested, the focus is shifting to the positivity rate — how many of those tested are actually infected.

The US surpassed 11 million coronavirus cases on Sunday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, as states across the country moved to enact restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the virus.

The latest milestone comes just six days after the US recorded 10 million cases, per Johns Hopkins data. It was the fastest the US has added one million new cases since the pandemic began.

At least 45 states have reported more new infections this past week compared to the previous week, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Nationwide, more than 246,000 people have died including —1,266 new deaths reported on Saturday alone.

Here’s a look at where cases are rising across the country compared to last week:

Moderna announced this morning that its coronavirus vaccine is 94.5% effective against the virus, making it the second vaccine in the United States to have a stunningly high success rate.

Last week, Pfizer announced that early data show its vaccine is more than 90% effective against the disease.

While the two vaccines appear to have very similar safety and efficacy profiles, Moderna’s vaccine has a significant practical advantage over Pfizer’s.

Pfizer’s vaccine has to be kept at minus 75 degrees Celsius — or about minus 103 degrees Fahrenheit. No other vaccine in the US needs to be kept that cold, and doctors’ offices and pharmacies do not have freezers that go that low.

Moderna’s vaccine can be kept at minus 20 degrees Celsius, which is about minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit. Other vaccines, such as the one against chickenpox, need to be kept at that temperature.

That means Moderna’s vaccine can be kept in “a readily available freezer that is available in most doctors’ offices and pharmacies,” said Dr. Tal Zacks, Moderna’s chief medical officer. “We leverage infrastructure that already exists for other marketed vaccines.”

Another advantage of Moderna’s vaccine is that it can be kept for 30 days in the refrigerator, the company announced Monday. Pfizer’s vaccine can last only five days in the refrigerator.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this post misstated the temperature the Moderna vaccine can be kept. It’s minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit.

Experts weigh in:

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Alex Azar, US Health and Human Services secretary, praised the Moderna coronavirus vaccine trial news this morning on Good Morning America.

Azar said that because the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are already being produced, they hope to have enough by the end of December to vaccinate 20 million of the United States’ most vulnerable citizens.

When asked by Stephanopoulos about who would get the vaccine first, Azar said “we’re going to follow the guidance. Once the full data package is in, then we’re going to follow the guidance of CDC.”  

“It’ll be wherever it’s going to add the most value according to the data and the science and the recommendations of our experts,” he said. 

More details:

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A medical staff member treats a patient suffering from the coronavirus disease at the United Memorial Medical Center in Houston, Texas, on November 14.

More than 1 million Americans have been infected with Covid-19 in the last week. Over the weekend, the United States topped 11 million coronavirus cases and 246,000 deaths, meaning that one in 1,340 Americans alive in January has now died in the pandemic and one in 30 has been infected.

It’s also getting worse. At least 45 states reported more new infections last week compared to the previous week, according to Johns Hopkins University. A new record-high number of patients have been hospitalized. Hospitals in several states are running out of capacity and staff.

But the country’s leadership is nowhere to be seen. As an average of more than 1,000 Americans died every day in the past week, President Donald Trump continued to ignore the deepening crisis. In the absence of national action, states have been left to manage on their own. Over the weekend, Washington state announced new restrictions on social gatherings, while Michigan told high schools and colleges to move to remote learning for three weeks. New Mexico is banning in-person services for nonessential businesses starting today.

But the Trump administration hasn’t just gone missing. It’s actively pushing against the measures that experts say are necessary to curb the spread of the virus. White House coronavirus task force member Dr. Scott Atlas criticized Michigan’s new restrictions and urged people to “rise up” against them.

The US is now looking a lot like Europe did a month ago. Belgium, France, Spain, the Czech Republic and others then saw infection levels rising beyond their worst predictions. Running out of hospital beds was a real possibility.

But those countries managed to slow the spread and – for now – prevent the virus from overwhelming their health systems. How? Through lockdowns and mask mandates.

The US could follow in their footsteps. Or it could just keep talking about the election.

Here’s what else you need to know about the pandemic today:

CDC releases illustration of the Coronavirus.

Related article What you need to know about coronavirus on Monday, November 16

A participant in Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine clinical trial receives a shot at Accel Research Sites in DeLand, Florida, on August 4.

Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine is “94.5% effective” in preventing infection, according to early data released by the American biotechnology company on Monday.

The results come hot on the heels of an announcement by US-based pharmaceutical company Pfizer last week that its vaccine candidate was 90% effective.

The early results showed the vaccine protected people from getting both mild and severe forms of Covid-19, according to the company. 

In Moderna’s trial, 15,000 study participants were given a placebo, which is a shot of saline that has no effect. Over several months, 90 of those people developed Covid-19. 

Another 15,000 participants were given the vaccine, and five of them developed Covid-19. 

Among those receiving a placebo, 11 became severely ill, but none of the participants who received the vaccine became severely ill. 

The company said its vaccine did not have any significant side effects. A small percentage of those who received it experienced symptoms such as body aches and headaches. 

Moderna plans to apply to the US Food and Drug Administration for authorization of its vaccine soon after it accumulates more safety data later this month. 

Fauci said he expects the first vaccinations to begin “towards the latter part of December, rather than the early part of December.” 

A Covid-19 vaccine could be delivered as early as the end of the year, according to German company BioNTech and US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer.

“Based on current projections we expect to produce globally up to 50 million vaccine doses in 2020 and up to 1.3 billion doses in 2021,” the companies said in a press release last week.

The two companies announced last week that their candidate vaccine was more than 90% effective in preventing infection in volunteers, per preliminary data. The vaccine uses a never-before-approved technology called messenger RNA, or mRNA, to produce an immune response in people who are vaccinated.

The mRNA works by tricking cells into producing bits of protein that look like pieces of the virus. The immune system learns to recognize and attack those bits and, in theory, would react fast to any actual infection.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post cited a Twitter account that has been suspended. That sourcing has been removed.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was healthy and had no coronavirus symptoms after being forced to self-quarantine on Sunday due to contact with an MP who tested positive for Covid-19.

Johnson said he was “as fit as a butchers dog” and “bursting with antibodies,” but that he would still be quarantining to stop any potential spread of the virus.

In a video posted to Twitter, Johnson praised the UK National Health Service Test and Trace system, which notified him of his exposure, saying that he was heading into his quarantine with a “high heart, full of optimism and confidence.”

And he sounded a positive note about the UK’s virus response, saying that Britain now had “two gigantic boxing gloves to wallop our foe into submission,” referring to mass testing and the prospect of a vaccine.

In April, Johnson was treated for Covid-19 in the hospital, where he spent three nights in intensive care.

Hear Boris Johnson’s message after potential Covid-19 exposure:

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02:01 - Source: cnn

German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks to the media in Berlin, on November 10.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is due to meet the country’s state governors Monday to discuss the introduction of new coronavirus restrictions.

Ideas on the agenda for the meeting, scheduled for 2 p.m. local time, are expected to include the banning of any private parties in the run-up to Christmas, CNN affiliate NTV reported.

Other possible measures include limiting people to meet only with members of their own household and a maximum of two other people from another household. Youngsters would only be able to meet with one other friend for the time being.

Those displaying symptoms of a cold would have to immediately go into home quarantine and until the symptoms abate, according to NTV. 

While schools will stay open, the meeting will consider whether to cut classes in half to reduce students’ numbers, and to require younger pupils to wear masks in school, NTV reported.

French Health Minister Olivier Veran speaks during a press conference at the French Health Ministry in Paris, on November 12.

France has passed the peak of its coronavirus outbreak, the country’s Health Minister Olivier Veran said on Sunday.

Veran said the decrease in cases was due to lockdown measures. “But we have not defeated the virus yet,” he said. 

On Sunday, France reported 27,228 new coronavirus cases in the previous 24 hours. The country’s total caseload is surging close to 2 million, according to its health agency.

Intensive Care Unit admissions and hospitalization rates increased on Sunday, after a small dip on Friday and Saturday.

The Australian state of South Australia has reinstated some social distancing restrictions and halted international flights into its capital, in an attempt to curb a new coronavirus outbreak.

Announced by the state’s Premier Steven Marshall on Monday, the new measures include the closing of gyms, canceling community sport and capping funerals at 50 people. Masks will be mandatory for aged care facilities, with visitors capped at two per day.

South Australia reported four cases of coronavirus on Sunday – its first local infections since April. The cluster grew to 17 on Monday, according to health authorities. 

One of the coronavirus cases works at a hotel quarantine facility, where international arrivals into Adelaide must quarantine for 14 days.

The state of Western Australia, which received flights from Adelaide on Sunday, designated South Australia as a “medium risk” jurisdiction on Monday and enforced a 14-day quarantine for arrivals from the state.

Victoria and New South Wales, the two states which previously saw large coronavirus outbreaks, will not subject arrivals from South Australia to quarantine.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach speaks to the media after his meeting with Japan's prime minister in Tokyo, on November 16.

The head of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said Monday he is hopeful that spectators will be able to attend the Tokyo Olympics next year in a “post-coronavirus world.”

Bach said he hopes a vaccine could make the games safer, if one is available by the time the Tokyo Olympics are due to begin on July 23, 2021. 

“In order to protect the Japanese people, and out of respect for the Japanese people, the IOC will undertake a great effort so that as many as possible of the Olympic participants and visitors will arrive here vaccinated if by then a vaccine is available,” Bach said. 

Bach arrived in Japan on Sunday for meetings with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Monday.

“We are determined that we will realize the Tokyo Olympics,” Suga said alongside Bach on Monday. “We will work closely with the IOC president and make our best efforts to carry out a safe Olympics.”

India reported 30,548 new coronavirus cases for the past 24 hours on Monday, the lowest single day rise since July 15, according to a CNN tally of data from the Indian Ministry of Health. 

Monday also marks the ninth consecutive day that new infections have fallen below 50,000. That’s despite the celebrations and gatherings for Diwali – the festival of lights that fell on November 14 this year.

The Health Ministry attributed the declining new cases to the “successful dissemination of Covid Appropriate Behaviour among the varied population groups”.

However, as people gathered to shop ahead of Diwali, experts warned India may see an uptick in cases in the following weeks. 

As of Monday, India’s total caseload stands at 8,845,127, with 130,070 deaths.

Mask-wearing will be compulsory for passengers aboard domestic flights in New Zealand and on public transport in the country’s most populous city, Auckland, according to Minister for Covid-19 Response Chris Hipkins.

Previously, passengers were only required to wear masks on planes and public transport when the country was at Covid alert level 2. New Zealand has four alert levels to respond to the severity of outbreaks, with level 4 being the highest.  

The rule will come into effect at 11.59 p.m. local time on Wednesday. 

There are currently 58 active cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand, according to the Health Ministry. Five of them are cases from people within the community, and the remaining 53 were detected at the border. 

Research from earlier this year found that close to 90% of public transport users in Auckland believe masks should be compulsory when riding, according to Auckland Transport.

British vaccine researchers say they are considering putting together trials that would mix two different coronavirus vaccines to see if the combination works better than one vaccine formulation alone.

Vaccine makers are taking several different approaches in making immunizations to protect people against coronavirus.

What are the methods: Some vaccines – such as those made by Pfizer and Moderna – use pieces of genetic material called messenger RNA or mRNA to prompt the body to make synthetic pieces of the coronavirus and stimulate an immune response.

Others, such as Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca, use a different type of virus called an adenovirus to carry genetic fragments of the coronavirus into the body. Biotech company Novavax is testing a vaccine using nanoparticles that look like pieces of the coronavirus paired with a plant-based adjuvant to boost the immune response. 

Most of the vaccines require two doses to provide full immunity. Even though Johnson & Johnson started testing its coronavirus vaccine as a single dose, it has begun a new trial that gives two doses.

Different doses: One worry is that if more than one brand of formulation of vaccine gets approved or authorized for public use that it will be difficult for people to keep track of which vaccine they got for their first shot. Careful record-keeping will be needed to ensure that people get two doses of the same vaccine, not of two different vaccines.

But British vaccine researchers say they’ll consider trials in which people get two different shots, to see how well that works.

Finn said he and other researchers were drawing up protocols for a potential clinical trial testing the combination of one type of vaccine for the first shot and a second type for the follow-up dose.

A combination of two vaccine types might generate wider immunity – not just the production of antibodies, but stronger production of immune cells called T-cells, said Kate Bingham, who chairs the UK government’s Coronavirus Vaccine Taskforce.

The United States reported 133,045 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, the 13th consecutive day it has recorded more than 100,000 new infections, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

An additional 616 coronavirus-related deaths were also reported Sunday.

The US has now recorded at least 11,036,935 Covid-19 cases, including 246,214 fatalities.

The totals include cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases. 

CNN is tracking US Covid-19 cases:

A logo sign outside of facility occupied by Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, in Somerville, New Jersey on May 31, 2015.

Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine arm Janssen Pharmaceuticals is starting a new, advanced Phase 3 trial of its experimental coronavirus vaccine in Britain, which uses two doses instead of just one to see if that protects people better against infection.

Most of the coronavirus vaccines in late-stage clinical trials around the world require two doses for full protection, including leading candidates being developed by Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Novavax. Janssen’s was the lone single-dose vaccine in Phase 3 trials in the US and Britain.

Where will the trial be rolled out: Up to 30,000 people will be enrolled in the new global trial, with participants in Belgium, Colombia, France, Germany, the Philippines, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States, the company said in a statement.

“In order to evaluate the efficacy of Janssen’s Covid-19 vaccine candidate, clinical trial sites in countries and areas with high incidence of Covid-19 and the ability to achieve a rapid initiation were selected.”

Two doses: Volunteers will get two shots, 57 days apart, or placebos. The first volunteer was scheduled to be vaccinated in Britain Monday.

Janssen’s Phase 3 trial paused for two weeks in the US over safety concerns but resumed in October.

Gov. Kate Brown speaks in Portland, Oregon, on November 10.

Oregon reported 868 new cases of coronavirus Sunday as the state prepares for a two-week “social freeze” starting this Wednesday.

The new cases reported by the Oregon Health Authority come after the state saw more than 1,000 new daily cases the previous three days.

On Sunday, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown took to Twitter to praise Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee for announcing new restrictions in the neighboring state.

Oregon has reported a total of 56,880 cases since the pandemic began.

Tightening restrictions: Brown announced the statewide “social freeze” on Saturday amid surging cases. The measures will limit social gatherings to a maximum of six people and two households, ban in-person dining in restaurants and bars, and limit faith-based events to a maximum of 25 people indoors and 50 people outdoors.

Retail locations and grocery stores will have to operate at 75% capacity, while gyms and recreation facilities will be closed. However, the new measures do not apply to businesses like barber shops and salons, or childcare and K-12 schools. 

A Covid-19 cluster in the Australian state of South Australia has grown to 17 cases, all believed to be linked to a leak from the state’s hotel quarantine system, according to health authorities. 

This the first local outbreak in South Australia since April, when the state introduced a hard border policy. Currently 600 passengers are permitted to arrive on international flights in state capital Adelaide each week, but they must undergo a 14-day quarantine in a designated hotel. 

On Sunday, Chief Health Officer Nicola Spurrier said that the “medi-hotel” where one infected person worked is where “we’re considering the source to be.”

Multiple schools and a fast food restaurant in Adelaide have been closed, and contact tracing is underway.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said Monday that South Australia should not reinstate a hard border as a reaction to the outbreak. 

“Having these strong testing, tracing and isolation systems are absolutely critical and South Australia, on all the evidence, does have exactly that,” he said.

The states of Western Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory now require arrivals from South Australia to undergo mandatory 14-day self-quarantine.

White House coronavirus adviser Dr. Scott Atlas speaks on Covid-19 testing in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC, on September 28.

White House coronavirus task force member Dr. Scott Atlas criticized Michigan’s new Covid-19 restrictions in a tweet shortly after they were announced Sunday evening, urging people to “rise up” against the new public health measures.

His message – which runs counter to the consensus of public health officials – is likely to fuel new tension between the White House and Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, whom federal and state officials announced last month was the target of an alleged domestic terrorism kidnapping plot.

Whitmer announced in a news conference earlier Sunday that Michigan will begin a “three-week pause targeting indoor social gatherings and other group activities” to mitigate the spread of Covid-19.

Read more:

Related article Trump coronavirus adviser Scott Atlas urges Michigan to 'rise up' against new Covid-19 measures

Thousands of people lined up for groceries at a food bank distribution event in Dallas, Texas, this weekend, with organizers saying the Covid-19 pandemic has increased need in the city.

North Texas Food Bank (NTFB) distributed more than 600,000 pounds of food for about 25,000 people on Saturday, according to spokeswoman Anna Kuruan. There were 7,280 turkeys distributed to families, Kuruan told CNN.

Photos provided by NTFB show thousands of cars lined up for NTFB’s Drive-Thru Mobile Pantry at Fair Park. Kuruan said the need for food “has certainly increased” with the pandemic, with Texas last week becoming the first US state to report 1 million cases of coronavirus.

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North Texas Food Bank (NTFB) distributed more than 600,000 lbs of food for about 25,000 people in need on Saturday, November 14 in Dallas, Texas, according to Anna Kuruan, Spokeswoman for NTFB.

Related article Thousands of cars form lines to collect food in Texas

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves 10 Downing Street on November 10 in London, England.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is self-quarantining after coming into contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19, a Downing Street spokesperson said Sunday.

“The prime minister will follow the rules and is self-isolating,” the spokesperson added. “He will carry on working from Downing Street, including on leading the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.”

“The PM is well and does not have any symptoms of Covid-19,” the spokesperson said. 

Johnson met with a small group of MPs in No. 10 on Thursday morning, including Lee Anderson, the MP for Ashfield, Downing Street said. Anderson subsequently developed Covid-19 symptoms and has now tested positive.

This aerial view shows cars lined up at the Dodger Stadium parking lot for Covid-19 testing with the Los Angeles skyline in the distance, on November 14.

The United States surpassed 11 million coronavirus cases on Sunday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, as states across the country moved to enact restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the virus.

The latest milestone comes just six days after the US recorded 10 million cases, per Johns Hopkins data. It was the fastest the US has added one million new cases since the pandemic began.

At least 45 states have reported more new infections this past week compared to the previous week, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Even Wyoming is getting hit hard. On Saturday, the state set new records for Covid-19 hospitalizations and deaths, with 202 hospitalizations and 17 new deaths reported in one day.

Nationwide, more than 246,000 people have died – including 1,266 new deaths reported on Saturday alone.

And while some officials toughen their restrictions, some say changing behavior is more important than shutting down.

Read the full story:

Medical staff attending to patients stricken with COVID-19 don protective equipment in a unit dedicated to treatment of the novel coronavirus at UW Health in Madison, Wis. Thursday, Nov. 5, 2020. Until recently, the hospital had four wings for coronavirus patients. To meet growing demand, it added another wing. (John Hart/Wisconsin State Journal via AP)

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A sign for curbside pickup is shown outside the Cascadia Grill, in downtown Olympia, Washington, on November 15.

Washington state on Sunday announced new coronavirus restrictions, months after suffering the country’s first major outbreaks.

What the restrictions mean: Indoor social gatherings with people from outside the home are prohibited, unless participants quarantine for 14 days prior, or quarantine for seven days before the gathering and receive a negative Covid-19 test result no more than 48 hours prior. Outdoor gatherings will be limited to five people.

Restaurants and bars will be limited to outdoors with capacity limits and to-go service, Inslee said. In-store retail stores, including grocery stores, are limited to 25% capacity.

Religious services will also be limited to 25% of indoor capacity or 200 people, whichever is less, Inslee said. Performances by choirs, bands and ensembles are also prohibited. The order allows for solo performances, but Inslee said it’s “too risky” for indoor choirs.

Additionally, indoor service at gyms will be prohibited, along with bowling alleys, museums and movie theaters, among others businesses.

The new restrictions will not impact childcare and K-12 schools, Inslee said. School districts that are currently holding in-person learning do not need to close, unless local officials make that determination.

Rising cases: The new restrictions are a reflection of the drastic rise in cases seen not only in Washington state but across the country. And they further underscore the threat of the ongoing fall surge many states are struggling to control.

As of Sunday night, the state had more than 130,000 cases, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. More than 2,500 people have died.

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Seattle firefighter Bill Dennis reaches in to take a sample from a passenger in a car at a free COVID testing site Friday, Oct. 23, 2020, in Seattle. The United States is approaching a record for the number of new daily coronavirus cases in the latest ominous sign about the disease's grip on the nation, as states from Connecticut to Idaho reel under the surge. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

Related article Washington state enacts new restrictions, months after it was the first to confront Covid-19