Covid-19 vaccine is being studied in children now, FDA chief says
From CNN's Naomi Thomas
Dr. Stephen Hahn, the commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner, said "studies are being planned or in progress now" regarding coronavirus vaccine for children younger than 16.
He declined to give a direct answer when asked when the vaccine might be available for children.
“As soon as possible, obviously with great speed,” Hahn said. “Sometimes there are gaps in information, and we have to fill those gaps in information after something like an emergency use authorization to get the answers to the questions that you’re asking.”
10:41 a.m. ET, December 13, 2020
GOP senators say bipartisan group's stimulus bill will be released tomorrow
From CNN's Nicky Robertson
Sen. Bill Cassidy speaks with CNN on Sunday, December 13. CNN
GOP Senator Bill Cassidy told CNN that the bipartisan stimulus bill will be introduced Monday night.
“We are going to introduce a bill tomorrow night,” Cassidy said, "the leadership can discard it, I can govern that.”
“There will be a deal,” Cassidy told CNN.
Democratic senator from West Virginia Joe Manchin also said in an interview on Fox News that the bipartisan group’s bill will be released Monday.
“You will see a complete bill tomorrow before the end of the day,” Manchin said.
Manchin added that negotiations “haven’t fallen apart,” despite concerns on Friday that the group was struggling to finalize a deal. Manchin said the group has been talking over the weekend, and will have another call today.
However, Manchin also noted that there is “no guarantee” that the bill they present will be passed by Congress.
“There is no way, no way, that we are going to leave Washington without taking care of the emergency needs of our people,” Manchin said.
Watch:
9:53 a.m. ET, December 13, 2020
Top House Democrat signals he'd accept a slimmed down stimulus deal
From CNN's Ben Geldon
House Majority Leader Rep. Steny Hoyer told CNN that he spent the weekend in talks with House and Senate members on an economic rescue package, and signaled he’d accept a deal that doesn’t include state and local aid.
“The speaker [Nancy Pelosi] and I spent a lot of time on the phone together. And I am very hopeful that next week, we will be able to act on substantial relief,” Hoyer said.
Hoyer acknowledged that the Democrats will not get everything they want, saying there will be “trade-offs and give and takes.”
“We are not going to get everything we want. We think state and local is important. And if we can get that we want to get it. But we want to get aid out to the people who are really, really struggling and are at grave risk," he said.
##Stimulus#
9:42 a.m. ET, December 13, 2020
FDA chief says it's his "greatest hope" that Covid-19 vaccinations start in the US on Monday
From CNN's Naomi Thomas
US Food and Drug Administration commissioner, Dr. Stephen Hahn, said he hopes that Covid-19 vaccinations are administered to Americans on Monday.
“We’ve seen the vaccines go out, we’ve seen the press reports of hospitals waiting to vaccinate healthcare workers and those most vulnerable according to the recommendations of the [Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices] and the CDC,” Hahn told CNN. “So, it would be my greatest hope and desire that [they] occur tomorrow.”
10:34 a.m. ET, December 13, 2020
FDA commissioner says "we'll be hearing very soon" from CDC director on the Covid-19 vaccine
From CNN's Naomi Thomas
US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner, Dr. Stephen Hahn, speaks with CNN on Sunday, December 13. CNN
US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner, Dr. Stephen Hahn, told CNN that he doesn’t know why Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has not yet accepted the recommendation of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which voted Saturday to recommend the CDC approve the vaccine for use in the US.
“I don’t know the answer to that question,” Hahn told CNN on Sunday. “I do know I’ve had a lot of conversations with director Redfield and he is certainly on top of this, and has a lot of confidence in the process, particularly with the ACIP.”
“I’m sure we’ll be hearing very soon about this,” Hahn said.
Watch:
9:07 a.m. ET, December 13, 2020
First shipment of coronavirus vaccine has shipped, vials will reach all 50 states Monday
From CNN's Michael Callahan
Trucks containing the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine leave the Pfizer manufacturing plant in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on December 13. Morry Gash/AFP/Getty Images
The first freight trucks carrying approximately 184,275 vials of the vaccine have departed Pfizer on Sunday.
Trucks carrying a combined 189 boxes of vaccine vials are expected to arrive in all 50 states on Monday.
Another 3,900 vials are expected to ship later today to US territories.
On Monday, another 400 boxes packed with approximately 390-thousand vials will ship for arrival on Tuesday.
Watch as first doses of vaccine ship out from Pfizer facility:
8:31 a.m. ET, December 13, 2020
Loading process of first shipment of Pfizer vaccine has begun
Boxes containing the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine are prepared to be shipped at the Pfizer facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on December 13. Morry Gash/Pool/AP
The loading process of the first shipment of Pfizer vaccine has begun at the Kalamazoo facility in Michigan. This first shipment of vaccine will be going to all 50 states.
Gen. Gustave Perna, chief operating officer of the federal government's vaccine initiative Operation Warp Speed previously said he expected 145 sites across all the states to receive the vaccine on Monday, another 425 sites on Tuesday, and the final 66 sites on Wednesday, which will complete the initial delivery of the Pfizer orders for the vaccine.
Watch Pfizer vaccine be prepared for shipment:
7:43 a.m. ET, December 13, 2020
Germany to go into national lockdown over Christmas to stem rise of Covid-19 cases
From Claudia Otto in Berlin
People walk through a decorated city center in Celle, Germany, on December 12. Ole Spata/picture alliance/Getty Images
Germany will go into a "hard" national lockdown starting next Wednesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Sunday, after agreeing to stricter measures with state governments to stem a wave of coronavirus cases.
As of next Wednesday, all non-essential shops, services and schools will close until January 10, and Christmas Day gatherings will be reduced from 10 people to only five from two different households.
"The philosophy is to stay at home,” Merkel said in a press conference.
New measures to curb spread over festive season: Christmas church services will be subject to prior registration with no singing allowed. Alcohol is to be banned from all public spaces and an annual New Year's Eve fireworks display will be canceled. Some states are also implementing additional measures, such as Bavaria, which will have a 9 p.m. curfew.
German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz has pledged economic help for all businesses affected by the lockdown.
On Sunday, Germany recorded 20,200 new coronavirus infections -- 2,000 more than Sunday last week -- according to the Robert Koch Institute, the country's agency for disease control. The overall infection number stands at 1,320,716. The death toll rose by 321 to 21,787, data showed.
7:40 a.m. ET, December 13, 2020
More than 600 facilities in the US will receive coronavirus vaccines this week
From CNN's Madeline Holcombe
Covid-19 vaccines are packaged at the Pfizer facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on December 13. Pool
With the greenlight of the FDA's emergency use authorization, Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccines will be sent out to hundreds of facilities across the United States this week.
"We expect 145 sites across all the states to receive the vaccine on Monday, another 425 sites on Tuesday, and the final 66 sites on Wednesday, which will complete the initial delivery of the Pfizer orders for the vaccine," said Gen. Gustave Perna, chief operating officer of the federal government's vaccine initiative Operation Warp Speed.
The vaccine is being shipped from Pfizer's facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
The US Food and Drug Administration granted approval Friday for the drug company's Covid-19 vaccine candidate, a move that director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research said "holds the promise to alter the course of this pandemic."
A grim death toll and record high hospitalizations: As of early Sunday, more than 16 million people have been infected by the virus in the United States and 297,837 people have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Hospitalizations hit record highs for the seventh day in a row Saturday, and with the winter holidays still ahead, experts warn that the pandemic could continue to worsen before the larger public receives the vaccination.
Vaccine hesitancy could undermine Covid-19 response: American Medical Association President Dr. Susan Bailey said in a statement Saturday the biggest obstacle to the vaccine is people's willingness to be vaccinated.
"To be clear, these vaccines will reduce death and severe illness. They have been rigorously evaluated, and if enough of us roll up our sleeves and get vaccinated, we can eventually reclaim normalcy," she said.
