“Increase vigilance.” New call to action from White House COViD advisor Dr Deborah Birx. Now showing graphic where fall spike in cases much steeper than earlier waves.
Birx attributes sharp fall COVID spike to early cold snap in October and people being inside then.
Now: chart showing states’ COVID hospitalizations—- the Dakotas are the worst.
Birx now is warning about household gatherings’ risks.
Pence who earlier promised no shutdowns now says feds have eyes on local hospital capacity. New speaker says task force has grown PPE supplies 10-15 times... have 4 months of surge capacity for N95 masks.
Graphic about state stockpiles has MN with 31-60 day supply of PPE.
Fall meaning autumn
Fauci sighting!
Fauci is clearly excited about the COVID vaccines.
Fauci is saying the vaccines far exceeded expectations for preventing severe disease. Now he's turning to vaccine "reticence" ... says the process of the speed did not compromise safety or integrity.
Also says review of the data was done by independent people who have no allegiance to anything.."not the administration, not to me." Now will be reviewed by FDA and undergoing additional scrutiny. Put to rest this was rushed or compromised. "This was really solid."
Vaccines will roll out at end of December to "high priority" people. But Fauci also says more important now, with vaccine coming, to control COVID. If fighting a battle, you don't stop shooting when the cavalry is coming, he says.
Fauci sum-up: 1) Continue the battle to control COVID with mitigation measures and 2) Get the vaccine when it becomes available.
Dr. Moncef Slaoui talking about vaccine distribution.. says nation distributes annual flu vaccine efficiently every year. COVID vaccine will build on this proven model, he says. Large role for UPS, Fedex, big pharmacy chains.
When EUA comes, (emergency use authorization), distribution will begin in 24 hours, Slaoui says.
CDC's Redfield comes out swinging a bit (good to see), saying "Masks work."
Redfield is also addressing schools and saying K-12 should stay open (presuming in-person classes). Last summer, there was concern about potential White House interference in agency recommendations on this. More background here: washingtonpost.com/education/2020…
Next speaker continues to make case for keeping schools open, though qualifies it with where data indicates it's safe. This is key component missing here...the Upper Midwest is in the midst of hurricane-force COVID surge.
Now: HHS Sec. Alex Azar, who is taking victory lap for vaccine development. Fair, but let's thank the scientists as well.
One of the vaccine companies will submit EUA app tomorrow, Pence says.
Most important part of this press conference: Fauci expressing confidence in the vaccines' safety and efficacy.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
