Our live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic has moved here.
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:
A State Department spokesperson said Friday that the department “has received its first small allotment” of the Covid-19 vaccine “and expects to receive its remaining allotment incrementally.”
It is unclear when Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is?in quarantine after exposure to someone who tested positive for coronavirus, will receive the vaccine.
The spokesperson told CNN that due “to operational sensitivity, the department is not publicly sharing specific details of the timing or logistics of the deployment of the Covid-19 vaccine for state’s workforce at this time.”
Italy will enforce its strictest level of Covid-19 measures nationwide over the Christmas and New Year’s Day period to avert the risk of a third wave of coronavirus infections.
Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced on Friday that the entire country will be declared a virus “red zone”?between Dec. 24 and Dec. 27, and on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1-6.
The restrictions mean residents can only leave their houses for health or work reasons or to cover essential needs, such as exercise or grocery shopping. Residents can also go out to visit a maximum of two non-household family members between the hours of 5 a.m. and 10 p.m. Meaning households can host two extra family members on Christmas Eve.?
Churches must close by 10 p.m., which rules out the traditional midnight mass for millions of Catholics in Italy. Health Minister Sandra Zampa had said the Christmas Eve mass must end by around 8:30 p.m., “so that worshippers can return home before the 10 p.m. curfew.”
During these days, all shops, bars and restaurants will be closed except for delivery and take out.
The country’s risk level will be lowered to an “orange zone” on Dec. 28, 29, 30 and Jan. 4. That means residents will be allowed to travel only within their towns. A curfew will still be in place between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.
In this period, shops may open until 9 p.m. but bars and restaurants must remain closed.
Approximately 645 million euros (about $790 million) will be set aside to support the catering industry, the prime minister said, adding that other activities hit by the strict measures will be eligible to access government funds.
California reported 300 new coronavirus-related deaths on Friday, according to data from the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), marking the second straight day the state has reported at least 300 lives lost.
The latest death toll comes after California reported 379 deaths from Covid-19 on Thursday, its highest figure in a single day, and as a growing number of hospitals report zero intensive care unit capacity available.
More than 41,000 new cases were added on Friday as the state continues to see an unprecedented surge in new infections following Thanksgiving, though state health officials noted some of the cases occurred “prior to yesterday.”
Hospitalizations have also increased in the state, with 16,019 people being treated and 3,447 Covid-19 patients in ICUs. The skyrocketing number of new cases has caused ICU bed capacity in Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley to fall to 0.0%.
To date, California has reported a total of 1,764,374 cases and 21,160 deaths. As of Friday, the seven-day positivity rate is 12.8% and the 14-day positivity rate is 11.8%, the highest figures reported in the state since the spring.
Note: These numbers were released by the California Department of Public Health and may not line up exactly in real-time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the?Covid Tracking Project.?
New Jersey will open six vaccine “mega-sites” in January, in service of the state’s efforts to vaccinate 70% of its population within six months, Gov. Phil Murphy?announced?Friday.?
The sites will be distributed across the state, and will be in place to assist ongoing efforts to vaccinate frontline health care workers early in the new year.?
New Jersey Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli said Friday that the state’s efforts to quickly vaccinate an estimated 4.7 million Garden State residents will hinge on vaccine availability.?
“We expect demand will outpace supply,” she said.
Persichilli said that the supply of doses from the federal government was already falling short of expectations.
“The previously expected second tranche of Pfizer doses for next week was expected to be 86,775,” she said. “Now, based on what is entered into the federal?‘Tiberius’ platform, we see we are expecting only 53,625. That’s a reduction of 38%.”
Persichilli added that the total expected dosages to be delivered to New Jersey in the month of December had been revised downward by 33%, according to the federal database.?
Murphy said he had yet to get a satisfactory reason why New Jersey, along with every other state, was slated to get fewer doses of the Covid-19 vaccine than initially expected.
“I spoke with Pfizer,” he said. “They have no idea why this is being done.”
“Pfizer said to me, personally, ‘we want you to know this is not us,’” Murphy said, adding that he will bring up the issue on a call with the White House this weekend.
New Jersey reported an additional 3,975 infections on Friday, along with 44 deaths. Hospitalizations went down for the second day in a row, with at least 3,582 patients hospitalized with confirmed or suspected Covid-19 as of Thursday night.
“These numbers have begun moving in the right direction, which is down,” Murphy said before adding, “two days certainly do not make a trend.”
Note: These numbers were released by New Jersey’s public health agency, and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project.
A clinician in Fairbanks, Alaska, who received a coronavirus vaccine on Thursday experienced what appeared to be an anaphylactic reaction, according to leadership at Foundation Health Partners (FHP), a health care system linked to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital.?
The employee reported she had no known allergies, though she had once experienced a reaction to a bee sting. Ten minutes after receiving the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, the woman began having what is described as “traditional anaphylactic symptoms,” which included tongue swelling, a hoarse voice and difficulty breathing.
While the vaccine clinic is stocked with first aid for anaphylaxis, it was not needed. Instead, the woman was taken to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital, and clinicians administered two doses of epinephrine. She remained at the hospital for observation and was released six hours later. She was one of nearly 300 employees to receive the vaccine on Thursday; their first shipment of vaccines arrived on Wednesday.
The employee, who wished to remain anonymous, issued a statement:
It is not surprising that there have been reports of anaphylaxis associated with the coronavirus vaccine. With more and more vaccines being administered every day, reports of adverse reactions will become more common, though they are still few and far between.?
Officials at FHP say they are “working with the State of Alaska Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to share details of the reaction. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the CDC have created several programs for tracking any adverse reactions to the vaccine. FHP reported details of yesterday’s event to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). This national system collects and analyzes data that helps federal health authorities monitor the safety of vaccines.”
The extra doses in Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vials are safe and should be used, US Food and Drug Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn said Friday.
It’s possible to squeeze out extra doses of Pfizer’s vaccine from the vials, if there is solution remaining in them after the standard five doses are given, the FDA said earlier this week.
Hahn said that it’s not uncommon for extra solution to be in vaccine vials.
“It’s a very common thing,” he said. “There’s always some overage that occurs, just to make sure that there’s enough for the doses that are said to be within the vial.”
It’s important to plan for anyone who receives one vaccine dose to get a second, Hahn said.
“If you want the 95% protection, the clinical trial shows that the two-dose regimen, 21 days apart, is what you need,” he said. “But given that this overage is in the vials, we believe that that can be factored into subsequent calculations.”
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said Covid-19 numbers remain high overall and?has called?for continued action?to prevent the spread of the virus.
Polis?announced 3,693 new cases of Covid-19,?saying the positivity rate continues to show improvement at 7.19% but the goal is to get it below 5%.
During a news conference today, Polis said Colorado received its first shipment of the Pfizer vaccine on Monday and is expecting its first shipment of the Moderna vaccine next week.
Polis said with the good news of additional shipments of vaccine, there is also bad news. According to Polis, the number of doses Colorado will receive from Pfizer will be lower next week because of Pfizer’s announcement that the federal government needs to tell them where to ship the vaccine.
The governor said that health officials have notified him that starting today, the Pfizer vaccine will have six doses instead of five, increasing the number of vaccines by 20%.
“We are comfortable moving forward with the assumption that six doses is the norm per vial and so the numbers that the state reports on Pfizer vaccine will show a different number than what the CDC says they are sending us,” Polis said.
The justices of the US Supreme Court are eligible to receive the coronavirus vaccine in the coming days, a court spokesperson said.
The court has been informed by the Office of the Attending Physician that the justices are eligible to receive the vaccine in the coming days, the spokesperson told CNN.
No further details were available at this time.
Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice, president and dean of the Morehouse School of Medicine, on Friday said that getting the messaging right about Covid-19 vaccines is crucial, especially for the Black community that – along with other communities of color – has been disproportionately impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
Morehouse School of Medicine has partnered with other historically Black medical schools, the National Association of Black Nurses, and the Urban League to hold town halls with members of the US Food and Drug Administration and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to “make this message plain,” and to answer questions about vaccinations and Covid-19.
Montgomery Rice said there is great interest from the community. She said the virtual town hall that Morehouse School of Medicine held Thursday had 18,000 people in attendance, and that past town halls have had 30,000.
Montgomery Rice said it will take deliberate action to convince the community to get the Covid-19 vaccine. Morehouse School of Medicine has worked with focus groups and is continuing to build additional partnerships with the community.
She even got a Covid-19 vaccine live on CNN alongside CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta on Friday to “hopefully build confidence.”
Peggy McMaster, the first lady of South Carolina, has tested positive for Covid-19, the governor’s office announced Friday.??
McMaster underwent routine tests on Thursday afternoon.?The results came back Friday morning that she was positive.?
“She is?not experiencing any symptoms at this time,” the release said.??
Her husband, Gov. Henry McMaster, was also tested Thursday. His results were negative.??
The governor will “quarantine for the recommended seven days while being tested regularly,” the release added.
Peggy McMaster is working with state health officials on contact tracing.
Mexico City and the neighboring state of Mexico will take “extraordinary measures” to stop the surge in Covid-19 cases, deaths and hospitalizations, the country’s Deputy Health Minister Dr. Hugo Lopez-Gatell said in a new conference Friday afternoon.
All nonessential activities will be suspended from tomorrow to Jan. 10 in an effort to reduce mobility in the metropolitan areas which authorities believe are a factor for the alarming rise in the spread of Covid.?
The city and state’s step back to red level — the strictest measure in the country’s stoplight system — is the latest restriction as hospital capacities reach nearly 75%. “We are now at the levels we were in during the highest moment [of the pandemic] in June,” state of Mexico’s governor, Alfredo Del Mazo, said at the news conference.
Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum called on all citizens to abide by the restrictions and continue staying home calling for an “extraordinary effort so that anyone who is seriously ill can always have a bed in a hospital.”
The tightening of Covid-19 measures entails the closure of indoor dining, with only essential sectors such as transport, energy, health and construction among a few others, to remain active.?
“It’s important to be clear that 2020 and 2021 will be very special years for humanity,” Lopez-Gatell said as he urged people during the holiday season to avoid parties and reunions, saving them for a later date.
Mexico has reported 1,289,298 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 116,487 confirmed deaths on Thursday.
The chief medical officer of one of the largest hospital systems in Los Angeles County said Friday his facilities are running out of intensive care beds to treat critically ill patients as the region sees an overwhelming spike in new Covid-19 infections.
“L.A. County is moving toward becoming the epicenter of the pandemic,” Dr. Brad Spellberg, chief medical officer at L.A. USC Medical Center warned in a briefing Friday.
Hospitals throughout the county are quickly becoming overwhelmed by the influx of Covid-19 patients. Today, in the county of 10 million residents, there are just 699 hospital beds available. Of those, just 69 are ICU beds, according to Health Services Director Dr. Christina Ghaly.
“As of right now, we are very tight. Hospitals around the county are running out of ICU beds,” Spellberg said.
Ghaly reiterated that the problem is not space, but staffing. Los Angeles County has yet to receive confirmation that the state has more available staff to help with the surge of patients and is awaiting guidance on the state’s request for help from the Department of Defense.
On Tuesday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that he was requesting 200 health care workers from the federal government, in addition to staff being added?through contract agencies, the National Guard, and California Health Corps. An additional 80 paramedics and EMTs are being brought in from the Federal Emergency Management Agency?.
Health care workers in L.A. are doing everything they can to accommodate the crush of patients, including diverting patients from a full hospital to another with remaining capacity, but “when every hospital is overwhelmed and every hospital is full, and it doesn’t matter if you move the ambulance from hospital to hospital it all leads to the same result,” Ghaly said.
Pointing out that hospitalizations tend to lag behind case counts, Ghaly ominously noted that two weeks ago, Los Angeles County was reporting fewer than 10,000 cases of Covid-19 each day. In the time since, the county has seen an explosion of new daily cases reaching as high as 22,000. Projections indicate the already strained medical facilities could be overcome, leading to dire results.
The comments come a day after Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti warned the county may soon be forced to declare a “systemwide crisis” in the coming days of hospitals continue to see a flood of new patients seeking treatment for Covid-19.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tweeted today that he received a “safe, effective” Covid-19 vaccine.
He went on to say that “vaccines are how we beat this virus.”
In the same tweet, McConnell mentioned the Covid stimulus package, “including a lot more money for distribution so more Americans can receive it as fast as possible.”
The state of Rhode Island will end the latest round of Covid-19 restrictions or “pause” that?were put into place Nov. 30 this coming Monday, Gov. Gina Raimondo announced at a press conference.?
The ending of the “pause” comes as Rhode Island has seen a downturn in Covid-19 metrics, including positivity rate, cases per 100,000 people and hospitalizations, according to Raimondo.
The lifting of current restrictions will still be a slow dial up, according to Raimondo, with gyms reopening with restrictions and indoor restaurant capacity increased to 50%.
The latest numbers: Rhode Island reported at least 395 new positive cases of Covid-19 – a positivity rate of 4.4%. There are also at least 459 people currently hospitalized, and 12 new deaths due to the virus.
Rhode Island has also began reporting how many residents have received a Covid-19 vaccine. So far 1,226 people in the state have had the first dose.?
Note: These numbers were released by the stare of Rhode Island, and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns?Hopkins?University and the Covid Tracking Project.
Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, the busiest airport in the world, is expecting nearly half as many holiday travelers compared to last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the airport said.??
The airport is projecting that 2.1 million passengers will travel during the holiday period from Dec. 17 through Jan. 3.??This would be a decline of 47% from a year ago, Jennifer Ogunsola a spokesperson for Hartsfield-Jackson told CNN based on projections.??
Sunday, Dec. 27,?is projected to be the busiest travel day with more than 156,000?passengers.
Concourses A and B are expected to be the most active.?Both concourses are projected to serve more than 500,000 passengers each during the holiday period.??
During a virtual event with the?Duke Science and Society on Friday, Dr. Anthony Fauci said that thanks to science “we will crush” the Covid-19 outbreak.
He continued:
“Just over the past few days, science has allowed us to have a vaccine that when we distribute it to people throughout the country, and hopefully throughout the world, we will crush this outbreak that has really terrorized us for the last 11 months, not only here in the United States, but worldwide, it’s damaged severely, the economy and lead to people suffering things, not necessarily directly related to being ill themselves, but all the secondary consequences that go with the effects of a global pandemic such as this.”
More than half of refugees and migrants surveyed reported increased “depression, anxiety, and loneliness” caused by Covid-19, according to a survey from the World Health Organization that was put out on Friday.
In addition, one in five refugees and migrants surveyed reported increased drug and alcohol use.?
The survey, compiled in a report titled Apart Together, was conducted by the WHO and a research consortium led by Ghent University and the University of Copenhagen. The survey accessed 30,000 migrants and refugees in almost every WHO member state.?
Refugees and migrants reported high compliance rates with some measures of virus prevention, like hand washing and wearing face coverings. However, nearly 20% said they were unable to comply with stay-at-home measures, and more than 15% were unable to avoid public transport.?
Twelve percent of those surveyed reported current symptoms they believed to be linked to Covid-19. Of those who reported being unable to access medical care if they had symptoms, 35% said they lacked the money to seek health care and 22% said they feared deportation if they accessed medical care.?
“Access to care must not be linked to legal status,” WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a briefing discussing the report’s findings.?“We call on all countries to remove financial and other barriers to care for migrants as part of their journey towards universal health coverage. Health for all means all – including migrants.”
President-elect Joe Biden and?incoming first lady Jill Biden will receive their first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on Monday.
“On Monday, President Elect Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden will receive the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine in Delaware,” transition spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters on a briefing call Friday.
They do not have details on where exactly that will take place yet.?
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and incoming second gentleman Doug Emhoff will receive their vaccines the following week, Psaki said.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been vaccinated by the Capitol Attending Physician Dr. Brian Monahan, Pelosi’s spokesperson Drew Hammill confirmed to CNN.
Earlier today, Vice President Mike Pence, second lady Karen Pence and Surgeon General Jerome Adams received the first dose of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine.
CNN reported last night that all members of Congress will be eligible to receive the Covid-19 vaccine, according to a memo from the Capitol attending physician and a statement from Pelosi.?
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Friday that the state’s hospitals are in “crisis management” mode and capacity has been added at facilities across the state.
Cuomo said the state’s department of health mandated that 25% additional capacity be added and advised that hospitals should cancel elective surgeries if there are capacity issues.?
Accordingly, about 31,000 hospital beds have been added in New York’s “downstate” region, Cuomo said.
The New York Department of Health has also mandated that hospitals notify state officials if they are three weeks away from reaching 85% maximum capacity.?If such a threshold is reached, the state would move to shutdown the economy in that area, Cuomo said.
However, no hospital in the state has given the health department any such notice, which Cuomo said was “good news.”
Additionally, New York reported a statewide positivity rate of 5.09% on Friday, and Covid-19 hospitalizations, ICU patients, and intubation numbers across the state are all down, Cuomo said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is urging Canadians to take Covid-19 “very seriously, as numbers continue to head in the wrong direction.”
He added, “Our fight against this virus is not over, even as we’re preparing to say goodbye and good riddance to 2020.”?
Speaking during a Friday news conference, Trudeau said, “Canadians are pretty good at making it through long tough winters, and this is going to be a longer and tougher one than we’re even used to.”?
Frontline workers in Canada started to receive vaccinations earlier this week.
Speaking in French, Trudeau asked Canadians across the country to stay inside, wear masks and continue to social distance through the holiday season.
“Christmas will not be the same way this year, but it’s still going to be an opportunity for us to be with a close one, physically or virtually,” Trudeau said.
“Just like through this spring, summer, and fall, we will continue to be there for you. We will have your back, every step of the way,” Trudeau promised.?“We will do as a government, whatever it takes, for as long as it takes to keep you safe and supported. We’re coming into the final miles of this crisis, and we can’t give up now.”?
Some House members are already starting to get their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine.
CNN reported last night that all members of Congress will be eligible to receive the Covid-19 vaccine, according to a memo from the Capitol attending physician and a press release from Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.?
Democratic Rep. Don Beyer is set to get his vaccine this afternoon.
His communications director tweeted: “Voting schedule permitting, @RepDonBeyer will get a coronavirus vaccine via the Office of the Attending Physician this afternoon.”
Earlier today, Vice President Mike Pence, second lady Karen Pence and Surgeon General Jerome Adams received the first dose of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine.
Noubar Afeyan, the co-founder and chairman of drug maker Moderna, says that the technology used to make the company’s Covid-19 vaccine could change the way scientists think about therapeutics and vaccines for other diseases in the future.
Moderna is one of the companies to pioneer mRNA technology its vaccine is based on. Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine also uses this approach.
How it works: Messenger RNA is a single strand of the genetic code that cells can “read” and use to make a protein. In the case of this vaccine, the mRNA instructs cells in the body to make the particular piece of the virus’s spike protein. Then the immune system sees it, recognizes it as foreign and is prepared to attack when actual infection occurs.
“We wanted to do the work to?enable such a molecule to become?a medicine,” Afeyan said.?“The difference is if you’re?dealing with an information molecule, a code molecule, by?changing the code you ought to?be able to make any therapeutic?or vaccine you want, that was?the dream.”
He says this technology will change people’s perception of how long it should take to make a vaccine, adding that the “Covid-19 vaccine example will forge a new path.”
“Perhaps not to always be able to?go from zero to a vaccine in?less than a year, but certainly?the five to ten years it used to?take was somewhat predicated on older?technology and also, I’ll say, the?assumption that it has to take?that long, which we no longer?have to make,” he said.
Some context: The FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee met to discuss Moderna’s vaccine on Thursday, and is expected to authorize it for emergency use in the coming days. Once it does, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar says the federal government has nearly 5.9 million doses ready to be shipped.
Watch the Moderna co-founder:
Getting the Covid-19 vaccine from the labs to your arm is a long road that requires a carefully thought out chain of transportation to keep the vials at the right temperature.
Here’s a look at how that process works:
Watch:
As new Covid-19 cases surge in the United States, over the last seven days, more than 1.51 million new coronavirus cases were reported, according to Johns Hopkins University. That means new infections were reported in 1 in 216 Americans this week alone, per JHU data.
This is the most cases added in a single week since the pandemic began.
The US is now averaging more cases every single day than it ever has during the pandemic. Right now, on average, about 216,675 new cases are reported every day.?The US has now averaged more than 200,000 cases for 11 consecutive days.
In just the first 17 days of the month, December is already the second-highest month of new cases since the pandemic began, per JHU.
Here’s how this month compares:
As the first doses of a Covid-19 were shipped across the country, California is still bracing for more deaths in the upcoming weeks. New restrictions were put in place, and several parts of the state are running low on ICU beds and hospital staff is struggling to keep up with the surge.
Here’s a look at where things stand:
The latest numbers
Restrictions
Preparing for more
Pat John, a nursing home resident who received the Covid-19 vaccine, says “everyone should be willing to take it.”
After taking the vaccine, she said she felt fine.
“I haven’t had one bit of?trouble,” she told CNN.
She added:
Watch:
Moments after Vice President Mike Pence received the first dose of his Covid-19 vaccine, Dr. Anthony Fauci took to the stage to address the key concerns he keeps hearing on vaccines.
“Two questions get asked when?people have hesitancy or?reluctance to get vaccinated,” he said.
“Did you go too quickly is the?first.?The answer to that, the speed, was?a reflection of extraordinary?scientific advances and did not?compromise safety, nor did it?compromise scientific integrity,” he said.
He continued:
Fauci described the moment as “unprecedented” but also “bittersweet,” for all the lives that have been lost. However, he expressed hope that with the vaccine, the months ahead would get sweeter.
Watch Dr. Fauci:
After getting the first dose of his Covid-19 vaccine, US Surgeon General Jerome Adams said he felt “called” to receive it to help build trust in communities of color.
Black Americans remain among the groups that have the least confidence in the vaccine, according to a study from the Kaiser Family Foundation. The study found that 35% of Black Americans would probably or definitely not get the vaccine if it was determined to be safe by scientists and widely available for free.
Adams spoke today about the significance of his own vaccination – what he called the “importance of representation.”
“As an individual with asthma and high blood pressure, I am acutely aware of my own increased risk for Covid-19 exposure and the comorbidities that increase my risk of complications,” Adams said. “And as the US Surgeon General and a Black man, I am equally aware of the symbolic significance of my vaccination today.”
He noted “the importance of?representation” in the vaccine process and the medical field at large.
“Many of you have heard me tell?the story: I never believed I?could be a doctor, much less the?surgeon general of the United?States because I’d never met?another black doctor, even?though I had straight As, the?first doctor I met of color was?Dr. Ben Carson when I was in?college,” he said.
He continued:
Watch US Surgeon General Jerome Adams:
Dr. Anthony Fauci said it’s very likely we will see people getting vaccinated with the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine “within a few days.”
When asked about the significance of Moderna’s claims that its vaccine could perhaps prevent infection – in addition to disease – Fauci said “that’s?the ultimate goal.”
The Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) voted 20-0 with one abstention to recommend emergency use authorization for the Moderna vaccine, which is very similar in design, composition, safety and efficacy to Pfizer/BioNTech’s vaccine. That was the only question facing the committee – whether to recommend EUA.
In expectation that the FDA will soon give the green light, vaccine advisers to the CDC scheduled meetings for Saturday and Sunday to discuss the Moderna vaccine. The group must vote to recommend the vaccine and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must accept that recommendation before vaccinations can begin.
Vice President Mike Pence just received the first dose of his Covid-19 vaccine at Walter Reed Medical Hospital.
Pence, head of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, touted the success of the Trump administration’s efforts to get a vaccine calling it a “miracle.”
Watch the full moment below:
Vice President Mike Pence, second lady Karen Pence and Surgeon General Jerome Adams are set to receive the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine moments from now.
There are three barstools set up in the room along with tables with the vaccine materials, with three screens. Two say “SAFE and EFFECTIVE,” and one says “Operation Warp Speed” with “Promises Made, Promises Kept,” in smaller text.
Walter Reed medical staff are present, wearing scrubs and lab coats and masks, as are key task force members Dr. Anthony Fauci, Centers for?Medicare?& Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Dr. Robert Redfield and Pence chief of staff Marc Short.
US pharmacy?Walgreens began administering Pfizer/BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine?to residents and staff at long-term care facilities in?Ohio and Connecticut?on Friday.
According to a news release, the pharmacy’s team members will administer the vaccine in?“approximately 800 long-term care facilities across 12 states” starting the week of December 21, and will “expand vaccinations to nearly 3 million residents and staff at 35,000 long-term care facilities” as states finalize their plans.
Walgreens team members have conducted approximately 150,000 off-site visits since 2015 and more than 70 million vaccinations over the last decade, the company said.
The influential coronavirus model at the University of Washington is projecting 562,000 Americans will have died from Covid-19 by April 1, 2021 – up significantly from the prediction it made last week, when it forecast 502,000 deaths by that date.
The model from the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) says the increase is due to surges in cases and deaths, with particularly large increases in California. This is putting a huge amount of stress on the hospital system.
“Overall, we expect the national daily death toll to continue increasing to a peak of over 3,750 in mid-January,” the statement reads.
Mitigating factors: The vaccination rollout could save as many as 34,500 lives by April 1, IHME predicts.
The institute again stressed the importance of mask-wearing to keep the numbers down.
IHME analyzed mobility across the US and found that visits to restaurants and bars declined in November following increases over the summer.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was “hoping very much” to avoid another lockdown for England, but did not rule it out.
Two of the UK’s four nations – Wales and Northern Ireland – have already announced plans to lock down after Christmas as coronavirus infection numbers continue to rise and medical experts warn that the holidays could worsen the situation.?
Johnson reiterated that the Christmas rules in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland allowing up to three households forming a “Christmas bubble” is “very much a maximum – that’s not a target people should aim for.”
Earlier, Johnson said on Twitter that starting Friday, anyone forming a “Christmas Bubble” should start minimizing contact with people outside their household.?
CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice just got the first dose of their Covid-19 vaccine. But they’re not fully vaccinated yet: They’ll need a second dose in the coming weeks.
Rice noted that they’ll both receive a vaccine card that can serve as a reminder to get the second dose.
“I think we’re going to get?this little card, yeah, so we can make it a?date,” she said.
“It’s not the kind of dates that?I — lunch would be better, but we’ll do the vaccine for now,” Gupta joked.
Rice noted that the vaccines are an important step in fighting the pandemic.
“One day, we might be able to?have a?date?without the mask on.?We’ll bring our spouses,” she said.
WATCH:
CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice just got the first dose of their Covid-19 vaccine at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta.
Moments before, both doctors admitted they have an aversion to needles, but both said they hardly felt it.
Watch the full moment below:
Later tonight, Gupta will join Dr. Anthony Fauci and Surgeon General Jerome Adams for a CNN town hall about vaccines.
At a time when the pandemic is straining mental health, many people are going without care altogether. Experts in the US say the pandemic is worsening a shortage of mental health care providers that far predates the current crisis.?
Even before the pandemic, one in five Americans had a diagnosable mental health condition, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. More than half received no treatment at all, found a report?by the nonprofit Mental Health America.?
A lack of care compounds the consequences of mental illness. With nearly 41% of Americans struggling with mental health issues related to the pandemic,?according to a US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey, treatment is an increasingly scarce resource.
Whether you find help at all may depend on where you live, who you are and how much you have to spend.
Even in urban areas where care is theoretically available, finding a provider can be hard, and there can be extra challenges based on race, gender, sexuality and age.?
Read the full story here:
CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice just got the first dose of their Covid-19 vaccine at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta.
After getting the shot, Gupta — who is a practicing surgeon and works in the operation room weekly — said it felt like a “significant” moment.
Rice commented on how easy getting the vaccine was.
“That’s it? Oh, piece of cake,” she said.
Spain is set to receive its first doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine on December 26, Spanish Health Minister Salvador Illa announced on Friday.
Speaking at a news conference at the prime minister’s residence, the Moncloa Palace, Illa said the vaccination campaign would start on December 27, in line with statements made by other European leaders.
The health minister has stressed that the vaccine “is not the end of the pandemic, it is the beginning of the end.”
Preparing for vaccine approval: The European Union has yet to authorize use of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. The European Medicines Agency will meet on December 21 and authorization could be granted two days later.
The European Commission has secured more than 2 billion doses of?coronavirus vaccines for the bloc since June, and is asking its 27 nations to get ready to work together to roll them out.
CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is receiving the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine this morning.
You can watch the moment on CNN and in the video player above.
Some American health care workers — including doctors, nurses and hospital staff — began getting the vaccine this week after the US Food and Drug Administration authorized one of the candidates.
Later tonight, Gupta will join Dr. Anthony Fauci and Surgeon General Jerome Adams for a CNN town hall about vaccines.
Europe is struggling to find ways to allow its citizens to celebrate Christmas despite a bruising second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.?
Here are some updated holiday restrictions from Poland and Bulgaria.
BULGARIA??
The Bulgarian government has decided to extend the closure of nightclubs, casinos, restaurants and sport halls until at least January 31.
Initial plans for these venues to reopen on December 21 have been revised, the government said in a statement Thursday.
The ban extends to events, conferences and most shopping malls, with the exception of service-providing businesses such as banks, pharmacies, shops, telecommunications companies.?
From January 1, theaters, museums, galleries and cinemas can reopen, at 30% capacity.?Kindergartens, nurseries and classrooms for students from first to fourth grade will open after the holidays on January 4.
Hotel restaurants will have a shift system for breakfast, lunch and dinner, with no more than 50% seating capacity being used and with a closing time of no later than 10 pm. ?
On Thursday, the country’s ministry of health reported 1,959 new Covid-19 cases.?
POLAND
Poland will enter a national?lockdown?from December?28 to January 17,?with hotels, ski slopes and shopping malls closing?and a New Year’s Eve curfew,?Health Minister Adam Niedzielski announced on Thursday.?
On New Year’s Eve, residents are instructed to “stay at home” and?avoid gathering with anyone?outside of their household.?All but essential movement will be prohibited from 7 pm on December 31 until 6 am on January 1.
A 10-day quarantine will be required for those returning to the country by public transportation.
Theaters, cinemas and cultural centers,?which?have been?closed?since November 7, will remain closed until January 17.?Restaurants remain closed except for takeout and delivery.?
Gatherings are limited to five people and participants must wear face coverings and maintain social distancing. Churches are limited to a maximum of one person per 15 square meters.
Weddings, communions and parties are banned, and gyms remain closed.
The Australian state of Queensland says it will close its borders to any travelers who have been to “Covid-19 hotspots” in the past 14 days, according to a notice posted on the Queensland Government website Friday.
The hotspots designation includes the Northern Beaches area of Sydney, where a cluster of cases has been identified.
Those who have been to hotspots will “generally have to quarantine for 14 days at government arranged accommodation” at their own expense, according to the notice.?Some exceptions will be made for a “limited range of people who can enter for essential purposes.”
Queensland becomes the second state after Victoria to ban visitors from parts of Sydney ahead of the holidays. Victoria has also?instituted travel permits for anyone coming from the state of New South Wales, and police are expected to start patrolling land borders.
A nurse at CHI Memorial Hospital in Chattanooga, Tennessee fainted during a news conference shortly after getting the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine on Thursday.
Nurse Manager Tiffany Dover was standing at the podium speaking to the media about what getting the vaccine means to her and her medical unit when she interrupted her response to say: “I’m sorry, I’m feeling really dizzy.”??
Dover put her hand to her head, apologized again, started to walk away from the podium and then slumped to the floor. Cameras captured physicians and medical professionals coming to Dover’s aid.
Minutes after fainting, Dover was able to get back up on her feet and talk to the media again, WTVC reported. Dover told reporters that she has a medical condition that can sometimes cause her to faint, saying “it’s common for me.”
German Health Minister Jens Spahn on Friday said priority for vaccination would go to over-80s and care home residents and staff as he called on citizens to be patient with the vaccine roll out.
Speaking at a news conference in Berlin, Spahn added that?”every second person who dies [in Germany] is over 80 years old.”?
He said it could take “up to two months” to complete this first wave of vaccinations.?
Germany aims to start using the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine by December 27, subject to the EU granting regulatory approval when its medicines regulatory authority meets next week.
The country on Friday reported a record-high 33,777 new daily coronavirus infections in 24 hours, while fatalities rose to 813.
Germany’s second wave of coronavirus has put its health system under strain.?
The worst hit areas are the eastern states of Saxony and Thuringia. The interior ministry of Saxony-Anhalt on Thursday evening announced that transfers of Covid-19 patients from these areas were underway.?
Germany entered a hard lockdown on Wednesday to bring down high infection numbers and curb the spread of the virus.
Australia’s state of Victoria will ban visitors from parts of Sydney starting Saturday and institute travel permits for those coming from the state of New South Wales (NSW), where a cluster of Covid-19 cases is raising concern.
On Friday, New South Wales reported that the cluster stemming from Sydney’s Northern Beaches area stood at 28 cases.
Victoria is also encouraging travelers from other parts of Greater Sydney to get tested on arrival and self-quarantine until they receive a negative result.?
The state government says it is working with airlines to check for permits and will have public health teams meet incoming flights from NSW.?“The Department of Health and Human Services will look to set up testing sites at the domestic terminal in the coming days,” the government statement read.
Police are also expected to start patrolling land borders.
Victoria previously instituted a travel permit system with another neighboring state, South Australia, during a previous Covid-19 outbreak.
A Native American doctor in Milwaukee was among the first people in the city to get the first dose of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine on Tuesday.
He decided to?livestream his vaccination procedure on Facebook?to ease apprehension felt among members of the Native American community in Wisconsin about getting vaccinated.?
Ignace said that he felt confident in getting the vaccine and felt that it was the right thing to do.
“I’ve been following what Pfizer, Moderna and all the other biotech companies have been doing for the last five months,” Ignace tells the audience watching the livestream.
He said that he understood the trials that have taken place and the data that has come out as a result and he felt “extremely confident” in the vaccine’s effectiveness.
Eight religious sisters living at a Wisconsin care facility died from Covid-19 within a week, the School Sisters of Notre Dame has confirmed.
The Catholic institute told CNN affiliate?WTMJ that the sisters died from complications caused by the virus.?
The facility, Notre Dame of Elm Grove, was first established as an orphanage but later became a home for elderly and ill sisters, according to the School Sisters of Notre Dame?website. The organization said it has confirmed cases among the sisters living in the facility, but did not release the number of infections, according to?WTMJ.
The deaths come several months after six religious sisters died of Covid-19?at Our Lady of the Angels Convent, in Greenfield, Wisconsin, which cares for retired religious sisters from the School Sisters of St. Francis and the School Sisters of Notre Dame.
Among those lost to the virus was?Sister Lillia Langreck, who had been “heavily involved in racial and social justice efforts” for the past 60 years, according to the affiliate. Another was Sister Rose Feess, who was known for her grammar and writing skills, her sharp wit and her love of cats, the Notre Dame School of Milwaukee wrote in a?Facebook post.
Read the full story here:
In the name of “science and solidarity,” the European Commission has secured over 2 billion doses of?coronavirus vaccines?for the bloc since June.?
Now, as European Union regulators edge closer to approving two of those vaccines, the commission is asking its 27 nations to get ready to work together to roll them out.
If it all goes to plan, the EU’s vaccine program could go down as one of the greatest achievements in the history of the European project.?
The EU has suffered a sustained battering in recent years, fueled by?the UK’s departure, a surge in nationalist parties, and Euroskeptic attitudes across the continent.
And so far, the coronavirus crisis has only exacerbated existing tensions.?
But when it comes to the EU’s vaccine strategy, all member states – along with Norway and Iceland – have jumped on board, marking a step toward greater European unity.
The commission says its aim is to ensure equitable access to a coronavirus vaccine across the EU – and given that the virus knows no borders, it is crucial that countries across the bloc cooperate and coordinate.
But a collective approach will be no small feat for a region that encompasses disparate socio-political landscapes as well as wide variants in public health infrastructure and anti-vaccine sentiments. And some are already forging ahead with their own plans.
Read the full story here:
Most Americans now accept the benefits of wearing masks when around others and say they do so, according to a survey published Friday.
Most also say they can keep up the social distancing until the pandemic has eased or until there’s a vaccine – and most think they’ll need to. The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) survey found that just over half think the worst of the coronavirus pandemic is yet to come.
The survey of more than 1,600 adults, conducted by the nonpartisan foundation, found that deep partisan divides persist, but more people than ever worry the pandemic will affect them personally.
These fears may have motivated people to accept public health advice about wearing masks and staying away from other people.
Survey question: How often, if at all, do you wear a protective mask when you leave your house and might be in contact with other people?
“Republican denialism mirroring President Trump, even in the face of a growing epidemic in red states, has become a real public health challenge that the incoming administration will need to take on,” Kaiser Family Foundation President and CEO Drew Altman said in a statement.
A quarter of those surveyed said “The worst is behind us” when it comes to the pandemic, while 51% said the worst is yet to come. But 19% said “The coronavirus is or will not be a major problem in the U.S.”
Survey question: Starting today, how much longer do you think you can follow social distancing in order to limit the spread of coronavirus in your community?
Nearly two dozen beaches in Australia’s New South Wales are closing after a mystery Covid-19 cluster linked to the area emerged on Wednesday.
Surf Life Saving NSW CEO Steven Pearce said they were backing the government’s call for residents of the Northern Beaches to stay at home for the next few days.
“Please don’t go to the beach, both to limit the risk of spreading the virus, along with staying safe because beaches will not be patrolled, however, lifeguards are maintaining surveillance capability,” he said.
The cluster, with 28 confirmed Covid-19 cases as of Friday, marked the first locally-transmitted cases in New South Wales since December 3.
NSW also “urgently” called on all residents, not just beach residents, to test for Covid-19 on Friday.
India is preparing several task forces to oversee implementation of the country’s Covid-19 vaccination program in anticipation of regulators granting an emergency use authorization for at least one vaccine candidate.
Some states hope to start mass inoculations as early as January in the vast nation of more than 1.3 billion people.
Three vaccines are currently being evaluated for authorization by Indian regulators, including the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine.?
“We have established a multi-level governance mechanism which will oversee the vaccination process and provide assistance,” said Rajesh Bhushan, senior official, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.?
To transport and store the vaccines, India will use:
State governments have begun prepping the infrastructure required for the vaccination program, which is expected to begin in January.
The southern state of Kerala announced over the weekend that it would provide the Covid-19 vaccine free of charge to its entire population and that the registration process for the vaccine is in the final stages.?
The Indian government said that initially, the vaccine will be provided to health care and frontline workers, and after that, people in the 50-plus age group, subject to availability of the doses.?
India has recorded nearly 10 million coronavirus cases since the start of pandemic, including more than 144,000 deaths.?
South Korea plans to complete vaccination for 80% of its population against coronavirus by November next year, Health Ministry official Yang Dong-gyo said in a briefing on Friday.
The ministry said last week that the country would import doses for 44 million people from developers including AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Janssen, and Moderna.
Buying vaccines: In a news release, the ministry said that AstraZeneca vaccines will be deployed in the country starting from February or March. The health authority is aiming to sign contracts with Pfizer and Janssen in December and Moderna in January. The purchasing terms and supply confirmation are already signed with vaccine developers and they are legally binding like the contract, the release added.
Im said South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety would process approval of the vaccines independently of the US FDA’s decision.?
The vaccine will be given to seniors, those in nursing facilities, and medical workers first.
The United States reported 233,271 Covid-19 cases and 3,270?new deaths on Thursday, according to?data from Johns?Hopkins?University.
The total number of confirmed infections in the US stands at 17,212,496 and at least 310,782 people have died, per JHU data.
The totals include cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases.?
CNN is tracking the US cases:
Researchers at Oxford University?say the coronavirus vaccine they developed with AstraZeneca works best as a two-shot sequence, just as Moderna’s and Pfizer’s vaccines do.
In a separate study, they found the vaccine, which is in advanced clinical trials, produces a broad immune response that doctors hope could provide strong immune protection against infection.
In one study, the researchers checked to make sure two doses were really necessary, and if so, both had to be two full doses.?
Half dose or full dose: The study was conducted before AstraZeneca released confusing data that indicated giving a half dose as the first shot might provide better protection. It was a small group of volunteers who got the half-dose and AstraZeneca has indicated the dosing was a mistake, so this study doesn’t shed light on those findings.
How it differs from other vaccines: The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is different from the Pfizer vaccine now being rolled out in the US and Britain, and the similar Moderna vaccine being considered by the US Food and Drug Administration. Those vaccines use genetic material known as messenger RNA.?
The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine uses?an adenovirus?–?a common virus that causes cold-like symptoms?–?that has been?genetically altered?to carry?a gene for?a?coronavirus protein that trains the immune system to recognize the invader.?
Germany’s disease control agency reported 33,700 virus cases for Thursday, a record number of new infections recorded in a single day.?
Official data from the Robert Koch Institute published on Friday shows 33,777 new Covid-19 cases and 813 deaths within the past 24 hours.
That’s about 3,900 more cases than the previous daily record, which was set on December 11, with 29,875 infections.
Germany has imposed a hard national lockdown in a bid to contain the latest surge of Covid-19 infections, hospitalizations, and deaths.
As of Friday, 227 Covid-19 patients needing hospital beds in Seoul city have waited more than a day for one, according to?Seoul city health official Park Yoo-mi.
Park said the city is working to expand the number of available coronavirus-dedicated beds and increase monitoring of patients who are waiting for a bed from home.?
Nationwide, South Korea has 45 remaining intensive care unit (ICU) beds available for patients, according to its Health Ministry Friday.
The government will secure 160 more ICU beds to treat Covid patients by early January, Health Ministry official Son Young-rae said in the briefing.
Son said 496 people in the country are currently waiting for a hospital bed and have waited more than a day.?
The US federal government?said that Pfizer has promised 20 million doses of vaccine by the end of December but the company has yet to confirm this number.
In a statement on Thursday, the Health and Human Services Department accounts for about 10 million doses. Close to 3 million of them have been distributed.
Here’s a rundown of those Pfizer doses in the US:
“Although Pfizer announced earlier this year it was reducing its global production estimates for 2020 from 100 million doses to 50 million doses, it assures us the United States is on track to receive at least 20 million doses by the end of December, although we await final confirmation,” the statement continued.
The statement?comes after states expressed confusion that they were being told to expect?fewer?vaccines than they were initially promised.?
Pfizer has said there were no production issues, and there are millions more doses in its warehouse, but that the company has “not received any shipment instructions for additional doses.”
Hong Kong will provide $826 million in relief for struggling local industries?in an effort to help businesses stay afloat through the Covid-19 pandemic this holiday season,?according to the city’s Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung.
Speaking to media on Thursday, Cheung said that many sectors have been hit hard by tighter restrictions during the city’s fourth wave of cases, and the government is “responding to calls for a new round of financial relief package.”
According to official documents, the fourth subsidy program will see $709.4 million injected into sectors including entertainment, catering, education and the beauty and massage industry. Meanwhile, $116 million will be set aside for emergency use.
The latest package?comes after the government warned earlier that there would be no further financial help after it gave $40 billion in aid during three previous rounds of assistance earlier this year.
Sweden’s King has condemned the country’s government response to the Covid-19 pandemic on a day when new cases hit a record number.?
“I believe we have failed. We have a large number who have died and that is terrible. It’s something we all share the suffering from,” King Carl XVI Gustaf said in a Christmas interview with Swedish broadcaster SVT.??
It’s criticism that comes with Prime Minister Stefan L?fven?under scrutiny for his coronavirus policy as new cases surge.?
Swedish state broadcaster (SVT) reported an all-time high of Covid-19 patients in hospital this week and some ICUs are reported to be at capacity.??
On Tuesday, L?fven?acknowledged his strategy of achieving herd immunity had failed. “It is proof that it is a virus that we did not know about before and that behaves in a way that many would not have thought,” he said
No lockdown for Sweden: The country never went into a lockdown during the first wave and was well into the second when voluntary precautions were recommended at the regional level.
November restrictions: With case numbers rising in November, the Prime Minister imposed a national ban on?public?gatherings of more than eight people. More recently he ordered theaters and entertainment venues closed and advised students aged 13 to 15 to shift to online learning.
Christmas gatherings: But in private settings, people are only recommended to “interact with each other in smaller circles,” according to government guidelines. During Christmas festivities people are urged not to meet people outside their immediate circle.?Mask wearing has not been advised.
High deaths in care homes: An independent report by a special commission this week attributed the high number of deaths in care homes to the “overall spread of the virus in the society.”?It claims that measures for care homes were late despite early information that older people were particularly vulnerable.
On Thursday there were 8,815 new Covid-18 cases – the highest number recorded in a 24 hour period since the beginning of the pandemic, according to Swedish Health Agency data, marking an increase of more than 2,000 cases from last week.?Sweden has had 7,893 deaths from the virus, more per capita than other Scandinavian countries.
The local government of the South Korean capital Seoul has apologized after a man in his 60s with Covid-19 died while waiting for a hospital bed, as the city faced a shortage.
The deceased man had tested positive for Covid-19 on December 12 after his wife tested positive the previous day. He had reported mild symptoms, which included an itchy throat, Seoul’s Dongdaemun district office said.
“Seoul city expresses deep condolence to the patient who had died while waiting at home for hospital bed,” the city government said in a news release Thursday night.
The Dongdaemun district office said it will work with the country’s Health Ministry to ensure an incident like this does not happen again.
Because the man had only reported mild symptoms, he “was low in priority,” the district office added.
A bed was requested for the man on December 12, but not received. Two days later on December 14, he reported having phlegm mixed with blood.?
The district office then requested a hospital bed and later repeated the request with the city. While waiting for the bed, the man died in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
In a briefing Friday, the Health Ministry announced the greater Seoul area now has four available intensive care unit beds dedicated to Covid-19 patients and is working?with private sector hospitals to add more beds, which will “expand quickly by end of year.”
Johnson & Johnson said Thursday that its late stage Covid-19 vaccine trial is fully enrolled.
The vaccine, made by J&J subsidiary Janssen, comes in a single dose. The trial now has about 45,000 participants.?
The company said with the high rate of disease transmission among the general population in the United States, this number of volunteers should be enough to quickly get the data the company needs to determine if the vaccine works and to determine if it is safe.
J&J expects to have interim data by the end of January.
If the trial goes as expected, the company said it expects to submit the trial results to the US Food and Drug Administration for an emergency use authorization in February.?
Japan reported another day of record Covid-19 cases, adding 3,214 infections from Thursday, according to the country’s Health Ministry.
Thursday’s numbers top Japan’s previous record reported one week ago, when 3,030 new cases were reported on December 12.
The ministry also reported 44 new virus-related fatalities for Thursday, bringing the country’s death toll to 2,796.?
Japan’s total confirmed cases nationwide stands at 190,950.
Winter surge: Japan is seeing a rise in Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations since the start of November, as cold winter temperatures set in.?Large urban centers like the capital Tokyo are reporting their highest level of infections.
Tokyo reported 822 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday, marking the highest single-day rise since the start of the pandemic, the Tokyo metropolitan government announced.
Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike warned the city could reach 1,000 new cases a day if the trend continues and issued a special alert for the new year holidays.
South Korea reported 1,062 new Covid-19 infections for Thursday, according to the?Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
The country is grappling with another wave of infections as winter sets in.
In a Friday statement, the KDCA said 26 of the new cases were imported while 1,036 were locally transmitted.
The majority of the new infections – 757 – were in the Seoul metropolitan area.
South Korea also reported that 11 people died from the virus on Thursday, bringing the country’s total death toll to 645.?
South Korea has recorded at least 47,515 cases since the beginning of pandemic.
The US Food and Drug Administration said Thursday it?plans to grant emergency use authorization to Moderna for its coronavirus vaccine.
“The agency has also notified the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Operation Warp Speed, so they can execute their plans for timely vaccine distribution,” the statement continued.
The United States reported?114,237?people hospitalized with Covid-19 on Thursday, the highest number since the pandemic began, according to the Covid Tracking Project (CTP).
This is the 16th consecutive day that the US has remained above 100,000 current hospitalizations.?
The highest number of hospitalizations according to CTP data are:?
A new mystery cluster of Covid-19 cases in Australia’s New South Wales continues to grow after 10 new cases were added overnight, according to the NSW Health Department.
The total number of cases related to the cluster from Sydney’s Northern Beaches is now at 28. Health officials believe the source may have been from overseas.
Health officials are asking Northern Beaches residents to stay home as much as possible Friday and through the weekend.
“This includes working from home where possible, not visiting friends or family in aged care facilities or hospitals unless essential, avoiding unnecessary gatherings and high-risk venues such as clubs, restaurants, places of worships and gyms, and avoiding unnecessary travel outside of or to the Northern Beaches area,” the health department said.
What we know: The first cases of the cluster were reported Wednesday – the first locally-transmitted cases in the state since December 3.
One case identified from Wednesday was a 40-year-old bus driver who took airline crews to and from their hotels. The health department said the driver’s strain does not match the strain seen in recent clusters in Australia.
New South Wales has recorded a total of 4,493 virus cases since the beginning of the pandemic, according to NSW Health.
As the United States on Thursday surpassed 17 million official Covid-19 cases, a US Food and Drug Administration advisory panel recommended a second coronavirus vaccine for the country.
The developments come as the US, after starting distribution of its first authorized vaccine this week, is dealing with record rates of daily cases, daily deaths and numbers of Covid-19 patients in hospitals.
The FDA is widely expected to grant emergency use authorization for?Moderna’s vaccine candidate?– as?it did?for?Pfizer’s vaccine?last week – after its vaccine advisory panel voted to recommend it.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would need to greenlight the vaccine before shots can be administered – and a CDC advisory panel is expected to meet on the matter Saturday, raising the possibility that the Moderna vaccine could be used next week.
The recently authorized Pfizer vaccine, meanwhile, has been administered to hundreds of US health care workers this week, and drug store chains CVS and Walgreens are helping to get shots to long-term care residents and staff members.
The Pfizer vaccine requires each patient to receive two doses about 21 days apart, and the Moderna vaccine also would require two doses. Assuming the Moderna vaccine is authorized, the two products could combine for an availability of 40 million doses, for 20 million people, by the end of December, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has said.
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French President?Emmanuel Macro has a “fever” and is “tired [and] coughing” after testing positive for?Covid-19?on Thursday, according to an élysée spokesperson.
Macron will self-isolate for a week, his office said. The 42-year-old French leader has traveled from Paris to the presidential residence La Lanterne in Versailles for his seven-day quarantine, according to the spokesperson.
French First Lady Brigitte Macron, 67, remains at the élysée Palace in Paris and has protectively gone into quarantine though she “presented no symptoms,” her office told French media.
His diagnosis sent ripples through the French and European political sphere, with multiple figures now forced to quarantine.
Prime Minister Jean Castex has gone into quarantine, despite testing negative on Thursday morning. President of the National Assembly Richard Ferrand is also quarantining for seven days.
Macron’s planned trip to Lebanon next week has been canceled.
The French President had meetings with a number of other top European leaders in recent days, several of whom announced they would quarantine in the wake of Macron’s diagnosis.
Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, European Council President Charles Michel and?OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria said they would go into quarantine as a precautionary measure.
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