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India surpassed 10 million confirmed coronavirus cases Saturday after adding 25,152 new infections from the past 24 hours, according to the country’s Health Ministry.
India is the second country to hit 10 million cases, after the United States, which has reported more than 17.4 million infections, according to Johns Hopkins University.
India’s total number of cases stands at 10,004,599 and the death toll at 145,136 after adding 347 new virus-related fatalities from Friday, the Health Ministry said.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta showed the world how easy it is to get the Covid-19 vaccine during CNN’s coronavirus town hall this evening.
Watch Dr. Sanjay get the vaccine below:
The United States reported a record-high number of new Covid-19 cases on Friday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
So far today, 249,709 new Covid-19 cases have been reported, according to JHU, totaling at least 17,459,296 confirmed cases since the pandemic began.
These are the days with the highest number of new cases, according to JHU data:
Note: This is not a final number for Friday and cases numbers could rise higher.
Dr. Jerome Adams said he’s “pumped” after getting the Covid-19 vaccine on Friday morning.
Adams said it’s OK to ask questions and wonder if the shot is right for an individual, but he said it’s not alright for misinformation on the vaccine to cause a person to “make a decision that is bad for your health.”
The US Food and Drug Administration granted an emergency use authorization for Moderna’s vaccine Friday night, the second vaccine to receive an EUA in the United States after Pfizer’s last weekend.
Rev. Liz Walker, of Roxbury Presbyterian Church near Boston, said “people are still very resistant in our community” to getting the Covid-19 vaccine.
Americans who haven’t had their flu shot should get vaccinated against the flu now, US Surgeon General Jerome Adams told CNN’s town hall Friday evening.
The FDA advises an interval of 14 days between the flu shot and the coronavirus vaccine. In the event of an adverse reaction, doctors won’t know its cause if the two are taken too close together.
The CDC estimates that the seasonal flu has resulted in between 12,000 – 61,000 deaths annually in the US since 2010.
Americans of color should take solace in knowing that people like them were part of the Covid-19 vaccine trials conducted over the course of months, US Surgeon General Jerome Adams said during CNN’s coronavirus town hall Friday evening.
Watch the moment:
In an effort to convince communities of color in the United States that it is important for them to get the Covid-19 vaccine, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, said he may join US Surgeon General Jerome Adams in pounding the pavement around the country.
Hear more from Dr. Fauci:
Surgeon General Jerome Adams has spoken with people of color in the US and said they become emotional when discussing their hesitancy in getting the Covid-19 vaccine over government mistrust.
Adams added: “We talk about pre-existing medical conditions, but we’ve got to start talking about pre-existing social conditions, transportation, safe, affordable housing, a good-paying jobs.”
More context: Institutional racism in the United States contributes to the disproportional impact that the coronavirus pandemic has had on the Black community, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said on Tuesday.
When asked about the racial disparities emerging amid the pandemic during the House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on the “Oversight of the Trump Administration’s Response to the Covid-19 Pandemic,” Fauci responded that the Black community has been facing a “double whammy.”
Fauci noted that some Black adults may not be able to social distance if they are essential workers, and there is a disproportionate prevalence of underlying conditions within the Black community, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, chronic lung disease and kidney disease.
“So unfortunately we have a situation where it’s sort of a double whammy,” Fauci said.
Watch the moment:
Surgeon General Jerome Adams said it is “not OK” for Americans to let misinformation keep them from getting the Covid-19 vaccine.
Hear more from Surgeon General Jerome Adams:
Sandra Lindsay, an intensive care unit nurse at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens, New York City, who was among the first Americans to receive the Covid-19 vaccine said she is not experiencing any “side effects at all.”
Lindsay told CNN during its coronavirus town hall Friday evening that she hasn’t even had any soreness in her arm after receiving the first shot.
Watch the moment:
Vaccine makers Moderna and Pfizer may have won emergency use authorization for their coronavirus vaccines but both companies will be expected to continue documenting their vaccines’ safety and efficacy as they are used in millions of people, a top US Food and Drug Administration official said Friday.
The FDA granted Moderna formal EUA on Friday evening.
Full licensure called a biologics license application, or BLA, can take months or even years.
“Also, the FDA is requiring that Moderna, like Pfizer, conduct active follow up for safety, including monitoring for any significant adverse events to inform the ongoing benefit-risk review and assessment of the vaccine,” Marks said.
A compound known as polyethylene glycol may be responsible for some of the allergic reactions seen in people given coronavirus vaccines, a top US Food and Drug Administration official said Friday.
At least three cases of anaphylaxis – a severe allergic reaction – have been reported in the first week of the rollout of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine in the US, as well as two in Britain. All the reported cases in health care workers have been resolved with quick treatment, and doctors say allergic reactions can be expected with any vaccine.
Dr. Peter Marks, who heads the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said in Friday evening’s news briefing that the FDA was investigating what component of the vaccine might cause an allergic reaction. He said the FDA was investigating five possible cases of an allergic reaction.
Those allergic reactions could be more common than previously thought, he added, saying that people are exposed to polyethylene glycol in pharmaceutical products including bowel preparations and laxatives.
“That could be a culprit here. And that’s why we’ll be watching very closely as we see the Moderna vaccine rolled out,” he said.
The FDA granted emergency use authorization to Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine Friday and required that administration sites keep treatments on-hand for anaphylaxis.
CNN anchor Don Lemon and chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta will host “The Color of Covid – The Vaccines,” tonight at 10 p.m. ET, an hour-long special that will cover the skepticism of the coronavirus vaccines in communities of color.
Tonight’s special – which we’ll cover here live – will feature interviews with Dr. Anthony Fauci and Surgeon General Jerome Adams, both of whom will answer a broad range of audience questions.
“The Color of Covid – The Vaccines” will stream live without requiring a log-in on CNN.com’s homepage and across mobile devices via CNN’s apps for iOS and Android. It can also be viewed on CNNgo (at CNN.com/go on your desktop, smartphone, and iPad, and via CNNgo apps for Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire, Chromecast and Android TV).
The special will also be available on-demand to subscribers via cable/satellite systems, CNNgo platforms and CNN mobile apps.
New South Wales announced a lockdown for the Northern Beaches region beginning at 5 p.m. (1 a.m. ET) Saturday until next Thursday, according to a news release from NSW Health.
This comes as the number of coronavirus cases related to a mystery cluster in the area rose to 38 on Saturday. Of the cluster, 15 cases are linked to the Avalon RSL Beach Club, 23 cases are linked to the Avalon Bowling Club, and several patients attended both venues, NSW added.
The first cases of the cluster were reported Wednesday, the first locally-transmitted cases in NSW since December 3. Officials are still investigating the source of the cluster.
NSW Health also issued an urgent call for people who attended Anytime Fitness over December 6, 7, 8, 11, and 12 to get tested immediately after officials found a Covid-19-positive person visited the gym during those days.
The state reported 30 new Covid-19 cases from Friday, 23 of which were locally-transmitted and the other seven imported. NSW has reported 4,523 total coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic.
The US Food and Drug Administration authorized Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use in the US Friday night.
Collins credited federal scientists and their collaborators at Moderna and in academia, clinical staff on the trials and thousands of study participants for helping in the effort.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the fact that National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases scientists were working with Moderna several years ago, before the coronavirus pandemic, allowed them to develop the coronavirus vaccine and study it far more quickly.
“That existing scientific foundation is what enabled both partners to move quickly to develop the mRNA-1273 vaccine candidate against the novel SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus,” Fauci said in a statement.
“There is much we still do not know about SARS-CoV-2 and Covid-19,” Fauci added. “However, we do know that this vaccine is safe and can prevent symptomatic Covid-19 and severe disease.”
The US Food and Drug Administration is requiring the same precautions for allergic reactions with Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine as it has for Pfizer/BioNTech’s vaccine, top officials said Friday.
The FDA gave its official nod for emergency use authorization for Moderna’s vaccine Friday evening.
FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn and Dr. Peter Marks, who heads the agency’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said part of the EUA included requirements that anyone administering the vaccine be ready to treat recipients for allergic reactions.
At least three allergic reactions have been reported in the US with the Pfizer vaccine, and two in Britain. Hahn said the FDA was working to see what component of the vaccine might be causing an allergic reaction.
Marks said precautions were being taken with Moderna’s vaccine. No one knows if it might cause allergic reactions.
“We simply don’t know yet with the Moderna vaccine,” Marks said. “We’ll continue to monitor very closely.”
Federal government officials welcomed what they called the extraordinary success of winning regulatory authorization of two coronavirus vaccines within a year of the start of the pandemic.
The US Food and Drug Administration formally issued emergency use authorization Friday for Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine, the second after Pfizer and BioNTech’s to get the OK for emergency use in the US.
While Pfizer developed its vaccine independently, Moderna worked with the National Institutes of Health to develop and test its vaccine.
Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller also weighed in.
“The swift authorization of a second vaccine by the FDA is great news for the American people. The DoD, with the work of General (Gustave) Perna and Operation Warp Speed, stands ready to work with our public and private-sector partners to ensure doses reach Americans as soon as possible. Together, we will bring this pandemic to an end,” Miller said.
The United States reported 114,751 current Covid-19 hospitalizations on Friday, setting a new record high since the pandemic began, according to the Covid Tracking Project (CTP).
This is the 17th consecutive day that the US has remained above 100,000 current hospitalizations.
The highest hospitalization numbers, according to CTP data, are:
The US Food and Drug Administration has authorized Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use in the United States.
The FDA made its announcement on Twitter Friday night, following the recommendation of its Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee on Thursday.
Read the tweet:
