North Carolina reports record number of Covid-19 hospitalizations
From CNN's Tina Burnside
The number of people hospitalized in North Carolina has set another record with 2,373 total hospitalizations recorded on Monday, according to data released by the state's health department. This marks the highest number of hospitalizations since the start of the pandemic.
In the last 24 hours, 277 people have been admitted into hospitals across the state, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.
On Tuesday, the state recorded 4,670 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to 404,032, according to the state’s Covid-19 dashboard.
North Carolina currently has 5,605 deaths due to coronavirus pandemic.
Note: These numbers were released by North Carolina’s public health agency and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project.
12:22 p.m. ET, December 8, 2020
US FDA chief says he'll be "first one in line" to get a vaccine when it's his turn
From CNN's Andrea Diaz
CNN
Asked by CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta if he would get a Covid-19 vaccine once it's available, US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn said on Tuesday that he plans on doing so.
"If our career scientists review this application and we issue an authorization – and we'll do it based upon the science and the data – if that were to occur, I have 100% confidence. I will be the first one in line when it's appropriate for me to get that vaccine, and I'll ask my family to do the same," Hahn said.
He added that one of the issues the FDA is working to overcome is vaccine mistrust in this country.
"One of the reasons we've been very transparent about our process and putting public documents out – and having the Vaccine Advisory Committee – is, in fact, to try to overcome as much as possible any mistrust there might be," Hahn said.
1:34 p.m. ET, December 8, 2020
Aides have been told Trump campaign lawyer Jenna Ellis has coronavirus, per source
From CNN's Jim Acosta and Kaitlan Collins
Jenna Ellis, a member of President Donald Trump's legal team, listens to a Detroit poll worker during a Michigan House Oversight Committee on December 2 in Lansing, Michigan. Rey Del Rio/Getty Images
Aides have been informed that Trump campaign lawyer Jenna Ellis has contracted the coronavirus, according to one source familiar with the situation.
But the source added that Ellis has not been forthright with White House officials about it.
A senior official confirms Ellis was at a Christmas party designated for senior staff Friday. She regularly does not wear a mask when she is at the White House.
This news follows another development that hit the Trump campaign. Rudy Giuliani, Trump's personal attorney, has been hospitalized after testing positive for Covid-19.
The 76-year-old former New York mayor was admitted to Georgetown University Hospital on Sunday, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to CNN.
Kaitlan Collins reports:
12:05 p.m. ET, December 8, 2020
Japan approves $708 billion stimulus package to reboot post-Covid-19 economy
From CNN's Yoko Wakatsuki
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, second from right, speaks at a meeting of the government and ruling parties policy at the prime minister's office in Tokyo on December 8. STR/J
The Japanese government approved a $708 billion stimulus package aimed at rebooting the post-Covid-19 economy on Tuesday.
The stimulus package dedicates $384 billion USD to fiscal spending from the government, $177 billion to post-coronavirus economic growth, $57 billion to prevent the spread of coronavirus, and $54 billion to infrastructure improvement.
"We must set powerful economic measures now so that we will bring back Japan's economy to the level of the pre-pandemic period in the next fiscal year and put it back on the growth path led by the private sectors," the 51-page document outlining the stimulus package reads.
Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga had pledged to pass the stimulus package during a meeting with his Liberal Democrat party on Tuesday and said, "We have compiled these measures to maintain employment, sustain business and restore the economy and open a way to achieve new growth in green and digital areas, so as to protect people's lives and livelihoods."
11:47 a.m. ET, December 8, 2020
Panama imposes nightly curfew in its capital and surrounding province
From CNN’s Patrick Oppmann in Panama City
Panamanian health authorities on Tuesday instituted a nightly curfew for the capital Panama City and surrounding province to slow the resurgence of coronavirus.
People will be required to stay home from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. (local time) and all sales of alcohol will be suspended during those hours, according to a statement from the Panamanian Ministry of Health.
According to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, Panama has had at least 179,230 cases and 3212 coronavirus-related deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.
11:41 a.m. ET, December 8, 2020
People need to take the 2 doses of Pfizer vaccine "to feel confident that they're protected at 95%," CEO says
From CNN's Naomi Thomas
A phial of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine concentrate is prepared for administration at Guy's Hospital on December 8 in London. Victoria Jones/Pool/Getty Images
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said that while the company saw some level of protection twelve days after the first dose of their Covid-19 vaccine, “the protection is not full.”
“This is a two-dose vaccine, so people need to take two doses to be able to feel confident that they’re protected at 95% — 95% chance of being protected,” Bourla said during an International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations briefing on Tuesday. “At the dose one, it’s around 50%, something like that.”
Bourla added that from an epidemiology point of view, this is important because when a population starts having some type of immunity from the first dose, “that helps.”
“But again, I say, it’s a very big mistake if anyone tries to do it with only one dose when … with two, you almost double the protection,” he said.
Bourla's comments come after the United Kingdom became the world's first nation to begin vaccinating its citizens with a fully vetted and authorized Covid-19 shot —the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.
11:18 a.m. ET, December 8, 2020
New York City mayor says he expects Covid-19 related restrictions "in a matter of days"
From CNN's Kristina Sgueglia
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks during a press conference in New York City on December 8. NYC Media
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio reiterated he expects Covid-19 related restrictions in the city “in a matter of days.”
“No one is happy about it, I feel for the small businesses that might be affected and their employees, but this situation has to be addressed,” he continued.
Later de Blasio said, “it’s important to recognize that we’ve gone through a really tough stretch here over the last few weeks and unless there is evidence that that is going to change rapidly unfortunately restrictions are needed to protect us all.”
He is in constant communication with the state and is aligned with their position.
“I think there is urgency here,” he said, adding “what’s clear is we’re going to see these restrictions in a matter of days.”
11:10 a.m. ET, December 8, 2020
AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine data published in peer-reviewed journal confirms 70% efficacy
From CNN's Jacqueline Howard
In this undated photo issued by the University of Oxford, a volunteer is administered the coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, in Oxford, England. University of Oxford/John Cairns/AP
Drugmaker AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine candidate was found to have 70.4% efficacy in an interim analysis of Phase 3 trial results, published for the first time in a peer-reviewed journal.
The findings fall in line with the efficacy that AstraZeneca previously announced in November for its vaccine, developed in collaboration with the University of Oxford.
The analysis, published in the journal The Lancet on Tuesday, found that the vaccine's efficacy in trial participants who received two full doses of vaccine was 62.1%, and then efficacy in those who received a half dose followed by a full dose was 90%.
"Overall vaccine efficacy across both groups was 70.4%," the researchers – from the University of Oxford, AstraZeneca and other institutions around the world – wrote in the study.
"Here, we present the first interim safety and efficacy data for a viral vector coronavirus vaccine, ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, evaluated in four trials across three continents, showing significant vaccine efficacy of 70.4% after two doses and protection of 64.1% after at least one standard dose, against symptomatic disease, with no safety concerns," the researchers wrote.
More on the study: The study includes data from trials conducted in the United Kingdom, Brazil and South Africa between April and November. The safety data are based on more than 20,000 participants and the efficacy data are based on more than 10,000 participants.
The study says that across all four studies, "the vaccine had a good safety profile." There were 175 severe adverse events in the trials total: 84 events among those who received the vaccine and 91 in the control group. "Three events were classified as possibly related to a vaccine," according to the study. Those included a case of haemolytic anaemia, transverse myelitis and high fever.
There were four deaths during the course of the trials, but all were unrelated to the vaccine, caused by a road traffic accident, blunt force trauma, homicide and fungal pneumonia.
11:10 a.m. ET, December 8, 2020
Administration official explains why US passed up a chance to buy more Pfizer vaccine
From CNN's Jim Acosta
Officials leading the White House's "Operation Warp Speed" effort to mass produce a coronavirus vaccine passed up a chance to purchase more than the current total of 100 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine as part of a concerted effort to keep the administration's options open to other vaccines being developed at the same time, an administration familiar with the situation said.
"They shouldn't have closed the door" to securing more Pfizer doses at the time the purchase was made, the official said. "They could have left the door open" to buying more Pfizer doses, the official added.
The official said the decision was made as part of a plan to "diversify" the nation's vaccine arsenal through the purchase of millions of doses from Pfizer's rivals. At the time, officials at "Operation Warp Speed" had no idea the Pfizer vaccine was going to be this effective.
"The plan was to diversify and don't put all your eggs in one basket," the official continued.
Now, the US simply may have to hope that the other vaccines being produced by other companies are just as effective as the Pfizer doses, the official said.
If the other vaccines being manufactured by Pfizer's rivals don't perform at the same level, it could have a detrimental effect on inoculating the American public, the official said, noting it may be difficult to match Pfizer's efficacy rate.
"It's going to look bad," the official continued, if the other vaccines don't perform as well as the doses from Pfizer. But the official said the hope is that the other vaccines will be as effective as the Pfizer doses.
