December 2 coronavirus news

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Read the full story.

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

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

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

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

According to CTP data, the highest hospitalization numbers are:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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