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 Record cases in at least three states - Arizona, Alabama and Ohio -
pushed the cumulative case load to over 15 million, according to a
Reuters tally of state and county data. With the virus showing no
sign of abating, leading health officials are once again sounding
the alarm of further spread when people gather for the year-end
holidays.
"We’re in for a very challenging period," top infectious disease
expert Dr. Anthony Fauci told a virtual summit on Tuesday.
In a bit of welcome news, Pfizer Inc cleared another hurdle on
Tuesday when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released
documents that raised no new red flags over the safety or efficacy
of the vaccine it developed with Germany's BioNTech SE.
The documents were prepared ahead of a meeting of a panel of outside
advisers on Thursday to discuss whether to recommend FDA emergency
use authorization (EUA) of the Pfizer vaccine. That could eventually
provide relief to hospitals buckling under a record 101,498 COVID-19
patients as of Monday, up 16% in a week. Healthcare workers are
expected to be among the first to receive the vaccine it if receives
an EUA.
Health officials predict a swift green light enabling the United
States to join Britain, which became the first Western nation to
begin mass inoculations with the Pfizer vaccine on Tuesday.
The FDA advisory panel is expected to review Moderna Inc's COVID-19
vaccine next week, potentially giving the public two vaccines that
could be distributed in coming weeks.
While China and Russia have moved forward with their own vaccines,
Briton Margaret Keenan, 90, became the first person to receive the
Pfizer vaccine outside of clinical trials when she received a shot
at her local hospital in Coventry in central England.
The United States badly needs a new tool to fight a virus spinning
out of control. Another 203,474 infections were reported on Monday
and 1,582 people died.
HOLIDAY SURGES
In Arizona, one of 14 states without a mask mandate, health
officials on Tuesday reported over 12,000 new coronavirus cases,
eclipsing the previous record of 6,799 on Dec. 5.
Alabama, which together with Arizona is among about half of U.S.
states that have not enacted new restrictions during the latest
virus surge, also notched a record high number of cases on Tuesday,
as did Ohio, according to a Reuters analysis.
Experts and officials have expected a surge in cases,
hospitalizations and deaths in the aftermath of the Thanksgiving
holiday when many Americans traveled to be with family and friends.
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In an effort to curb rapidly growing virus metrics, North Carolina became the
latest state to clamp down on businesses and social activities. Governor Ray
Cooper on Tuesday introduced an order effective Friday that will require
residents to stay home between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., and businesses including
restaurants, bars and most retail stores to close by 10 p.m.
"A month ago, we were deeply concerned to see daily case counts go above 3,000.
Now, we’re shocked that the number has doubled, with some daily counts at more
than 6,000," Cooper wrote on Twitter.
In California, most of the population is under heavy new restrictions and in
Washington state, Governor Jay Inslee extended for three weeks a package of
restrictions, including limits on gatherings and a ban on indoor dining.
Twenty-six states have recently enacted statewide measures to curb the spread of
the virus.
President Donald Trump, who will be succeeded by President-elect Joe Biden on
Jan. 20, has downplayed public health measures such as mask-wearing and social
distancing to halt the virus spread, focusing instead on vaccine development.
Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday intended to ensure that priority
access for COVID-19 vaccines procured by the U.S. government is given to the
American people before assisting other nations.
Dr. Moncef Slaoui, a leader of the administration's Operation Warp Speed vaccine
development program, said on Tuesday vaccinations could begin in the United
States as early as next week, and that he was confident there will be enough
vaccines to immunize 70% to 80% of the U.S. population by mid-May.
But Slaoui, speaking in an interview with Fox News, said he was more worried
about the number of Americans who reject medical science and fear vaccines are
unsafe or a conspiracy to harm the public than he was about supply issues.
"The highest concern I have is the level of hesitancy within the population as
to accepting whether they will be immunized or not," Slaoui said, pleading with
people to keep an open mind. "Please don't come to a conclusion before you have
been exposed to the data."
(Reporting by Daniel Trotta, Maria Caspani, Lisa Shumaker, Doina Chiacu, Anurag
Maan, Manas Mishra, Mike Erman, Rebecca Spalding, Peter Szekely, Sharon
Bernstein and Mohammad Zargham; Writing by Daniel Trotta and Maria Caspani;
Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Jonathan Oatis, Bill Berkrot, Tom Brown and Lincoln
Feast.)
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