The New York Times: Pfizer’s Vaccine Offers Strong Protection After First Dose
The coronavirus vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech provides strong protection against Covid-19 within about 10 days of the first dose, according to documents published on Tuesday by the Food and Drug Administration before a meeting of its vaccine advisory group.The finding is one of several significant new results featured in the briefing materials, which include more than 100 pages of data analyses from the agency and from Pfizer. Last month, Pfizer and BioNTech announced that their two-dose vaccine had an efficacy rate of 95 percent after two doses administered three weeks apart. The new analyses show that the protection starts kicking in far earlier. (Weiland and Zimmer, 12/8)

CNBC: FDA Says Pfizer Covid Vaccine Provides Some Protection After First Dose, Meets Success Criteria
In briefing documents published ahead of an advisory meeting Thursday to review Pfizer’s vaccine, FDA staff also said data submitted appeared to show the vaccine provided protection after the first dose. Pfizer’s vaccine requires two doses about three weeks apart. Two doses of the vaccine were “highly effective” in preventing confirmed cases of Covid-19 at least seven days following the second dose, the agency said. “As such, FDA has determined that the Sponsor has provided adequate information to ensure the vaccine’s quality and consistency for authorization of the product under an EUA,” the agency wrote in documents posted on its website. (Lovelace Jr., 12/8)

The Wall Street Journal: FDA Says Pfizer/BioNTech Vaccine Meets Success Criteria
In addition, the FDA said another benefit was reduction in the risk of confirmed Covid-19 after the first dose and before the second dose. Another clear benefit, the agency said, was “reduction in the risk of confirmed severe Covid-19 any time after dose 1.” The reference to reduction in confirmed severe disease was important, as early critics of some of the vaccine trials were concerned that only mild to moderate disease was prevented. (Burton and Hopkins, 12/8)

The Washington Post: FDA Review Confirms Safety And Efficacy Of Pfizer Coronavirus Vaccine
On Thursday, a group of advisers to the FDA will meet for a full-day public meeting to discuss the data and make recommendations on whether the vaccine merits authorization for immediate use. A decision, informed but not dictated by that debate, is expected to come within days of the meeting. The first doses are expected to be shipped within hours, with a target of 6.4 million doses distributed in the first week. (Johnson, McGinley, Alcantara and Steckelberg, 12/8)

The Washington Post: Britain Begins Pfizer Vaccine Shots, Launching The West’s First Mass Coronavirus Inoculation Effort 
It took barely a second. She rolled up her sleeve and Britain's Margaret Keenan became on Tuesday the first person to receive the Pfizer vaccine shot outside of clinical trials, as the first mass immunization campaign in the West began. The 90-year-old grandmother received her jab, as the Brits would say, at University Hospital in Coventry, England at 6:31 a.m. local time. The nurse, May Parsons, told her to relax her arm. (Booth and Adam, 12/8)

USA Today: 'V-Day': A Year After COVID-19 Pandemic Began In China, U.K. First To Start Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccinations
A year after a mysterious new respiratory disease emerged in Wuhan, China, upending patterns of life and work, the United Kingdom on Tuesday became the first western country to start vaccinating its population against a virus that has killed more than 1.5 million people worldwide and sickened tens of millions more. In a landmark moment in the coronavirus pandemic, around 50 hospitals in the U.K.'s state-run National Health Service (NHS) started administering the COVID-19 inoculation to people over 80 who are either hospitalized or have outpatient appointments scheduled. Some nursing home workers also received the vaccine. (Hjelmgaard, 12/8)

AP: 'Turning Point': UK Giving 1st Doses Of COVID-19 Vaccine
The first shot was given to Margaret Keenan, who turns 91 next week, at University Hospital Coventry, one of several hospitals around the country that are handling the initial phase of the program on what has been dubbed “V-Day.” “I feel so privileged to be the first person vaccinated against COVID-19,” said the former jewelry shop assistant, who wore a surgical mask and a blue Merry Christmas T-shirt decorated with a cartoon penguin wearing a Santa hat and red scarf. “It’s the best early birthday present I could wish for because it means I can finally look forward to spending time with my family and friends in the New Year after being on my own for most of the year.” (Kirka, 12/8)

The Wall Street Journal: U.K. Begins Rollout Of Pfizer’s Covid-19 Vaccine In A First For The West 
Those over 80, nursing-home workers and other high-risk health-care staff were front of the line: a group estimated to number six million. The rollout is being paid for by the U.K.’s state-funded National Health Service. Hari Shukla, 87 years old and one of the first to be inoculated at a hospital in Newcastle, northeastern England, said the two-shot vaccine made him and his wife feel that the crisis was going to come to an end. “When I received the telephone call I was very excited that I got the opportunity of taking part and joining in,” Mr. Shukla told the British Broadcasting Corp. on the eve of the rollout. (Sugden and Horner, 12/8)

Reuters: In England, William Shakespeare Receives A COVID-19 Vaccine 
William Shakespeare from Warwickshire in England was one of the first people to receive the newly approved COVID-19 vaccine outside a clinical trial on Tuesday. The 81-year-old had the injection at University Hospital Coventry on Tuesday, 20 miles from Stratford-Upon-Avon, the birthplace of his namesake, England’s greatest dramatist and poet. (12/8)

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The New York Times: U.K. Coronavirus Vaccine: Side Effects, Safety, And Who Gets It First 
Britain’s National Health Service began delivering shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on Tuesday, opening a public health campaign with little precedent in modern medicine and making Britons the first people in the world to receive an authorized, fully tested vaccine. Here’s a guide to some of the basics. (Mueller and Zimmer, 12/8)

Bloomberg: Pfizer, Astra Shots To Be Combined In U.K. Covid Vaccine Trials
Even as it begins the first Covid immunizations with a shot from Pfizer Inc., the U.K. plans to test it in combination with another vaccine from AstraZeneca Plc. Studies aimed at determining whether using the two jabs together can enhance immunity are planned for next year, according to the U.K. Vaccine Taskforce. The group disclosed the plans as it published a report on its work so far, including deals for 357 million doses from seven makers and investments in three sites to expand the nation’s manufacturing capacity. (Ring, 12/8)

Fox News: Trump To Sign Coronavirus Vaccine Executive Order Prioritizing Americans Over Foreign Nations 
President Trump is expected to sign an executive order Tuesday that will ensure all Americans have access to the coronavirus vaccine before the U.S. government begins aiding nations around the world, Fox News has learned. Senior administration officials told Fox News Monday that the president will reemphasize to the American people that the “priority has been an America First approach,” during a vaccine summit at the White House Tuesday. ... “The priority is to make sure we distribute these vaccines to Americans before we start shipping them around the world to get international access,” an official told Fox News, predicting that international assistance could come “late spring, early summer,” and after they “achieve vaccinating those who have a desire to be vaccinated.” (Singman, 12/7)

CNBC: Trump To Sign Covid-19 Vaccine Executive Order Prioritizing Americans
In a call with reporters Monday afternoon, a senior administration official described the order as primarily a “reaffirmation of the president’s commitment to America First.” Additionally, the order directs a handful of government agencies, including the State Department and the United States Agency for International Development, to work together to help international partners and allies procure Covid vaccines, the official said. (Higgins, 12/7)

ABC News: At 'Vaccine Summit,' Trump Set To Issue Order That Americans Get 1st Access
While it’s not entirely clear on how exactly the executive order would work, the move is designed to prevent the U.S. government from shipping any doses it has purchased to aid any foreign countries until all needs are met within the United States. (Gittleson and Parkinson, 12/7)

Reuters: Trump To Order Priority Access To U.S. COVID-19 Vaccines For Americans
Trump, who has faced sharp criticism for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, is eager to take credit for the speedy development and distribution of a vaccine. One official said the executive order would lead to the formulation of guidelines for U.S. government agencies to help other countries procure the vaccine once demand in the United States was met. (Mason, 12/7)

The New York Times: Trump Administration Passed On Chance To Secure More Of Pfizer Vaccine 
Before Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine was proved highly successful in clinical trials last month, the company offered the Trump administration the chance to lock in supplies beyond the 100 million doses the pharmaceutical maker agreed to sell the government as part of a $1.95 billion deal over the summer. But the administration, according to people familiar with the talks, never made the deal, a choice that now raises questions about whether the United States allowed other countries to take its place in line. (LaFraniere, Thomas and Weiland, 12/7)

The Hill: Trump Officials Deny Turning Down Additional Doses Of Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine 
Trump administration officials on Monday denied a report that the federal government turned down an offer from Pfizer earlier this year to purchase additional doses of its COVID-19 vaccine. ... "Anyone who wanted to sell a guarantee, without an EUA [emergency use authorization] approval, hundreds of millions of doses back in July and August, was just not going to get the government's money," the official said. (Weixel, 12/7)

AP: Feds Passed Up Chance To Lock In More Pfizer Vaccine Doses
Under its contract with Pfizer, the Trump administration committed to buy an initial 100 million doses, with an option to purchase as many as five times more. This summer, the White House opted not to lock in an additional 100 million doses for delivery in the second quarter of 2021, according to people who spoke about the matter on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly. Days ahead of the vaccine’s expected approval, the administration is reversing course, but it is not clear that Pfizer, which has since made commitments to other countries, will be able to meet the latest request on the same timeline. (Miller and Lemire, 12/8)

The Washington Post: Pfizer Tells U.S. Officials It Cannot Supply Substantial Additional Vaccine Until Late June Or July 
Trump administration officials denied there would be availability issues in the second quarter, citing other vaccines in the pipeline, but others said problems are possible. “I’m not concerned about our ability to buy vaccines to offer to all of the American public,” Gen. Paul Ostrowski, who oversees logistics for Operation Warp Speed, the government’s initiative to expedite vaccine development, said in an interview Monday. “It’s clear that Pfizer made plans with other countries. Many have been announced. We understand those pieces.” (McGinley, Abutaleb and Johnson, 12/7)

Stat: Pfizer, Moderna Decline Invitations To White House 'Vaccine Summit'
Both Pfizer and Moderna, the two major drug manufacturers likely to receive emergency authorizations for a Covid-19 vaccine in the coming weeks, have rejected invitations from President Trump to appear at a White House “Vaccine Summit” on Tuesday, according to two sources familiar with the event’s planning. (Facher, 12/7)

The Hill: Trump 'Vaccine Summit' Will Not Include Vaccine Manufacturers 
A Trump administration "vaccine summit" aimed at building confidence in the COVID-19 vaccines under development and awaiting approval will not feature any of the vaccine manufacturers. The summit, to be held inside the White House on Tuesday, will feature panels of federal health officials, governors including Florida's Ron DeSantis (R) and Louisiana's John Bel Edwards (D), as well as representatives from companies involved in the distribution process like FedEx, UPS, CVS, McKesson and ThermoFisher. (Weixel, 12/7)

USA Today: White House Holds COVID-19 Summit As Pressure Mounts For Vaccine Approval
Tuesday's event will be split into sessions and is expected to include drug manufacturers, transportation companies like UPS and FedEx, drug store chains CVS and Walgreens, and a group of state governors. Moderna and Pfizer, the two U.S. companies behind the vaccine candidates, told USA TODAY that officials will not attend the summit. (Jackson and Subramanian, 12/7)

In related news —

USA Today: COVID Vaccine: Pfizer Board Member Disagrees With US Distribution Plan
By the end of the year, the United States government hopes to have close to 40 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine. It plans to distribute half of those in December and hold back the other half to give the same people their second dose of the two-shot regimen. But Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a Pfizer board member and former U.S. Food and Drug Administration commissioner, says that's a bad idea. Instead, Gottlieb says he would give out 35 million doses now, and presume the second doses will be available when people need them. (Rodriguez, 12/7)

CNN: Dr. Fauci Says The Full Brunt Of Thanksgiving On Covid-19 Data Isn't Here Yet 
The United States hasn't seen the full impact that Thanksgiving gatherings likely will have on rising Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations, Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Monday. "The blip from Thanksgiving isn't even here yet," Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CBS' Norah O'Donnell during the Milken Institute Future of Health Summit. (Holcombe and Erdman, 12/7)

The Hill: Fauci: Christmas Could Be Worse Than Thanksgiving For COVID-19 Spread 
Top infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci said Monday that Christmas could be worse than Thanksgiving for COVID-19 spread. “My concerns John [Berman] are the same thing of the concerns that I had about Thanksgiving, only this may be even more compounded because it’s a longer holiday,” he said on CNN's “New Day.” Fauci noted that Thanksgiving celebrations tend to be shorter as people return to work the following week, but Christmas leads into New Year’s. (Coleman, 12/7)

AP: UN Health Agency's Advice For The Holidays: Don't Hug
The World Health Organization has an unwelcome but potentially life-saving message for the holiday season: Don’t hug. To stop the spread of the coronavirus, WHO’s emergencies chief said Monday that the “shocking” rate of COVID-19 cases and deaths, particularly in the U.S., means that people shouldn’t get too close to their loved ones this year. (Keaten, 12/7)

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CNN: Deadliest Week Since April, With More Than 15,600 Deaths 
As the US nears 15 million reported Covid-19 infections, it's adding case numbers at its fastest rate ever -- and officials are racing to ramp up vaccine protocols as well. Coronavirus metrics at every level have been on the rise. In the five days since December 2, the US has added more than a million new cases, bringing the total to more than 14.9 million, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. (Holcombe, 12/8)

NPR: Federal Government Releases Local Hospitalizations Data Showing Hot Spots
New data released by the Department of Health and Human Services on Monday gives the most detailed picture to date of how COVID-19 is stressing individual hospitals in the United States. The information provides nationwide data on hospital capacity and bed use at a hospital-by-hospital level. This is the first time the federal agency has released the COVID-19 hospital data it collects at the facility level. Previously, HHS only released data aggregated at the state level. (McMinn and Huang, 12/7)

The Wall Street Journal: Who Gets Covid-19 Vaccine First? Hospitals Assess How To Divvy Up Shots
Hospitals are rushing to firm up plans for deciding which health-care workers can receive the Covid-19 vaccine first, with initial supplies widely expected to fall short of the amount needed to vaccinate all high-priority workers. December vaccine deliveries are expected to be enough for about 20 million people, according to federal officials. That is slightly less than what is needed to vaccinate all front-line medical professionals and long-term care residents—the groups that a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory panel has recommended should be first in line. (Evans, 12/7)

The Hill: Race Heats Up For Workers Getting Early Access To COVID-19 Vaccine 
While there’s widespread agreement that health care and other front-line workers should be the first recipients, the competition for the second and third tiers has business leaders making their case to the state-level agencies that will largely be responsible for deciding who comes next. Manufacturers, airlines, banks and the food industry are all pushing for their workers to receive the vaccine sooner rather than later. (Gangitano, 12/7)

NPR: NIH Director Predicts Vaccinations Will Start This Month
Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, says millions of people in high-risk groups will likely "start rolling up their sleeves" to get a COVID-19 vaccine soon. An advisory committee to the Food and Drug Administration is meeting on Thursday to talk about the Pfizer vaccine. The same committee of scientists and health experts will meet again on Dec. 17 to talk about the Moderna vaccine. Both vaccines have been highly effective in trials, according to the companies. (King, 12/7)

The New York Times: The Elderly Vs. Essential Workers: Who Should Get The Coronavirus Vaccine First? 
With the coronavirus pandemic surging and initial vaccine supplies limited, the United States faces a hard choice: Should the country’s immunization program focus in the early months on the elderly and people with serious medical conditions, who are dying of the virus at the highest rates, or on essential workers, an expansive category encompassing Americans who have borne the greatest risk of infection? Health care workers and the frailest of the elderly — residents of long-term-care facilities — will almost certainly get the first shots, under guidelines the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued on Thursday. But with vaccination expected to start this month, the debate among federal and state health officials about who goes next, and lobbying from outside groups to be included, is growing more urgent. (Goodnough and Hoffman, 12/5)

Kaiser Health News: What Seniors Can Expect When Covid-19 Vaccines Become Available 
Vaccines that protect against Covid-19 are on the way. What should older adults expect? The first candidates, from Pfizer and Moderna, could arrive before Christmas, according to Alex Azar, who heads the US Department of Health and Human Services. (Graham, 12/8)

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The Washington Post: Black Doctors, Scientists Try To Boost Trust In Coronavirus Vaccine For Black Community 
The Rev. Liz Walker’s job is to minister to souls at Roxbury Presbyterian Church in Boston. But lately it’s her parishioners’ physical health — and their immune systems — keeping her up at night. Walker, a former journalist who was the first Black woman to co-anchor a newscast in Boston, was so troubled by her congregants’ suspicion of a coronavirus vaccine that she asked Anthony S. Fauci, the government’s top infectious-disease expert, to speak with them. (Fadulu, 12/7)

Fox News: Head Of NYC Firefighters Union: About Half My Members Are Wary Of COVID-19 Vaccine
Around half of New York City's firefighters are not inclined to take a coronavirus vaccine when it becomes available, the head of the Uniformed Firefighters Association (UFA) told "Your World" Monday. Over the weekend, the New York Post reported that an internal survey showed that 55% of UFA members answered “No” when asked, “Will you get the COVID-19 Vaccine from Pfizer when the Department makes it available?" The paper reported that more than 2,000 of the UFA's 8,200 active members were surveyed. (Creitz, 12/7)

AP: Biden's Health Team Offers Glimpse Of His COVID-19 Strategy
President-elect Joe Biden’s choices for his health care team point to a stronger federal role in the nation’s COVID-19 strategy, restoration of a guiding stress on science and an emphasis on equitable distribution of vaccines and treatments. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 12/7)

NBC News: Biden Introducing Health Team As Trump Holds Covid Vaccine Summit
President-elect Joe Biden and President Donald Trump will hold dueling health care-related events Tuesday as the coronavirus pandemic continues to intensify nationwide. Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will formally introduce their nominees and appointees for their health team in the afternoon in Wilmington, Del. (Shabad, 12/7)

On the nominees to helm HHS and CDC —

Politico: Trump’s Health Nemesis Gets A New Starring Role: Reversing Trump’s Policies 
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra was the chief legal nemesis of the Department of Health and Human Services for most of the Trump presidency. Now the man who challenged President Donald Trump’s efforts to gut the Affordable Care Act, stop legal immigrants from using health programs, detain migrant children and curb access to abortion is President-elect Joe Biden’s pick to run the agency he antagonized. (Ollstein, 12/7)

Los Angeles Times: Republicans Raising Red Flags Over Becerra's HHS Nomination
Senate Republicans raised red flags Monday over President-elect Joe Biden’s plan to nominate California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra to be secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, although it is uncertain whether that could grow into enough opposition to scuttle the confirmation. (Haberkorn, 12/7)

AP: Becerra's Big Challenge: Vaccinating Americans Against Virus
In choosing Xavier Becerra to be his health secretary, President-elect Joe Biden tapped a robust defender of the Affordable Care Act who will face questions about whether he possesses the health care and management experience needed to lead the massive effort to vaccinate a nation against a deadly pandemic. As California’s attorney general, Becerra leads the nation’s largest state justice department, an influential perch from which he’s fought Republican efforts to roll back health coverage. But he has been less involved in the day-to-day work to combat the coronavirus, is not a health care expert and has not overseen an office as sprawling as the Department of Health and Human Services. (Lemire, Mascaro, Alonso-Zaldivar and Ronayne, 12/8)

Stat: Biden's CDC Pick, A Savvy Communicator, To Lead An Agency That Fell Quiet
When Rochelle Walensky, head of infectious diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital, walks into the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on her first day, she will be taking over the famed public health agency at a time when its reputation has been battered and the morale of its staff is at a low ebb. (Branswell, 12/7)

The Washington Post: Biden’s Choice To Run CDC Is A Respected Specialist Who Is Unafraid To Speak Her Mind
President-elect Joe Biden’s choice to run the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is a widely respected infectious-diseases specialist regarded as a strong communicator unafraid to speak her mind, qualities critical to returning the beleaguered public health agency to its traditional front-line role and to bringing the coronavirus pandemic under control. But while Rochelle Walensky’s research has long had a public health focus, she has never run a government agency or organization as large and complex as the CDC. (Sun, 12/7)

Also —

Stat: 3 Reasons The Drug Industry Should Worry About Biden’s HHS Pick, Becerra
For a pharmaceutical industry that has spent two years sparring with health secretary Alex Azar, a former Eli Lilly executive fixated on the issue of high drug prices, President-elect Biden’s pick for the role, Xavier Becerra, may seem like incredible news. In his health policy work, Becerra has focused far more on Obamacare and health disparities than on the high price of medicines. (Florko, 12/8)

Modern Healthcare: HHS Role Gives Xavier Becerra New Tools To Challenge Healthcare Consolidation
As California's top watchdog, Xavier Becerra has sought to revive competition in healthcare using lawsuits. As HHS chief, he'd have a new go-to: regulation. HHS is a massive $1 trillion-plus department that contains key federal functions like Medicare and Medicaid, drug regulation and public health. While it doesn't handle antitrust issues—the main thrust of Becerra's current role as California's attorney general—some experts say he'll still be able to affect broad change from his new post, if confirmed. (Bannow and Cohrs, 12/7)

KHN: Xavier Becerra In His Own Words: ‘Health Care Is A Right’ 
President-elect Joe Biden has tapped California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Becerra, who would be the nation’s first Latino HHS secretary, has taken some ground-breaking positions on health care, especially since he became attorney general in 2017. He has sued the Trump administration dozens of times on health care, birth control, immigration, climate change and more, with California leading the defense of the Affordable Care Act before the U.S. Supreme Court. Becerra has also won a major legal settlement from Sutter Health after accusing the nonprofit health care giant of using its market dominance in Northern California to illegally drive up prices. (12/7)

Stat: Biden Health Picks Signal A Bottom-Up Approach To The Covid-19 Pandemic
President-elect Biden’s pandemic-response strategy took clearer shape this week with the rollout of several surprising appointments — a list that underscores that his Covid-19 response will be led far more by career government scientists and lower-level health agency deputies than has been the case during the Trump administration. (Facher, 12/8)

The Hill: Hawley Urged Trump To Veto Coronavirus Deal Without Direct Payments 
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) on Monday said he urged President Trump to veto any coronavirus agreement that doesn't include another round of direct payments to Americans. "I'm continuing to be flummoxed as to why there aren't any direct payments. Everybody supported this in March. It's the most useful, helpful and frankly popular aspect. So I told him that, and ... I encouraged him to veto it," Hawley said about his conversation with Trump, which took place over the weekend as the president was traveling back from Georgia. (Carney, 12/7)

CNN: Economists To Bernie Sanders: Don't Kill The Relief Bill Over Stimulus Checks 
Washington is nearing a breakthrough on a desperately needed federal relief package that could keep the fragile economic recovery intact. But Senator Bernie Sanders is furious the bipartisan legislation is not expected to include stimulus checks. Sanders threatened Friday to oppose the yet-to-be-released legislation, arguing it is "wrong morally" and economically not to provide $1,200 payments to working-class families at a time when "hunger in America is exploding." (Egan, 12/7)

The Hill: Warren Signals Concerns About Bipartisan Coronavirus Framework 
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) signaled concerns on Monday about the framework of a bipartisan coronavirus relief package, the latest sign of skepticism from progressives in both chambers. Warren, speaking to reporters in the Capitol, stressed that there isn't even legislative text on the bicameral framework, but raised red flags over several areas including a GOP push for protections from coronavirus lawsuits. (Carney, 12/7)

In related news from Capitol Hill —

KHN: Senate Republicans Throw The Brakes On Timing For Becerra Hearings
Senate Republicans are signaling they will delay considering President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee to run the Department of Health and Human Services, threatening to slow the Biden administration’s response to the pandemic that has killed more than 283,000 Americans. On Monday, Republican spokespeople for the committees responsible for vetting HHS nominations said the Senate may not hold hearings on California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, Biden’s pick to lead the department, until the Senate approves committee assignments and other organizational details for the new Congress. (Huetteman, 12/8)

CNN: Republicans Invite Discredited Vaccine Critic To Testify Before Senate Panel 
Senate Democrats are outraged that a witness invited to testify before a congressional hearing on Tuesday is being given a public platform for her discredited ideas that could endanger the US response to the coronavirus pandemic. They say Dr. Jane Orient is a vaccine skeptic who has promoted the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid-19 patients, despite the Food and Drug Administration stating that it should not be used to treat coronavirus patients and has criticized the federal government's role in urging Americans to get vaccinated against the virus. (Rogers, 12/7)

Albuquerque Journal: State Order Gives Doctors Enhanced Protections
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has moved to reduce doctors’ exposure to lawsuits as they prepare to practice in a worsening COVID-19 climate that one medical association is likening to a “war zone.” In an executive order issued Friday, the governor said the state could be just weeks away from implementing “crisis standards of care” – standards that outline how to ration medical resources when need exceeds availability. (Dyer, 12/7)

In other news about health care workers —

The Hill: Doctor Who Criticized Trump's Behavior Removed From Walter Reed Schedule: Report 
An attending physician at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center who called out President Trump for his decision to greet supporters while being treated for the coronavirus has been removed from the hospital’s schedule beginning in January, CBS News reported Monday. James Phillips, chief of disaster medicine at George Washington University and an attending physician under contract for Walter Reed, criticized Trump in October for his decision to drive with Secret Service agents to greet supporters while he was hospitalized at the Bethesda, Md., facility. (Mitchell, 12/7)

AP: Public Health Workers Leaving Jobs Amid Pandemic, Politics
Public health workers across Kansas are leaving their jobs amid the pressures of dealing with the coronavirus pandemic and the politics surrounding it. In the nine months since the state had its first documented COVID-19 case, 27 county health officials have left their jobs. Some retired, but others resigned or were fired, the Kansas News Service reported. (12/7)

Fox News: Coronavirus Exposure Leads Hundreds Of Detroit Health Care Workers To Quarantine Amid Staffing Concerns
Hundreds of health care workers in part of a hospital system in Detroit, Mich., are currently not working after they either contracted the novel coronavirus or were exposed to it, according to a report. An estimated 576 of the 33,000 employees with Henry Ford Health System, a health care company in Metro Detroit, are said to be temporarily out of work due to COVID-19. “We are very concerned with the staffing shortage,” Henry Ford Health System Executive Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer Dr. Adnan Munkarah said, per local news outlet WDIV-TV, noting that at least two of the system’s six hospitals are more than 90% full. (Farber, 12/7)

Modern Healthcare: Hospital Facilities Team Is The 'Unsung Hero' Of COVID-19
Christine Flaherty normally oversees capital improvement projects, preventive maintenance and efforts to reduce NYC Health + Hospitals’ carbon footprint. The past year has been anything but normal. Instead, she spent the better part of 10 months finding ways to handle surges of COVID-19 patients. But she insists she didn’t do it alone. “This was not a one-woman show. This was a show of all of our leaders,” said Flaherty, who has been senior vice president of facilities development at the 11-hospital public health system since May 2019. (Christ, 12/5)

CNN: A Doctor Who Treated Some Of Houston's Sickest Covid-19 Patients Has Died 
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Dr. Carlos Araujo-Preza spent his days caring for some of the sickest Covid-19 patients in Houston. Months later, he was admitted to the same intensive care unit where he served as critical care medical director, infected with the same disease he treated in others. On November 30, Araujo-Preza, a physician at HCA Houston Healthcare in Tomball, Texas, died from coronavirus, his daughter told CNN. He was 51. (Kaur, 12/8)

Modern Healthcare: Industry Accounts For 8% Of Greenhouse Gases In Recent Data
New research shows hospitals remain one of the largest polluters despite the industry's efforts to address climate change. The amount of greenhouse gas emissions that came from hospital systems increased 6% from 2010 to 2018, according to the findings of a Health Affairs study published Monday. Researchers found the healthcare industry accounted for more than 8% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2018, the highest rate among health systems of any industrialized nation. (Ross Johnson, 12/7)

In other health care industry news —

Modern Healthcare: Healthcare Access Issues, Not Comorbidities, Drive Racial COVID-19 Disparities
Black and Latino COVID-19 patients' worse outcomes stem largely from not being able to access care quickly enough, rather than any underlying health conditions, according to a new study. A new study of more than 2,600 patients hospitalized for COVID-19 published Friday in JAMA Network Open found Black and Latino patients had a lower risk of mortality or critical illness and were less likely of being discharged to hospice compared to white patients. (Ross Johnson, 12/4)

Boston Globe: Baker Says Mass. Hospitals Will ‘Curtail’ Inpatient Elective Procedures Amid COVID-19 Spike
In a troubling echo of the pandemic’s early days, Governor Charlie Baker said Monday that Massachusetts hospitals will temporarily curtail inpatient elective surgeries to make room for a further influx of patients with COVID-19. Starting Friday, hospitals will limit “elective procedures that can be safely postponed,” Baker said at State House briefing. “This action will free up necessary staffing and beds.” (Abel and Andersen, 12/7)

Stat: Limbo At OpenBiome Put Fecal Matter Transplants On Hold Across U.S.
New regulations put in place because of Covid-19 have left one of the largest U.S. banks of donated stool unable to regularly ship samples to physicians and research collaborators, forcing a delay in fecal transplants across the country for most of the last six months. The extended quarantine of material from OpenBiome — a nonprofit based in Cambridge, Mass. — has likely affected fecal microbiota transplants at most academic medical centers. (Sheridan, 12/8)

Modern Healthcare: Baylor Scott & White To Cut A Third Of Its Corporate Finance Department
Dallas-based Baylor Scott & White Health will lay off around 100 accounting and finance employees as the largest health system in the state copes with the COVID-19 pandemic. The not-for-profit health system plans to outsource those roles to workers in India to free up capital for patient care as COVID-19 cases swell in Texas. The third-party vendor will hire some of the displaced Baylor Scott & White employees, the organization said, which has nearly 45,000 workers across its network. (Kacik, 12/7)

Boston Globe: Doctor Who Volunteered For Moderna Study Felt ‘Lousy’ After Second Shot, But Touts Vaccine
Jorge Arroyo isn’t certain whether he was injected with Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine or a placebo when he volunteered to receive two shots four weeks apart during the summer. Participants and researchers in the study at Brigham and Women’s Hospital were kept in the dark to eliminate the power of suggestion. But to Arroyo, it sure felt like he got the real thing. The Harvard-affiliated ophthalmologist ― one of about 30,000 participants in the Cambridge biotech’s nationwide trial ― says he began feeling ill about 10 hours following the second shot. The symptoms included body aches, slight nausea, and chills. What’s more, his husband, who also participated in the trial, had a similar reaction. (Saltzman, 12/7)

Reuters: Explainer: I Just Got A COVID-19 Vaccine. Now What? 
Clinical trials so far have not been designed to determine if an immunized person can still spread the coronavirus to someone else. Some vaccines, such as hepatitis A, do provide such protection - known as sterilizing immunity - but others do not. COVID-19 vaccine makers focused trials on determining whether the drug stopped people from getting ill. It will also be several more months before it becomes clear how long the vaccination will protect someone from coronavirus infection. (Beasley, 12/8)

The Hill: Five Questions And Answers On COVID-19 Vaccines 
Coronavirus vaccines are poised for authorization and distribution across the U.S. in the weeks ahead, offering hope that the end of the pandemic is in sight. The development comes as the coronavirus spreads at a seemingly uncontrollable rate across the country, killing more than 275,000 people and pushing health systems in many states to the breaking point. (Weixel, 12/6)

Also —

AP: Years Of Research Laid Groundwork For Speedy COVID-19 Shots
How could scientists race out COVID-19 vaccines so fast without cutting corners? A head start helped -- over a decade of behind-the-scenes research that had new vaccine technology poised for a challenge just as the coronavirus erupted. “The speed is a reflection of years of work that went before,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, told The Associated Press. “That’s what the public has to understand.” (Neergaard, 12/7)

The Washington Post: How The Leading Coronavirus Vaccines Made It To The Finish Line
On a Sunday afternoon in early November, scientist Barney Graham got a call at his home office in Rockville, Md., where he has sequestered himself for most of the last 10 months, working relentlessly to develop a vaccine to vanquish a killer virus. It was Graham’s boss at the National Institutes of Health, with an early heads-up on news the world would learn the next morning: A coronavirus vaccine from Pfizer and the German biotech firm BioNTech that used a new genetic technology and a specially designed spike protein from Graham and collaborators had proved stunningly effective. (Johnson, 12/6)

Albuquerque Journal: Los Alamos Examines Impact Of Vaccines
Scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory are using computer models to study how the timing and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines might shape the course of the pandemic – work that may influence policymakers in New Mexico and across the country. The researchers say wearing masks and taking other steps to limit the spread of the disease will remain critical for months to come, even as the first vaccines reach New Mexico, perhaps next week. (McKay, 12/7)

CIDRAP: With Or Without COVID-19, Households Have Pets With COVID Antibodies
During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, 3.3% of tested dogs and 5.8% of tested cats tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in northern Italy, with higher rates in COVID-affected households, according to a recent study published in Nature Communications. All had negative COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test results. Out of households with confirmed COVID infections, 6 of 47 (12.8%) dogs displayed antibodies and 1 in 22 (4.5%) cats did. The researchers also found antibodies in 2 of 133 (1.5%) dogs and 1 of 38 (2.6%) cats in confirmed COVID-negative households. (12/7)

CIDRAP: Study: OK For Moms With COVID, Newborns To Share Hospital Room
Only 1 of 62 newborns who breastfed and roomed with their 61 COVID-19–infected mothers in Lombardy, Italy, was diagnosed as having the novel coronavirus, suggesting that mother-to-infant transmission is rare, according to a study published today in JAMA Pediatrics. From Mar 19 to May 2, the prospective, six-center study monitored the infant and mother pairs for 20 days after birth. The one infected newborn was taken to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) after 5 days, when the mother developed bilateral pneumonia and pulmonary embolism requiring mechanical ventilation for 14 days. Two days after arrival in the NICU, the infant tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and had periodic, mild shortness of breath for a few days. (Van Beusekom, 12/7)

CIDRAP: Patients With Severe COVID-19 Found To Be Infectious Twice As Long
A November Canada Communicable Disease Report suggests that patients with mild COVID-19 are no longer infectious 10 days after diagnosis, but patients with severe disease are generally infectious for at least 20 days. Researchers with the Public Health Agency of Canada reviewed 302 studies of the COVID-19 infectious period, including reviews, peer-reviewed publications, and preprint articles through Aug 31. (12/7)

In news about brain scans —

AP: Why Are Some Scientists Turning Away From Brain Scans?
Brain scans offer a tantalizing glimpse into the mind’s mysteries, promising an almost X-ray-like vision into how we feel pain, interpret faces and wiggle fingers. Studies of brain images have suggested that Republicans and Democrats have visibly different thinking, that overweight adults have stronger responses to pictures of food and that it’s possible to predict a sober person’s likelihood of relapse. But such buzzy findings are coming under growing scrutiny as scientists grapple with the fact that some brain scan research doesn’t seem to hold up. (Renault, 12/8)

CNN: Stress During Pregnancy May Harm Unborn Baby's Brain, Studies Find - CNN
The stress a woman feels during pregnancy can affect the developing brain of her unborn child as documented on fetal brain scans, according to a new study published Monday in the medical journal JAMA Open Network. Fetuses of expectant moms with higher anxiety levels were more likely to have weaker connections between two brain areas involved in executive and higher cognitive functions and stronger connections between parts of the brain connected to emotional and behavioral controls. (LaMotte, 12/7)

CIDRAP: Diabetes Drug Linked To Lower COVID-19 Death Rate In Women
A Lancet Healthy Longevity study yesterday found that metformin—a common, generic type 2 diabetes medication used to manage blood sugar levels—is associated with significantly lower COVID-19 death risk in women, but not in men. Severe COVID-19 outcomes for people with diabetes have been widely observed, including greater risk of intensive care unit admission, intubation for mechanical ventilation, and death, possibly related to less effective glycemic, or blood sugar, control in these patients. (Kubelbeck Paulsen, 12/4)

Stat: Divergent Results From Agios, Forma Trials For Their Sickle Cell Drugs 
Two drug makers — Forma Therapeutics and Agios Pharmaceuticals — are each developing their own oral medicines that aim to benefit patients with sickle cell disease by boosting the energy levels and health of red blood cells. But the competing clinical trials reported Monday have produced divergent results, with Forma’s drug performing better than expected and Agios’ drug falling short. (Feuerstein, 12/7)

Stat: With New Data And A Storied History, Eli Lilly Blood Cancer Pill Looks Stronger
Three years ago, the biotech firm Loxo Oncology purchased a promising blood cancer pill for $40 million — part of a transaction that involved a near-bankruptcy, entrepreneurs with a keen eye, and a red-eye flight from Chicago to London. Now the medicine could go down as one of the great deals in biotech history, pending further data. (Herper, 12/7)

In other pharmaceutical developments —

Stat: Familes File Complaint With UN Over Vertex Cystric Fibrosis Drug Policies
In an unusual move, a coalition of cystic fibrosis patients and their families have filed a complaint with the United Nations, arguing that Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) is harming patient rights through prohibitive pricing and distribution policies for its life-saving medicines. Specifically, the group maintained that Vertex is violating UN policies on attaining standards for public health, which were issued in 2000 and maintain that health is a “fundamental human right.” (Silverman, 12/8)

Stat: FDA Finds “Relatively Mild” Issues With Bristol Myers Squibb Plant
The Food and Drug Administration found problems during a recent inspection of a Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY) facility in Bothell, Wash., but a Wall Street analyst believes the findings were not serious enough to complicate approval of a cancer drug the company acquired in its $74 billion buyout of Celgene. (Silverman, 12/7)

Modern Healthcare: Anthem, Express Scripts Won't Face ERISA Proposed Class Action
A federal appeals court on Monday refused to revive a lawsuit alleging Anthem and Express Scripts overcharged employer plan beneficiaries for prescription drugs. The allegations stem from Anthem's decision to sell three of its pharmaceutical benefit management companies to Express Scripts in 2009, when it also entered a 10-year PBM agreement with the company. Those moves meant their employer-based insurance customers would pay more for prescription drugs, according to the lawsuit that sought class action status. The plaintiffs alleged the companies violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. (12/7)

AP: Millions Of Hungry Americans Turn To Food Banks For 1st Time
The deadly pandemic that tore through the nation’s heartland struck just as Aaron Crawford was in a moment of crisis. He was looking for work, his wife needed surgery, then the virus began eating away at her work hours and her paycheck. The Crawfords had no savings, mounting bills and a growing dread: What if they ran out of food? The couple had two boys, 5 and 10, and boxes of macaroni and cheese from the dollar store could go only so far. (Cohen, 12/7)

Indianapolis Star: Hunger In Indiana: Pandemic Doubled Available Food Assistance And Need
The results of two surveys conducted by Indy Hunger Network in February and June reveal how significantly the COVID-19 pandemic has affected hunger across Marion County. The report, published in late October, found that, while nonprofits and federal aid nearly doubled the number of meals being distributed to food-insecure Hoosiers, the need also doubled. Between February and June, the total number of meals provided by area nonprofits and federal nutrition programs rose from 11,850,916 to 22,587,724. (Hays, 12/7)

In other public health news —

AP: Religious High Schools Sue To Reopen For In-Person Classes
Nonpublic schools sued Monday after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration extended a coronavirus order that prevents in-person instruction at Michigan high schools, saying it violates the First Amendment right to practice religion. The federal lawsuit, filed in Michigan’s Western District, was brought by a group representing more than 400 nonpublic schools across the state, as well as three Catholic high schools and 11 parents. The state health department lengthened the restriction by 12 days, through Dec. 20. It took effect Nov. 18 and also applies to public high schools and all colleges and universities. (Eggert, 12/8)

CNN: A Gospel-Singing Family Performed A Virtual Concert At A Recording Studio. Then, Five Of Them Got Covid-19 
Ernestine Ray was driving home from work on July 3 when her vision turned blurry. A few hours later, she was in a Houston hospital, where she was diagnosed with Covid-19 and failing kidneys. She started crying. (Lavandera, 12/7)

The Wall Street Journal: Exposed To Covid-19 During The Holidays? Here Are Safe Tests And Practices 
The desserts were delicious, the reunions were warm, but you’ve just learned that someone at the holiday gathering you attended had Covid-19. What next? Today’s shorter quarantine guidelines, a variety of tests and newly available therapies call for updated protocols. So what should you do if you feel sick or if you spent time near the fellow guest who has been diagnosed? And is it safer to get tested if you’re considering meeting with family within the next several weeks? (Dizik, 12/7)

KHN: Tracking COVID’s Spread Inside A Tight-Knit Latino Community 
Early in the pandemic, Ximena Rebolledo León, a registered nurse at Telluride Regional Medical Center in southwestern Colorado, needed to find everyone who’d been in contact with a sick Latino worker whose boss had told him he would lose his job if he didn’t show up. The man had gone to work and infected four co-workers, all Latinos, with COVID-19 — so Rebolledo León then had to track down their movements to determine who else had been exposed to the coronavirus in the wealthy ski resort community. (Hawryluk, 12/8)

KHN: A Child’s Death In The Heartland Changes Community Views About COVID
In August, local officials in this small city an hour west of St. Louis voted against requiring residents to wear masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. On Nov. 23, with COVID cases surging and the local hospital overflowing, the City Council brought a mask order back for another vote. As protesters marched outside, Councilman Nick Obermark, an electrician, was the sole member of the nonpartisan council to change his vote, causing the mandate to pass. (Shipley Hiles, 12/8)

Also —

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: Stricter Controls On Soot Pollution Rejected By EPA
The Trump administration Monday rejected setting tougher standards on soot, the nation's most widespread deadly air pollutant, saying the existing regulations remain sufficient even though some public health experts and environmental justice organizations had pleaded for stricter limits. The agency retained the current thresholds for fine particle pollution for another five years, despite mounting evidence linking air pollution to lethal outcomes from respiratory illnesses, including covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Documents obtained by The Washington Post show the Environmental Protection Agency has disregarded concerns, raised by other administration officials, that several of its air policy rollbacks would disproportionately affect minority and low-income communities. (12/7)

Stat: Stigma, Weaponized In Many Forms, Helps Fuel The Addiction Crisis 
Although the disease of addiction is now obscured by the dark cloud of the Covid-19 pandemic, it continues to tear America apart. It’s a relentless killer, fed by anxiety and uncertainty, and enabled by the attitudes of the health care providers who are supposed to be caring for people with it. (Sean Fogler, 12/8)

Los Angeles Times: California Coronavirus Shutdown Will Last Through Christmas As Deaths Explode Past 20,000
For millions of Californians, the COVID-19 pandemic will provide a most unwelcome gift this Christmas: a wide-ranging shutdown imposed as the state grapples with its most massive and dangerous surge in infections and hospitalizations to date. Monday provided even more devastating news: More than 20,000 cumulative deaths and more than 34,000 new coronavirus cases reported Monday alone, according to The Ti mes’ county-by-county tally of infections. That shatters the previous single-day record, set Friday, when 22,369 coronavirus cases were tallied. (Money, Lin II and Greene, 12/7)

AP: California Releases Smartphone Virus Tool As Cases Soar
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday announced a voluntary smartphone tool to alert people of possible coronavirus exposure as cases soar higher, new restrictions are imposed and many people still say they won’t heed the pleas to stay home. The tool — which has been used on a pilot basis on some state university campuses — doesn’t track people’s identities or locations but uses Bluetooth wireless signals to detect when two phones are within 6 feet (1.8 meters) of each other for at least 15 minutes, officials said. (Taxin and Beam, 12/7)

In news from New York and Pennsylvania —

The Hill: Cuomo Warns Indoor Dining In New York City Will Be Banned If Hospitalizations Don't Stabilize Soon 
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said Monday that indoor dining in New York City restaurants may have to be shut down again if hospitalizations do not plateau in the days ahead. "We will manage the hospital system as well as it can be managed, but if you’re going to overwhelm the hospital system, then we have no choice to go to lockdown," he said Monday. (Budryk, 12/7)

CNN: 55% Of FDNY Firefighters Wouldn't Get A Covid-19 Vaccine If Offered By The Department, Poll Finds 
As cases of Covid-19 continue to rise across the country, a poll of firefighters in the Fire Department of New York City (FDNY) found that nearly 55% of respondents would not get a Covid-19 vaccine if offered by the department, their union president told CNN Monday. Despite research that shows firefighters were 15 times more likely to be infected, a majority of those who took the poll declined the offer of a vaccine. (Sturla and Silverman, 12/8)

Philadelphia Inquirer: Pa. National Guard Leader Abruptly Retires Amid Investigations Into Veterans’ Nursing Home, Horsham Air Base
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf’s top military affairs official abruptly retired over the weekend amid investigations into dozens of coronavirus deaths at a state-run veterans home in Chester County and allegations of sexual harassment and retaliation at a National Guard station in Montgomery County. Wolf on Saturday announced that Maj. Gen. Anthony Carrelli was retiring from his cabinet-level position, effective immediately. The administration would not explain the reasons for his departure. (Bender, 12/7)

In news from Nevada, Colorado and Idaho —

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Las Vegas Strip Draws Virus-Safety OSHA Complaints
Two of Nevada’s five most complained-about ZIP codes for potential COVID-19 safety violations encompass nearly all of the Strip, according to state data. Nevada’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced Monday that it had received 407 total complaints, as of Dec. 2, concerning coronavirus regulations in Strip postal codes 89109 and 89119, which also include McCarran International, UNLV, the Las Vegas Country Club and some residential neighborhoods. (Shoro, 12/7)

The Hill: Husband Of Colorado Governor Taken To Hospital For COVID-19 
The husband of Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) was admitted to the hospital on Sunday after he and Polis both tested positive for COVID-19 late last month. The governor’s office said in a Monday statement that Colorado's first gentleman Marlon Reis was “admitted to the hospital following shortness of breath and a worsening cough.” (Pitofsky, 12/7)

Idaho Statesman: How Many People Have COVID-19 In Idaho Right Now? Nobody Knows. Here’s Why
Idaho is weeks behind on contact tracing efforts, as some infected Idahoans refuse to cooperate and the fall’s surge of COVID-19 cases overwhelms the public health infrastructure. As a result, public health departments haven’t been able to accurately report the number of Idahoans with COVID-19, or to quickly find and notify others who may have been infected. Public health officials hope that federal funds to help with COVID-19 response, and new personnel from the Idaho National Guard, can get them back on track. (Dutton and Foy, 12/7)

In updates from Iowa, Oklahoma and Florida —

Des Moines Register: Hy-Vee To Hire More Iowa Pharmacists, Open New COVID-19 Testing Sites
The West Des Moines-based grocer announced it will fill 1,000 licensed pharmacy technician positions across the Midwest, about 500 of which will be in Iowa, according to company spokesperson Tina Potthoff. Both full-time and part-time positions will be available at Hy-Vee's pharmacies to support COVID-19 testing and prepare for the rollout of a vaccine, the company said. “Right now, there is a critical need for trained pharmacy technicians who can help support our pharmacies and patients as we prepare for the next step in battling this virus,” Aaron Wiese, Hy-Vee executive vice president of business innovation and chief health officer, said in a news release. (Akin, 12/7)

The Oklahoman: Oklahoma Obamacare Premiums Are Lowest In Years, But Will COVID-19 Impact Sign-Ups?
Oklahomans will have more choices and the most affordable health insurance options in years through the Affordable Care Act’s marketplace. Thanks in part to a record number of insurers offering plans in Oklahoma for coverage that starts Jan. 1, the average monthly benchmark premiums on the federal exchange are down more than 20% from a record high in 2019. This is good news for health advocates who want to boost insurance rates during a time when COVID-19 has killed more than 280,000 and hospitalized more than half a million across the country. (Brown, 12/7)

The Hill: Agents Raid Home Of Ousted Florida Health Scientist Who Accused State Of Manipulating Data 
Florida state police raided a home on Monday belonging to a scientist who created the state’s COVID-19 data dashboard but was fired for what she says was her refusal to “manipulate data.” Agents from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) entered Rebekah Jones’s home with guns raised and confiscated computer equipment, the Tallahassee Democrat reported. (Choi, 12/7)

Bloomberg: Canada Has Reserved More Covid Vaccine Doses Per Person Than Anywhere
Canada already had enough potential Covid-19 vaccines secured to protect a population almost four times its size. It just added another 20 million doses to the pile and accelerated its vaccination calendar. The government doubled its order from Moderna Inc. to 40 million doses, the U.S. pharmaceutical company said Monday. And the first 249,000 doses from another supplier, Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE, are set to arrive next week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday, kick-starting a vaccination campaign ahead of schedule. (Rastello and Bolongaro, 12/7)

Axios: Canada To Get First Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccines Next Week, Trudeau Says 
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Monday that Canada will begin receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine from next week. ... "The first Canadians will be vaccinated next week if we have approval from Health Canada this week," Trudeau told a briefing confirming that the country will receive up to 249,000 doses of the vaccine by the month's end. (Falconer, 12/8)

Bloomberg: Abu Dhabi To Start Clinical Trials For Russian Covid-19 Vaccine
Abu Dhabi has started a volunteer program for Phase 3 clinical trials of Russia’s Covid-19 vaccine, Sputnik V. The oil-rich capital of the United Arab Emirates is initially seeking 500 volunteers, according to the Abu Dhabi Government Media Office. Russian president President Vladimir Putin announced the registration of Sputnik V in August and a second inoculation was approved in October. (Elbahrawy, 12/8)

AP: UN Makes Dec. 27 'Epidemic Preparedness' Day
The United Nations General Assembly has approved a resolution proclaiming Dec. 27 as the International Day of Epidemic Preparedness to keep a global spotlight on the need to strengthen global measures to prevent pandemics like COVID-19. The resolution adopted Monday by consensus by the 193-member world body expresses “grave concern at the devastating impacts of major infectious diseases and epidemics, as exemplified by the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, on human lives.” (12/8)

AP: Puerto Rico Seeks To Arrest US Tourist Who Refused Face Mask
A judge on Friday ordered the arrest of a tourist from the U.S. mainland who is accused of attacking a National Guard trooper at Puerto Rico’s airport after refusing to wear a face mask as required under pandemic restrictions. The suspect was identified as 31-year-old Adrien Williams. He faces charges including assault in the Nov. 28 incident caught on video that went viral. (12/4)

In other global developments —

The New York Times: As Pandemic Threatens Britain’s Mental Health, These ‘Fishermen’ Fight Back 
The group of seven volunteers in high-visibility vests, equipped with GPS trackers and radios, gathered in the parking lot of a nature preserve on the outskirts of town. “We’ll take the red route,” Rick Roberts said, shining his flashlight over a map of the woodland, as his breath formed a cloud in the cold, late-November air. ... They were there as part of Night Watch, a suicide-prevention initiative started just a few weeks earlier to monitor known suicide hot spots in the area, and they were looking for people in crisis. (Specia, 12/6)

AP: Report Finds Microwave Energy Likely Made US Diplomats Ill
A new report by a National Academy of Sciences committee has found that “directed” microwave radiation is the likely cause of illnesses among American diplomats in Cuba and China. The study commissioned by the State Department and released Saturday is the latest attempt to find a cause for the mysterious illnesses that started to emerge in late 2016 among U.S. personnel in Havana. (12/6)

The New York Times: We Can’t Ignore The Human Cost Of Lockdowns
As the winter has deepened, the pandemic has surged. In the United States, case counts and hospitalizations are hitting and exceeding their highest points since the pandemic began. Countries across Europe have reinstated lockdowns and there are rumblings that states across the country could soon follow suit — some parts of California, for instance, have instituted new stay-at-home orders. Renewed lockdowns may be necessary, but they would be no panacea for public health, and we should not put them in place without carefully considering the human costs, which are broad and deep. It is imperative that we learn from and apply the lessons of the initial lockdowns. (Drew Holden, 12/8)

USA Today: COVID-19 Vaccine: ‘Get As Many Shots In Arms As Possible, Right Away’
Q: Even as the Pfizer vaccine could be approved as early as Thursday, we're in the midst of the worst surge yet of the coronavirus. How bad is this going to get before it gets better? A: I think it's going to get a lot worse before things start to improve. The hardest four to six weeks are ahead of us. I think we're going to see daily new infections continue to increase for the next four weeks. And then we won't hit peak hospitalizations until probably six weeks, maybe mid-January. We could see upwards of 150,000 to 175,000 people hospitalized when we hit the peak and maybe upwards of 40,000 to 50,000 people in the ICU. That's going to really press the health care system. (Former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb, 12/7)

New York Post: COVID-19 Hit The Working Class Hardest, Just As It Was Finally Doing Better
Just when it seemed some of the most disheartening trends in the US economy were finally beginning to reverse, COVID arrived to entrench them. The pandemic has been a neutron bomb targeted at the prospects of lower-income working people. They had finally begun to benefit from the recovery from the Great Recession when the virus ravaged industries that disproportionately employ them. Wars and depressions often reduce economic inequality. Not the pandemic. The Washington Post has called the resulting economic damage “the most unequal recession in modern US history.” (Rich Lowry, 12/7)

CNN: Biden And Trump's Approaches To Pandemic To Be Starkly Contrasted In Dual Events 
President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday will introduce the scientists and doctors he says will finally defeat the pandemic -- but for now, his team can only watch as a wave of infection and death deepens the crisis he will face after January 20. (Stephen Collinson, 12/8)

CNN: With Covid-19 Raging, Where Are America's Leaders? 
As we head into the final months of the Trump administration, with President-elect Joe Biden poised to take the reins, public and private institutions appear helpless to act to limit the impact of Covid-19 during this period of transition. We're watching, like spectators, a health catastrophe of historic proportions that has already resulted in more than 280,000 deaths in the United States, economic calamity for millions and what is looking increasingly like a crippling of the nation's health infrastructure. And we're doing so with a sense of helplessness as a rudderless government and an indifferent President do little more than await the public distribution of a vaccine. (Merrill Brown, 12/7)

The Wall Street Journal: South Dakota’s Balanced Covid Response
In the coming weeks, governors across the country will give speeches outlining their budget proposals. Following months of economic lockdowns, sheltering in place, and huge numbers of businesses being forced to close permanently, many of my peers are likely not looking forward to these addresses. Some will propose tax increases. Others will take on more debt, and a few will be forced to make significant budget cuts. In South Dakota, as we have done throughout this pandemic, we will forge a different path. (Gov. Kristi Noem, 12/7)

The Wall Street Journal: Americans Need Help While Awaiting A Vaccine
Now is the time to act. The people who are struggling these days come from every state, every demographic, and every political party. They came out and voted in record numbers this past November—for both sides—despite all the risks that came with it. Make the deal for them. Rise above partisan differences and do something big for the people we all serve. It will save lives, jobs, businesses and homes. And when the history of this terrible time is written, your leadership won’t be forgotten. (Gov. Charlie Baker, 12/7)

The Washington Post: What The Pandemic Can Teach Us About Treating Hunger 
I am a chef, so I know about life inside kitchens and restaurants. But when I was growing up, I heard a lot about health care and the stresses of life inside hospitals — both of my parents were nurses. Kitchens and hospitals are two different worlds, but I believe that the fight to feed the hungry needs to learn from the history of the fight to heal the sick. (Jose Andres, 12/7)

Sacramento Bee: Xavier Becerra Sued Trump But Ducked Police Reform 
As California attorney general, Xavier Becerra resisted transparency, threatened legal action against journalists, ducked police reforms and declined to investigate the police killing of an unarmed Latino man. I was writing a column about why he would have been a bad pick for United States attorney general when the news hit: President-elect Joe Biden had instead nominated Becerra for secretary of Health and Human Services. Becerra and I were scheduled to talk for 20 minutes last Thursday, but we jousted for an hour. I made it clear that, given his record in California, a Biden decision to appoint him AG would essentially be a middle finger to the national movement for police reform. (Gil Duran, 12/7)

Los Angeles Times: With Xavier Becerra Pick, Biden Goes All In On Obamacare
California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra has been one of the most visible defenders of the Affordable Care Act in recent years, repeatedly filing lawsuits against Republican efforts to dismantle it. That’s one reason President-elect Joe Biden tapped him to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, the agency that administers the ACA for the federal government. But HHS, which has the largest budget of any federal agency, does a lot more than just operate the ACA’s insurance-buying marketplaces in dozens of states. Among many other things, the department runs Medicare and Medicaid, oversees federally funded medical research through the National Institutes of Health, regulates pharmaceuticals through the Food and Drug Administration, fights infectious diseases through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and oversees federal mental health, substance abuse and child development programs. (12/7)