Vice President Pence and the US surgeon general will get their vaccines this morning
From CNN's Betsy Klein
Vice President Mike Pence, second lady Karen Pence and Surgeon General Jerome Adams are set to receive the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine moments from now.
There are three barstools set up in the room along with tables with the vaccine materials, with three screens. Two say "SAFE and EFFECTIVE," and one says "Operation Warp Speed" with "Promises Made, Promises Kept," in smaller text.
Walter Reed medical staff are present, wearing scrubs and lab coats and masks, as are key task force members Dr. Anthony Fauci, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Dr. Robert Redfield and Pence chief of staff Marc Short.
8:06 a.m. ET, December 18, 2020
Walgreens begins vaccinating people in long-term care facilities
From CNN Health's Andrea Diaz
US pharmacy Walgreens began administering Pfizer/BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine to residents and staff at long-term care facilities in Ohio and Connecticut on Friday.
According to a news release, the pharmacy's team members will administer the vaccine in “approximately 800 long-term care facilities across 12 states" starting the week of December 21, and will "expand vaccinations to nearly 3 million residents and staff at 35,000 long-term care facilities" as states finalize their plans.
“Walgreens is very proud to be a part of this historic milestone to begin administering Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine to our most vulnerable populations,” John Standley, president of Walgreens, said in the news release. “With more than a decade of experience administering various vaccines, we have the deep expertise to support this unprecedented effort to allow our nation to emerge from this pandemic.”
Walgreens team members have conducted approximately 150,000 off-site visits since 2015 and more than 70 million vaccinations over the last decade, the company said.
8:03 a.m. ET, December 18, 2020
562,000 US Covid-19 deaths projected by April -- up significantly from last update
From CNN’s Amanda Watts
A Covid-19 disaster morgue made up of refrigerated trailers is pictured at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal in New York, on December 14. Michael Nagle/Xinhua/Getty
The influential coronavirus model at the University of Washington is projecting 562,000 Americans will have died from Covid-19 by April 1, 2021 -- up significantly from the prediction it made last week, when it forecast 502,000 deaths by that date.
The model from the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) says the increase is due to surges in cases and deaths, with particularly large increases in California. This is putting a huge amount of stress on the hospital system.
“47 states will have high or extreme stress on hospital beds at some point in December through April,” IHME predicted. “49 states will have high or extreme stress on ICU capacity in December through April.”
“Overall, we expect the national daily death toll to continue increasing to a peak of over 3,750 in mid-January,” the statement reads.
Mitigating factors: The vaccination rollout could save as many as 34,500 lives by April 1, IHME predicts.
The institute again stressed the importance of mask-wearing to keep the numbers down.
“If 95% of people wore a mask when leaving home, the model projects 55,000 fewer deaths by that date," it said. "As of December 14, we estimated that 73% of people always wore a mask when leaving their home."
IHME analyzed mobility across the US and found that visits to restaurants and bars declined in November following increases over the summer.
7:52 a.m. ET, December 18, 2020
Boris Johnson "hoping very much" to avoid another England lockdown
From CNN's Amy Cassidy in Glasgow
Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson is pictured outside 10 Downing Street in central London on December 16. Tolga Akmen/AFP/Getty Images
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was “hoping very much” to avoid another lockdown for England, but did not rule it out.
“Well obviously we're hoping very much that we'll be able to avoid anything like that but the reality is that the rates of infection have increased very much in the last few weeks,” Johnson told reporters in Greater Manchester.
Two of the UK’s four nations -- Wales and Northern Ireland -- have already announced plans to lock down after Christmas as coronavirus infection numbers continue to rise and medical experts warn that the holidays could worsen the situation.
Johnson reiterated that the Christmas rules in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland allowing up to three households forming a “Christmas bubble” is “very much a maximum -- that’s not a target people should aim for.”
Earlier, Johnson said on Twitter that starting Friday, anyone forming a “Christmas Bubble” should start minimizing contact with people outside their household.
7:52 a.m. ET, December 18, 2020
Dr. Sanjay Gupta just got a Covid-19 vaccine shot — but he still needs a second dose
CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice just got the first dose of their Covid-19 vaccine. But they're not fully vaccinated yet: They'll need a second dose in the coming weeks.
"Can we have a date to get our second shots together, as well?" Gupta asked Rice after their first shots.
Rice noted that they'll both receive a vaccine card that can serve as a reminder to get the second dose.
"I think we're going to get this little card, yeah, so we can make it a date," she said.
"It's not the kind of dates that I — lunch would be better, but we'll do the vaccine for now," Gupta joked.
Rice noted that the vaccines are an important step in fighting the pandemic.
"One day, we might be able to have a date without the mask on. We'll bring our spouses," she said.
WATCH:
8:38 a.m. ET, December 18, 2020
Watch the moment CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta got his Covid-19 vaccine
From CNN's Melissa Mahtani
CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice just got the first dose of their Covid-19 vaccine at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta.
Moments before, both doctors admitted they have an aversion to needles, but both said they hardly felt it.
Watch the full moment below:
Later tonight, Gupta will join Dr. Anthony Fauci and Surgeon General Jerome Adams for a CNN town hall about vaccines.
7:51 a.m. ET, December 18, 2020
Pandemic straining mental health and worsening shortage of care providers in US
From CNN's Jen Rose Smith
At a time when the pandemic is straining mental health, many people are going without care altogether. Experts in the US say the pandemic is worsening a shortage of mental health care providers that far predates the current crisis.
Whether you find help at all may depend on where you live, who you are and how much you have to spend.
"In more than half the counties -- and most of them were rural -- there were no mental health providers," said Paul Gionfriddo, president of Mental Health America, a nonprofit with a mission to address the needs of those with mental illness.
Even in urban areas where care is theoretically available, finding a provider can be hard, and there can be extra challenges based on race, gender, sexuality and age.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta after getting Covid-19 vaccine: "That felt very significant"
Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice, left, with CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. CNN
CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice just got the first dose of their Covid-19 vaccine at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta.
After getting the shot, Gupta — who is a practicing surgeon and works in the operation room weekly — said it felt like a "significant" moment.
"It was a mundane sort of thing to get a shot," he said. "People have seen this so many times, but I've got to tell you, I didn't know exactly what to expect. That felt very significant."
Rice commented on how easy getting the vaccine was.
“That’s it? Oh, piece of cake," she said.
7:29 a.m. ET, December 18, 2020
Spain set to receive first vaccine doses on December 26
From CNN's Duarte Mendonca
Spain's Minister of Health, Salvador Illa, gives a press conference in Madrid on December 18. Europa Press/AP
Spain is set to receive its first doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine on December 26, Spanish Health Minister Salvador Illa announced on Friday.
Speaking at a news conference at the prime minister's residence, the Moncloa Palace, Illa said the vaccination campaign would start on December 27, in line with statements made by other European leaders.
The health minister has stressed that the vaccine "is not the end of the pandemic, it is the beginning of the end."
Preparing for vaccine approval: The European Union has yet to authorize use of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. The European Medicines Agency will meet on December 21 and authorization could be granted two days later.
The European Commission has secured more than 2 billion doses of coronavirus vaccines for the bloc since June, and is asking its 27 nations to get ready to work together to roll them out.
