December 2 coronavirus news

UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore at the United Nations in 2019.

UNICEF says it’s ready to distribute a potential coronavirus vaccine in poorer countries, but that “vaccine hesitancy” remains a global issue. 

“We’ve got to be sure that we are getting the word out that people need to take the vaccines. That vaccines are safe. There’s a lot of vaccine hesitancy, and we’ve got to overcome that if we’re going to actually protect the world,” Henrietta Fore, UNICEF executive director, said at a World Economic Forum conference on vaccines. 

In many parts of the world, a vaccine will be the best way to protection people from Covid-19.

“We do not have hand-washing facilities and a bar of soap in many parts of the world, and in many hospitals and community clinics, much less homes or schools. So we’ve got to get this as a world,” she said. 

The number of Covid-19 cases in West Virginia has increased by 91% since Halloween and half of its virus-related deaths have occurred in the past eight weeks, said Gov. Jim Justice, citing data from the National Guard.  

West Virginia currently has 622 Covid-19 patients hospitalized, with 164 in intensive care, a record high, he said. The number of intensive care patients is growing, the governor said.  

Justice announced 43 additional coronavirus-related deaths since Monday. The governor juxtaposed the newly reported deaths with past “horrific disasters” in the state like the Marshall University football team plane crash.  

“I was in a dorm at Marshall University in South Hall,” said Justice. “We remember it always 50 years ago this happened, 50 years ago we lost 75 on that plane.” 

Justice went on to read the age and sex of each West Virginian who has died from the virus since Monday. 

“Please don’t let them become a statistic West Virginia,” he said.  

“Will these people be remembered in anyway, compared to that plane crash? Probably not,” Justice added.  

In the last 24 hours, the state reported 1,087 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total to 49,905 cases and 778 deaths, according to West Virginia health officials.  

Moderna had never run a Phase 3 clinical trial before the Covid-19 vaccine, Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said at a World Economic Forum conference on vaccines.

The Moderna CEO said he was at the Davos conference in January when he saw data on the virus, and realized, “Oh sh*t, it’s a pandemic. I only read about those in history, biology books.” 

Bancel also called the UK’s approval of the Pfizer vaccine today “great news for the world.”

A sign on the entrance to a pharmacy reads "Covid-19 Vaccine Not Yet Available", November 23, 2020 in Burbank, California. 

The federal government’s Operation Warp Speed is not trying to pressure the US Food and Drug Administration with its plans to distribute a coronavirus vaccine before one is even authorized, a top official said Wednesday.

The federal government has said it will have 40 million doses of vaccine by the end of December and has told states shipments of vaccines could begin as soon as Dec. 15 – even though the US Food and Drug Administration has not even decided on emergency use authorization and has not scheduled a meeting of its vaccine advisers until Dec. 10.

“It is a white board plan,” Army General Gustave Perna, chief operations officer for Operation Warp Speed, said during a news briefing.

Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that as he approaches the end of his term at the CDC in January, he has realized that the United States was not prepared for a pandemic, and more investment is needed.

He added that the US had not invested enough in data analytics, laboratory resilience to ensure the public health capacity had multiple platforms, or the public health workforce.

“I had some states that their public health contact tracing workforce was less than 50 people, so there’s a huge lack of investment, which I hope this pandemic will change that,” Redfield added.

Certain occupations and subgroups could benefit from a vaccine mandate, according to Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

During a livestream event with US Chamber of Commerce Foundation on Wednesday, Redfield said he can see the likelihood of health care, long-term care facility and airline personnel requiring proof of immunization for staff and consumers.

Although the decision is up to institutions, mandating a vaccine for certain occupations could prevent reintroducing the virus.

“Even though we get control of Covid … the pandemic and the world is not going to controlled for multiple years, and so we’ll always have a global risk of reintroduction through susceptibles if they haven’t been vaccinated.”

US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director, Dr. Robert Redfield said that we could see more than 400,000 Covid-19 deaths before February.  

However, Redfield says that if the American public embraces social distancing, wears masks, limits gatherings and continues to follow hygiene rules currently in place, those numbers could be decreased. 

“I think my disappointment at one thing, during my time as the CDC director during this pandemic, was that there was an inconsistency of the American public embracing the message, mask-wearing. This mask-wearing, it’s not a political decision, this is a public health tool, very powerful, very simple, but very powerful,” Redfield said. 

The UK’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer Jonathan Van-Tam on Wednesday used the analogy of a train when speaking about the roll out of the newly-approved Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

“The train has now slowed down safely, it has now stopped in the station, and the doors have opened — that was the authorization by the MHRA,” Van-Tam said during a Downing Street news conference. “What we need now is for people to get on that train and travel safely to their destinations,” he added.

The head of National Health Service (NHS) England, Simon Stevens, said that around 50 hospital hubs around England will start offering the vaccine to people over 80 years old and care home staff and others identified as high priority as early as next week.

In the subsequent weeks, general practitioner practices will come together in each area to operate local vaccination centers – that will grow to over 1,000 places across England.

Van-Tam also called for more than one authorized vaccine.

“We have one authorized vaccine but we need more,” he said. “We then need assured supply, and that is a big and difficult ask for manufacturers, and it won’t all come at once, and it may stop and start a bit at times, we just have to manage that as best we can,” he added.

As the United Kingdom becomes the first Western national to approve a Covid-19 vaccine, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he is celebrating the scientific achievement, but warned the country not to get “carried away with optimism.”

He said the first doses will go to health and care staff, elderly people and those who are “clinically extremely vulnerable,” but adding that it won’t come without challenges.

“There are immense logistical challenges. The virus has got to be stored at minus 70 degrees, each person needs two injections, three weeks apart. So it will inevitably take some months before all the most vulnerable are protected,” Johnson said.

Some background: UK regulators granted emergency authorization for a vaccine made by US pharma giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech on Tuesday.

A final analysis of the Phase 3 trial of the vaccine shows it was 95% effective in preventing infections, even in older adults, and caused no serious safety concerns, Pfizer said last month.

The announcement means the UK has vaulted past the United States and European Union in the race to approve a vaccine, months into a pandemic that has killed almost 1.5 million people worldwide.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has left the Capitol after two days of testimony, and said that “at the moment” direct stimulus payments to Americans suffering in the wake of the pandemic are not part of the deal that is being negotiated, “but that’s something that can be considered down the road.”

Mnuchin said he’s still hopeful that a stimulus funding deal will happen before members gavel out for the holiday.

Read more about the stimulus negotiations here.

About 100 million Americans could be vaccinated against coronavirus by February, Moncef Slaoui, chief adviser to Operation Warp Speed, said Wednesday.

“All the investments we have made in scaling up and starting to stockpile manufacturing of the vaccines allow us to stay confident that we will be able to distribute 20 million vaccines, enough to vaccinate 20 million people in the US in December,” Slaoui told a news briefing.

The United States has said if both Pfizer and Moderna win US Food and Drug Administration emergency use authorization in December, they could distribute 40 million doses of vaccine by the end of the month. Each vaccine requires two doses, so that’s enough to fully vaccinate 20 million people.

An FDA’s committee is scheduled to meet meet on Dec. 10 and Dec. 17 to review Pfizer’s and Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine candidates, respectively. FDA officials say their decisions on the vaccines could come days to weeks after the meetings — it depends on what questions come up.

Slaoui said he expected 60 million more vaccines by the end of January.

He said that covers many of the high-priority groups, including health care workers and people at high risk of severe disease and death from Covid-19.

Dr. Henry Walke, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Covid-19 incident manager, said that as Americans continue through the holiday season, they should avoid travel and stay home.

“We’re happy we’re coming out with this guidance now before the holiday season to provide additional consideration for the American public and health care providers, public health administrators to think through in terms of preventing infection,” Walke said Wednesday.

The reason for the recommendation to avoid travel is that cases are rising and hospitalizations and deaths are both increasing, Walke said. 

“We need to try to bend the curve, stop this exponential increase and so we’re really asking the American public to prevent these infections and avoid travel and wash their hands, wear a mask and maintain distance,” Walke said. 

Britain’s authorization of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine should give Americans more confidence in the safety of the vaccine and should speed authorization in the United States, US Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said Wednesday.

“While the FDA completes its review, the approval of another independent regulatory body should give Americans additional confidence in the quality of such a vaccine,” Azar told a briefing.

The FDA’s vaccine advisers are scheduled to discuss Pfizer’s application for emergency use authorization on December 10.

In a conference call with reporters, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said he spoke with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Monday about stimulus and has another talk scheduled today.

Hoyer emphasized he’d like for members to vote on before or on Dec. 10 so that members can return home and properly quarantine for 15 days before the holidays.

He said he thinks leaders can agree on the framework of a Covid-19 relief bill by end of this weekend and pass it through the House Thursday but admits it is “optimistic.”  He said agreed with McConnell about trying to pass a bill before next weekend.

“I said, ‘Mitch, you know, we need to get this done. There’s no magic about another week.’ And he agreed on that,” Hoyer said.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hopes that more people might be willing to complete Covid-19 quarantine if the time period is reduced from 14 days – and that may result in fewer coronavirus infections, Dr. John Brooks, chief medical officer for the CDC’s Covid-19 response, said during a telebriefing on Wednesday.

There is some risk a person who has left quarantine before 14 days could transmit the virus to others. The decision to change quarantine guidance came after “extensive” modeling by the CDC and other agencies that showed the risk of low, Brooks said.

“We can safely reduce the length of quarantine, but accepting there is a small residual risk that a person who is leaving quarantine early could transmit to someone else if they became infectious,” Brooks said. 

If a person quarantined for 10 days and had no symptoms and no test, the residual risk of transmitting coronavirus to someone else after quarantine is estimated to be about 1%, with an upper limit of about 10%, the CDC said on its website.

If a person quarantined for seven days and had no symptoms and a negative test, the risk of transmitting coronavirus is about 5%, with an upper limit of about 12%. A test should be collected within 48 hours before quarantine intends to end, and quarantine should not end before seven days, even if rest results are returned earlier.

If a person who ended quarantine early goes on to develop symptoms within 14 days, they should contact their local health authority and health care provider, seek out testing and isolate.

Correction: An earlier version of this story included a quote with incorrect percentages on risks after quarantine. The risk after a seven-day quarantine, among other requirements, is about 5%, with an upper limit of about 12%.

US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Robert Redfield on Wednesday warned that the next few months are going to be rough, as the number of Covid-19 cases spike across the country.

Redfield says this is because as of today, 90% of the hospitals in this country are in the “red zone.”

“Ninety percent of our hospitals in this nation are actually in what we call one of the hot zones in the red zone – therefore at risk for increased hospitalization and potential to negatively impact hospital capacity,” Redfield said. “Ninety percent of all of our long-term care facilities are in what we call high transmission zones, so, we are at a very critical time right now about being able to maintain the resilience of our health care system.”

Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine vials.

Dr. Kelly Moore, associate director of the Immunization Action Coalition, which is supporting frontline workers who will administer Covid-19 vaccinations, said the first day that a vaccine is available is going to be “a really important learning day.”

“Nobody’s going to be running out of the gates to start vaccinating at full speed on day one,” said Moore, who serves on the external advisory board for Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine.

Moore said day one will probably be designed to be a relatively small number of people vaccinated in controlled settings, so that those who are administering the vaccines can start learning how the product works and get experience giving the shots before they scale up and expand their offerings.

For example, Moore said vaccinators won’t have access to product-specific factsheets and training materials until the US Food and Drug Administration authorizes emergency use of a coronavirus vaccine. She says her organization is waiting to see what the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posts before it can prepare materials to amplify what is distributed by the agency.

“CDC has informed states that they have a big stack of training job aids and training materials, and information, and training modules on these vaccines, ready to go, as soon as the emergency use is issued, but they can’t post them or share them until the authorization is issued,” Moore said. “We are preparing the groundwork for what we need to do, but we’re in a holding pattern.”

A CDC spokesperson told CNN it was their understanding that the materials do exist but cannot be distributed until the vaccine is given an emergency use authorization by the FDA.

In a statement, the FDA said, “We note that all printed material regarding the authorized emergency use of any vaccine must be consistent with the terms of the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA). This includes the fact sheets for health care providers and for patients/vaccine recipients, which will be available upon authorization.”

Moore said the product-specific training materials must wait for the EUA because certain information contained in them is contingent on the FDA’s decision.

She said the current vaccine timeline does not leave a big window for vaccinators to learn about the products.

“They’re going to be moving directly from paper to practice with very little time in between. So, that could be a challenge for folks,” Moore said.

Travelers pass by a sign advertising hand sanitizer at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on November 29, 2020 in SeaTac, Washington. 

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends postponing travel over the upcoming winter holidays for people to keep themselves and their families as safe as possible.

“CDC recommends that the best way to protect yourself and others is to postpone travel and stay home,” said Dr. Henry Walke, the CDC’s Covid-19 incident manager, during a news briefing on Wednesday. 

If people do decide to travel, “CDC recommends that travelers consider getting tested one to three days before travel,” Walke said. “And then again three to five days after travel.” 

This should be combined with reducing non-essential activities for a full seven days after travel, he said. For those who do not get tested after travelling, CDC recommends that non-essential activities are reduced for ten days. 

Walke said if Covid-19 symptoms are experienced at any point during or after travelling, people should follow CDC or local guidance about what to do if a person gets sick.

There have been at least 13,741,687 cases of coronavirus in the US, and at least 270,881 people have died since the pandemic began, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

So far today, Johns Hopkins has reported 20,383 new cases and 239 reported deaths.

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

A school official checks the body temperature of students wearing face masks as they enter a school amid the coronavirus pandemic in Karachi, Pakistan, on November 25, 2020.

The World Health Organization updated its guidelines on wearing face masks, recommending that people 12 years and older who are living in areas where Covid-19 is spreading should wear masks in indoor or outdoor settings where physical distancing of at least 3 feet cannot be maintained.

WHO also recommends that a mask should be worn when people visit your home if there’s not adequate ventilation, or the ability to keep a distance of 3 feet or more.

Additionally, WHO suggests that people with higher risk of severe complications from the virus should wear medical masks when physical distancing of at least 3 feet cannot be maintained. They also advised “universal” wearing of medical masks in health care facilities, including when caring for other patients, as well as with visitors and when congregating in common areas such as cafeterias and staff rooms.

For children, however, WHO advises that children up to age 5 should not wear masks for source control, and for children ages 6 to 11, a risk-based approach should be applied to the decision to use a mask.

As for the use of non-medical masks, WHO says homemade fabric masks should have a three-layer structure (based on the fabric used), while factory-made fabric masks should meet the minimum thresholds related to three essential parameters: filtration, breathability and fit. Exhalation valves are discouraged because they bypass the filtration function of the fabric mask, rendering it unserviceable for source control.

WHO also added that people doing vigorous physical activity should not wear masks, citing some associated risks, particularly for people with asthma. 

A traveler places a swab in a tube after self testing for COVID-19 at a NYC Health + Hospitals mobile testing site in New York's Penn Station on Nov. 24, 2020.

The percentage of people that tested positive for Covid-19 in New York City increased to 4.76% on Wednesday, Mayor Bill de Blasio said. That is up from 4.14% reported Tuesday.

De Blasio warned that the city’s Covid-19 indicators could be changing as the second wave is bearing down.

At least 146 people have been admitted into the hospital for suspected cases of Covid-19 and the confirmed positivity rate is 48.34%, the mayor said. The threshold for hospitalizations is 200 which would trigger more restrictions, according to de Blasio.

This comes after the city says they will pay close attention to hospitalizations as hospitals in the NYC Health & Hospital systems are about two-thirds full, Dr. Mitchell Katz said Tuesday. 

Katz added that none of the 11 hospitals within the NYC health & Hospital system are overwhelmed as of Tuesday, but “if there is a major increase of cases we are prepared to handle that,” he said. 

The city’s 7-day average of new cases stands at about 1,809 – that is above the 550 case threshold, de Blasio said.

Note: These numbers were released by the city’s health agency, and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and our Covid tracker.

The UK today became the first country to allow the use of Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine.

And in the US, federal government officials are promising coronavirus vaccines soon — some even before Christmas — and states are gearing up to begin vaccinating Americans sometime in December.

With all this news of possible coronavirus vaccines, do you have a question about how they work? Would you take a vaccine once it becomes available? If not, what reservations do you have and why?

Leave your questions in the box below and we will try to find you some answers.

New guidance from the US Centers for Disease Control on Wednesday says quarantine periods can be shorter than 14 days for some people exposed to Covid-19.

The CDC continues to recommend quarantining for 14 days as the best way to reduce the risk of spreading Covid-19, Dr. Henry Walke, who serves as the agency’s Covid-19 incident manager, said during a telebriefing.

But Walke said there are “two acceptable alternative” quarantine periods: Quarantine can end after 10 days without a Covid-19 test if the person reported no symptoms, or after seven days with a negative test result if the person has reported no symptoms.

People who have been exposed should still watch for symptoms for 14 days, especially if they end quarantine earlier, Walke said.

Reducing the length may make it easier for people to quarantine, Walke said, and lessen stress on the public health system as new infections are rising quickly.

Tens of thousands of people in the UK will begin receiving the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine starting next week, after the UK became the first western country to authorize use of a coronavirus vaccine on Tuesday, the UK’s Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said.

The initial rollout of the vaccine – comprised of two doses taken three weeks apart – will prioritize care home residents and staff, people over 80 and health and care workers, DCHS said in a press release.

Up to 800,000 doses of the vaccine, which is enough to inoculate 400,000 people, are being made available next week. 

The UK has already ordered 40 million doses, “enough to vaccinate up to a third of the population, and the majority of doses are anticipated in the first half of next year,” the statement said.

Here’s how the distribution process will work:

CNN’s Max Foster reports on UK’s vaccine rollout plan:

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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell reiterated the need for a bipartisan stimulus package before the end of the year, emphasizing that it must receive the President’s signature to offer effective relief amid the coronavirus pandemic. 

McConnell said on Wednesday “we’re seeing cracks starting to form in the Democratic leader’s stone wall,” referencing the Senate Democrats who joined with some of their Republican colleagues to put forth a bipartisan stimulus proposal aimed at breaking through the long-stalled negotiations. 

But, as he did yesterday, McConnell made it clear that his support is firmly behind the White House-backed plan that he’s been drafting with input from Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. 

“I hope our Democratic colleagues will finally let Congress pass a bipartisan bill that the President will actually sign into law and do so soon,” he said, noting that his proposal includes popular measures like a new round of Paycheck Protection Program and an extension of emergency federal unemployment benefits that are due to expire at the end of the year.  

Some context: Moments before McConnell’s speech on the Senate floor, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters that President Trump would sign the bill McConnell is spearheading. 

A staff member for the Cleveland Browns has tested positive for Covid-19, the team announced in a statement on Wednesday.

Cleveland has closed its practice facility and all meetings will take place remotely while the team conducts contact tracing.

The NFL prohibited all in-person team activities the last two days, citing the continued increase in Covid-19 cases around the country.  

The 8-3 Browns are scheduled to face the 8-3 Tennessee Titans on the road this Sunday. 

The coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech is safe for people who have already had Covid-19, according to BioNTech’s chief medical officer, Dr. Özlem Türeci. 

People who had Covid-19 likely have some immunity to the coronavirus, but it’s not clear how long that protection lasts. 

Pfizer announced last month that its vaccine was about 95% effective, when measured seven days after the second dose among people who have had Covid-19 and those who haven’t. 

According to US Food and Drug Administration guidance to vaccine makers, “vaccine safety and COVID-19 outcomes in individuals with prior SARS-CoV-2 infection, who might have been asymptomatic, are important to examine because screening for prior infection is unlikely to occur prior to administration of COVID-19 vaccines under [emergency use authorization].” When submitting data to the FDA, the agency says companies should break down the safety and efficacy data by “prior infection status at study entry.”

Pfizer and BioNTech applied for an FDA emergency use authorization on November 20. An FDA advisory committee will meet December 10 to discuss the vaccine, and authorization could come shortly after.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on December 1, 2020 in Washington, DC. 

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin told reporters while walking into a House hearing just now that President Trump would sign a stimulus proposal that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has sent around.

When asked about Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s own stimulus plan, Mnuchin said, “I’m not going to publicly comment on that but I did speak to her briefly and there’s also the other bipartisan proposal.”

Remember: There are three separate attempts happening right now on Covid relief and all of them — at least at this point — are a long shot.

A medical staff member takes a blood sample from a patient in the COVID-19 intensive care unit (ICU) at the United Memorial Medical Center on November 26, 2020 in Houston, Texas. 

Although there has been good news this week as vaccines get closer to rolling out, Covid-19 figures in the US continue to show a dire situation.

The country set a record for the number of people currently hospitalized due to coronavirus on Tuesday, and cases continue to surge across the country.

Here’s a looks at where things stand in the US:

Hospitalizations

Deaths

New cases

Here’s a look at how Covid-19 hospitalizations have increased over time:

US stocks kicked off the day lower on Wednesday, pulling back after both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rose to record highs on Tuesday. 

The ADP employment report missed expectations before the open, saying 307,000 jobs were added to the US economy in November. The government’s official report is due on Friday at 8:30 am ET.

Here’s where things opened:

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told Yahoo Sports on Monday that unrestricted sports stadium capacities will be one of “the last things that you’re gonna see” as the pandemic moves into 2021.

Fauci said he thinks the possibility of full NBA arenas in July will be “cutting it close.” When asked about full NFL stadiums in September, he said “oh, that’s possible. I think that’s possible.”  

In the interview, Fauci also said that just having an efficacious vaccine doesn’t lead to the end of the pandemic, “but an efficacious vaccine that’s widely utilized could get us to a point where we’re really approaching normality.” 

“We could get there by the end of the summer, and as we get into the fall of next year,” Fauci continued. But “if 50% of the people say, ‘You know, I don’t want to get vaccinated,’ then it’s gonna take considerably longer than that.”

In the Yahoo interview, Fauci pegged the percentage of the population that need to be vaccinated at “somewhere between 75 and 85 percent,” to return to normalcy. Not hitting that threshold didn’t mean normalcy would never return, “it would just take longer,” Fauci told Yahoo Sports.

“If everything goes well, I expect that first people could get the first vaccinations beginning next week,” BioNTech CEO Ugur Sahin says after the UK approved its Covid-19 vaccine in collaboration with Pfizer.

The US Food and Drug Administration is still reviewing the vaccine but Sahin says if and when the vaccine gets approved, the roll out could be “very fast.”

“We will deliver up to 50 million doses to the different regions in 2020. So that means a significant proportion of those doses would also go to the United States,” he told CNN. “Technically, we are prepared to start the rollout. It depends, of course, on the regulatory approval.”

A big logistical challenge for the vaccine is its storage requirements that also make its transportation complicated. Sahin says the team is working on a “second generation formula” which could allow its transportation at room temperature and it “will be available most likely in the second half of 2021.”

To ensure that the vaccine actually stops the coronavirus pandemic, the vaccination rate needs to be at least 60% to 70%, Sahin says.

Watch more:

It’s almost like everyone woke up Tuesday and realized that there was a massive cliff coming at the end of December if lawmakers couldn’t find agreement on a stimulus bill.

The flurry of activity from the unveiling of a bipartisan framework to an announcement from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell that he was going to present another targeted relief bill to his members might have left folks who aren’t at the US Capitol every day with the impression that something was going to come together soon.

Reality check: it’s not.

There are basically three separate attempts happening right now on Covid relief and all of them — at least at this point — are a long shot. Here’s a look at what they are:

Lawmakers are slated to head home after the spending bill passes as soon as next week, but that could get complicated. There are a growing number of Democrats and Republicans who believe it would be unconscionable to leave without doing something on stimulus.

Read the full story here.

Researchers across the world have been working throughout the pandemic to develop, approve and distribute a coronavirus vaccine.

There’s a lot of news about vaccines in Europe and in the US to catch up on this morning. If you’re just reading in now, here’s what you need to know:

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks in the House of Commons, in London, on Wednesday, December 2.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has praised the news of the authorization of a Covid-19 vaccine as “fantastic” and said he expects 400,000 people to be inoculated with the first batch.

The UK today became the first country to allow the use of Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine after it was granted temporary authorization for emergency use.

Johnson acknowledged the logistical challenges of transporting the vaccine at -70 degrees and said that is why it is important to get a second vaccine, the Oxford/AstraZeneca candidate approved as well.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post misstated how many people Johnson expects to be inoculated with the first batch of Covid-19 vaccines. About 400,000 people will be inoculated.

See Prime Minister Boris Johnson discuss vaccine approval:

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Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine vials.

Sean Marett, chief business and commercial officer at BioNTech, has explained how the company will get the vaccine to the UK:

“The UK is first approval today, of course we are absolutely delighted by that,” Marett said at a BioNTech press conference in Mainz, Germany. 

He said the company and Pfizer were committed to shipping the vaccine to the UK, even with the possibility of hold-ups due to a no-deal Brexit: “If there is disruption, then we will find another route.”

BioNTech Chief Medical Officer Ozlem Tureci said the company was expecting a US FDA decision about emergency use of its vaccine mid-December, as well as a decision by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) around the same date. 

A European Union lawmaker and physician has called the UK’s decision to authorize the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine “hasty,” and is recommending other European countries do not follow suit.

In a statement published on the official’s website on Wednesday, Peter Liese, health policy spokesman of the European People’s Party – the largest political group in the EU Parliament – said:

Liese stressed his criticism of the UK’s decision has “nothing to do with Brexit” according to the statement. However, he accuses it of being “an attempt to distract attention from the failure of Boris Johnson’s government in the Corona crisis,” it reads. 

EU member states cannot distribute a Covid-19 vaccine until it has been approved by the EMA and signed off by the European Commission, according to the EMA’s rules. The EMA will conclude its decision on the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine on December 29, and Moderna on January 12. 

The European Commission would then need a few days to prepare the legal paperwork and discuss its decision to authorize the vaccine with member states, a spokesperson told CNN. 

“If the European Medicines Agency concludes in the course of this month that the vaccination is safe, I will recommend that everyone will be vaccinated. As long as this is not the case, one should be careful,” Liese said. 

“I have confidence in Biontech, but ‘Confidence is good, control is better’. Emergency authorisation is a tool normally intended for patients who suffer from a serious and incurable disease and where there is no other means of saving life or physical integrity. This is not the case with corona,” the statement read. 

A health worker injects a woman during clinical trials for Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine at Research Centers of America in Hollywood, Florida, on September 9.

A Covid-19 vaccine produced and developed by BioNTech and Pfizer “meets rigorous high standards for safety,” the UK’s Medical and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has said. 

Professor Munir Pirmohamed, chair of the COVID-19 Vaccines Benefit Risk Expert Working Group of the Commission on Human Medicines, said any side effects of the vaccine during trials were “very mild” and only lasted a day or so. He explained the vaccine will be effective seven days after the second dose has been administered. But some protection starts to kick in after about 12 days.

“Good news, we have a vaccine that is safe and effective,” Professor Wei Shen Lim, chair of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), an independent expert advisory group, added. The first doses will go to those most at risk of dying from the virus, such as care home residents, and health care professionals. 

Hear Dr. June Raine discuss vaccine:

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02:03 - Source: cnn

A snow covered gondola is seen hanging from a pole on December 1, in La Chapelle-d'Abondance, eastern France, a few kilometers from neighbouring Switzerland and its ski resorts.

France will make random border checks, hand out fines and impose a seven-day quarantine for French citizens who ski abroad, Prime Minister Jean Castex told BFM TV Wednesday.

On Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron had indicated that the government was considering taking “restrictive and dissuasive measures” to prevent the French from skiing abroad, particularly in Switzerland, at Christmas.

A nurse prepares to inoculate a volunteer with Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine in a post-registration trials at a clinic in Moscow on September 10.

Russia will present its Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine at the UN headquarters on Wednesday, state news agency TASS reported, citing the country’s UN mission spokesman Fedor Strzhizhovskiy.  

The presentation, to be held in a virtual format by Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko, will begin at 9:30 a.m. ET, according to TASS.  

During a speech to the UN General Assembly in September, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered to supply Sputnik V to UN personnel for free.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric had responded to Putin’s offer saying, “We thank President Putin for his generous offer which will be studied by our medical services.”  

Last week, Russia said that the latest data suggests its coronavirus vaccine is at least 91.4% effective and could be more than 95% effective.  

Data obtained 28 days after the first dose and seven days after the second dose showed the vaccine was 91.4% effective, according to a news release published on the Sputnik V Twitter account.   

In this Nov. 30 file photo, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Matt Hancock speaks during a virtual Covid-19 news conference at Downing Street in London, England.

UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock says the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine will be ready to distribute next week.

“We are ready to roll out, this vaccine now has been approved from early next week,” he said, speaking on Sky News.

According to Hancock, the vaccine will be distributed in three ways:

“I just want to thank all of the scientists (at) BioNTech and Pfizer, who are manufacturing this, who we’ve worked so closely with,” Hancock said. “We’re the first country in the world to have a clinically authorized vaccine to roll out.”

The government’s clinical committee will give their advice later Wednesday about which priority groups will get the vaccine first and in which order.  

A handout photo provided by Pfizer shows their vaccine vials.

Britain has become the first country to allow the use of Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine after it was granted temporary authorization for emergency use, the companies announced.

This marks the first time that citizens outside of the worldwide clinical trials will have the opportunity to be immunized against Covid-19, according to BioNTech CEO Ugur Sahin.

Pfizer and BioNTech previously said that analysis of the vaccine showed it was 95% effective with no safety concerns.

The vaccine will be made available across the UK starting next week, said a spokesperson from the Department of Health and Social Care in a statement. More details will be released soon, including advice for priority groups like the elderly and health care staff to receive the vaccine.

“To aid the success of the vaccination programme it is vital everyone continues to play their part and abide by the necessary restrictions in their area so we can further suppress the virus and allow the NHS to do its work without being overwhelmed,” the spokesperson said.

Sahin added that the regulatory data was the result of “a scientifically rigorous and highly ethical research and development program.”

The companies had previously signed an agreement to supply 40 million doses to the UK with delivery in 2020 and 2021.

CNN’s Max Foster reports:

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01:23 - Source: cnn

The United States recorded 180,083 new cases of Covid-19 and 2,597 virus-related deaths on Tuesday, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

That marks the second highest single-day death toll since the pandemic began. The highest remains April 15, with 2,603 fatalities.

The country has now confirmed at least 13,721,645 cases and 270,645 deaths from coronavirus.

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

See CNN’s live tracker:

Germany reported 487 coronavirus-related deaths in the past 24 hours – its highest daily death toll since the pandemic began, according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the country’s disease prevention and control agency. 

Daily Covid-19 fatalities have risen sharply in Germany over the past week. The country reported its highest daily deaths on Nov. 25, then again on Nov. 27, and again on Wednesday.

The RKI also recorded 17,270 new cases in the past day.

Germany has now confirmed at least 1,084,743 coronavirus infections and 17,123 virus-related fatalities, according to RKI data.

An employee makes dry ice pellets at Capitol Carbonic, a dry ice factory contacted by Pfizer for its Covid-19 vaccine, in Baltimore, Maryland on Nov. 20.

The US federal government will pay for dry ice to help out jurisdictions that do not have the freezers needed to store Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine, a source familiar with Operation Warp Speed told CNN Tuesday.

The Food and Drug Administration has asked its vaccine advisers to meet Dec. 10 to discuss Pfizer’s application for emergency use authorization for its vaccine.

The temperature problem: States, cities and territories have worried about how they could handle the delicate vaccine if it is approved and distributed.

The vaccine must be shipped and stored at temperatures of around minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 75 degrees Celsius. That requires a special freezer that most hospitals, pharmacies or clinics do not have.

The solution: The federal government’s plans to handle this problem were shared in a call with the health care industry, the source said.

Jurisdictions without an ultra-low freezer will automatically receive a complimentary shipment of dry ice within 24 hours of receiving the vaccine suitcase. The dry ice will be paid for and shipped by the federal government, the source told CNN.

The shipment will include the scoop, goggles, and cryogenic gloves needed to safely handle the dry ice.

The government is also contracting with the company making temperature monitoring devices that will be fitted onto each suitcase to ensure the vaccines inside never thaw out and get ruined. The suitcase will carry a log to notate temperature.

Each box can be used with the dry ice for five days and refreshed twice, meaning that the vaccine must be administered within a 15-day period. There may also be an option to refrigerate the vaccine for 20 days.

A healthcare worker collects a self-administered coronavirus test at a testing site in Los Angeles, California on November 30 following the Thanksgiving holiday.

It was an easy choice to prioritize health care workers for any coronavirus vaccine that might get authorized, one of the vaccine advisers to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday.

“The decision for health care personnel to be in the first group to receive vaccine, I think was a relatively easy decision for me and the rest of the members of the committee,” Dr. Robert Atmar, a professor of infectious diseases at Baylor College of Medicine, told CNN’s Erin Burnett.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to place health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities first in the queue for any authorized Covid-19 vaccine.

“What was a little bit more difficult for me was the decision on residents of long-term care facilities. Certainly, this is the group that suffers the greatest burden of disease – 40% of deaths in the US have been among persons in long-term care facilities. And I think that information persuaded me to add them to the list of the initial group to receive the vaccine,” he added.

The vaccine candidates: Two companies have already applied for emergency use authorization for coronavirus vaccines. But there will still only be 40 million vaccines available by the end of December, even if both get immediate go-ahead from the FDA. So ACIP will have to make choices about which populations to prioritize.

Each vaccine requires two doses, so 40 million shots will cover 20 million people. There are 21 million healthcare workers in the US.

The next few groups that may be prioritized include essential workers like firefighters, teachers, and then high-risk people with underlying conditions, said Atmar.

Japan surpassed 150,000 Covid-19 cases Wednesday after reporting 2,029 new infections in the past 24 hours, according to the country’s Health Ministry.

The nationwide total number of cases now stands at 151,098.

The Health Ministry also added 33 new deaths, bringing the country’s death toll to 2,185.

Japan has seen nine straight days of a record-high number of coronavirus patients in intensive care and on respirators, with 493 people on Tuesday, up 21 from the previous day.

Tokyo reported 372 new cases on Tuesday, bringing the capital’s total number of infections to 41,311.

Health Minister Norihisa Tamura said on Monday the country is facing “a sense of crisis.”

A resident in a wheelchair at an assisted living facility in Boston, on Sept. 2.

Nursing homes in the United States recently reported their highest weekly new coronavirus cases since the spring, the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) said in a report published Tuesday. The rise correlates with a surge in infections nationwide.

Nursing homes in the Midwest were particularly hard hit, with a more then 400% increase in weekly cases since mid-September. During the week of Nov. 15, 49% of new nursing home cases were in the Midwest.

Between mid-September and the week of Nov. 15, there was a 177% rise in new weekly nursing home cases nationwide. The rise in cases has been accompanied by a rise in coronavirus deaths in nursing homes.

The report cites data from Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Health experts say that rising community spread of the virus is a good indicator for surges in nursing homes.

Inside a gray warehouse at the Shenzhen International Airport in southern China, a row of white chambers sits in a cordoned-off corner, each fitted with a display screen showing the customized temperature inside.

A security worker in face mask, surgical gown and rubber gloves stands guard. Anyone entering this part of the warehouse has to either complete two weeks of quarantine or wear a head-to-toe hazmat suit.

These climate-controlled rooms, totaling an area of 350 square meters (3,767 square feet), are soon to be filled by rows and rows of Chinese-made Covid-19 vaccines – after they receive approval from the country’s drug regulators. From there, they’ll be loaded onto temperature-controlled compartments of cargo jets and flown to continents around the world.

In the coming months, China will be sending hundreds of millions of doses of coronavirus vaccines to countries that have conducted last-stage trials for its leading candidates. Chinese leaders have also promised a growing list of developing countries priority access to its successful vaccines.

This global campaign presents China an opportunity to repair its image, which was damaged for its initial mishandling of the coronavirus outbreak – rather than being blamed for the primary spread of the virus it can potentially be esteemed for helping to bring an end to the pandemic.

Read the full story.

The United States set a record for the number of people currently hospitalized with Covid-19, according to the Covid Tracking Project.

On Tuesday, 98,691 Covid-19 patients were hospitalized, according to CTP. This is the highest number of Covid-19 hospitalizations the nation has ever experienced.

Per CTP, this is more than double the number of hospitalizations reported on Nov. 1, and more than triple the number of hospitalizations reported on Oct. 1.

Today’s count is a more than 60% increase from peaks in the spring and summer, according to CTP data.

According to CTP data, the highest hospitalization numbers are:

A health worker injects a person during clinical trials for a Covid-19 vaccine at Research Centers of America in Hollywood, Florida, on Sept. 9.

The first shipments of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine will be delivered on Dec. 15, according to an Operation Warp Speed document obtained by CNN on Tuesday.

The document, provided to governors ahead of a call with the Vice President Monday, also estimated the first shipment of Moderna’s vaccine will be delivered on Dec. 22.

Those distribution dates are contingent upon a decision by the US Food and Drug Administration to authorize each vaccine for emergency use. Pfizer submitted an application to the FDA on Nov. 20, and Moderna submitted an application on Nov. 30.

The FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, a panel of independent experts, will meet on Dec. 10 to review Pfizer’s data and make a recommendation to the FDA about whether to authorize the vaccine.

The document outlined a four-day window between Dec. 11 and Dec. 14 for review by the FDA and CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which makes recommendations about who should receive the vaccine first. On Dec. 15, the first doses of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine will be delivered, according to the outline.

Next, the VRBPAC is scheduled to consider Moderna’s vaccine on Dec. 17. After a four-day review window from Dec. 18 to Dec. 21, the document stated that the first shipments of Moderna’s vaccine are estimated to be delivered on Dec. 22.

The document included a vaccine manufacturing forecast, estimating 22.5 million doses of Pfizer’s vaccine and 18 million doses of the Moderna vaccine will be produced in December.

A list of “essential tasks” was included for governors to complete by Dec. 4, including pre-ordering Pfizer vaccines, enrolling providers in the Covid-19 vaccine program and completing microplans for distribution and administration.

The Director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Robert Redfield, informed Vice President Mike Pence and White House Coronavirus Task Force members on Tuesday that the CDC will soon issue new guidelines reducing the number of days close contacts should quarantine following exposure to a Covid-19 positive individual, two senior administration officials told CNN.

The new guidelines will recommend close contacts of those infected with the coronavirus should quarantine for seven to 10 days after exposure, down from the 14 days currently recommended, the official said.

Individuals can end their quarantine after seven days if they receive a negative test, or 10 days without getting tested.

Read more:

A healthcare worker administers a test at a Covid-19 testing tent outside a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station in the Mission District of San Francisco, California, U.S., on Monday, Nov. 30, 2020. UCSF and the Latino Task Force held post-holiday Covid-19 testing in four of the most affected neighborhoods in San Francisco, ABC7 San Francisco reports. Photographer: David Odisho/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Related article CDC will decrease coronavirus quarantine time from 14 to 7-10 days