First Edition: Dec. 8, 2020
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
KHN:
Senate Republicans Throw The Brakes On Timing For Becerra Hearings
Senate Republicans are signaling they will delay considering President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee to run the Department of Health and Human Services, threatening to slow the Biden administration’s response to the pandemic that has killed more than 283,000 Americans. On Monday, Republican spokespeople for the committees responsible for vetting HHS nominations said the Senate may not hold hearings on California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, Biden’s pick to lead the department, until the Senate approves committee assignments and other organizational details for the new Congress. (Huetteman, 12/8)
KHN:
Tracking COVID’s Spread Inside A Tight-Knit Latino Community
Early in the pandemic, Ximena Rebolledo León, a registered nurse at Telluride Regional Medical Center in southwestern Colorado, needed to find everyone who’d been in contact with a sick Latino worker whose boss had told him he would lose his job if he didn’t show up. The man had gone to work and infected four co-workers, all Latinos, with COVID-19 — so Rebolledo León then had to track down their movements to determine who else had been exposed to the coronavirus in the wealthy ski resort community. (Hawryluk, 12/8)
KHN:
A Child’s Death In The Heartland Changes Community Views About COVID
In August, local officials in this small city an hour west of St. Louis voted against requiring residents to wear masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. On Nov. 23, with COVID cases surging and the local hospital overflowing, the City Council brought a mask order back for another vote. As protesters marched outside, Councilman Nick Obermark, an electrician, was the sole member of the nonpartisan council to change his vote, causing the mandate to pass. (Shipley Hiles, 12/8)
KHN:
Xavier Becerra In His Own Words: ‘Health Care Is A Right’
President-elect Joe Biden has tapped California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Becerra, who would be the nation’s first Latino HHS secretary, has taken some ground-breaking positions on health care, especially since he became attorney general in 2017. He has sued the Trump administration dozens of times on health care, birth control, immigration, climate change and more, with California leading the defense of the Affordable Care Act before the U.S. Supreme Court. Becerra has also won a major legal settlement from Sutter Health after accusing the nonprofit health care giant of using its market dominance in Northern California to illegally drive up prices. (12/7)
The Washington Post:
Britain Begins Pfizer Vaccine Shots, Launching The West’s First Mass Coronavirus Inoculation Effort
It took barely a second. She rolled up her sleeve and Britain's Margaret Keenan became on Tuesday the first person to receive the Pfizer vaccine shot outside of clinical trials, as the first mass immunization campaign in the West began. The 90-year-old grandmother received her jab, as the Brits would say, at University Hospital in Coventry, England at 6:31 a.m. local time. The nurse, May Parsons, told her to relax her arm. (Booth and Adam, 12/8)
The Wall Street Journal:
U.K. Begins Rollout Of Pfizer’s Covid-19 Vaccine In A First For The West
Those over 80, nursing-home workers and other high-risk health-care staff were front of the line: a group estimated to number six million. The rollout is being paid for by the U.K.’s state-funded National Health Service. Hari Shukla, 87 years old and one of the first to be inoculated at a hospital in Newcastle, northeastern England, said the two-shot vaccine made him and his wife feel that the crisis was going to come to an end. “When I received the telephone call I was very excited that I got the opportunity of taking part and joining in,” Mr. Shukla told the British Broadcasting Corp. on the eve of the rollout. (Sugden and Horner, 12/8)
USA Today:
'V-Day': A Year After COVID-19 Pandemic Began In China, U.K. First To Start Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccinations
A year after a mysterious new respiratory disease emerged in Wuhan, China, upending patterns of life and work, the United Kingdom on Tuesday became the first western country to start vaccinating its population against a virus that has killed more than 1.5 million people worldwide and sickened tens of millions more. In a landmark moment in the coronavirus pandemic, around 50 hospitals in the U.K.'s state-run National Health Service (NHS) started administering the COVID-19 inoculation to people over 80 who are either hospitalized or have outpatient appointments scheduled. Some nursing home workers also received the vaccine. (Hjelmgaard, 12/8)
Reuters:
In England, William Shakespeare Receives A COVID-19 Vaccine
William Shakespeare from Warwickshire in England was one of the first people to receive the newly approved COVID-19 vaccine outside a clinical trial on Tuesday. The 81-year-old had the injection at University Hospital Coventry on Tuesday, 20 miles from Stratford-Upon-Avon, the birthplace of his namesake, England’s greatest dramatist and poet. (12/8)
Reuters:
Trump To Order Priority Access To U.S. COVID-19 Vaccines For Americans
Trump, who has faced sharp criticism for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, is eager to take credit for the speedy development and distribution of a vaccine. One official said the executive order would lead to the formulation of guidelines for U.S. government agencies to help other countries procure the vaccine once demand in the United States was met. (Mason, 12/7)
The Hill:
Trump To Order Government To Vaccinate Americans First
Trump will sign the order during a White House summit on Operation Warp Speed, the public-private program aimed at accelerating the delivery of a vaccine for COVID-19. “The executive order reaffirms to the American people that we’re going to put America first working to ensure that they have access to a vaccine,” a senior administration official told reporters on a call Monday. (Chalfant, 12/7)
AP:
Feds Passed Up Chance To Lock In More Pfizer Vaccine Doses
Under its contract with Pfizer, the Trump administration committed to buy an initial 100 million doses, with an option to purchase as many as five times more.
This summer, the White House opted not to lock in an additional 100 million doses for delivery in the second quarter of 2021, according to people who spoke about the matter on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly. Days ahead of the vaccine’s expected approval, the administration is reversing course, but it is not clear that Pfizer, which has since made commitments to other countries, will be able to meet the latest request on the same timeline. (Miller and Lemire, 12/8)
The Hill:
Trump Officials Deny Turning Down Additional Doses Of Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine
Trump administration officials on Monday denied a report that the federal government turned down an offer from Pfizer earlier this year to purchase additional doses of its COVID-19 vaccine. ... "Anyone who wanted to sell a guarantee, without an EUA [emergency use authorization] approval, hundreds of millions of doses back in July and August, was just not going to get the government's money," the official said. (Weixel, 12/7)
The New York Times:
Trump Administration Passed On Chance To Secure More Of Pfizer Vaccine
Before Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine was proved highly successful in clinical trials last month, the company offered the Trump administration the chance to lock in supplies beyond the 100 million doses the pharmaceutical maker agreed to sell the government as part of a $1.95 billion deal over the summer. But the administration, according to people familiar with the talks, never made the deal, a choice that now raises questions about whether the United States allowed other countries to take its place in line. (LaFraniere, Thomas and Weiland, 12/7)
The Washington Post:
Pfizer Tells U.S. Officials It Cannot Supply Substantial Additional Vaccine Until Late June Or July
Trump administration officials denied there would be availability issues in the second quarter, citing other vaccines in the pipeline, but others said problems are possible. “I’m not concerned about our ability to buy vaccines to offer to all of the American public,” Gen. Paul Ostrowski, who oversees logistics for Operation Warp Speed, the government’s initiative to expedite vaccine development, said in an interview Monday. “It’s clear that Pfizer made plans with other countries. Many have been announced. We understand those pieces.” (McGinley, Abutaleb and Johnson, 12/7)
Stat:
Pfizer, Moderna Decline Invitations To White House 'Vaccine Summit'
Both Pfizer and Moderna, the two major drug manufacturers likely to receive emergency authorizations for a Covid-19 vaccine in the coming weeks, have rejected invitations from President Trump to appear at a White House “Vaccine Summit” on Tuesday, according to two sources familiar with the event’s planning. (Facher, 12/7)
The Hill:
Trump 'Vaccine Summit' Will Not Include Vaccine Manufacturers
A Trump administration "vaccine summit" aimed at building confidence in the COVID-19 vaccines under development and awaiting approval will not feature any of the vaccine manufacturers. The summit, to be held inside the White House on Tuesday, will feature panels of federal health officials, governors including Florida's Ron DeSantis (R) and Louisiana's John Bel Edwards (D), as well as representatives from companies involved in the distribution process like FedEx, UPS, CVS, McKesson and ThermoFisher. (Weixel, 12/7)
USA Today:
COVID Vaccine: Pfizer Board Member Disagrees With US Distribution Plan
By the end of the year, the United States government hopes to have close to 40 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine. It plans to distribute half of those in December and hold back the other half to give the same people their second dose of the two-shot regimen. But Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a Pfizer board member and former U.S. Food and Drug Administration commissioner, says that's a bad idea. Instead, Gottlieb says he would give out 35 million doses now, and presume the second doses will be available when people need them. (Rodriguez, 12/7)
The Hill:
Doctor Who Criticized Trump's Behavior Removed From Walter Reed Schedule: Report
An attending physician at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center who called out President Trump for his decision to greet supporters while being treated for the coronavirus has been removed from the hospital’s schedule beginning in January, CBS News reported Monday. James Phillips, chief of disaster medicine at George Washington University and an attending physician under contract for Walter Reed, criticized Trump in October for his decision to drive with Secret Service agents to greet supporters while he was hospitalized at the Bethesda, Md., facility. (Mitchell, 12/7)
The Hill:
Fauci: Christmas Could Be Worse Than Thanksgiving For COVID-19 Spread
Top infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci said Monday that Christmas could be worse than Thanksgiving for COVID-19 spread. “My concerns John [Berman] are the same thing of the concerns that I had about Thanksgiving, only this may be even more compounded because it’s a longer holiday,” he said on CNN's “New Day.” Fauci noted that Thanksgiving celebrations tend to be shorter as people return to work the following week, but Christmas leads into New Year’s. (Coleman, 12/7)
NPR:
Fauci Warns Fewer Than 10 People For Holiday Gatherings, 'Dark Time' Ahead
Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Monday that family gatherings over the holidays should be limited to fewer than 10 people. Fauci made the comment while appearing via video link on New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's coronavirus briefing. Cuomo asked Fauci for his view on New York's emergency rule, implemented last month, capping private in-home gatherings at 10 participants. (Mann, 12/7)
AP:
UN Health Agency's Advice For The Holidays: Don't Hug
The World Health Organization has an unwelcome but potentially life-saving message for the holiday season: Don’t hug. To stop the spread of the coronavirus, WHO’s emergencies chief said Monday that the “shocking” rate of COVID-19 cases and deaths, particularly in the U.S., means that people shouldn’t get too close to their loved ones this year. (Keaten, 12/7)
The Hill:
Biden Picks Thorn In Trump's Side As New Health Secretary
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra would be taking over the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as secretary amid the worst pandemic in a century if confirmed by the Senate, but it’s his work on defending the Affordable Care Act from Trump administration attacks that may have won him the role. (Sullivan, 12/7)
Politico:
Trump’s Health Nemesis Gets A New Starring Role: Reversing Trump’s Policies
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra was the chief legal nemesis of the Department of Health and Human Services for most of the Trump presidency. Now the man who challenged President Donald Trump’s efforts to gut the Affordable Care Act, stop legal immigrants from using health programs, detain migrant children and curb access to abortion is President-elect Joe Biden’s pick to run the agency he antagonized. (Ollstein, 12/7)
AP:
Becerra's Big Challenge: Vaccinating Americans Against Virus
In choosing Xavier Becerra to be his health secretary, President-elect Joe Biden tapped a robust defender of the Affordable Care Act who will face questions about whether he possesses the health care and management experience needed to lead the massive effort to vaccinate a nation against a deadly pandemic. As California’s attorney general, Becerra leads the nation’s largest state justice department, an influential perch from which he’s fought Republican efforts to roll back health coverage. But he has been less involved in the day-to-day work to combat the coronavirus, is not a health care expert and has not overseen an office as sprawling as the Department of Health and Human Services. (Lemire, Mascaro, Alonso-Zaldivar and Ronayne, 12/8)
Modern Healthcare:
HHS Role Gives Xavier Becerra New Tools To Challenge Healthcare Consolidation
As California's top watchdog, Xavier Becerra has sought to revive competition in healthcare using lawsuits. As HHS chief, he'd have a new go-to: regulation. HHS is a massive $1 trillion-plus department that contains key federal functions like Medicare and Medicaid, drug regulation and public health. While it doesn't handle antitrust issues—the main thrust of Becerra's current role as California's attorney general—some experts say he'll still be able to affect broad change from his new post, if confirmed. (Bannow and Cohrs, 12/7)
Stat:
3 Reasons The Drug Industry Should Worry About Biden’s HHS Pick, Becerra
For a pharmaceutical industry that has spent two years sparring with health secretary Alex Azar, a former Eli Lilly executive fixated on the issue of high drug prices, President-elect Biden’s pick for the role, Xavier Becerra, may seem like incredible news. In his health policy work, Becerra has focused far more on Obamacare and health disparities than on the high price of medicines. (Florko, 12/8)
The Washington Post:
Biden’s Choice To Run CDC Is A Respected Specialist Who Is Unafraid To Speak Her Mind
President-elect Joe Biden’s choice to run the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is a widely respected infectious-diseases specialist regarded as a strong communicator unafraid to speak her mind, qualities critical to returning the beleaguered public health agency to its traditional front-line role and to bringing the coronavirus pandemic under control. But while Rochelle Walensky’s research has long had a public health focus, she has never run a government agency or organization as large and complex as the CDC. (Sun, 12/7)
Stat:
Biden's CDC Pick, A Savvy Communicator, To Lead An Agency That Fell Quiet
When Rochelle Walensky, head of infectious diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital, walks into the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on her first day, she will be taking over the famed public health agency at a time when its reputation has been battered and the morale of its staff is at a low ebb. (Branswell, 12/7)
AP:
Biden's Health Team Offers Glimpse Of His COVID-19 Strategy
President-elect Joe Biden’s choices for his health care team point to a stronger federal role in the nation’s COVID-19 strategy, restoration of a guiding stress on science and an emphasis on equitable distribution of vaccines and treatments. With Monday’s announcement of California Attorney General Xavier Becerra as his health secretary and a half dozen other key appointments, Biden aims to leave behind the personality dramas that sometimes flourished under President Donald Trump. He hopes to return the federal response to a more methodical approach, seeking results by applying scientific knowledge in what he says will be a transparent and disciplined manner. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 12/8)
Politico:
Hawley Urges Trump To Veto Covid Bill Absent Stimulus Checks
Sen. Josh Hawley is not happy that the leading coronavirus proposals lack another round of direct payments to Americans — and he’s taking his case straight to President Donald Trump. The Missouri Republican lobbied Trump to veto any coronavirus aid bill that does not contain a second tranche of checks to Americans in a phone call on Saturday. And Hawley said the president listened intently as he flew home on Air Force One from a rally in Georgia. (Everett, 12/7)
The Hill:
Warren Signals Concerns About Bipartisan Coronavirus Framework
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) signaled concerns on Monday about the framework of a bipartisan coronavirus relief package, the latest sign of skepticism from progressives in both chambers. Warren, speaking to reporters in the Capitol, stressed that there isn't even legislative text on the bicameral framework, but raised red flags over several areas including a GOP push for protections from coronavirus lawsuits. (Carney, 12/7)
Boston Globe:
Doctor Who Volunteered For Moderna Study Felt ‘Lousy’ After Second Shot, But Touts Vaccine
Jorge Arroyo isn’t certain whether he was injected with Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine or a placebo when he volunteered to receive two shots four weeks apart during the summer. Participants and researchers in the study at Brigham and Women’s Hospital were kept in the dark to eliminate the power of suggestion. But to Arroyo, it sure felt like he got the real thing. The Harvard-affiliated ophthalmologist ― one of about 30,000 participants in the Cambridge biotech’s nationwide trial ― says he began feeling ill about 10 hours following the second shot. The symptoms included body aches, slight nausea, and chills. What’s more, his husband, who also participated in the trial, had a similar reaction. (Saltzman, 12/7)
Reuters:
Explainer: I Just Got A COVID-19 Vaccine. Now What?
Clinical trials so far have not been designed to determine if an immunized person can still spread the coronavirus to someone else. Some vaccines, such as hepatitis A, do provide such protection - known as sterilizing immunity - but others do not. COVID-19 vaccine makers focused trials on determining whether the drug stopped people from getting ill. It will also be several more months before it becomes clear how long the vaccination will protect someone from coronavirus infection. (Beasley, 12/8)
The Washington Post:
Black Doctors, Scientists Try To Boost Trust In Coronavirus Vaccine For Black Community
The Rev. Liz Walker’s job is to minister to souls at Roxbury Presbyterian Church in Boston. But lately it’s her parishioners’ physical health — and their immune systems — keeping her up at night. Walker, a former journalist who was the first Black woman to co-anchor a newscast in Boston, was so troubled by her congregants’ suspicion of a coronavirus vaccine that she asked Anthony S. Fauci, the government’s top infectious-disease expert, to speak with them. (Fadulu, 12/7)
AP:
Years Of Research Laid Groundwork For Speedy COVID-19 Shots
How could scientists race out COVID-19 vaccines so fast without cutting corners? A head start helped -- over a decade of behind-the-scenes research that had new vaccine technology poised for a challenge just as the coronavirus erupted. “The speed is a reflection of years of work that went before,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, told The Associated Press. “That’s what the public has to understand.” (Neergaard, 12/7)
GenomeWeb:
FDA Authorizes Quest Diagnostics' COVID/Flu Test For Emergency Use
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday evening granted Emergency Use Authorization for the first time to a diagnostic test for at-home, self-collection of patient samples for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 and influenza A/B. The FDA authorized Quest Diagnostic's RC COVID-19 +Flu RT-PCR test for prescription use with the company's Self-Collection Kit for COVID-19 +Flu by individuals suspected of having a respiratory infection consistent with the coronavirus. If a healthcare provider determines that self-collection is appropriate for use with the test and self-collection kit, a patient can collect the sample at home and ship it to a Quest laboratory for analysis. (12/7)
CIDRAP:
Diabetes Drug Linked To Lower COVID-19 Death Rate In Women
A Lancet Healthy Longevity study yesterday found that metformin—a common, generic type 2 diabetes medication used to manage blood sugar levels—is associated with significantly lower COVID-19 death risk in women, but not in men. Severe COVID-19 outcomes for people with diabetes have been widely observed, including greater risk of intensive care unit admission, intubation for mechanical ventilation, and death, possibly related to less effective glycemic, or blood sugar, control in these patients. (Kubelbeck Paulsen, 12/4)
CIDRAP:
Patients With Severe COVID-19 Found To Be Infectious Twice As Long
A November Canada Communicable Disease Report suggests that patients with mild COVID-19 are no longer infectious 10 days after diagnosis, but patients with severe disease are generally infectious for at least 20 days. Researchers with the Public Health Agency of Canada reviewed 302 studies of the COVID-19 infectious period, including reviews, peer-reviewed publications, and preprint articles through Aug 31. (12/7)
CIDRAP:
Study: OK For Moms With COVID, Newborns To Share Hospital Room
Only 1 of 62 newborns who breastfed and roomed with their 61 COVID-19–infected mothers in Lombardy, Italy, was diagnosed as having the novel coronavirus, suggesting that mother-to-infant transmission is rare, according to a study published today in JAMA Pediatrics. From Mar 19 to May 2, the prospective, six-center study monitored the infant and mother pairs for 20 days after birth. The one infected newborn was taken to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) after 5 days, when the mother developed bilateral pneumonia and pulmonary embolism requiring mechanical ventilation for 14 days. Two days after arrival in the NICU, the infant tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and had periodic, mild shortness of breath for a few days. (Van Beusekom, 12/7)
CIDRAP:
With Or Without COVID-19, Households Have Pets With COVID Antibodies
During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, 3.3% of tested dogs and 5.8% of tested cats tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in northern Italy, with higher rates in COVID-affected households, according to a recent study published in Nature Communications. All had negative COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test results. Out of households with confirmed COVID infections, 6 of 47 (12.8%) dogs displayed antibodies and 1 in 22 (4.5%) cats did. The researchers also found antibodies in 2 of 133 (1.5%) dogs and 1 of 38 (2.6%) cats in confirmed COVID-negative households. (12/7)
The Wall Street Journal:
Exposed To Covid-19 During The Holidays? Here Are Safe Tests And Practices
The desserts were delicious, the reunions were warm, but you’ve just learned that someone at the holiday gathering you attended had Covid-19. What next? Today’s shorter quarantine guidelines, a variety of tests and newly available therapies call for updated protocols. So what should you do if you feel sick or if you spent time near the fellow guest who has been diagnosed? And is it safer to get tested if you’re considering meeting with family within the next several weeks? (Dizik, 12/7)
AP:
Why Are Some Scientists Turning Away From Brain Scans?
Brain scans offer a tantalizing glimpse into the mind’s mysteries, promising an almost X-ray-like vision into how we feel pain, interpret faces and wiggle fingers. Studies of brain images have suggested that Republicans and Democrats have visibly different thinking, that overweight adults have stronger responses to pictures of food and that it’s possible to predict a sober person’s likelihood of relapse. But such buzzy findings are coming under growing scrutiny as scientists grapple with the fact that some brain scan research doesn’t seem to hold up. (Renault, 12/8)
Modern Healthcare:
Anthem, Express Scripts Won't Face ERISA Proposed Class Action
A federal appeals court on Monday refused to revive a lawsuit alleging Anthem and Express Scripts overcharged employer plan beneficiaries for prescription drugs. The allegations stem from Anthem's decision to sell three of its pharmaceutical benefit management companies to Express Scripts in 2009, when it also entered a 10-year PBM agreement with the company. Those moves meant their employer-based insurance customers would pay more for prescription drugs, according to the lawsuit that sought class action status. The plaintiffs alleged the companies violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. (12/7)
Stat:
FDA Finds “Relatively Mild” Issues With Bristol Myers Squibb Plant
The Food and Drug Administration found problems during a recent inspection of a Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY) facility in Bothell, Wash., but a Wall Street analyst believes the findings were not serious enough to complicate approval of a cancer drug the company acquired in its $74 billion buyout of Celgene. (Silverman, 12/7)
Stat:
With New Data And A Storied History, Eli Lilly Blood Cancer Pill Looks Stronger
Three years ago, the biotech firm Loxo Oncology purchased a promising blood cancer pill for $40 million — part of a transaction that involved a near-bankruptcy, entrepreneurs with a keen eye, and a red-eye flight from Chicago to London. Now the medicine could go down as one of the great deals in biotech history, pending further data. (Herper, 12/7)
Stat:
Familes File Complaint With UN Over Vertex Cystric Fibrosis Drug Policies
In an unusual move, a coalition of cystic fibrosis patients and their families have filed a complaint with the United Nations, arguing that Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) is harming patient rights through prohibitive pricing and distribution policies for its life-saving medicines. Specifically, the group maintained that Vertex is violating UN policies on attaining standards for public health, which were issued in 2000 and maintain that health is a “fundamental human right.” (Silverman, 12/8)
AP:
Millions Of Hungry Americans Turn To Food Banks For 1st Time
The deadly pandemic that tore through the nation’s heartland struck just as Aaron Crawford was in a moment of crisis. He was looking for work, his wife needed surgery, then the virus began eating away at her work hours and her paycheck. The Crawfords had no savings, mounting bills and a growing dread: What if they ran out of food? The couple had two boys, 5 and 10, and boxes of macaroni and cheese from the dollar store could go only so far. (Cohen, 12/7)
AP:
Religious High Schools Sue To Reopen For In-Person Classes
Nonpublic schools sued Monday after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration extended a coronavirus order that prevents in-person instruction at Michigan high schools, saying it violates the First Amendment right to practice religion. The federal lawsuit, filed in Michigan’s Western District, was brought by a group representing more than 400 nonpublic schools across the state, as well as three Catholic high schools and 11 parents. The state health department lengthened the restriction by 12 days, through Dec. 20. It took effect Nov. 18 and also applies to public high schools and all colleges and universities. (Eggert, 12/8)
The New York Times:
Most Of California Locks Down Again As Coronavirus Strains Hospitals
Most of California was on lockdown on Monday as two vast regions, Southern California and the heavily agricultural San Joaquin Valley, reached a serious enough shortage of hospital beds to trigger new restrictions set by the state to slow the spread of the coronavirus. California is averaging 21,000 new known cases a day, twice as many as the state was reporting at its worst point this summer and by far its highest levels of the pandemic. (Fuller, Cowan and Tompkins, 12/7)
AP:
California Releases Smartphone Virus Tool As Cases Soar
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday announced a voluntary smartphone tool to alert people of possible coronavirus exposure as cases soar higher, new restrictions are imposed and many people still say they won’t heed the pleas to stay home. The tool — which has been used on a pilot basis on some state university campuses — doesn’t track people’s identities or locations but uses Bluetooth wireless signals to detect when two phones are within 6 feet (1.8 meters) of each other for at least 15 minutes, officials said. (Taxin and Beam, 12/7)
Boston Globe:
Baker Says Mass. Hospitals Will ‘Curtail’ Inpatient Elective Procedures Amid COVID-19 Spike
In a troubling echo of the pandemic’s early days, Governor Charlie Baker said Monday that Massachusetts hospitals will temporarily curtail inpatient elective surgeries to make room for a further influx of patients with COVID-19. Starting Friday, hospitals will limit “elective procedures that can be safely postponed,” Baker said at State House briefing. “This action will free up necessary staffing and beds.” (Abel and Andersen, 12/7)
Politico:
Cuomo Outlines Fauci-Approved Shutdown Plans Amid Hospitalization Uptick
New dining restrictions could hit New York City as early as next Monday amid an increase in Covid-19 hospitalizations and holiday-related transmission, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday, outlining a new approach to how the state determines closures. Indoor dining could shut down, along with broader lockdowns, if New Yorkers don’t take steps to reduce small, indoor gatherings — the top driver of Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations across the state, the governor, joined remotely by Dr. Anthony Fauci, told reporters Monday. (Eisenberg, 12/7)
The Washington Post:
Florida Police Raid House Of Fired Data Scientist Who Alleged State Manipulated Covid-19 Stats
Florida police officers with guns drawn raided the home of an ousted health department data scientist Monday morning, searching for the former agency employee’s most powerful tools: her computer, her phone and other hardware that supports the coronavirus website she set up after accusing the state of manipulating its official numbers. Law enforcement officials allege the scientist, Rebekah Jones, may have also used the devices to hack into a health department website in November and to send an unauthorized message to Florida emergency personnel, urging them to speak out against the state’s pandemic response. She has denied the accusation. (Thebault, 12/7)
The Hill:
Husband Of Colorado Governor Taken To Hospital For COVID-19
The husband of Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) was admitted to the hospital on Sunday after he and Polis both tested positive for COVID-19 late last month. The governor’s office said in a Monday statement that Colorado's first gentleman Marlon Reis was “admitted to the hospital following shortness of breath and a worsening cough.” (Pitofsky, 12/7)
Axios:
Canada To Get First Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccines Next Week, Trudeau Says
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Monday that Canada will begin receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine from next week. ... "The first Canadians will be vaccinated next week if we have approval from Health Canada this week," Trudeau told a briefing confirming that the country will receive up to 249,000 doses of the vaccine by the month's end. (Falconer, 12/8)
Bloomberg:
Canada Has Reserved More Covid Vaccine Doses Per Person Than Anywhere
Canada already had enough potential Covid-19 vaccines secured to protect a population almost four times its size. It just added another 20 million doses to the pile and accelerated its vaccination calendar. The government doubled its order from Moderna Inc. to 40 million doses, the U.S. pharmaceutical company said Monday. And the first 249,000 doses from another supplier, Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE, are set to arrive next week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday, kick-starting a vaccination campaign ahead of schedule. (Rastello and Bolongaro, 12/7)
Bloomberg:
Abu Dhabi To Start Clinical Trials For Russian Covid-19 Vaccine
Abu Dhabi has started a volunteer program for Phase 3 clinical trials of Russia’s Covid-19 vaccine, Sputnik V. The oil-rich capital of the United Arab Emirates is initially seeking 500 volunteers, according to the Abu Dhabi Government Media Office. Russian president President Vladimir Putin announced the registration of Sputnik V in August and a second inoculation was approved in October. (Elbahrawy, 12/8)
AP:
UN Makes Dec. 27 'Epidemic Preparedness' Day
The United Nations General Assembly has approved a resolution proclaiming Dec. 27 as the International Day of Epidemic Preparedness to keep a global spotlight on the need to strengthen global measures to prevent pandemics like COVID-19. The resolution adopted Monday by consensus by the 193-member world body expresses “grave concern at the devastating impacts of major infectious diseases and epidemics, as exemplified by the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, on human lives.” (12/8)