Vaccine could be available to "all Americans" by early April, Azar says
From CNN’s Leanna Faulk
Alex Azar, US Health and Human Services secretary, speaks at a Covid-19 briefing in Atlanta on October 21. Alyssa Pointer/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/AP
A coronavirus vaccine could be available to “all Americans” by early April, according to US Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar.
“By the end of January, enough vaccine for all of our seniors as well as our health care workers and first responders,” Azar said in an interview Thursday with “CBS This Morning’s” Anthony Mason. “By the end of March and early April – enough for all Americans.”
Azar said HHS will have enough vaccines authorized by the US Food and Drug Administration to vaccinate “our most vulnerable people” by the end of the year.
11:18 a.m. ET, October 22, 2020
Boston mayor calls suspension of in-person learning "devastating"
From CNN's Adrienne Vogt
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh on CNN's "Newsroom" on October 22. CNN
After a rise in the coronavirus positivity rate, all Boston public schools are going remote starting today.
“We haven’t seen that type of jump since May, quite honestly,” Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said in an interview on CNN.
Special-needs students will be the first to go back to in-person schooling once the city gets to 5% for a two-week consecutive period, Walsh said. The city is looking into setting up at-home services for the students, he said.
"It was devastating for me to have to close the schools yesterday," Walsh said.
“I feel sad we're at this situation. But we need people to protect themselves. We need people to wear masks, we need people to stop congregating, we need people to take this virus seriously,” he said. “…We're asking people, particularly people under the age of 30, to really look out for each other. You might not be worried about the virus, but you're impacting other people."
11:00 a.m. ET, October 22, 2020
Portugal reports a record 3,270 new Covid-19 infections
From CNN’s Vasco Cotovio
A nurse names people being tested for Covid-19 in Cascais, Portugal, on September 14. Patricia De Melo Moreira/AFP/Getty Images
Portuguese health authorities have reported a record 3,270 new Covid-19 infections on Thursday, the highest daily increase since the pandemic first reached the country.
It is also more than double the highest daily increase seen at the peak of the first wave –1,516 on April 10, according to CNN records.
Most new infections were reported in the northern part of the country where most industries are concentrated. Earlier on Thursday, three municipalities in Northern Portugal were placed in a partial lockdown to curb the spread of the virus.
Health authorities in the country also reported an additional 16 fatalities in the past 24 hours, with the death toll from Covid-19 rising to 2,245.
10:48 a.m. ET, October 22, 2020
Germany will require travelers from the UK to quarantine
From CNN's Christian Streib in London
Germany will require arrivals from the UK to quarantine for 14 days starting Saturday, according to guidance released Thursday by the German Missions in the United Kingdom.
Starting Saturday, Germany will classify the UK as a "COVID high-risk area," with the exception of the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey.
"The United Kingdom has been strongly affected by COVID-19," according to the German Missions in the United Kingdom. "Passengers travelling from these high risk areas must therefore undergo a 14-day quarantine upon entering Germany, unless they can provide a COVID-19 test that is no older than 48 hours, or get a test done upon arrival and it is negative. Those who get a test done upon arrival, must undergo quarantine until the result has arrived."
10:44 a.m. ET, October 22, 2020
Southwest Airlines says it will sell every seat
From CNN’s Pete Muntean and Greg Wallace
A Southwest Airlines plane prepares to land at McCarran International Airport in Nevada on May 25. Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Southwest Airlines is about to sell every seat on board its flights.
The news comes on the heels of the airline announcing record financial losses because of the pandemic.
In a Thursday earnings report, Southwest announced it will no longer limit capacity on flights starting Dec. 1. The change marks an end to Southwest’s pandemic policy and allows it the opportunity to fill planes through the typically busy holiday travel season.
“This practice of effectively keeping middle seats open bridged us from the early days of the pandemic, when we had little knowledge about the behavior of the virus, to now,” Southwest said. “Today, aligned with science-based findings from trusted medical and aviation organizations, we will resume selling all available seats for travel beginning December 1, 2020.”
That leaves Delta Air Lines as the final remaining big four carrier to limit capacity in aircraft cabins. Executives have said that policy will continue until next year. United Airlines and American Airlines have been selling every seat for months.
Alaska Airlines announced Thursday it will extend its policy of blocking middle seats until Jan. 6.
A recently-released Defense Department study found that among mask-wearing airplane passengers, the risk of airborne droplet transmission in airplanes is limited due to specialized air flow and filtration systems.
10:42 a.m. ET, October 22, 2020
New Jersey governor will continue to quarantine despite negative Covid-19 test
From CNN’s Anna Sturla
Gov. Phil Murphy speaks at an event on October 21 in Blackwood, New Jersey. He told attendees that he must leave the event after just finding out that he'd been in contact with someone who had tested positive for Covid-19. New Jersey Office of the Governor/AP
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said he would continue to quarantine and test after a senior communications adviser tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday.
The governor told MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle that while he had tested negative twice, "we're going to test a couple more times negative before we get back out and start reengaging with people."
Noting the rise in cases in his state, Murphy said he hopes with all of his “heart” the state does not have to shut down again. In terms of mitigating the rise, he thinks the best approach is with a “scalpel” rather than a “hammer,” pertaining to potential targeted action.
Murphy added that the state was concerned about "COVID fatigue," but that enforcement had become complicated by a rise in indoor gatherings instead of large, visible public ones.
He said most of the challenge is not in the “public square.”
"It is much more often now in private homes, beyond your ability to, you know, regulate or more importantly, enforce compliance," Murphy said.
The governor said he had offered prayers for the recovery of his predecessor, Chris Christie, who was recently hospitalized for coronavirus, and who wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal urging people to wear masks.
"It takes somebody with a lot of character to stand up and say, 'You know what? I screwed up, or I was wrong,'" Murphy said. "Whether it's with Gov. Christie, whether it's with other folks across the political spectrum, I do think there's an opportunity here to say, wait a minute, this isn't politics."
10:29 a.m. ET, October 22, 2020
Puerto Rico closes 911 centers after employees test positive for Covid-19
From CNN's Roxanne Garcia
Puerto Rico has closed the island's 911 emergency call centers after employees at both locations tested positive for coronavirus, Public Health Secretary Pedro Janer said in a statement.
Janer said the island will be using central control as a point of contact in order to ensure operations and emergencies are tended to correctly. This will operate 24 hours a day with appropriate staffing, he added.
For emergency situations residents are being told to call the Puerto Rico Emergency Management Agency. Personnel there will then launch all calls to the respective municipalities or state, Janer said.
All employees who may have come into contact with a positive case have been asked to quarantine and will be tested in the coming days.
10:24 a.m. ET, October 22, 2020
Parts of Portugal are under partial lockdown
From CNN’s Vasco Cotovio in London
The Portuguese government has placed three municipalities in the northern part of the country under partial lockdown after a surge in new infections.
Residents in the municipalities of Felgueiras, Lousada and Paços de Ferreira must stay indoors except to go to work, acquire goods or services, for health reasons, to assist vulnerable family members or to take children to school, the Portuguese government said in a statement on Thursday.
The restrictions require all business to close no later than 10 p.m. and all gatherings and events are restricted to no more than five people.
Those who can work from home must do so, the statement reads. Visitations at care homes will also be suspended.
10:18 a.m. ET, October 22, 2020
Moderna enrolls all 30,000 participants in US Phase 3 Covid-19 vaccine trial
From CNN's Elizabeth Cohen
A man in DeLand, Florida, receives an injection on August 4 as part of a Phase 3 Covid-19 vaccine clinical trial, sponsored by Moderna. Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto/Getty Images
Moderna, the first company to start US clinical trials of a Covid-19 vaccine, finished enrolling all 30,000 of its participants on Thursday.
All 30,000 have received their first shot, and most of them have also received the required second shot.
Dr. Stephen Hoge, Moderna's president, said the company is now on track to apply to the US Food and Drug Administration for authorization to put the vaccine on the market in early December “if all the stars align.”
Hoge said enrolling 30,000 participants is “just a milestone – it’s not the mission.” Half of the participants received the vaccine and half received a placebo, or a shot of saline that does nothing. The participants receive a second shot four weeks later.
Some background: Moderna is one of four US Phase 3 trials of coronavirus vaccines, each involving tens of thousands of participants.
Moderna started its Phase 3 trial on July 27, and Pfizer started its trial that evening. AstraZeneca started its US trial Aug. 31 and paused it about a week later when a participant fell ill. Johnson & Johnson started its trial Sept. 23 and paused it less than three weeks later for the same reason. Both of those pauses are still in effect.
Pfizer has said it could apply for emergency use authorization after the third week in November
What happens next: Hoge said three things needs to happen before Moderna applies to the FDA for emergency use authorization.
Of the 30,000 participants, 53 need to become sick with Covid-19. The company expects that to happen in the second half of November.
The second milestone is that of the 53 participants who become ill with Covid-19, at least 40 of them need to be participants who received the placebo. That would show the vaccine is 75% effective.
The third milestone is a requirement by the FDA to ensure that enough time has passed to see if participants develop side effects. (The FDA rule is that at least eight weeks must pass after half the participants have received their second shot before a company can apply for emergency use authorization.) So far, 25,650 participants have received their second shot, and Hoge said Moderna expects to hit this safety milestone in the second half of November.
Moderna also released the racial breakdown of its study participants on Thursday. Of the 30,000 participants, 20% are Latino and 10% are Black. Those are higher than the percentages the company was achieving early in its trial, but still lower than the percentages sought by Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institutes for Allergies and Infectious Diseases.
