December 7 coronavirus news

“We want to immunize for impact,” US Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on Monday, when asked who should be next to be vaccinated. “We want to make sure we’re giving it to the people who are most likely to die from this virus.”

Adams said that 40% to 50% of deaths are occurring in people who are in long-term care facilities or who are older, but “we also want out health care workers who are on the frontlines to be able to get it.”

Adams said the decision about who would get the vaccine would be left up to the states, but they will receive guidance.

Some states will have to immunize their health care workers first, he said. Others will find they get greater impact by vaccinating the older people and people wither underlying health conditions that put them at increased risk for serious illness.

“But about 20 million doses, or full doses, are going to be available by the end of this year – and we’ll keep pushing vaccines out to people as quickly as we can so that we can end this pandemic,” Adams said.

He asked people to follow the three W’s: wear a mask, wash hands and watch your distance; also to avoid people outside of their household as much as possible.

“And please be patient with your leaders around the country. They’re trying to preserve hospital capacity,” Adams said, adding that the leaders want everyone who needs a bed to have access to a bed.

“That’s not going to happen if we keep engaging in behaviors that lead to the spread of the virus,” he said.

On Thursday, the US Food and Drug Administration will meet to decide on authorization for Pfizer's vaccine candidate.

But health officials warn that while some Americans may receive a vaccine by the end of the year, the country likely won't see any meaningful impacts until late spring.

In the meantime, experts project an incredibly challenging next few months. The US is nearing 200,000 daily coronavirus cases — and with the recent spike in cases, record hospitalizations have followed. On Sunday, 101,487 patients were in the hospital with the virus, the fifth consecutive day the US surpassed 100,000 hospitalizations.

On Saturday, the US reported more than one million new cases of Covid-19 within the first five days of December.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said Americans' behavior is behind the crippling surge — and health experts warn that it could get worse as the holidays approach.

"People are going indoors, they're not minding the three W's," Azar told Fox News's Chris Wallace Sunday. "Our advice is always the same. Wash your hands, watch your distance, wear face coverings."

Azar later told ABC's George Stephanopoulos: "We're worried about people and the behaviors coming up with Christmas ... We want to make sure everyone's loved ones are there next Christmas, especially when we have so much hope of vaccines."

This morning, Dr. Anthony Fauci said he, too, is worried about Christmas, saying the holiday could be even more of a challenge" than Thanksgiving, since the season runs for more than a week, from before Christmas Eve to New Year's Day.

“I hope that people realize that and understand that as difficult as this is, nobody wants to modify – if not essentially shut down – their holiday season, but we are in a very critical time in this country right now.”

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN’s John Berman Monday that he has the same concerns about Christmas that he did about Thanksgiving – “only this may be even more compounded because it’s a longer holiday.”

Thanksgiving was just the end of the week and then people went back to work, Fauci said. The Christmas holiday starts several days before, goes through Christmas Day into the week after, and into New Year’s and the New Year’s holiday.

“We’ve got to not walk away from the facts and the data,” he said. “This is tough going for all of us.”

Dr. Anthony Fauci said he spoke with California health authorities and told them the new restrictions in the state make sense to him.

He added that when hospitals become overwhelmed, that's when you could start seeing lockdowns.

"When you reach a certain critical point of the flexibility of hospital beds, and you see more cases of Covid coming in, you could have a real challenge – and maybe even a crisis – with regard to beds and personnel to take care of the people in those beds. And that's the reason why California has certain sections looking at the possibility of a lockdown," Fauci said.

Roughly 33 million of California's 39 million residents, about 85% of the nation's most populous state, are under new stay-at-home orders

The state reported more than 30,000 new cases on Sunday, a record high for California.

Coronavirus cases are rising across the US, and experts say "behavior and cold weather" are behind the current surge gripping American communities.

If you're just catching up now, here's a look at where the coronavirus numbers stand in the US:

A Covid-19 vaccine will not show an impact on mortality rate immediately, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Monday.

The top infectious disease expert in the US pointed to the time frame of administering the vaccine and the time take for it to create the immunity in the system.

"When you vaccinate people — not only the health care workers, but vulnerable people, for example in nursing homes — by the time they get an immunity, which would be, you know, you have a prime and then you have a boost and then you have seven to 10 days after the boost."

He insisted that if an adequate amount of people were to get vaccinated on time, this pandemic could be under control.

Remember: The US Food and Drug Administration has not yet approved a coronavirus vaccine, but both Pfizer and Moderna have apply to the FDA for emergency use authorization for a coronavirus vaccine. The FDA will meet with its advisory committee this month to review Pfizer's and Moderna's applications.

In the meantime, Fauci expressed concerns about Christmas celebrations that could cause cases to spike.

The current surge in cases across the country is already concerning but "it was predictable," Fauci added.

"We had a very high baseline of cases to begin with. You know, even at the time when things seemed to have been calming down, it never got down to a low baseline. Then we had a combination of a bunch of things, all of which synergized to put us in the difficult position we're in now," he told CNN, referring to cold weather, flu season and the holiday celebrations.

As the cold weather sets in, Fauci says he has transitioned from running to power-walking for three or four miles with his wife.

Watch the interview:

This is the week things either finally come together or they fall apart for good on the stimulus. 

Aides and members spent the entire weekend trying to close out outstanding issues from food stamp benefits to state and local funding.

Lawmakers spent Sunday afternoon on an hours-long Zoom call. And while aides on both sides of the aisle, agree a lot of progress was made, the bipartisan group still isn’t finished with writing its bill. Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia, said last week that bill text would be out Monday. We’ll see about that.

Remember: Even if the bipartisan group of lawmakers from the House and the Senate reach an agreement among themselves does not mean it’s the end of talks. This has largely been seen as a starting point for leadership. McConnell hasn’t committed to putting anything on the floor. And, Pelosi and Schumer were careful in their endorsement of this process last week that this is a starting point. 

What to watch for this week: Expect to see some summaries rolled out as early as today, but aides say there still isn’t complete agreement on the two issues that have flummoxed leadership and negotiators for months: state and local funding and liability insurance. 

US Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams has warned the American people that  "this virus is incredibly unforgiving," during an interview with Good Morning America on Monday.

Adams noted that Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations are still going up.

Adams added that despite his concerns, more people than ever are wearing masks in the US.

The US has the highest Covid-19 case tally globally, with more than 14.7 million total infections recorded.

National coronavirus restrictions in Greece are to be extended over the Christmas holiday period, as part of ongoing efforts to stem the spread of coronavirus and ease pressure on the country's healthcare system.

Government spokesperson Stelios Petsas said a night-time curfew and a ban on movement between regions would remain in place until Jan. 7. 

All schools, restaurants, bars, entertainment venues, skiing centers and courts must remain closed until the restrictions are lifted in the new year. 

Seasonal shops have been granted permission to remain open, but the government is yet to finalize a decision on retail stores and hair salons. 

Petsas noted a steady improvement in the coronavirus situation in the country, but said it was happening more slowly than expected, with high numbers of hospital admissions and patients requiring intensive care continuing to put pressure on the healthcare system. 

"If we relax, we will pay for it," Petsas warned.