By Kara Fox, Jessie Yeung and Adam Renton, CNN
From CNN’s Haley Brink
The United States reported 113,069 Covid-19 hospitalizations on Wednesday, setting a new record high since the pandemic began, according to the Covid Tracking Project (CTP).
This is the fifteenth consecutive day that the US has remained above 100,000 hospitalizations.
According to CTP data, these days recorded the highest hospitalization numbers:
From CNN's Maggie Fox
People administering Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine may squeeze out extra doses from the vials if there is leftover solution in them after giving the standard five doses, the US Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday.
Pfizer vaccine is shipped as a frozen solution, which is diluted with saline before it is given to people.
Politico first reported that some pharmacists had found they could get six and possibly even seven doses of vaccine out of the vials, which are designed to provide five doses of vaccine each.
“FDA is aware of the issue and working with Pfizer to determine the best path forward, and will share additional updates as we have them,” an FDA spokesperson told CNN.
“At this time, given the public health emergency, FDA is advising that it is acceptable to use every full dose obtainable (the sixth, or possibly even a seventh) from each vial, pending resolution of the issue. However, since the vials are preservative-free, it is critical to note that any further remaining product that does not constitute a full dose should not be pooled from multiple vials to create one.”
US health officials say they have shipped out more than 2.9 million doses of Pfizer’s vaccine this week. They are giving it to frontline health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities.
Pfizer is working to make vaccine as it is rolled out and the US government has estimated it will have about 20 million doses of Pfizer vaccine by the end of the month.
From CNN's Manu Raju, Ted Barrett and Kristin Wilson
Congressional sources tell CNN that language for the stimulus bill is not expected to come out tonight, as negotiations between the leadership continue.
House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have both left the Capitol.
It is likely that any deal would wait until at least tomorrow to be announced, according to sources.
About the deal: The price tag for a stimulus deal could be close to $900 billion, a source familiar tells CNN.
The deal is expected to include a new round of stimulus checks at $600 per individual, but no money for state and local aid, a priority Democrats had pushed for, and no lawsuit protections, which Republicans wanted.
The measure is also expected to include an additional $300 a week in jobless benefits as well as up to $330 billion for small business loans and money for vaccine distribution.
But there are still provisions drawing pushback, including a Democratic push to include $90 billion in aid to states that would be administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
From CNN’s Shasta Darlington
Brazil has surpassed 7 million Covid-19 cases Wednesday, according to the nation’s health ministry.
The government announced a record 70,574 new Covid cases for the previous 24 hours. That brings Brazil’s overall case count to 7,040,608.
Brazil has the world’s third-highest count of coronavirus cases, surpassed only by the US (with 16,873,988 total cases) and India (with 9,932,547 total cases), according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Brazil has also suffered the world’s second-highest Covid-19 fatality rate, having officially recorded 183,735 deaths, after announcing 936 new fatalities on Wednesday.
Only the US tops that figure, possessing the highest global Covid-19 death toll with some 306,203 confirmed fatalities.
From CNN's Jeremy Diamond
Vice President Mike Pence and second lady Karen Pence will receive the coronavirus vaccine publicly Friday.
The Pences will be joined by US Surgeon General Jerome Adams who will also receive the vaccine Friday, the White House said in a statement.
Here's what the White House said:
"Vice President Mike Pence and Second Lady Karen Pence will publicly receive a COVID-19 vaccine to promote the safety and efficacy of the vaccine and build confidence among the American people.
The event will take place at the White House.
From CNN's Adrienne Vogt
Allison Wynes, a critical care nurse practitioner in Iowa, was one of the first health care workers in her hospital to receive the Covid-19 vaccine on Monday.
“It was such a moment of pure joy and happiness, and a moment of hope. I haven't felt that light or that happy in months,” she told CNN’s Jake Tapper.
She said that her arm is feeling a bit sore, but has had no side effects.
Despite the hope she feels after getting the vaccine, she wants others to keep in mind the reality of the pandemic.
“We are all still kind of riding this high, but there is this reality that as soon as I was done getting my vaccination, I went back into the Covid unit and took care of a bunch of very ill Covid patients. The reality of what we are living in now is that we are still seeing quite a few sick patients and there's still such a long way to go,” she said. “…It’s not ending today, that’s for sure.”
Wynes said she has been recording “Covid diaries” on video to “put a voice and a picture and a thought behind what is happening.”
“There [are] machines everywhere. It takes an incredible amount of care, extra nurses, extra staff” to care for patients, she said.
Watch:
From CNN's Deidre McPhillips
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has published a list detailing the number of vaccine allocations made available for states and jurisdictions to order against.
A total of 2,980,575 doses were allocated for first doses of the Pfizer vaccine, followed by a similar number available for second doses approximately 21 days later.
Operation Warp Speed officials have said that allocations were made in proportion to population counts for states and jurisdictions. Among states, first dose allocations range from 327,600 in California to 4,875 in Wyoming.
States started to receive deliveries of the vaccine this week, with the first doses administered starting Monday morning.
From CNN’s Deidre McPhillips
At least two states – Idaho and Michigan – have started publicly tracking the number of vaccine doses administered in their states.
According to their respective dashboards, 119 doses had been administered in Idaho as of Wednesday morning, and 10 doses in Michigan as of Monday.
At this time, vaccination data is not readily available at the state or federal level. However, many states do plan to similarly track vaccine administration publicly in the coming days and weeks, and US Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said that the federal government will provide a dashboard with vaccine data and reporting – perhaps within a week.
As the first shipments of the vaccine arrive, states say they are working through the logistics of administering doses. Some states say they hope to administer all doses received in this first round within a week of delivery.
From CNN's Andrea Diaz
Dr. Anthony Fauci on Wednesday said he hopes the US Food and Drug Administration decides to issue an emergency use authorization of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine tomorrow.
"Tomorrow, the FDA will hopefully make a decision regarding whether or not the Moderna messenger RNA vaccine will get an emergency use authorization," Fauci told CNBC’s Meg Tirrell during a virtual event.
"A couple of days ago ... 2.9 billion doses were sent out to 145 locations, and over the next few days to weeks, there'll be more and more doses to ultimately, we hope, with a combination of Pfizer and Moderna, if Moderna gets the EUA, which I hope they will, that by the time you get to the end of December, have 40 million doses for 20 million people, to be able to administer."
