November 30 coronavirus news

By Helen Regan, Brett McKeehan, Emma Reynolds, Ed Upright, Jo Shelley, Melissa Macaya, Mike Hayes and Meg Wagner, CNN

Updated 0504 GMT (1304 HKT) December 1, 2020
75 Posts
Sort byDropdown arrow
11:22 p.m. ET, November 30, 2020

"If you want to be part of the solution, get vaccinated," says Fauci

From CNN Health’s Lauren Mascarenhas

Mark Zuckerberg and Dr. Fauci.
Mark Zuckerberg and Dr. Fauci. Source: Mark Zuckerberg FB

Dr. Anthony Fauci urged Americans on Monday to get vaccinated for Covid-19 once a vaccine is available to them.

Most Americans who want to be vaccinated will be able to do so by April or May next year, said Fauci, who is director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. 

“As long as you’re susceptible, you are part of the problem,” Fauci told Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. “If you want to be part of the solution, get vaccinated and say, ‘I'm not going to be one of the people that's going to be a stepping stone for the virus to go to somebody else. I'm going to be a dead end to the virus.’” 

Fauci said it’s understandable that some people, especially those from certain minority communities, are hesitant to get vaccinated. But the benefits outweigh the risks, he said.

“We've got to reach out and engage them at the community level to make sure that that reluctance, for reasons that are understandable, don't prevent people who really need the vaccine from getting the vaccine,” he said.

10:41 p.m. ET, November 30, 2020

Operation Warp Speed chief adviser outlines timeline for coronavirus vaccine shipment

From CNN Health’s Shelby Lin Erdman

Dr. Moncef Slaoui delivers an update on "Operation Warp Speed" in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington on Nov. 13.
Dr. Moncef Slaoui delivers an update on "Operation Warp Speed" in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington on Nov. 13. Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

The potential coronavirus vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna will be shipped out to states as soon as the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices makes its recommendation -- and the US Food and Drug Administration grants the emergency use authorizations, according to the White House vaccine czar.

Dr. Moncef Slaoui, the chief scientific adviser of Operation Warp Speed, a public-private partnership to accelerate development of vaccines, told CNN’s Erin Burnett Monday that he hopes the two decisions take place “almost simultaneously.”

The shipments can then start immediately, he said.

“Within 24 hours, the vaccines will be at the addresses that each state health agency will have indicated to us to ship a certain amount of vaccine doses there,” Slaoui said. “I assume that day or the next day, the first immunizations can take place. So it will be very fast."
“What's important to note is the number of doses, the amount of vaccine that we have is still limited in comparison to the needs."

Slaoui said there are about 120 million people at risk in the US.

“We will have by the end of the month of December about 40 million doses of vaccine. So it's going to take a while for all Americans who need it on a priority level to get it. But, you know, over probably two or two and a half months, they will all get it."

Those over 65, health care workers and frontline workers are first in line to get the vaccine, he said.

Both Pfizer and Moderna have filed for an emergency use authorization for a Covid-19 vaccine from the FDA.

10:03 p.m. ET, November 30, 2020

Chicago officials shut down "illegal" 300-person party as city tries to get Covid surge under control

From CNN's Omar Jimenez and Raja Razek

Chicago officials shut down illegal 300-person party as city tries to get Covid-19 surge under control.
Chicago officials shut down illegal 300-person party as city tries to get Covid-19 surge under control. Source: City of Chicago

Chicago officials shut down an "illegal" 300-person party as the city tries to get the Covid-19 surge under control, according to a news release from the Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection (BACP).

"This past weekend, BACP conducted 93 investigations, 14 of which were in partnership with the Department of Buildings, the Chicago Police Department and the Chicago Fire Department as part of our Task Force created to crack down on large gatherings, which are prohibited under COVID-19 regulations," read the release. 

The release said the task force responded to a complaint about an "illegal party" in a basement early in the morning of Nov. 29. The task force issued multiple citations, Cease and Desist Orders and closure orders to party hosts The Vault/All Access for "throwing a dangerous and unlicensed commercial party with approximately 300 attendees, no social distancing and no face coverings."  

According to the release, The Vault/All Access was issued nine citations for violating the Covid-19 regulations and five Cease and Desist Orders for illegal business activity. 

Additionally, Department of Buildings Closure Order was issued for "dangerous and hazardous conditions, including no smoke alarms, no carbon monoxide detectors, no fire extinguishers.”

9:29 p.m. ET, November 30, 2020

A record 96,039 people in the US are currently hospitalized with Covid-19

From CNN Health’s Ben Tinker

A record 96,039 people in the United States are currently hospitalized with Covid-19, according to data published Monday evening by The COVID Tracking Project.

This is the third straight day of new record numbers, following a slight dip reported on Friday.

The states with the most people currently hospitalized with Covid-19 are Texas, California, Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

9:26 p.m. ET, November 30, 2020

Up to 15% of volunteers in vaccine trials have "quite noticeable side effects," Trump vaccine czar says

From CNN Health's Shelby Lin Erdman

Moncef Slaoui listens as US President Donald Trump delivers remarks about coronavirus vaccine development in the Rose Garden of the White House on May 15, in Washington.
Moncef Slaoui listens as US President Donald Trump delivers remarks about coronavirus vaccine development in the Rose Garden of the White House on May 15, in Washington. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Up to 15% of Pfizer and Moderna vaccine trial participants have “quite noticeable side effects,” Operation Warp Speed chief scientific adviser Dr. Moncef Slaoui said Monday.

Operation Warp Speed is a public-private partnership aimed at producing and delivering safe vaccines.

Some vaccine trial volunteers have reported a range of flu-like symptoms after receiving the shots, including nausea, body aches, headaches and chills.

“I think those side effects are somewhat common,” Slaoui told CNN’s Erin Burnett. 

“I would classify them as maybe 10, 15% of subjects immunized have quite noticeable side effects that usually last no more than 24, 36 hours and resolve,” he said. 

“Most people will have much less noticeable side effects that frankly, in comparison to a 95% protection against an infection that can be deadly or significantly debilitating, I think, is, is an appropriate balance,” he added.

Slaoui said any possible long-term side effects of the vaccines would be more important.

Both Pfizer and Moderna have filed for emergency use authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration for their respective Covid-19 vaccines, and both shots could be distributed this month.

“While we know that the predictable 90, 95% of side effects that happened within two months after immunization are actually really good for the two vaccines that have been filed now, the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, we don't have the experience for a year or two years, and we're going to learn as we go,” Slaoui said.

The FDA and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have a tracking system set up to assess the longer term impacts of the vaccines, Slaoui said.

9:00 p.m. ET, November 30, 2020

Social media posts show celebrities partying with few wearing masks and no social distancing

From CNN’s Jamiel Lynch & Amanda Jackson

Several celebrities attended a birthday bash for actress Reginae Carter on Sunday night at an Atlanta nightclub.

Though Covid-19 cases across the country are increasing and people have been warned to avoid large gatherings, many of the guests were not wearing masks or socially distancing, as seen in video in several posts on social media.

The 1990s/2000s themed birthday bash for Carter, daughter of rapper Lil Wayne, was held at Republic Lounge. According to its website, Republic Lounge is a 7,550 square ft venue in West Midtown. CNN has reached out to the club for comment.

Celebrities Kandi Burruss and her husband Todd Tucker were in attendance, according to posts by Burruss on Instagram. Tucker and Burruss own restaurants in Atlanta and are cast members on "The Real Housewives of Atlanta."

A representative for Burruss and Tucker could not be reached for comment. 

Hip hop artists Lil Wayne, Juvenile, Mannie Fresh and 2 Chainz were also seen in posts at the party without masks.

On social media, Carter Instagrammed a thank you to her boyfriend YFN Lucci and those who attended. “I want to thank everybody who came and partied with me! Y'all some real ones,” the post read.

CNN has reached out to representatives for Carter and YFN Lucci for comment. 

A spokesperson for Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms told CNN in a statement:

“The Mayor’s advisory mask mandate and orders on gathering remain in effect. However, State Orders—which supersede decisions made at the local level—currently allow bars and venues to remain open.
“COVID-19 continues to ravage our communities—disproportionately impacting Black and Brown communities. If we are to curb the spread of this deadly disease, we all have an individual responsibility to take every precaution possible to stay safe.”
7:32 p.m. ET, November 30, 2020

People can be affected by coronavirus even after they've cleared it, Fauci says

From CNN’s Lauren Mascarenhas

People can be affected by coronavirus even after they’ve cleared it, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Monday.

“There are two types of post-Covid involvement with symptoms and signs,” Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

He said the first type is experienced by a group often referred to as “long haulers,” who have Covid-19 and eventually clear the virus but experience lingering symptoms – sometimes for months.

“These people have an unexplainable symptom complex that seems to be consistent among them, without any laboratory data to indicate why they may be feeling that way,” he said. 

Fauci said these people often experience excessive fatigue, shortness of breath, sleep disturbances, temperature fluctuation and difficulty focusing.

He said the second type had severe coronavirus and experience damage to their lungs, hearts or kidneys.

“They have organ system dysfunction that is residual, maybe indefinitely,” Fauci said.

“The idea that you get infected, you either get no symptoms or you die, and if you don't die, you're okay – I think that's really a misperception,” he added.

7:24 p.m. ET, November 30, 2020

CVS expects to vaccinate 900,000 skilled nursing home residents against Covid-19

From CNN's John Bonifield

CVS is preparing to administer Covid-19 vaccinations to approximately 900,000 skilled nursing home residents in the US, according to Chris Cox, senior vice president of CVS Health.

In October, the Trump administration announced agreements with CVS and Walgreens to vaccinate residents of long-term care facilities nationwide. Advisers to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have called an emergency meeting Tuesday to vote, in part, on whether to recommend that residents in those facilities be among the first people in the US to get a coronavirus vaccine. Long-term care facilities include assisted-living facilities and skilled-nursing facilities, which are often referred to as nursing homes.

"We think there's a good chance, based on what we're hearing, that it's going to be the skilled-nursing facilities that they recommend be up front," Cox said. 

The residents live in more than 8,000 skilled nursing facilities in all 50 states. CVS plans to send teams to each of the facilities three times in the coming months. A team will consist of two vaccinators and one support staffer, on average.

"We will do three clinics within every single facility: one to provide the first dose, the second to provide the booster and then the third is basically a cleanup of boosters for anyone who is admitted to the facility between our first and second clinics," Cox said.

CVS plans to store the vaccine at approximately 1,000 "hubs" across the country.

"A hub is basically a normal pharmacy, but it's been selected based off of its geographic location to store the vaccine. So we would train the pharmacy team in that particular location to be experts on the handling and the specific nuances of each of these particular vaccines," Cox said. "The dedicated clinic teams would then show up on the day of the clinic to collect the vaccines and transport it to the nursing home."

After an emergency use authorization is issued, a period of coordination is anticipated. 

"Before day one we would, in essence, know when we're going to start the clinics. We would coordinate with each of those nursing homes, the date on which their clinic would occur. We would assign staff to them, and then through a series of communications with each of those nursing homes, we would get a roster from them of the patients — and potentially, if they chose to, the staff members — who would be vaccinated during that particular clinic. That would allow us to upload all of those patients and staff members into our pharmacy system, so that on the day of the clinic itself it would really become about the administration of the vaccine," Cox said.

This kind of upfront coordination is expected to take 10 days to two weeks and then the vaccine will be provided to CVS by the federal government, Cox said.

7:35 p.m. ET, November 30, 2020

Trump coronavirus adviser Scott Atlas resigns

From CNN's Kaitlan Collins and Jim Acosta

Dr. Scott Atlas attends a news conference at the White House on August 4.
Dr. Scott Atlas attends a news conference at the White House on August 4. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Dr. Scott Atlas, a highly controversial member of the White House's coronavirus task force, has resigned from his post in the Trump administration, according to a person who works with the task force.

Another source close to the task force said the departure of Atlas comes as welcome news as his discredited theories will no longer have a seat at the table.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.