Dr. Fauci explains why his herd immunity estimate has shifted
4:27
What you need to know
President Trump signed the massive $2.3 trillion dollar coronavirus relief and government funding bill into law Sunday night, extending billions of dollars in aid to millions of Americans.
Meanwhile, the House passed a measure to increase stimulus checks for Americans under a certain income level to $2,000. The measure will now move to the Senate.
Our live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic has moved here.
Updates
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FDA issues updated guidance confirming providers can squeeze an extra dose or two out of Pfizer vaccine vials
From CNN Health’s Shelby Lin Erdman
A doctor holds a vial containing the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine during vaccinations at a nursing home on December 27 in Grossraeschen, Germany.
Sean Gallup/Getty Images
The US Food and Drug Administration on Monday issued an updated authorization letter and healthcare provider fact sheet on appropriate dosing of the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine.
The agency said the updates are “consistent with previous FDA advice that it would be acceptable to use every full dose obtainable (the sixth, or possibly even a seventh) from each vial” until scientists can resolve the issue.
Almost two weeks ago, when the first Pfizer vaccines rolled out, some providers realized there was an extra dose or two in the vaccine vials that were supposed to contain only five shots. The FDA said at the time it was fine to squeeze an extra shot or two out of the vials.
What’s in the fact sheet? The fact sheet for healthcare providers is a summary of the instructions for administering a Covid-19 vaccine on how to store, thaw, prepare and administer the vaccine.
The fact sheet includes a reminder to providers enrolled in the federal Covid-19 Vaccination Program to report all administration errors, serious adverse events, cases of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome (MIS) in adults and children, and cases of coronavirus that result in hospitalizations or death following a Pfizer/BioNTech shot.
The instructions contain a warning against giving the Pfizer vaccine to people with a history of severe allergic reactions. The agency said treatment used to manage severe allergic reactions must be immediately available onsite in case of an anaphylactic reaction.
The agency also warned against mixing the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, specifying that an initial Pfizer shot should be followed up with another Pfizer shot three weeks later, and the same for the Moderna vaccine.
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Canada has now reported more than 15,000 Covid-19 deaths
From CNN's Gisela Crespo
A paramedic stands next to an ambulance outside a hospital in Montreal, Canada, on Monday, December 28.
Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press/AP
Canada has reported more than 15,000 Covid-19 deaths, according to data from the country’s Public Health Agency published Monday.
The country is now reporting 555,207 coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic and 15,121 total deaths.
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Coronavirus has been with us for a year. Here's what we still don't know
From CNN's Julia Hollingsworth
When China first reported cases of coronavirus to the World Health Organization on December 31, 2019, it was described as a mysterious new strain of pneumonia. It didn’t even have a name.
Within two weeks, Chinese scientists had identified the virus’ genome sequence, the genetic code that makes up the virus. Within three weeks, the first test kits had been created and then shared by the WHO. And just over 11 months since the virus was reported to the WHO, the first people were vaccinated, making the shots the fastest vaccines ever developed.
The speed at which we’ve learned about coronavirus is unprecedented and scientists say we already know a remarkable amount.
But one year on, with more than 81 million reported infections and 1.7 million deathsaround the world, there’s still a lot we don’t know about Covid-19.
Those unknowns range from the basics – such as how the virus started – to the more complicated questions, including how will this pandemic end?
South Korea records highest daily Covid-19 death toll
From CNN's Yoonjung Seo in Seoul
South Korea reported 40 coronavirus-related deaths for Monday, the highest number of fatalities reported in a single day since the pandemic began, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
In a statement released on Tuesday, the KDCA said the country’s total death toll due to Covid-19 is now at 859.
South Korea reported 1,046 new cases of Covid-19 for Monday, 1,030 of which were locally transmitted. Of those, 802 infections were from the Seoul metropolitan area.
The East Asian country has recorded a total of 58,725 Covid-19 cases, the statement said.
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Health expert explains how hospitals can ration care as Covid-19 hospitalizations hit record high
From CNN Health’s Lauren Mascarenhas
CNN medical analyst Dr. Jonathan Reiner.
Source: CNN via Cisco Webex
CNN medical analyst Dr. Jonathan Reiner explained how providers could start rationing care as coronavirus hospitalizations hit a record high in the United States on Monday.
The US reported 121,235 current Covid-19 hospitalizations Monday, a record high since the pandemic began.
“If you don’t have respirators, you don’t have nurses to care for patients, you don’t have ICU beds, we will have to have these terrible discussions with families, which is why people need to stay home, and when they go out, they need to wear a mask,” he said.
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US needs to ramp up Covid-19 vaccination effort, health expert says
From CNN’s Lauren Mascarenhas
Dr. Ashish Jha.
Source: CNN
The US needs to ramp up its Covid-19 vaccination effort, Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, said Monday.
“You’re hearing from the manufacturers, like Pfizer, saying they’ve got millions of doses sitting around waiting for those vaccine doses to be allocated,” he added.
Jha noted that other countries, like Israel and Canada, are moving at a much faster pace on their own vaccination efforts.
“We really do have to ramp this up,” he said. “Things are in a crisis.”
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US hits record number of Covid-19 hospitalizations
From CNN's Virginia Langmaid
Registered Nurse Jacqueline Fiel tends to a Covid-19 patient inside the intensive care unit of Providence St. Jude Medical Center on December 25 in Fullerton, California.
Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images
The United States reported 121,235 Covid-19 hospitalizations on Monday, setting a new record high since the pandemic began, according to the Covid Tracking Project (CTP).
This is the 27th consecutive day that the US has remained above 100,000 current hospitalizations.
According to CTP data, these days had the highest hospitalization numbers:
Dec. 28: 121,235 people hospitalized
Dec. 24: 120,151 people hospitalized
Dec. 23: 119,463 people hospitalized
Dec. 25: 118,948 people hospitalized
Dec. 27: 118,720 people hospitalized
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House votes to increase stimulus checks to $2,000
From CNN's Kristin Wilson and Clare Foran
Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
The House has passed the Caring for Americans with Supplemental Help (CASH) Act of 2020 by the slimmest of margins, with just enough Republicans crossing over and supporting a measure that was championed by President, and sending the bill to the Senate.
The provision increases the amount of money individuals and families receive in stimulus checks, and echoes demands made by Trump over the past week to provide more funding to Americans suffering economic hardship in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
The 275-134 vote, which garnered enough bipartisan support to reach the two-thirds majority threshold required to pass under suspension, increases the amount of the stimulus checks from $600 to $2,000 per individual.
Eligibility for the checks is determined by a person’s most recent tax returns. Anyone who made under $75,000 as an individual or $150,000 as a couple would receive the full amount. The amount individuals receive decreases by $5 for every $100 a person makes over $75,000. In short, that means that individuals who make over $99,000 would not be eligible nor would couples making more than $198,000.
What’s next: Now that the bill has passed the House with Republican votes, it will put Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in a tough position of having to decide whether to bring the provision to the floor in the Senate as a standalone bill.
While the President has been urging Republicans up the payments, many Republicans in McConnell’s ranks have made it clear they don’t think an increase is warranted given how much it would increase the price tag of the stimulus bill. A vote on the checks would likely divide the GOP conference and force some members to endure Trump’s ire in his final days in office.
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Stay-at-home order in parts of California will likely be extended
From CNN's Sarah Moon
People walk along the Venice Beach Boardwalk on December 27 in Los Angeles, California.
Damian Dovarganes/AP
The regional stay-at-home order for Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley is likely to be extended, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced in a news conference on Monday.
While the three-week order was set to expire Monday, Newsom said it’s very likely that the order will be extended based on current trends. Intensive care unit bed capacity for these regions has fallen to 0%.
Once Monday’s data is collected, Dr. Mark Ghaly, the state’s Health and Human Services secretary, will announce projections based on a four-week period on Tuesday, according to Newsom. Stay-at-home orders for the greater Sacramento region will expire on Jan. 1 and a week after for the Bay Area.
California added 33,170 new cases of coronavirus and 64 additional deaths on Monday. Newsom warned that the slightly lower number of deaths is due to a reporting lag over the weekend.
The continued surge of cases and hospitalizations in the Southern California region is challenging the health care system, particularly in Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties, said Newsom. The state is deploying additional staff to Los Angeles County to assist.
The state is also partnering with CVS and Walgreens to provide doses of the Pfizer vaccine to residents and staff in long-term care facilities, Newsom announced. Pharmacy staff will be administering the vaccine by going directly to care facilities.
A total of 261,672 doses of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have been administered as of Dec. 26, Newsom said. By the end of this week, California will have received 1.76 million doses of the vaccine.
The state is also discussing the next phase of vaccine distribution, which includes people over 75 years of age, workers in education and childcare, emergency services, and food and agriculture.
To date, California has a total of 2,155,976 coronavirus cases and 24,284 deaths.
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.
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Novavax testing its vaccine against UK coronavirus variant
From CNN's Elizabeth Cohen and Michael Nedelman
Biotech company Novavax — which announced the launch of a phase 3 trial of its Covid-19 vaccine in the US on Monday — confirmed it is also testing its vaccine against the UK strain of coronavirus that appears to transmit more easily.
“We are actively testing sera against the new UK strain,” the company said in a statement Monday, adding that “results will take several weeks.”
This will involve taking blood from trial participants who received the vaccine and checking to see if their antibodies neutralize the UK strain in the lab.
Novavax joins other pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer and Moderna, which are also testing their vaccines against this strain — which has become widespread in the UK and has appeared in many other countries. The variant appears to be more transmissible, but there’s no indication it causes more severe disease.
The statement noted there have been other coronavirus variants, and the company believes its vaccine will create an “immune response that covers these sequence variants and will be protective.”
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$600 relief checks expected to start going out this week — but timing could slide, Trump official says
From CNN's Kaitlan Collins
A Trump administration official said they still expect the individual $600 coronavirus relief checks to go out this week but acknowledged the timing could slide.
President Trump signed the massive coronavirus relief bill Sunday night, after withholding his signature from the bill for almost a week.
The coronavirus relief package provides for $600 checks, but CNN has reported that experts said it would take at least two weeks for the Treasury Department to get cash into individuals’ bank accounts, once the legislation had been signed.
Read more of CNN’s reporting on stimulus check distribution here.
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The US has administered 2.1 million vaccine doses, according to CDC
From CNN's John Bonifield
A clinical pharmacist with Seattle Indian Health Board prepares to administer a shot of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine on December 21 in Seattle, Washington.
Karen Ducey/Getty Images
Approximately 2.1 million vaccine doses have been administered in the United States, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
As of 9 a.m. Monday, the CDC Covid Data Tracker said 11,445,175 doses have been distributed and 2,127,143 have been administered.
That’s an additional 1,897,250 doses distributed, and 182,558 doses administered since the CDC’s figures were last updated on Saturday.
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CEO of L.A. hospital says staff may have to ration care if number of coronavirus patients rises
From CNN’s Lauren Mascarenhas
Dr. Elaine Batchlor, CEO of Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital in Los Angeles, speaks with CNN on December 28.
CNN
Dr. Elaine Batchlor, CEO of Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital in Los Angeles, said Monday that staff may soon have to ration care if the number of coronavirus patients rises.
Batchlor said her hospital is so overwhelmed with coronavirus cases, it is now treating patients in the gift shop and chapel.
“If we continue to see an increase in the number of Covid patients, we may be forced to do something that, as health professionals, we all really just loathe having to even think about,” Batchlor told CNN’s Brooke Baldwin.
Batchlor said the hospital will not turn patients away but may have to employ techniques that have been used during times of war.
“We use what in the battlefield is called triage techniques, which is doing an assessment of each person’s needs and prognosis and using scarce resources with patients that are most likely to benefit from them,” she said.
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Cuba will impose new travel restrictions following rise in Covid-19 cases
From CNN's Patrick Oppmann and Claudia Dominguez
Cuba will restrict international flights coming from several countries and tighten border restrictions starting Jan. 1, 2021 after a rise in new coronavirus cases in the island, according to the Cuban state-run Cuba Debate.
The new measures include temporarily restrict the arrival of travelers from the US, Mexico, Panama, Bahamas, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. From Jan. 10, travelers from the rest of the countries will be required to show a negative Covid-19 PCR test taken 72 hours before traveling, and follow health protocols established by authorities upon arrival to Cuba, according to Cuba’s Ministry of Public Health.
The country has seen a surge in new coronavirus cases recently after international travelers started arriving in the country, Cuba’s Ministry of Public Health said on its website.
Cuba reopened its international airports in November after partially closing them in March in an effort to reduce Covid-19 infections.
At least 71.5% of the new cases detected were traced to travelers arriving from the US, Mexico, Panama, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and the Bahamas, among other countries, Cuba Debate reported.
The ministry’s National Director of Epidemiology, Dr. Francisco Duran Garcia, said that 3,783 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in the country between the beginning of November and Dec. 23, according to the state-run news outlet.
Reducing the number of travelers will decrease the number of cases that are being “imported into the country,” Garcia was quoted as saying by Cuba Debate.
Cuban health officials on Monday reported a total of 229 new Covid-19 cases and one new death in the past 24 hours. Cuba has so far registered a total of 11,434 coronavirus cases and 143 deaths, according to the country’s health ministry.
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"Growing concern" over very high level of Covid-19 infection in England
From CNN’s Sarah Dean and Samantha Tapfumaneyi
The UK recorded a further 41,385 coronavirus cases on Monday, breaking its daily record since the pandemic began.
Responding to the data, Dr. Yvonne Doyle, Medical Director for Public Health England, said the very high level of Covid-19 infection in England is of “growing concern.”
The increase comes at a time when “hospitals are at their most vulnerable, with new admission rising in many regions,” Doyle added.
Figures from NHS England show 20,426 hospital beds are currently occupied by confirmed Covid-19 cases.
This is worse than the figure forecast by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) and the Health Service Journal (HSJ) earlier in December, when they warned the government should reverse its decision to relax Covid-19 restrictions over Christmas. They predicted hospitalizations in England on New Year’s Eve could be just short of the pandemic’s peak in April (19,000) unless tighter measures were brought in.
The government did ultimately bring in tougher restrictions in many parts of England. It reversed a plan allowing people in the rest of England to get together for five days around Christmas, cutting the window down to just one day – Christmas Day itself. The U-turn came in response to the detection of a new variant of Covid-19 that appears to spread more rapidly.
“Despite unprecedented levels of infection, there is hope on the horizon,” Doyle said in a statement released Monday. The UK has begun its vaccination program with the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is set to receive UK regulatory approval within days. It could be rolled out by January 4, British media reported on Sunday.
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More than 334,000 people have died from coronavirus in the US
From CNN’s Virginia Langmaid
There have been at least 19,221,164 cases of coronavirus in the US, and at least 334,025 people have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
So far today, Johns Hopkins has recorded 88,438 new cases and 907 reported deaths.
At least 9,547,925 vaccine doses have been distributed and at least 1,944,585 doses of the vaccine have been administered, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The totals include cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases.
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New Jersey will vaccinate more than 30,000 long-term care residents and staff this week
From CNN’s Taylor Romine
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy speaks during a news conference following the first coronavirus vaccinations at University Hospital's Covid-19 vaccine clinic in Newark, New Jersey, on December 15.
Seth Wenig/AP
New Jersey is expected to vaccinate approximately 31,000 long-term care residents and staff by the end of this week, Gov. Phil Murphy said in a Monday news conference.
The state started its long-term care vaccination program this morning, with CVS planning to visit 85 long-term care facilities and provide more than 27,600 vaccinations, Murphy said. Walgreens is expected to visit 15 different care sites and provide approximately 4,100 vaccinations, he continued.
Murphy later clarified that the “mega sites” will be open only to those in the current phase of vaccine distribution. It is likely that these sites will mostly serve health care workers, he said.
What the numbers look like: New Jersey reported 2,745 new Covid-19 cases and 21 additional deaths, with a positivity rate of 10.98%. There are currently 3,684 people hospitalized with 715 patients in intensive care, Murphy said.
As of today, 220,425 doses of vaccines have been delivered overall with 46,217 doses administered, according to Department of Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli. These numbers might change as they get updated reports from over the weekend, she said.
Murphy also addressed an event of 200 people shut down over the weekend, saying that while he didn’t have all the details it sounded “incredibly irresponsible.” He said that it will likely be difficult for contact tracers to get in touch with everyone related to the event.
Note: These numbers were released by the state of New Jersey, and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project.
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These Americans have been waiting for new Covid-19 aid for months. They say the latest bill is not enough.
From CNN's Maureen Chowdhury
Oliver Contreras/Bloomberg/Getty Images
President Trump signed the the $900 billion Covid-19 relief package on Sunday, after he initially threw the bill in doubt by asking Congress to amend it right before the Christmas holiday.
The legislation, which was negotiated on a bipartisan basis, provides for $600 in direct payments. After the deal passed in Congress, Trump called for $2,000 checks instead.
CNN asked you, our viewers and readers, after Congress passed the bill for your thoughts on the latest relief package. Many expressed frustrations over the direct payment of $600 and said the bill does not provide enough assistance.
Briana, from Concord, North Carolina, lost her job as a business development coordinator for a massage franchise due to the pandemic back in March and hasn’t received unemployment payments since October. She and her husband now rely on unsteady income they make from a small flooring company they own, where her husband also works.
She told CNN that while the $600 stimulus check is beneficial, it is not enough for her family to get through the next few months, especially since she’s concerned about making her mortgage payments on time.
“$600 per adult plus the $500 per child is not enough to get us through, let’s just say four months,” she said.
“So, we have been very, very frugal with our money,” Briana explained.
She said the first stimulus package from earlier this year was much more helpful.
Briana also noted that her situation is especially difficult since she made the decision to homeschool her 7-year-old daughter because of the uncertainty over in-person and virtual learning.
She told CNN that homeschooling takes up six to seven hours of her day, and she also dedicates time assisting her daughter with schoolwork. While Briana has been looking for work, it’s been difficult to find a job that works with her current schedule.
“People like me and my family, fall between the cracks,” she said. “We need some help.”
Nicole, a self-employed hairdresser from Los Angeles, California, who has been out of work for most of the year, called the $600 payment an “insult.” She’s been relying on the income of her husband and unemployment payments.
“We’re two income household and we need two incomes to make it work,” Nicole told CNN. Being unable to work has been a “big hit,” she said.
She told CNN the current package is not enough, and like Briana, she said the first stimulus package was more helpful.
She also expressed frustrations on how long it took for the current package to pass, calling it “unacceptable.”
The US House of Representatives could pass a provision Monday night aimed at increasing the amount of money individuals and families receive in stimulus checks to $2,000.
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Man who lost his job and savings due to pandemic says $600 direct payments are "insulting"
Matthew Cox speaks with CNN on Monday, December 28.
CNN
Matthew Cox lost his job as a manager in the service industry and has been searching for full-time employment since August.
He had to relocate his family from south Florida to Indiana so his wife’s family could help with child care. Now, he’s working for the food delivery service DoorDash and makes about $300 a month.
“It doesn’t even pay the rent. So I have had to borrow money from my family, I’ve had to sell some stuff, take out savings and 401(k). So I’m at the point now where it’s kind of living day to day,” Cox said.
After months of negotiations, President Trump finally approved a $900 billion relief package that includes $600 direct stimulus payments to help people like Cox – but he said it’s not enough.
“When the federal government says ‘hey this is what we’re going to do and this is the numbers we’re going to get and hope everyone is happy,’ for us out there making less money or no money, it doesn’t really do a whole lot for us,” he added.
Tonight: The House of Representatives is set to vote on a measure to increase stimulus checks for Americans under a certain income level to $2,000. More direct payments was something Trump argued for before signing the bill this weekend.
House Republicans blocked an effort by Democrats to advance $2,000 checks last week, but the House will try again on Monday with a floor vote. That vote will require a two-thirds majority to pass since it is taking place under a suspension of the rules, a threshold that means it would need a wide margin of bipartisan support to be approved.
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Spain's Covid-19 death toll surpasses 50,000
From CNN’s Duarte Mendonca
Spain has reported an additional 298 coronavirus deaths since its last data was published on Thursday. That brings the country’s total death toll to 50,122 since the pandemic began, according to Spain’s health ministry.
The country currently sits 10th in the global coronavirus death toll list, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
The health ministry also reported 24,462 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of cases to 1,879,413, the data shows.
