December 15 coronavirus news

The United States reported 112,816 Covid-19 hospitalizations on Tuesday, setting a new record high since the pandemic began, according to the Covid Tracking Project (CTP).

This is the fourteenth consecutive day that the US has remained above 100,000 hospitalizations.

According to CTP data, these are the days with the highest hospitalization numbers:

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will award almost $227 million in aid to all 50 states and 64 jurisdictions to help respond to the huge Covid-19 vaccination effort, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

The CDC will allocate $140 million for vaccine preparedness and almost $87 million for tracking and testing, HHS said.

“States and other public health jurisdictions are vital partners in the Covid-19 response and especially in the plans for distributing safe and effective Covid-19 vaccines,” HHS Secretary Alex Azar said in a statement.

This latest funding is in addition to $200 million provided in September from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act, for critical infrastructure support and Covid-19 distribution, HHS said.

The CDC’s Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Prevention and Control of Emerging and Infectious Diseases Cooperative Agreement will also “provide critical support” through the Paycheck Protection and Health Care Enhancement Act, HHS said.

HHS said the efforts will focus on three areas: “Increasing the use of advanced molecular detection technologies, such as whole genome sequencing of SARS-CoV-2; strengthening public health laboratory preparedness; and ensuring safe travel through optimized data sharing and communication with international travelers.”

“These are critical investments at a critical time in the Covid-19 pandemic,�� CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield said in a statement.

But even including the $200 million allocated in September, this latest round of investment doesn’t even come close to what’s needed, James Blumenstock, the senior vice president for pandemic response and recovery at the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), told reporters back in October.

“As it stands now, we do not have any capability to fund the imminent implementation of the plan,” Blumenstock said at the time.

ASTHO has asked Congress for $8.4 billion to help with state’s Covid-19 vaccine distribution and administration efforts.

Just over half of all planned doses of coronavirus vaccines have been bought up by high-income countries such as the US, Japan and Australia, which means as much as a quarter of the world’s population will be unable to get vaccinated until 2022, researchers reported Tuesday.

These rich countries have pre-ordered close to 7.5 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines, enough to vaccinate 3.76 billion people, Anthony So of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and colleagues found.

“Just over half (51%) of these doses will go to high income countries, which represent 14% of the world’s population,” they wrote in their report, published in the BMJ.

At the time the report was written, the US accounted for one-fifth of all global Covid-19 cases but had reserved 800 million doses of vaccine. Japan, Australia, and accounted for fewer than 1% of cases but had options on 1 billion doses.

The researchers projected that the 13 major vaccine manufacturers working on coronavirus vaccines had the potential capacity for close to 6 billion courses of vaccine by the end of 2021. 

“High income countries have reserved just over half of these vaccine doses from 13 leading vaccine manufacturers. Low and middle income countries have the remainder, despite these countries comprising more than 85% of the world’s population,” they wrote.

There’s one effort that is trying to get around this – COVAX, coordinated by the World Health Organization, global vaccines initiative Gavi and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). The group is trying to build manufacturing capacity for 2 billion doses of coronavirus vaccine. 

“The COVAX Facility could play a key role in ensuring access to Covid-19 vaccines. However, its target of two billion doses by the end of 2021 is still short on premarket vaccine commitments and financing to deliver on this goal,” So’s team noted.

As the first Covid-19 vaccinations are being administered across the country this week, Black Americans remain among the groups that have the least confidence in the vaccine, according to a study from the Kaiser Family Foundation.

The findings come as the nation's top health leaders urge Black people to trust the vaccine, by hosting live events where Black health professionals are among the first to receive and administer it.

The Kaiser study found that 35% of Black Americans would probably or definitely not get the vaccine if it was determined to be safe by scientists and widely available for free.

Of the Black Americans who are hesitant to get the vaccine, the majority, or 71%, said they were concerned about possible side effects, half were worried they would get Covid-19 from taking the vaccine and 48% said they have a general distrust in vaccines.

Other studies have noted that Black and Latino people cite distrust in the federal government and the nation's history of racism in medical research as key reasons for their hesitancy.

Sandra Lindsay, a Black critical care nurse at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, was one of the first Americans to receive the vaccine on Monday. It was delivered by Dr. Michelle Chester, the corporate director of employee health services at Northwell Health, who is also Black.

Lindsay told CNN's Anderson Cooper that she felt fine after taking the vaccine. Lindsay said the shot felt no different than the influenza vaccine she gets annually.

Nearly 40% of reported Covid-19 cases have been Black and Latino people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Many people of color are concerned the vaccine developers haven't take into account the needs of their ethnic group, the Kaiser study shows.

It found that 48% of Black adults said they were not confident the needs of Black people were considered and 36% of Latino adults said the same about the needs of Latino people. 

However, people of color overwhelmingly, or 85%, said they would trust vaccine information from their personal doctor or health care provider at least a fair amount, according to the study.

Black doctors have been at the forefront of efforts to build trust around the vaccine with Black people.

Dr. Yves Duroseau, chair of emergency medicine at Lenox Hill Hospital, was also among the first to receive the vaccine this week. Duroseau told CNN's Poppy Harlow that he hoped to influence communities that have been disproportionately impacted by Covid-19.

"With the rollout of the vaccination there has been, quite frankly, message that we have to be ethical about this, we have to be fair, we have to protect the vulnerable," Duroseau said.

Ernest Grant, the president of the American Nurses Association, participated in a vaccine trial this fall to combat fears in the Black community with taking the vaccine.

"At some point there's always that potential that it (Covid-19) could happen to you and if I know there is a cure that could potentially save me from that, I think I would go for the cure," Grant told CNN last month.

Dr. Anthony Fauci recently acknowledged Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett, a Black woman and one of the lead scientists who helped develop the vaccine, with hopes that it would convince Black people to trust the process.

"So, the first thing you might want to say to my African American brothers and sisters is that the vaccine that you're going to be taking was developed by an African American woman," Fauci said at a National Urban League event earlier this month. "And that is just a fact."

An Indian Health Service worker in Arizona was the first person to receive the Covid-19 vaccine on the Navajo Nation. Ronald Begay was administered the shot on Monday at the Chinle Comprehensive Health care Facility. 

“Just because this vaccine is here doesn’t mean to stop or put our masks away,” Begay said during a virtual town hall for Navajo residents Tuesday. “People should ask themselves what their priorities are.”

The Navajo Nation has put some of the most stringent rules in the country in place to deal with the virus, including a 24/7 stay-at-home lockdown for the entire reservation until Dec. 28, with exceptions only for emergencies and essential services. 

The Navy’s top admiral encouraged sailors to get the coronavirus vaccine Tuesday, while adding that he plans to receive it “shortly.”

Because the vaccine has only received emergency use authorization, receiving it is still voluntary for military personnel.

“I will receive the vaccine shortly after it is made available to senior DoD leadership,” Gilday added.

One of the reasons senior leaders were prioritized by the Defense Department in terms of receiving the vaccine was in order to convince military personnel that it was safe and effective.

A 107-year-old Minnesota woman has beaten Covid-19. 

Tillie Dybing was diagnosed with Covid-19 this fall, according to officials at the Ecumen Detroit Lakes community home, where she has lived since 2015.

She told CNN affiliate KARE that when she was diagnosed, she had no symptoms, other than being tired. She recently returned to her apartment at the facility after spending a few weeks away from the general population, Ecumen officials tell CNN. 

Dybing told KARE that her parents got sick during the 1918 flu pandemic just before she was five and she remembers it well. Dybing said she is also a cancer survivor, having beaten uterine cancer at the age of 95, KARE reported. 

Ecumen said they are happy Dybing has recovered and thanked her family for trusting them with her care. 

"We continue to be so grateful to see that smile and hear her infectious laugh each day," Ecumen Detroit Lakes posted on their its Facebook page. "She is such a blessing to our community!"

Florida is trying to determine what additional shipments of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine will be delivered this month, said Gov. Ron DeSantis, since shipments for the next two weeks are “on hold right now."

Speaking at a news conference Tuesday, the governor said he didn’t know if Florida would be receiving shipments or not, saying that the root of the delay is “a production issue with Pfizer." He added that it "has nothing to do with the federal government, or nothing to do specifically with Florida.”

DeSantis said the state sent vaccines to five select hospitals so that mistakes wouldn’t be exacerbated and to “get everything on target the first time.” The governor said hospitals beyond those initial five will start vaccinating their staff this week “without a problem.”

The governor said he expects Covid-19 mortality will “crater” as vaccines start being administered to those most at risk for Covid-19.

DeSantis went on to urge the state to focus on efforts mitigating the risk to more “vulnerable people,” but said imposing mandates is not an option for him.  

Watch here:

Pennsylvania reported 270 additional fatalities from Covid-19 on Tuesday, the state's highest death count since the pandemic began, according to state health officials.

The Department of Health also reported 9,556 additional infections Tuesday. At least 6,026 Pennsylvanians are currently hospitalized with the disease, with 1,249 of those cases requiring intensive care.

The deaths come as Pennsylvania has begun to administer the first shipments of Covid-19 vaccinations throughout the state, an effort that Gov. Tom Wolf said would proceed despite expectations of severe winter weather in the region.

More on the vaccine: Wolf said the state is expecting some 97,000 doses of Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine this week, in addition to over 13,000 doses earmarked specifically for Philadelphia. Those doses will be shipped as they become available from the manufacturer, and may be traversing snowy roads this week as the region could see up to two feet of snow.

Wolf urged Pennsylvanians to stay off the roads during the expected winter storm.